Rating: 
Summary: It changed our lives.
Review: We read this book five months ago and decided to give it a try. In fact, we decided to follow the plan perfectly for 30 days to 'detox' and relearn eating and dietary habits. We've lost pounds, and inches. We feel better. We went through all kinds of cycles including grief (how STRANGE is that?). When we finished the month, we started it over again. We feel great. Look better. Sleep better. Our clothes fit, our skin is brighter. Our moods are better. THANK YOU DR. DIANE FOR CHANGING OUR LIVES.
Rating:
Summary: ATTENTION ALL PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM BULEMIA
Review: I feel it is my responsibility to let people out there know about this diet. If you are suffering from bulemia please try this diet. I have been bulemic for 20 years and for the first time I feel like a normal person. I am stunned and amazed. The food cravings have disappeared and I feel in control. Please tell your friends and loved ones who suffer from this terrible disease about the Swarzbein Principle -- it might just save their lives.
Rating: 
Summary: Can you loose weight?
Review: I have been researching this area of weight loss and nutrition philosophy ever since the Atkins diet came back into favor this past year. I personally do not believe that the Atkins diet is one that I can live by for a long period of time. The Heller diet (as featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show) seemed good but may also be a little far fetched. In my search for a middle ground I found the Schwarzbein Principle. I have yet to finish the book but I will say that my energy level has improved and my cravings have nearly stopped completely. While I would like to lower my cholesterol I really want to loose weight. I would like to hear from some readers that have followed the plan to loose weight - how much did you loose?, how fast? and have you kept it off?
Rating: 
Summary: Not for everyone
Review: I would like to warn potential buyers that this book is not for everyone. I purchased this book online, hoping to find a healthy way of eating, and hoping to lose 10 pounds in the process. I read the entire book (I also purched the vegetarian cookbook, although I eat fish and chicken), and it seems that the plan is very healthy, but it would not work for me for several reasons. I am 24, and I do not make the kind of money one needs to live on this sort of diet (free-range animals and organic fruits and vegetables). I also do not eat eggs, which makes following the diet impossible. Does anyone who works 40 hours a week really have time to cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day? Basically, after having read about exactly how unhealthy and destructive my eating habits/lifestyle are, all I am left with is the feeling that the only solution to dying young is to quit my job so that I can spend all day thinking about what I'm going to eat for the next week. Very frustrating.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent approach (with a few flaws)
Review: This book is a godsend in a lot of ways. It is by no means the only book out there explaining how lowering one's carbohydrates and raising one's protein intake can improve health and create realtively painless weight loss. But it has a few very valuable things that none of the others like Protein Power and CAD have: First, it gives a large number of realistic daily meal plans, which helps bring it from the world of theory into practical reality. Second, it emphasizes staying away from artificial sweeteners. (I never believed aspartame was a bad thing until a doctor convinced me to go off it and a number of nagging problems like dizziness and headaches cleared up almost overnight.)Third, it allows for a vegetarian lifestyle. Most low-carb approaches don't even consider such a possibility. Fourth, it provides a very useful chart (p.260) showing how to determine one's metabolic need for carbohydrates and how to adjust one's diet accordingly. Unfortunately, there are a few little flaws that separately may not be that big a deal but taken together do kind of undermine the book's credibility. For example: hominy is listed as a legume. Hominy is corn, with a correspondingly high carb count, and not a legume at all. Tomatoes are in the food lists twice: once as a non-starchy vegetable (therefore something to be eaten freely) and once as a fruit (and therefore something to be eaten with great restraint). Buttermilk is listed as a "bad fat." But buttermilk is a cultured milk product much like yogurt or kefir, not a "man-made" fat at all. Then there is the issue of hormone replacement therapy, which the doctor seems to recommend with alarming casualness while condemning all other drugs. I fail to see why ERT is okay but taking aspirin is not. The biggest problem, though, is that there is no real explanation of what constitutes the "healing program" and how that differs from the "maintenance program." I still don't quite understand what the maintenance program is and how to know when it is time to go on it. But even with these little problems, it is the kind of diet program that is worth it simply because it makes you feel so much better so quickly. Even if I weren't losing weight, I would still want to stay on it because I feel transformed--no more energy spikes and plummeting blood sugar, no more heartburn, no more insane craving for candy and mashed potatoes.
Rating:
Summary: This is a balanced & holistic lifestyle recommendation.
