Living Low-Carb: The Complete Guide to Long Term Low-Carb Dieting (Paperback)

by Fran McCullough (Author) "The objective of all low-card diets, which date back at least to the early nineteenth century, has always been weight loss..." (more)
Key Phrases: carb grams, fake sugar, more carbs, Protein Power, Ron Rosedale, Middle Eastern (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
As many enthusiasts have discovered, it's easy to lose weight on the low-carb diet. But keeping the weight off requires an ongoing commitment--not an easy feat when faced with dieting drudgery, dinners out, holiday gatherings, and demoralizing eating binges. While many low-carb diet books offer the initial thrill of weight loss, this book is a lifelong manual, offering tips and guidance to keep readers committed for the long haul.

Author Fran McCullough starts with "secret weapons" (such as blocking sugars, cleansing the liver, and keeping a food diary), must-haves in any long-term dieter's arsenal. She also offers a valuable "Troubleshooting" section that covers commons challenges, such as dinner invitations ("Come on over for Dinner") and binge eating ("Blowing It"). She addresses the persistent snacking problem with a list of low-carb delights (including shrimp with guacamole or prosciutto and melon). She even lists alternative foods for the times when you crave disaster foods. (For example, a craving for pizza can be satisfied with grilled eggplant, mozzarella cheese, and oregano.) The second half of the book is devoted to McCullough's specialty--tasty and satisfying low-carb recipes, such as Buffalo Boys Chili and Berry and Mango Compote. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly
Cookbook editor and writer McCullough credits a low carbohydrate diet with saving her life. McCullough, who diagnosed her own blood clot, admits that she's not as thin as she likes and she's not a physician, but she fervently believes that there are many dieters, like herself, who simply cannot chemically process carbohydrates in a healthy way. Therefore, she argues, these people should limit their carbohydrate intake. McCullough presents her case in a logical and convincing way. She first gives an overview of the various popular low-carbohydrate diets and the medical principles behind them. Then she offers basic low-carb diet plans, along with personal anecdotes from people who have been following these plans. The final two-thirds of the book consists of recipes from main dishes to desserts. This is an excellent primer for anyone who has tried to make sense of the various low-carb diets. McCullough writes in a friendly and approachable style. Her tips on common dieting problems such as avoiding temptation, eating while traveling, finding acceptable bread substitutes, etc., are quite useful and the recipes are tasty and not terribly complicated. This volume makes a fine companion to the author's previous title, the bestselling Low-Carb Cookbook. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (January 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316089761
• ISBN-13: 978-0316089760
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #465,228 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

179 of 181 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding book on low-carb living!, June 24, 2000

By	Kate McMurry (United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Living Low-Carb: The Complete Guide to Long-Term Low-Carb Dieting (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed reading and frequently refer to Fran McCullough's previous low-carb book, The Low-Carb Cookbook. This second book on the subject is already proving just as useful to me. The excellent information in it is completely accessible because the author's writing style is smooth, down-to-earth and as pleasant an experience as a chat with a good friend. Another major plus is that the layout of the book itself as a whole is extremely well organized. There is a clear table of contents, an extensive list of sources for low-carb living (many conveniently on the Web), a bibliography and an index. The first four of the book's six segments deal with living the low-carb lifestyle:(1) Why are we doing this anyway? (benefits of low-carb living); (2) Secret weapons (for maintaining the low-carb lifestyle); (3) Troubleshooting (blowing it, planned indulgences, snacks, eating out, holidays, on the road, hitting a plateau, thyroid troubles, etc.); (4) Special situations (vegetarianism, diabetes, pregnancy and nursing). The fifth section contains extensive information about what to have in your kitchen (spices, food labels, bread, soy, fake sugar). The final section is 240 pages of new recipes to add to the excellent ones in her first book.

I agree with the other reviewers that one of the most refreshing things about Fran McCullough is that she is not posing as a diet guru. She is an "ordinary" person in that she is not a doctor or nutritionist who came up with a particular diet and is hawking it as the salvation of all. She has tried the diet herself over a long period of time and found it has conferred many benefits to her health. And as a writer and cookbook editor, she has read carefully and analyzed the latest books and studies on the subject of low-carb living. She reports on her findings and conclusions about these books and studies clearly, concisely, and extremely helpfully. I found her section on thyroid especially useful. It was one of the best and most accurate statements of thyroid information I have read in the recent past (it is a subject I read about extensively when a very near relative of my age developed a serious thyroid problem).

I believe low-carbers, either new to this diet or old hands like me, will find this book well worth owning, a ready reference to which you will refer again and again. I have taken extensive notes from the book listing for myself suggestions she gave I found extremely pertinent to me for food, supplements and sources for both which I plan to follow up on in the very near future.

152 of 153 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Goodbye Weight Problems!, September 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Living Low-Carb: The Complete Guide to Long-Term Low-Carb Dieting (Hardcover)

My husband and I love to cook and entertain, and both needed to lose weight. We are now living low-carb, thanks to Fran. Her recipes for mashed potatoes (made from cauliflower) and fettucine (made from zucchini) are SO good, we make them and serve them at dinner parties, without even telling people we are on a low-carb diet. And EVERYONE asks for these recipes! I have given up low-fat eating, dropped weight, watched my cholesterol drop, and am amazed! My husband never thought he'd be able to give up pasta or potatoes, but he says he prefers Fran's recipes using substitutes! I have e-mailed Fran with questions and have gotten answers quickly. She is a writer who truly believes in what she is writing about, and like so many Americans, struggles with her weight. This is a wonderful book. And she is a wonderful writer and an even better cook!

151 of 152 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fabulous Addition to you Low Carb Library!, June 7, 2000

By	A. McManus "futbolmom" (Huntsville, Alabama United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Living Low-Carb: The Complete Guide to Long-Term Low-Carb Dieting (Hardcover)

My book arrived yesterday & I was up half the night to finish it! I have quite a few Low carb books (including her previous cookbook) and this one is really great. There are tons of useful tips, stories of actual people succeeding with low carb, and a lot of interesting nutritional information. All of this is presented in an extremely readable and straight forward style. The recipes, for the most part, do not have huge ingredient lists which is really great and seem to be fairly simple to prepare! I can't wait to try them! McCullough's "this is not a one size fits all" approach is very refreshing when one finds each low carb diet book to be written in a "do it my way" sort of style. There is great info on stocking your kitchen, web resources and phone/mail sources for specialty products from foods to kitchen equipment. Great Book!