26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This Dummy is a Real Winner; Smart, Funny, Delightful, September 22, 2005
This review is from: Healthy Carb Cookbook For Dummies (Paperback)
I have been part of the low-carb community for several years, watching the trends and the ups and downs of low carb advocacy. I've always leaned toward a healthy version and moderation. From the beginning I preferred "real food" made healthy, and this delightful book offers a wonderful variety of down to earth and delicious, "real world" recipes. This book is a realistic and humorous guide for living a healthy life for real people. It addresses ease of preparation, economy of effort, consideration of meal budgets, and most importantly abundance of flavor - all with health as the underlying factor. I love every recipe I've tried so far.
As any "Dummies" reader knows, there's more to a "Dummies" cookbook than recipes. And in this book, there are terrific, common sense, and again, realistic, advice, tips and information on how to get the most benefit from living right in this fast-paced world. I also appreciate that the author obviously knows her chops, so to speak. She has done her research and provides information that I have not found readily available about low and healthy carb.
I've been researching and reading about all angles of low carb eating for several years, and this book actually gave me some fresh information, new perspectives and a fun read. If you have any curiosity or interest in low or healthy carb cooking, I highly recommend getting a copy of this book.
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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Low-Carb Book Even 'Dummies' Can Appreciate, September 24, 2005
This review is from: Healthy Carb Cookbook For Dummies (Paperback)
You gotta love the Dummies books that have become so firmly ensconced into American culture that nobody is ever offended by them and actually flock to these books like ants to a lollipop! With over 150 million books in print covering over 900 topics, it should not be surprising to learn that the Dummies books are the world's best-selling reference series of all time with their signature yellow and black covers (They remind me of the old Cliff's Notes books I used to see people using in high school when a book report was due on Shakespeare. Really, it was other people, not me. Honestly. Trust me. Well, maybe once!).
But the latest in this famous series of books is about a subject near and dear to my heart -- low-carb. Can you believe it?! The book is called the Healthy Carb Cookbook For Dummies and was written by freelance writer, recipe guru, and low-carb lifestyle enthusiast Jan McCracken. You really ought to get to know this engaging woman who will make you laugh at the simplest things while sharing with you the knowledge she has gleaned from her more than a quarter century of cooking experiences.
"Change Your Mind ... Change Your Heart ... Lose Weight for LIFE!" That's the motto McCracken lives by and it is evident throughout this entire book how much she genuinely believes in that.
Healthy Carb Cookbook For Dummies, like all of the Dummies books, is very easy to read and is designed to come back to time and time again for a refresher on various topics which are conveniently outlined at the beginning of the book. McCracken summarizes what the low-carb lifestyle is all about, how you can incorporate healthy and delicious recipes that are sure to please even your finicky eaters, tips on how to make low-carb living an easy transition, as well as over 100 very unique and absolutely tantalizing low-carb recipes to sink your teeth into while maintaining your weight.
Whether you have been livin' la vida low-carb for years or if you're a low-carb newbie, Healthy Carb Cookbook For Dummies is sure to have something in it that will useful to you in your low-carb lifestyle. Many of the basic concepts McCracken shares in this book completely dispels most of the rumors and lies about this way of eating that are too often repeated in the media and by so-called health "experts." With a grin and the truth, McCracken shares information that will help people be able to stay on low-carb for the rest of their lives as a permanent change in the way they eat and live. That's the secret to lasting weight loss and McCracken gets it as a 10-year veteran of livin' la vida low-carb.
As a 180-pound low-carb weight loss success story, I am always looking for new and exciting recipes to try to keep my low-carb program fresh and vibrant so it never gets boring (that's another lie the media often tells about low-carb!). Healthy Carb Cookbook For Dummies contains plenty of recipes to keep you busy for a while. I am always telling people who are on the low-carb lifestyle to try at least one new recipe a week to spice up their menu. McCracken has so many to choose from in this book you'll have a hard time deciding which one to try first!
I like the fact that McCracken advocates exercise as part of your low-carb lifestyle change because it is so important for people who may think they only need to eat foods low in carbohydrates to lose weight. While that is technically accurate, your body craves exercise (as strange as that sounds!) and wants to be moved. It is something that anyone who has been successful at keeping their weight under control will tell you is vital.
However, there is one point I personally disagree with McCracken about and that is portion control on your low-carb plan. She believes you should watch the size of your meal as well as your calories and fat to do low-carb right. While I agree we shouldn't be eating "platefuls of high-fat meats, foods dripping in fatty oils, tons of calories, or lots of highly processed foods" as McCracken writes in her book, I don't think obsessing over the fat grams, calories, or amount of food is necessary when you are livin' la vida low-carb. Throughout my weight loss in 2004 and in my weight maintenance ever since, not once have I paid attention to fat grams, calories, or food portions as part of my method for controlling my weight. Just the carbs. Maybe I'm weird, but doing that has worked wonderfully for me and I'm not about to change that method now.
Much of Healthy Carb Cookbook For Dummies is filled with all those delicious and easy "real food" (as she calls them) recipes, including gorgeous color photos of many of these dishes. It'll make you wanna jump in the kitchen right away and start cooking all day! McCracken would be proud of you for making that all-important first step in a low-carb journey you will travel on for the rest of your life.
See, even "dummies" can appreciate a low-carb book like Healthy Carb Cookbook For Dummies. Hee hee!
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