The 90/10 Weight-Loss Plan: A Scientifically Designed Balance of Healthy Foods and Fun Foods

Rating:
Summary: Finally! A realistic plan with cheating built in!
Review: I intended to buy The South Beach Diet, but after flipping through it and seeing all the 15-ingredient recipes, I put it right back on the shelf and started browsing. I found 90/10 and decided to take it home with me when I saw that the foods listed were really easy to prepare and that I could have a little of the good stuff (like Nutter Butters, ice cream and french fries) every day. Each meal is assigned a caloric value, so it's easy to make substitutions. This book is a great tool and I'm so glad I found it!

Rating:
Summary: I can still eat ice cream!
Review: I looked through the many books that are out there on eating healthy and dieting and didn't find anything that "clicked." I kept hearing about "Body for Life" and how great it was, but it encouraged you to eat six times a day and drink all these shakes. Yuck! But when I looked at the 90/10 Weight Loss Plan, it all began to make sense. This book is chock full of good, basic nutrition, written in an easy to read format. The plan is actually do-able because you can choose one of her plans (1200, 1400 or 1600 calorie), which shows you how to eat healthy and still have "fun food" (dessert, cookies, ice cream, even fries!) This is a plan that I can actually fit busy schedule, and hopefully will continue the rest of my life. The only reason I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 is that her menus are a bit vague. She doesn't specify the weight or brand of certain items. It kind of leaves it up to you. Also, I would have liked her to have either pictures or some way to help us judge how big a serving is (for example, a deck of cards, etc). Otherwise this book was great!

Rating:
Summary: Finally! A realistic plan with cheating built in!
Review: I tried every other diet out there and this is the only one that worked for me. I lost 20 pounds in 2 months and have kept it off for the last 7 months. It is great because you can eat any type of food you want and still lose weight. The trick is HOW MUCH you eat. This book really leads you to a healthier lifestyle and a healthier you!

Rating:
Summary: Simply put, success.
Review: I'll try to keep it brief - this one works. I've struggled with my weight for the last 20 years. I've probably been 80 lbs overweight for the last 10 years. The problem I had with diets was the urge to cheat followed by the almost guaranteed binge.

This plan provides an easy-to-follow (and most importantly, easy to modify - all breakfasts, lunches, snacks, etc are the same number of calories, so they're interchangeable - and the plan provides plenty of substitutions) plan that's realistic for those of us who have to eat a quick breakfast and carry our lunch to work.

There are several weeks worth of recipes and once you've gotten the hang of the system, a simple calorie-counting paperback would make it easy to design your own meals to fit within the calories allowed, slipping ultimately into a healthier lifestyle. The allowance for a daily snack and a "fun food" really helps with the urge to cheat. Yes, I'm still tempted, but three weeks in and 16 lbs lighter, I haven't given in yet. There's nothing to keep you motivated like shopping for smaller pants.

