The Instinct Diet: Use Your Five Food Instincts to Lose Weight and Keep it Off [Hardcover]

Susan B. Roberts Ph.D (Author), Betty Kelly Sargent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 17, 2008

Satisfying our hardwired instincts has been critical to our survival for as long as we have been human. That's why we eat when food is available, choose the most calorie-dense foods, and hate the feeling of hunger. Today, these same drives are leading millions down the path of obesity. But Dr. Susan B. Roberts, an internationally recognized nutrition researcher at Tufts University, shows how to turn our food instincts into an engine for permanent, healthy weight loss.

The Instinct Diet—the "I" diet—is a pleasure to follow: a diet based on impeccable research, a diet where the dieter never goes hungry, a diet that's unequivocally healthy, thoroughly grounded in the metabolic, genetic, and psychological workings of the human body. Essentially, it shows how you can control the controls. Through its focus on delicious, deeply satisfying dishes like Orange Crumbed French Toast, Pork and Lemongrass Soup, Watercress and Citrus Salad with Parmesan Toast, and Chocolate Bread Pudding, plus proven behavioral modifications (Dr. Roberts is a professor of nutrition and professor of psychiatry), the diet is a fat-burning marvel. At Tufts, 85 percent of participants in Dr. Roberts' research program lost 10 to 50 pounds in the first six months, and 90 percent of them kept the weight off for at least a year. The Instinct Diet shares everything learned by Dr. Roberts over 17 years and more: better ways to lose weight whatever you eat; also a three-stage diet plan; over 100 recipes; eight weeks of menus (with vegetarian and "non-cook" options throughout); and dozens of ideas and strategies for how to retrain our bodies—how to combat the "Gulping Syndrome," use the "Sandwich Technique," why tapping your forehead is an emergency measure to reduce food cravings, and more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The Instinct Diet is breakthrough, a diet based on impeccable research. A diet that genuinely deals with problems like feeling hungry or deprived. A diet unequivocally healthy for you, grounded in the metabolic, genetic and psychological workings of the human body. A diet where the dieter gets to eat delicious foods like Orange-Crumbed French Toast, Tuscan Minestrone, Cajun Cod and Chocolate Bread Pudding or opt for tasty no-cook meals.

And it’s a diet that works, combining proven strategies from Dr. Roberts’ research at Tufts—where volunteers lost 10 to 50 pounds and kept the weight off for at least a year—with the latest cutting-edge research from around the world.

The secret of The Instinct Diet lies in understanding that five built-in food instincts control our eating habits, and then in learning how we can control the controls. To satisfy hunger, build meals around foods that are proven to make you feel full. To counter the availability instinct in our food-food-everywhere culture, learn to fight the Gulping Syndrome and why simple strategies like eating at regular times help weight loss. Cope with cravings for calorie-dense foods with effective strategies, including the “I” Diet bonus treats—without losing the pleasure of eating. And learn how to deal with the bookend problems of familiarity, with its powerful “comfort food” triggers, and variety, which turns us into passive overeaters.

Organized into a two-week Stage I, six-week Stage II and lifelong maintenance Stage III program, The Instinct Diet includes a full range of weekly menus—for both omnivores and vegetarians—and over 100 recipes. Throughout are dozens of new motivational and behavioral tips. For example, did you know that tapping your forehead is an emergency measure to quell a sudden craving?

 Don’t follow your instincts—lead them. And discover a life-changing diet.

From the Back Cover

Learn how to control the controls. For millions of years, humans survived by obeying five basic food instincts, for example, Eat whenever food is available and Choose foods dense in calories. But today these same hardwired behaviors are leading many of us down the path of weight gain. No longer. Inspired by Dr. Susan B. Roberts' stunningly successful research program, as well as her deep understanding of hundreds of independent scientific studies, The Instinct Diet shows how to take charge of our food instincts and turn them into an engine for permanent, healthy weight loss. Its publication marks a brand-new approach to dieting.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 338 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company (December 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761150196
• ISBN-13: 978-0761150190
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #418,182 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

113 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not a gimmick diet - a lifestyle change that yields results., February 18, 2009

By 

OrangeSamurai (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Instinct Diet: Use Your Five Food Instincts to Lose Weight and Keep it Off (Hardcover)

I've wanted to write this review for a while, but decided to wait until I had been on the Instinct Diet for a few weeks. I have been following the program very closely for one month, and have lost seven pounds. Previously, I had done the South Beach Diet and Weight Watchers. I initially lost weight on both, but found those plans very hard to sustain.

The Instinct Diet is different. The information about our five innate, immutable food instincts was incredibly eye opening. Finally, I understood why all my previous attempts to lose weight had failed - I had mistakenly thought that I could overcome hunger (I'm talking about real hunger, not a purely emotional urge to eat) with willpower alone. The Instinct Diet is designed to work WITH those instincts, instead of against them.

For me, the best part of the Instinct Diet is the menu. It is very structured, but still has room for flexibility (each day has meat or vegetarian menus, and within that, there are options for home cooking or prepared foods). The structure eliminates guesswork, making it much easier to stick with a plan. With Weight Watchers, I would start out strong on Mondays, tracking all my food, but run out of steam by Thursday and then eat whatever I wanted. With the Instinct Diet, everything is pre-planned, but again, you do have some choices within that structure.

