12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent diet book for the target audience, July 17, 2008
This review is from: The Wall Street Diet: The Surprisingly Simple Weight Loss Plan for Hardworking People Who Don't Have Time to Diet (Hardcover)
If you are someone with a "Wall Street" lifestyle, i.e., you work long hours, spend a lot of time in hotels and planes, wine and dine clients, etc., then you may have just found your success Bible for weight loss. This book takes a very realistic look at the daily life of a "mover and shaker," and provides practical information on how you can work weight loss into your crammed schedule without spending hours in the kitchen or in the gym or missing out on important client lunch meetings or work receptions.
I used to be one of these so-called "movers and shakers" (I didn't feel like much of a mover or shaker, however!). I pulled many all-nighters, spent weeks in hotels, and most days looked forward to taking breaks from work to eat fabulous dinners delivered from great restaurants and billed to the "client." During that time I was persistently tired, certainly too busy and lethargic to work out, and I gained 10-15 pounds over the course of a year or so.
I wish I had had The Wall Street Diet then. One interesting aspect of this diet - and one that I would suggest might be the key to its success - is that it does not focus on exercise first. Instead, it asks you to analyze your eating habits to determine if you are a Controlled Eater (CE) or a Clean Plate Club (CPC) eater, and then it gives you practical tips for how to mazimize your eating plan to work with and not against your eating type and to reduce your calorie intake without too much pain. After all, losing weight is just math - 3,500 calories = 1 pound.
And that math is what Heather Bauer uses to focus first on diet and later on exercise. It can take an hour or two to burn off 500 calories, but 500 calories can be consumed in but a few moments. For someone who has limited time, controlling calories is a more efficient manner of losing weight than working off the weight. Plus, as Ms. Bauer recognizes, if you tell someone on Wall Street that they have to spend an hour or two in the gym every day, they may get frustrated very quickly when their schedule causes them to miss a few gym visits and throw the entire diet out the window.
Recognizing that Wall Street types cannot spend hours in the kitchen and eat only homemade, calorie-restricted foods, the author provides a wealth of information about what foods to eat at common fast food chains and other restaurants, what is best to order at various types of restaurants (e.g., steak houses) or takeout options (e.g., Chinese), on airplanes (and what to bring with you as snacks on flights), and also tips for how to get over jet lag, ways to get exercise while traveling, etc. I think this information is incredibly useful for ANYONE, not just those on "Wall Street," and I plan on using this information to help guide me to healthier choices every day.
Finally, it is important to note that Ms. Bauer does not completely disregard the importance of exercise. Rather, she says start with the diet, and then gradually work exercise into your busy schedule as best as you can. She offers examples of good exercise schedules (starting with 3, 20 minute cardio sessions a week), tips for workout videos, "fun" options that don't seem like "work" and that allow for family participation (Nintendo Wii), and good alternatives for frequent travelers (such as iTrain). Again, realistic rather than intimidating.
All-in-all, I think this is a very doable plan that will actually work - and work because it is something that people with full schedules and hectic lifestyles can follow and stick to. For those who are not on "Wall Street," I think the information in this book could also be very useful, particularly the analysis of the two types of eaters (CE and CPC). I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in losing weight without having weight loss take over their life. 5 stars.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
to overindulge is human, this diet divine, April 3, 2008
This review is from: The Wall Street Diet: The Surprisingly Simple Weight Loss Plan for Hardworking People Who Don't Have Time to Diet (Hardcover)
My husband is a lawyer who travels constantly. He's been needing to lose weight for a few years now but I've never had any hope of getting him to follow a diet. I saw this book mentioned in the newspaper and it's the first one I thought he might really use. And it seems to be working. As soon as he saw that he doesn't have to totally give up a drink and that he doesn't have to follow a daily "plan" - something he never would or could do - he was eager to give it a try. He's only just started but he's already having some success and I am really happy. I think this is a great book for someone who wants to lose weight but is unable to follow menu plans. I also like the very practical tips about restaurants and fast food and buffets - situations that have always been hard for him.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not a Diet but a Way to Live your Life, April 3, 2008
This review is from: The Wall Street Diet: The Surprisingly Simple Weight Loss Plan for Hardworking People Who Don't Have Time to Diet (Hardcover)
The Wall Street Diet is an amazing book written by Heather Bauer. I lost weight on this plan over two years ago and have never gained any weight back. I've been on diets my whole life, but Heather taught me the strategies in this book so that I now live my life, and never gain weight. There are so many important tips in this book to first loose your weight and then never return to how you ate before. While loosing my weight, I never felt cheated or that I was on a diet. My friends never knew I was dieting because I went out with them just like before, but now I had a secret weapon. Sometimes I would get the menu ahead and now just what I would order. It was great and her words continue to ring in my ear. Bravo Heather, The Wall Street Diet, is a way to change people's lives forever
WALL STREET DIET, THE: The Surprisingly Simple Weight Loss Plan for Hardworking People Who Don't Have Time to Diet
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