"You on a Diet"

This is an interesting blog post from kissmekate- she is dissenting a bit on Dr Mehmet Oz. Oz is the weight loss doc of the moment, and it is refreshing to hear a real world take on him.

I finally got around to reading the book this weekend. I've been meaning to for a while, and a lot of my groupmates have read it, with varying reactions.

I have to say, overall, I wasn't thrilled. The majority of the book consists of detailed medical explanations of what goes on in our digestive systems, and why it's important to eat certain foods, to not eat certain foods, to exercise, etc. It's presented well, it's very clear, and it's all important information. That wasn't my problem.

My problem with the book is that you get to the last section, and it outlines a very specific 14-day diet and exercise plan, complete with a shopping list, recipes, and tips. Their claim is that you will definitely lose a few pounds and your waist will get smaller. The issue I have with that is that it's so rigid. You have to make all your food yourself; you have to stick to a very specific diet; you have to exercise every day, sometimes twice a day. Well, DUH, of course you'll lose weight if you can do that.

But it's just like every other diet plan with specific meals, snacks, "no-no" foods: they are HARD for normal people to follow, because normal people have busy lives, are on the run, are faced with temptations, need to eat out sometimes, can't always find the time to exercise...the list goes on. And for normal people, trying to follow such a rigid diet is a setup for failure - you slip up one time and you feel like you blew it. It's not realistic.

That being said, there were some good things I took away from the book. I am going to try to exercise more - their "baseline" is 30 minutes of walking every day, and I know they're right about its importance. I wish I had room for a treadmill at home. Anyway, that's going to be one of my future goals.

I also took away a lot of good clear information about certain foods and how to incorporate them into a healthy diet - I'm going to use more olive oil and continue to eat more fruit and walnuts, and I'm going to try to lower my intake of high fructose corn syrup, which I know will be a tough one.

I guess my bottom line is that the book is worth reading and there is a lot of helpful information, but I'm just not thrilled about the way they present the implementation. It's too "all or nothing" for my taste.

by: Kate, Wednesday, February 14, 2007 8:03 PM

Link

Fri. Feb 16, 1:12pm

It really doesn't have to be all or nothing. Even Dr Oz himself suggested trying to incorporate the suggestions and dietary changes over time, or trying one new thing every week, which I've been working on. I just keep trying to improve, try to eat more vegies, reduce "white" foods like flour, sugar, salt, add a new exercise one at a time., find more foods from whole grains, etc. I'm not much for some big rigid program either, but some people can do that. I don't think most people can though. It's just not realistic for the average person.

Thursday, March 15, 2007, 6:02 AM

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