Review: This is such a sensible book. After reading Dr. S's book and starting the "healing process", I lost eight pounds in about two weeks. This is the first significant weight loss I have seen in about three years. I was previously maintaining a low fat diet and could not lose weight. I contributed it to menopause because it seemed that I could hardly eat anything or I would gain weight. Dr. S explains her theory so clearly and I hope that many people maintain optimum health from this holistic approach to healthy living.
Rating:
Summary: I'm on the fence
Review: I am on the Carbohydrate Addicts Diet and have just read about this book. I plan to get it, based on reviews here. However, I can see that most of the people who give it raves have not been on it that long. The problem is, I think, that no "diet" works that comes from outside ourselves. I do think these diets have made us look at what we are eating. And I agree that carbs/sugar are probably great culprits in our current national weight/eating disorders problem. However, I believe that over-consumption of animal fat plays as big a role as the carbs. It is not a moral issue for me - I am a vegetarian, and do eat fish - but simply a health concern. Since I became a vegetarian (no meat or chicken and little dairy to speak of, certainly no more milk) all of my allergies have disappeared! No more Irritable Bowel Syndrome; no more mouth soreness or swelling; all (inherited) arthritis aches gone, gone, gone! Still, at my age (55) it is important to limit as well the intake of pasta, bread, cakes (I have been off white sugar completely for five years). What I have learned from all these lo-carb-based books is that carbohydrate addiction, which probably afflicts most compulsive overeaters (I am one), is the result of eating almost any sugar-based food including, alas, most fruits. Nevertheless, after having been on a low-low-low carb diet now for about four weeks, and having lost quite a bit of excess weight, I am still craving carbs, very hungry until my "next" meal, whatever it is, and deep down believe that carrots, bananas, watermelon, honeydew, apples and raisins are good for me, in limited amounts. Heck, moderation is the key to everything anyway. However, I do realize that "trigger" foods, such as high-carb ones, can cause a problem eater to overeat. I may switch to this doctor's book, just to see if it works, but I don't hold out hope that any diet outside my own intuitive awareness of my body's needs will see me through for a lifetime. (I am going to look into the menopausal diet recommended by another reviewer. Somehow, that sounds more sensible. Here's to all of us guinea pigs (sorry, that wasn't meant as a pun!) PS. I welcome anyone who wants to talk about this subject. I am a veteran of Overeaters Anonymous, so if any other members want to talk about this issue, I'd appreciate it. I love OA - it's an "inside job'!
Rating:
Summary: Suitable for some, not for others
Review: I agree with all of you that the principles make sense. I am really glad I read the book. However, after 6 weeks following the healing plan, I am reconsidering. I suggest that this approach may not be suitable for people who belong to either (or both) of the following classifications: 1. People who are trading one bad habit (over-eating carbohydrates, particularly the "damaging" kind) for another bad habit (eating as much healing protein and fats as one's body "needs," whatever that is), and/or 2. People who are not overweight but who want to transform their body composition without gaining weight in the form of body fat (OK, she said this may happen, but face it: less than 1% of the people who read this book want to gain weight, especially fat!) Since I must be way out of touch with what my body needs (I could eat a great deal of protein and fat before I wanted to stop eating), I realize I need to retrain more than my body at the cellular level! Is anyone out there with me on this? Yes, total calories do count! If you are losing weight, you must have a fair amount of it to lose! Honestly, there needs to be a greater, and much more obvious discussion of portion control. I had to look and look for some definition of "balance." Now that I am frustrated with feeling fatter, I am exploring some of those other plans based on the same principles. As it appears right now, I will design for myself some hybrid between Schwarzbein's theoretical plan and whole food suggestions, and the "food block" approach in The Zone. I guess that is what we all must do ultimately -- find what works best for our individual systems!
Rating:
Summary: I love this program.
Review: I am a vegetarian so getting alot of protein has been a problem for me. Not anymore! I have alot of energy and most important I am not hungry. But one question I do have when amd what kind of dessert do we get?
Rating:
Summary: very simple to follow and a rewarding diet plan
Review: I just finished reading a few days ago. And this is my 3rd day on the diet. I feel great. I have to admit I am a little worried about calories I know she says not to worry about them but I can't help but think if I don't use the excess it will not turn into fat. Her theory makes alot of sense as far as the insulin causing degenerative diseases. I think that it so true about a balanced diet being the key. I am going to continue with the diet.Wish me luck
|
