10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet: Simple Strategies to Eat Right, Lose Weight, and Reclaim Your Health [Paperback]

Elizabeth Somer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 18, 2005

A nationally recognized nutrition expert tackles the ten most common mistakes unique to your dieting attempts

In this first-of-its-kind book, Elizabeth Somer reveals to youwhat she's learned in more than 25 years on the front lines of nutrition research and counseling--the bad habits that stand in the way of successful weight loss. 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman's Diet pinpoints the most common downfalls for women--from nibbling off a partner's plate, to soothing themselves with chocolate, to following the latest fad diet--and offers easy, everyday solutions.

The book includes real-life stories you'll identify with, and self-assessment tests so you can learn what you're doing wrong. Using checklists, menu plans, snacking tips, and other successful tricks, you can eat healthfully, lose weight, and turn your life around--one habit at a time.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With concise writing and solid clinical research, registered dietitian Somer (Food and Mood) helps readers identify and understand 10 common problems that can stand in the way of losing weight and provides the tools to change those habits. According to Somer, at least half of people's harmful habits occur not at the dinner table, but in their heads. Examples include eating without thinking, not being honest about how much one eats and using food to alter one's mood. Somer identifies practical mistakes, too, such as shopping the wrong supermarket aisles and choosing the wrong social drinks. An extremely helpful chapter uses solid medical research to debunk many of the most popular weight-loss myths. The author teaches by example and offers intelligent quizzes that help readers identify where they are faltering. What sets this book apart from the many diet books out there is that it not only works on its own to improve eating habits and encourage healthy weight loss, but its useable advice can make any sensible weight-loss plan easier to follow. (Jan.)
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About the Author

Elizabeth Somer, M.A., is a registered dietitian and the author of eight nutrition books. An advisor to Shape and Prevention magazines, she appears frequently on NBC's "Today" and other national television shows.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (November 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071462287
• ISBN-13: 978-0071462280
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #931,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My "thing" is that I keep up with the current nutrition research. I've been reading 100s of research studies for years, then packaging that information into news-you-can-use for magazines, books, national and local television and radio, presentations to the general public, and continuing education seminars for health professionals. I specialize in understandable and practical information on how to eat and supplement and why to prevent disease and premature aging, promote health, and attain and maintain a healthy weight. For the past two decades, my aim has been to be the source of nutrition information that people can really trust to be accurate, up-to-date, and sound. I passionately love the science of nutrition, as well as cooking and preparing healthy meals, and believe with all my heart that if people just nourished their bodies with high-quality fuel, they would be rewarded a hundred-fold with health, energy, vitality, longevity, clear thinking, a fit figure, and improved moods.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I cannot thank the author enough for this book., February 22, 2006

By 

Karina (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet: Simple Strategies to Eat Right, Lose Weight, and Reclaim Your Health (Paperback)

I'm not obese and not even really overweight, though I've gained plenty since college. I picked up this book because I've been frustrated by the fact that some women can take off 100, 60, or 30 pounds more successfully than I can take off ten or fifteen. (Also, I realized that unless something changed, I'd only keep on gaining and would someday need to lose fifty pounds, not just fifteen.) This book showed me why and shook me up in the best possible sense. Though I am immensely knowledgeable about food and exercise regularly, I have NINE of the ten bad habits the author discusses. What a revelation! With my increased self-awareness, I am now tackling these habits at a comfortable pace. Changing just one of these habits--my tendency not to plan what I'm going to eat--is clearly going to make a cataclysmic difference. I recommend this book to anyone and cannot believe my good fortune in stumbling upon it. Elizabeth Somer, if you're reading this, you should feel very proud of your achievement.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No More Fad Diets, June 26, 2006

By 

Virginia Allain "(retired librarian)" (Poinciana, FL) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet: Simple Strategies to Eat Right, Lose Weight, and Reclaim Your Health (Paperback)

The author explains the situational, chemical and emotional contributors to overeating or poor eating. She recommends different strategies that fit the different triggers or causes. Read this book to get the right tool for your situation. Maybe it will be a food journal, healthy munchies, calorie tracking, ways to love veggies, but it definitely won't be a fad diet.

Habit 1: Mindless Eating
Invisible Calories
Eating on Auto-Pilot: The Down-Side
Nibbling Is OK
Mindful Breakfasts
Kick the Habit
Choose a New Habit
Mindful Eating
Habit 2: Putting Other's Needs Ahead of Our Own
Love 'n' Marriage: Together in Eating
Babies and Weight Gain
Mealtime Peer Pressure
Dining Out Can Do Us In
Kick the Habit
Keep Your Diet in Perspective
Habit 3: Not Being Honest
Fessing Up Is Hard to Do
Portion Distortion
Kick the Habit
How Much Exercise Is Enough?
It's Within Your Grasp
Habit 4: Skip the Broccoli, Eat the Fries
Nothing Is Better for You than Produce
How Much Are You Eating?
Which Ones Are the Best?
Produce to Avoid
Kick the Habit
Ya Gotta Love 'em
Habit 5: Setting Off Without a Plan
Kick the Habit
Outside the Box
Two "Must-Have" Habits
Practice, Practice, Practice
The Only Way to Get Better Is to Change
Habit 6: Excuses, Excuses, Excuses
You Can Change
Kick the Habit
Take Responsibility
Habit 7: I'm Moody, Let's Eat!
Food for Solace or Sustenance?
Food and Mood
Dieting = Weight Gain
Kick the Habit
Your Mood Is More than Just Diet
Habit 8: Give Me the Quick Fix, Now!
Tell Me Again Why Diets Don't Work
Diet Myths Debunked
Kick the Habit
Commit to Health
Habit 9: Drinking Away Our Waistlines
Silent Calories
Cola Calories
Josephine Six Pack
The Dark Side of Alcohol
Kick the Habit
Think Moderation
Habit 10: The All-or-Nothing Approach to Dieting
Why the All-or-Nothing Mentality Fails
All-or-Nothing and Your Weight
Self-Talk: The Inside-Your-Head Chatter
Kick the Habit
Give Yourself Some Slack

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Weighty Advice Backed Up With Solid Research and Facts, March 8, 2006

By 

Ann Douglas "pregnancy/parenting author" (Peterborough, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 10 Habits That Mess Up a Woman’s Diet: Simple Strategies to Eat Right, Lose Weight, and Reclaim Your Health (Paperback)

If you're looking for a gimmick, a quick fix, or a flashy fad diet, keep looking. 10 HABITS THAT MESS UP A WOMAN'S DIET is a book based on solid nutritional research and the author's interviews with people who have done a lot of thinking about women and weight.

Elizabeth Somer, RD, has a funny and engaging style, but she's not afraid to serve you the facts straight up. The result is one of the smartest guides to nutrition for women that I've come across in years.