Eat More, Weigh Less: Dr. Dean Ornish's Life Choice Program for Losing Weight Safely While Eating Abundantly (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Eat more, weigh less?..." (more)
Key Phrases: milligrams cholesterol, nonfat yogurt cheese, vegetable consommé, Jean-Marc Fullsack, Joyce Goldstein, Tracy Pikhart Ritter (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Ingeniously disguised as a weight-loss manual, this bestselling guide to preventing--and in some cases, reversing--heart disease through diet, exercise, and soul nourishing comes from renowned cardiologist Dr. Dean Ornish, the first doctor to prove that there are alternatives to surgery for clearing clogged arteries--namely, diet, exercise, and stress management. Citing his own published research findings, Ornish concludes that eating a vegetarian diet with only 10 percent of the total daily calories from fat is the first step to healthier, happier living. The other key elements--moderate exercise, fostering social support, and reconnecting with the self--take more time and care. For these, Ornish offers about 75 pages of encouraging words, again backed by numerous research findings and his personal experiences.

About 250 gourmet recipes from two dozen famous chefs help ease the blow to those who view becoming vegetarian as a dramatic lifestyle change. The good news is, entrées like Polenta Alla Veneziana and Tofu Gumbo will surely tickle the taste buds; the bad news is, the sheer number of ingredients and lengthy prep time required for most recipes could send readers running back to their favorite fast-food joints. Plenty of cooking methods, tips, and food descriptions help demystify the recipes; Ornish also provides a comprehensive nutritional analysis of common foods as well as for each dish. But the great strength of Eat More, Weigh Less is in Ornish's opening sections, where he builds a solid case for curbing fat, tossing out the meat and dairy, and fostering mental and emotional happiness. --Liane Thomas

Product Description

You really can eat more and weigh less -- if you know what to eat.As this groundbreaking book clearly shows, it's not just how much you eat, it's primarily what you eat.

Most diets rely on small portion sizes to reduce calories sufficiently. You feel hungry and deprived. Dr. Ornish's program takes a new approach: abundance rather than deprivation. If you change the type of food, you don't have to be as concerned about the amount of food. You can eat whenever you're hungry , eat more food -- and still lose weight and keep it off. Simply. Safely. Easily. In this book, you'll find 250 gourmet recipes from the country's most celebrated chefs.

Unlike high-protein diets that may mortage your well-being, Dr. Ornish's diet and lifestyle program is scientifically proven to help you lose weight and gain health. People not only keep off the weight, they lower their cholestoral and reduce their chances for getting heart disease and such other illnesses as breast, prostate, and colon cancer; diabetes; osteoporosis; and hypertension. Dr. Ornish's program has given millions of people new hope and new choices.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Rev Upd edition (December 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060959576
• ISBN-13: 978-0060959579
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (62 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #148,653 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 148 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This program changed my life, March 16, 2000

By	JS (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat More Weigh Less: Dr. Dean Ornish's Life Choice Program for Losing Weight Safely While Eating Abundantly (Paperback)

I've tried lots of diets over the years and succeeded with some of them but after a mild heart attack last summer I really did not want to go on any diet that promised short-term results but obviously was not good for my health long-term. I really only wanted to invest my time and energy in a life-program that would build good health for the rest of my life. I began Dr. Ornish's program (a very low-fat, plant-based diet, moderate exercise, meditation and yoga) and within two weeks I began to feel like a different person -- more energetic, healthy and well. It took some time to get good at cooking this way but now I've got my shopping and cooking system set up so it works -- I cook double batches of things on Sundays and have my little repertoire of things I can fix quickly on weeknights. I also bought Dr. Ornish's book "Everyday Cooking" which has additional recipes, and that's great, too. Even my husband likes the food. I am looking and feeling better every day and am completely satisfied that I am not only losing weight but doing absolutely the best that I can do for my long-term health.

103 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Abundant variety not boring deprivation!, March 15, 2000

By	sarah ellis (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat More, Weigh Less: Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Losing Weight Safely While Eating Abundantly (Mass Market Paperback)

Eat More, Weigh Less will speak directly to all those folks who have been struggling to feel better, achieve a healthful weight and gain more energy while trying to sort through the conflicting, confusing onslaught of dietbook information. Dr. Dean Ornish suggests an eating lifestyle not a diet, based on whole, unprocessed grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes including soy, and nonfat dairy foods that is easy to follow, abundant in variety, and packed with nutrients. The book contains great recipes and cooking tips from nationaly known chefs, that are easy to follow and include nutrient information so that you know exactly what you are eating. While fat is not used in the recipes, wonderful flavor is created from the garlic, herbs, spices and combinations of ingredients. One is able to eat well and feel satisfied without indulging in high fat, high calorie foods, and without feeling deprived or hungry. The only limiting factor to enjoying this type of eating would be one's imagination! This is a wonderful resource for anyone who is pursuing good health, an increased sense of energy and well being, and an expanded repetoire of delicious recipes!

101 of 108 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating book about diet and health., December 29, 1998

By	Levi Wallach (Vienna, VA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Eat More Weigh Less: Dr. Dean Ornish's Life Choice Program for Losing Weight Safely While Eating Abundantly (Paperback)

A cool book about nutrition, health, and losing weight. This book is what actually motivated me to become a vegetarian four years ago and so far I've not had an ounce of meat since. Though I do eat fish, so some may not consider me a true vegetarian. I have recently picked this book up to review it and am finding it just as interesting as I remember. Ornish quotes scores of studies including his own which back up his philosophy about eating and health. In a nutshell, if you don't eat meat, and limit yourself to 10% of your calories as fat, exercise moderately, and "pay attention" you will avoid heart disease and other ailments, lose weight, and generally feel great. To be more specific, he concurs with Merkin in that you can eat as much grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables as you wants, but aslo warns that you should never stuff yourself. In fact, he concentrates somewhat on "paying attention" in the sense that if you concentrate more on what you eat as you eat it and not simply gulp a meal down while you watch TV, you are much more likely to hear the natural cue's your body puts out that tell you when you should stop eating. He also recommends getting rid of salt from your diet as this hides the flavor of food, and claims that after about two weeks your tastebuds will readjust to the lack of salt, sugar, and fat that is in the normal American diet, and which he claims hides the real flavor of foods, and after your tastebuds readjust, everything will taste much better then they ever did. Finally, when it comes to exercise, he has a very interesting viewpoint that moderate exercise such as walking is the best kind. The benefits he lists are that it is less stressful to your body, so you are less prone to injury, walking is a lot easier to do than other more vigorous exercises which may require special equipment, and finally, it aids much more in losing weight. This is because, according to Ornish, when the body detects that it is exerting a lot of energy in strenuous exercise, it slows the metabolism down in order to counteract this - it's trying to maintain the store of energy so that you don't starve. When you walk, your body does not get the same message, and so your metabolism stays the same and you burn calories without having to work as hard. Ornish does seem to get a little flakey towards the end of the first part of the book, where he talks about stress. If you are more scientifically minded, you can get beyond the psychobable/new-agey stuff and just retreave the main point that stress is bad. The second half of the book is a bunch of recipes by Ornish, but as stated by other reviewers here, these are somewhat ridiculous. Sure perhaps a wealthy diet-doctor or someone else with either a lot of money or time on their hands or both can make these recipes, but for the majority of us working stiffs, forget it! So I just ignored this part of the book. Don't even attempt it unless you have the qualities described above, and/or have a real love for cooking.