Rating:
Summary: MUST GET THIS BOOK!
Review: Let me first say that I am not the kind of person who believes one eating plan fits all or that the entire population of the world should be eating the same way. People are different and have varying needs so I would never advise anyone else that this book is the only choice and that everyone must or must not follow Bauer's plan. But, speaking for myself and my own progress, I am extremely glad I found this book and I do believe it spared me from a life of obesity, a direction I was headed in quickly. I was a healthy weight throughout high school because of nutritious eating and regular exercise, but after I got into college, the extra pounds piled on. And I don't just mean five or ten or even twenty-- I mean sixty or more. I am five feet tall and thus carrying around that much extra weight had a major impact on how I looked and felt. At my highest, I was at least 180 lbs. I wanted to lose this weight before I moved on to graduate studies, but, with my senior year fast approaching, I didn't know what to do. I saw plenty of ads for fad diets, pills, shakes, etc., and I was scared that following such a plan would be dangerous and leave me worse off than before I started. Fortuitously, I saw Joy Bauer on TV one afternoon promoting this book and the logic sounded simple: eat healthy foods 90 percent of the time and junk foods 10 percent of the time. Marry this notion with portion control and voila. I ordered the book from Amazon and couldn't wait for it to come in the mail. I followed her advice from the first day after I finished reading the book and I also began an exercise regimen of walking at least five days a week. What a difference! I started on the 1600 calorie diet and after about one month, I stepped down to the 1400 calorie diet. Today, I usually oscillate between the two. As of now, I have lost almost sixty pounds and am continuing to lose the rest a little at a time. (Rest assured, though, I did see results within two weeks just as the book promises. After my first two weeks on the 90/10 Plan, I had already trimmed off ten pounds, a feat I thought I might never accomplish.) There have been days when I did not follow the plan religiously, especially on birthdays and special occasions when eating cake or going out for dinner was on the agenda. But I still lost weight and I believe regular exercise carried me through the days when I wasn't eating healthy at all. I also have not eaten only Bauer's menu suggestions. She lists the breakdown of how many calories you should consume at each meal under each plan and I follow that as a guideline. If I feel like a TV dinner, can of soup, homemade meal, etc., instead of one of Bauer's suggestions, I have what I want but follow her caloric limitations. A long story short, I found this to be a plan I could stick with, a plan that helped me tremendously, a plan that I feel healthy and energetic on, and a plan that I would recommend to any friend. If you are serious about a lifestyle change, not a temporary quick fix, and are ready to exercise at least a little bit in addition, I would definitely suggest you pick up a copy of this book.

Rating:
Summary: Realistic but not realistic enough
Review: Like a previous reviewer said, it can be disappointing for those who really struggle with weight loss. I tried this diet and though it's very sound and sensible by a well-known nutritionist, it's problematic.

Basically, you eat healthy 90% of the time, and can be a little 'bad' 10% of the time with a 'fun food' treat. The danger point for anyone trying to lose a significant amount of weight - certainly more than 15 or 20 pounds - is in the 'fun foods.'

The list of acceptable fun foods is NOT realistic. For starters, this is a very LONG list of unhealthy food that vary quite a bit in sugar/fat content and thus, portion size - and for an audience that may already have difficulty with that.

Also, the fun food servings don't reflect the packaging they come in - very unrealistic for emotional or compulsive eaters and others with more than 20 pounds to lose. Take Hostess Cupcakes for example. These can come two to three in a single package, but the allowable serving in this diet is one. It becomes very hard for most dieters to ignore or throw away those extra servings in that opened package, and before you know it, it's just too late.

There's also only two weeks of menus with lots of cooking. I found it a bit expensive to get all the ingredients and after a long day at work, was not in the mood to cook a whole meal.

It's a good maintenance diet, and I'm keeping my copy for that purpose, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone whose lifestyle is very busy, who has a significant amount of weight to lose and/or who expects to diet for more than 3 to 6 months.

By contrast, Holly McCord's Ice Cream Diet is very similar but it's less cooking, and most importantly: it limits the 'fun food' to ice cream, but that means ANY kind, and there's a lot of varieties to choose from.

For long-term weight-loss programs, I'd recommend the Ice Cream Diet to get accustomed to portion sizes and for significant weight loss, and then by the last 10-15 pounds, switch to this 90/10 diet. By then, you should be better-equipped to deal with so many 'fun food' choices and the varying portion sizes that come with them.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed Have not lost a pound but have lost inches
Review: This is the best diet plan available today! I started the diet on June 24, 2002 and have lost 40lbs. And when combined with exercise results like mine can be obtained by anyone who is motivated to lose weight. I don't feel hungry and I can still enjoy some of the foods other diets do not allow. Its worth the investment for anyone who is truly motivated to take control of their weight.

Rating:
Summary: Easy and non complicated
Review: This is the best weight loss book there is essentially because Joy teaches you to eat right without all the sacrifice. I was very upset with my weight and saw her on a morning tv show. I got the book and read it and thought why not? Within a week I had lost 8 pounds, within three months I had lost 30 pounds and have not gained it back now 6 months later. You take the lessons she teaches you and it becomes second nature. And with her Fun Foods, you don't feel deprived , you just feel healthier and much lighter. If you want to lose weight, you need this book!!!