The recipes are all designed to be satisfying and to control your hunger. They are healthy, full of whole grains, lean proteins, and lots of fruit and vegetables. Although some low-fat versions of ingredients such as peanut butter, sour cream, and salad dressing are recommended, the recipes are centered around reasonable portions of whole foods, not artificial diet products. I consider myself to be a foodie, and would eat ALL the recipes I've tried so far (including West African Beef Stew, Mushroom Risotto, and Salmon with Lemon-Dill Sauce) even if I weren't trying to lose weight.

If you do try this diet, keep in mind that it requires planning. Anything that is going to yield real results requires planning. Instead of eating on the run, I now do a weekly meal list and go shopping on Saturday, and reserve a few hours on Sunday to cook most of my meals for the week. The result is that not only do I weigh less, I am more productive. I can now spend my weeknights enjoying healthy food and getting other errands done or reading, instead of making a last minute stop at a crowded grocery store, picking up something that I don't really want to eat, and then feeling bad about it afterwards. There are plenty of options for quick meals (the Pita Bread Pizza recipe is the best and ready in 10 minutes!) or prepared foods as well, I have just chosen to opt for more home-cooked options because I love to cook.

I do get hungry occasionally. It is completely unrealistic to expect to never, ever be hungry when you are transitioning to eating fewer calories. But it gets easier over time, and the planning helps - if I'm hungry at 4pm, knowing that I have healthy, homemade lasagna waiting for me for dinner makes it a lot easier to wait until 6pm to eat again.

In conclusion, I strongly, strongly recommend the Instinct Diet. It is based on solid science and provides structure and amazing recipes. The fact is, almost all Americans live in a toxic food environment and are surrounded by unhealthy choices. It takes TIME and ENERGY to eat in a healthy way. With the right amount of planning this diet is easy to follow...and it really works.

**Update** Six weeks in, I've lost 11 pounds.

**Second update** I lost about 15 pounds total and have kept it all off for over a year.

46 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's not magic, but it works., March 29, 2009

By 

E Frank - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Instinct Diet: Use Your Five Food Instincts to Lose Weight and Keep it Off (Hardcover)

I HATE reviews of diet books that start out, "This is a fantastic book! Common sense, delicious food! I haven't started this diet yet, but I can't wait to see what is going to happen!"

Well, this isn't one of those. I have been on the Instict Diet for 8 weeks now and have lost 10 pounds. I have been trying to lose this weight for 15 years, since the birth of my older daughter, and I now I finally made significant progress. I still have a way to go, but feel confident I can do it with the Instinct Diet.

Don't get me wrong, this is not a magic bullet, it is still a diet. But there are a couple of things about this diet that make it really different and make it work. First and foremost, if you eat what Dr. Roberts tells you to eat when you are supposed to eat it, YOU WILL NOT BE HUNGRY. That made all the difference to me. I started lots of diets but always failed because I was simply too hungry. That is not the case with the Instinct Diet. I definitely feel satisfied all day, even on fewer calories.

The second important difference is that it really reduces crvings. I lost weight on one of the high-protein, no carb-diets, but I started craving bread so badly after the 2nd week, there was no way I could stick with it. While there is some restriction of variety on Phase I, there is still a little bit of something from all food groups (even dessert!), so I never feel deprived.

Third, the food really is good. I love the Chicken Parm recipe from Phase 1 and eat it often. It's not only delicious, it's so easy that its the perfect food for a busy weeknight. The Instinct Ice Cream Sundae is a staple in our house. The Instinct Hamburger is great, too. I love the Spicy Chili Soup (super easy), the Tanzanian Chicken Kabobs, and the North African Stew. Much to my surprise, I think my favorite is the Vegetables and Tofu with Peanut Sauce. I'm not big tofu fan, but this is filling and delicious (I grill rather than steam the tofu).

Try it, it really is different!

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a diet that's actually edible!, January 28, 2009

By 

d jackel (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Instinct Diet: Use Your Five Food Instincts to Lose Weight and Keep it Off (Hardcover)

I'm generally wary of diet books. After all, if they really worked, people would all be thin, right? The Instinct Diet, however, is unique. It's more than a diet, it's a scientific explanation of the workings behind our eating habits, a plan of attack that includes working with nature rather than against it, and a good cookbook too. The recipes and menus are for food that I actually enjoyed eating. I particularly like the chicken dishes and the multigrain rolls.

How well did the diet work? In short, it worked. It's still working. I didn't start off heavy, but I needed to lose some weight, somewhere in the ballpark of 15 pounds - a result of spending more time behind a computer at work. I lost the weight over the course of a month and some change, and without starving myself. The recipes and meal plans from the Instinct Diet helped me make changes in the way I eat. I still eat hearty meals, this book's recipes are tasty and filling. I think that's the key here - people need to enjoy what they are eating. This book finds the intersection between healthy and tasty, and gives you a plan for changing your eating habits to hit that intersection and stay there.

I also appreciate the science behind this book. Most diets are absurd - they are written by celebrities, and what do celebrities know about nutrition? This book is written by a true nutritionist, Dr. Susan Roberts, who is recognized in the scientific community for understanding how this stuff actually works.