YOU: On a Diet

As a whole, I don't really like reading diet/nutrition books even though it's a topic I'm very interested in. However, I'm never able to follow their plans, nor do I want to, and they're typically extremely dull. Nevertheless, I picked up YOU: On a Diet - The Owner's Manual for Waist Management by Drs. Mehmet Oz (Yes, Dr. Oz) and Michael Roizen from the library a week or so ago. It had been awhile since I read anything non-fiction of this nature so I decided, what the heck. This is just one of a whole YOU series by these two but it's the first I've ever read.

Unlike other diet books, this one actually held my interest. It was very informative in an un-clinical way. It did delve pretty deeply into a lot of biology but somehow it wasn't terribly dry. There were many chapters dealing with how an dwhy your body processes food. Some of it I knew but most I didn't, or at least I didn't know the scientific names for everything. I picked up some remarkable facts that I didn't expect to. This book is also helping my look at the types of food I'm eating and when I need it for fuel or why I'm craving a specific type of food.

As for the diet and exercise plan, the jury is still out. It appears that I have pretty much been following the majority of the diet plan all along. Yea me! But, since I've plateaued, I was looking for a little extra oomph to kickstart my weight loss and I don't think I found that here. Additionally, they suggest starting off your exercise plan by walking 30 minutes every day and incorporating 20 minutes of strength and stretching 3 times a week. I'm sorry but I just don't see how a 30 minute walk is going to give me more benefit thatn the 5 miles I ran on Sunday. Maybe it you're already of a certain physical fitness you would just be expected to improve on what you're already doing? I'm assuming if you were starting this plan from scratch, chances are your diet and exercise are a bit lacking and you would need to start slowly. They claim in 2 weeks you will lose inches from your waist. Again, maybe if you are just starting a healthy lifestyle you would see these results but I guess I wouldn't really know unless I tried. I'm not willing to stop running, lifting or zumba-ing so I suppose I'm not a convert to this plan. And now I've gone off on a long-winded tangent.

Even if you don't think you'd follow the food and exercise plan, the book will teach you quite a bit. It was a relatively quick read as well. If you're looking for a little guidance, this is probably a good choice for you.

Rating: * * * 1/2