Rating: 
Summary: I Feel Great!
Review: I have been watching my fat intake for 6 years and have maintained my weight (which was 5 lbs over the weight limit for my height). When I heard about this program I decided to give it a try. By simply changing my eating habits I have lost 14 lbs and I have more energy than I ever thought possible. I plan to continue eating this way forever!
Rating: 
Summary: Not a Long Term Eating Plan
Review: I was very excited about this book because I had talked to a few people who were on the diet and were losing 5-10 pounds. It is much more enjoyable than Atkins/Protein Power etc. etc. I lost 5 pounds right away on the diet, and I was having fun eating bread again. I had about 10 more pounds to go, and I joined a CAD support group right before I stopped losing weight. Gradually, the diet evolved into something so strict I could not follow it. I had to watch my food for MSG, even during the reward meal, because that could make you stop losing weight. When I still didn't lose weight, I was told I was following an outdated verision of the diet and I should buy the NEW book (What about all the testimonials and evidence put forth in the FIRST book? ) The Hellers say their diet is easy and enjoyable, but how easy is it (or enjoyable) to order your chocolate cake with a salad in a restaurant? All in all, it's not a practical plan for a lifetime of eating. I have yet to meet someone who followed the diet and kept the weight off for more than a few months.
Rating:
Summary: Update - five stars for raising my consciousness...
Review: ...about carbohydrates. I reviewed this book last fall andsaid some pretty disparaging things about it which I won't go intohere. I really wanted to lose weight and though I didn't find it difficult to follow the Hellers' diet plan, I think I still wasn't in the right mind-set to use it effectively. I believe that each person has different needs and must adapt any program to themselves specifically. You have to know yourself and your body, and I have been in an eating disorders group for many years, so I am rather knowledgeable about what I can and cannot eat - in other words, what foods 'trigger' binge eating, etc. However, the Hellers presented me with the opportunity to really get in touch with just how severely I was being effected by carbohydrates. For several months I followed their plan, and still, for the most part, do, however what I mostly got from them was that to lose weight I had to basically give up bread, pasta, potato chips, white flour foods in general. This wasn't too hard for me, as I have not eaten white sugar for six years, in any form. However, I now realize that lots of foods TURN INTO SUGAR and these were causing me to overeat and basically just turning into fat on my body. The result is that I am now eating baked potatoes and brocoli without butter for my 'reward' meal, lots of salads, hard-boiled eggs, grilled chicken and fish for my low-carb meals. I gave up Diet Coke and popcorn at the movies (my favorite food, or so I once thought), and I don't buy any cheese or other dairy products, or nitrate-based cold-cuts. Once in a while I still have pizza made with cornmeal for a reward meal - usually one of those miniature ones. I eat one medium-sized "treat" a day - either a Rice Dream bar, some peanuts, or sugar free pudding. My Chinese acupuncturist actually provided the key bit of wisdom that helped me get on what I am happy to say is a truly LOSING ABSTINENCE. She said that in China "People do not eat for pleasure. They eat to maintain health or heal their bodies." Thus, they can eat bitter herbs and certain other foods that do not necessarily taste yummy, but which are GOOD FOR THEM. Something clicked inside me when she said this. And strangely enough, I HAVE NEVER ENJOYED MY FOOD MORE than my current program, where I am eating for health, first and foremost. Everything tastes so good because I am never bloated or, worse, for a compulsive overeater - yearning for more. I must credit the Hellers for the original idea of getting off carbohydrates - the bad kind. And I do think there is a "bad" kind - it's all that junk food and white flour and sugar food that our culture is hooked on. What kills me is how advertising and the media condemn certain foods that are actually wonderful for us, like avocados (the "mayonnaise" of vegetables it is called - how terrible to denounce such a wonderful food, to make it sound like something that will actually make you fat; olives are another food that has received bad press for being "fattening.") Actually, as I've said, it's the oily-crunchy, deep-fried, nitrate-loaded, gummy-white-flour foods that keep us in bondage. Thanks to the Hellers, I'm losing weight, down two sizes and feeling like a million bucks. And I've got a whole new outlook on life.
Rating: 
Summary: Yo-Yo Dieting
Review: This book is very good. I am just begining the diet and I love everything about it. I suggest if you have tried everything that costs, try this for cheaper.
Rating:
Summary: Binge no more!
Review: I used to eat all the time, lots of snacks and junk food. I always wanted to eat, and even ate when I wasn't hungry. I would binge eat and couldn't figure out why I could not STOP eating. I hated myself and felt like a failure. I had tried everything, and was unable to keep off the extra 50 lbs that was killing me. Until this book. Within 3 days my body had lost all cravings and no more binges. I lost 5 lbs in the first week. I was such a junk food junkie but this diet took away the sugar cravings. If I can stop eating carbs, anyone can! This book took away my binges, depression, low self esteem, and my extra weight. Is it hard sometimes? Yes. But not nearly as hard as eating low fat, exercising and still being fat. You will feel so wonderful within days that it will become a new life, and a new lifestyle. Read this book! Find out about two wonderful words "Reward Meal"! Thank you, to the authors, for giving me my life and happiness back.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Buy This Book If You're Athletic
Review: If you're like me, this might not be the weight-loss program for you. I'm a woman who does at least a good hour of exercise 4-5 times per week. I'm pretty muscular but would like to lose maybe 5 lbs of fat. Two problems with this book FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME: 1) it's really focussed on people who are at least 15 lbs. overweight, and 2) the kind of carb-cutting it requires just isn't enough energy if you're more than moderately active. Just keep it in mind if you're already active, or if you want to do a weight-loss plan that involves upping your exercise.
Rating:
Summary: Update
Review: I have now been on the Hellers' diet for 19 weeks and have lost 14 pounds. I'm thrilled! I'd like to lose about 10 more, but if I don't I'll be happy to stay where I am. I can count on one hand the number of times I have "cheated," because the desire to do so is gone. It's no longer a diet for me; it's a new way of eating. I cannot imagine going back to eating the way I used to, because I feel so much better now. Thank you, Drs. Heller!
Rating: 
Summary: Sorry ..The Diet Just Doesn't Work!
Review: It's always amazing to hear people on diets proclaim how many pounds they lost on a particular program. It reminds me of fisherman stories about the one that got away. I was really hoping this diet would work. It was just so great to have one meal a day where you could eat all the forbidden foods, cake, ice cream, bread, pasta ... anything you want, as much as you want! Well, snap out of it! This book tells dieters what they want to hear. Unfortunately, it does not deliver. You just can't eat one meal of unlimited foods and quantites and expect to lose weight. It's a fantasy. After one week on the diet I began to gain weight. I kept at it for two more weeks and gained four pounds. Now, I'm back on my tried and true calorie reduction diet (vegetarian of course) and losing weight again. I've lost 40 pounds.
Rating:
Summary: I admire the Hellers' approach but prefer Atkins
Review: I read the Hellers' book and based on my own successful dieting experience, I agree with their low carbohydrate approach. The Hellers allow one relatively carbohydrate rich meal (to be eaten in a one hour or less sitting) while all other meals are very low in carbohydrates. Atkins, on the other hand, has a very strict, two week induction diet, allowing only 20 grams of carbohydrates with increased levels of complex carbohydrates as you maintain your weight loss. The induction diet is virtually carbohydrate free. The Atkins maintenance diet, on the other hand, allows a certain amount of non refined, non sugary carbohydrates. The Hellers seem less restrictive about the types of carbohydrates allowed in the one hour "reward meal." I prefer Atkins since I have been successful increasing carbohydrate intake with a few complex carbohydrates (such as spinach and other leafy salads). I feel that many people will do better with the Atkins approach than with the Heller approach which might lead to an hour long daily carbohydrate pig out. In all fairness to the Hellers, such a pigout would be a gross misinterpretation of their advice.
Rating:
Summary: It simply works!
Review: I must admit that I was very sceptical towards the diet at first: however, I am no longer constantly hungry. Thank you for helping me not to think about food all the time.
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