Weighing the new diet books
As surely as the scale creeps up a pound or two during the holidays, we resolve to lose weight in the new year. And, just as surely, a new batch of diet books arrives on shelves, promising not just weight loss, but a lifetime healthy eating plan to replace all those fad diets that have failed you in the past. Here’s how some shape up.-Elizabeth Lee, Cox News Service
“The Reverse Diet” by Tricia Cunningham and Heidi Skolnik (Wiley, $24.95).
The plan: Heavier meals in the morning, light ones at night
Sample dinner: Hot lemon water and 2 cups of cooked spinach dusted with Parmesan
No-no list: Fast food, ham, peanut butter with added sugar
Celebrity endorsement: None
“French Women for All Seasons” by Mireille Guiliano (Knopf, $24.95)
The plan: Eat small portions of seasonal food, walk, enjoy wine, dress stylishly.
Sample dinner: Duck breasts with honey glaze; braised carrots with ginger; fresh Florida citrus
No-no list: Eating out of season; drinking wine without food; living without pleasure
Celebrity endorsement: Guiliano herself, author of the top-selling “French Women Don’t Get Fat” and president and CEO of
Clicquot Inc.
“The Best Life Diet” by Bob Greene (Simon & Schuster, $26)
The plan: Gradual changes toward regular meals, exercise, better nutrition and eating for hunger, not comfort
Sample dinner: Steak salad; baked sweet potato topped with low-fat yogurt and reduced-fat sour cream
No-no list: Fat-marbled ground beef; alcohol (for at least eight weeks); sweetened, low-fiber cereals
Celebrity endorsement: Oprah Winfrey; marketing tie-ins with General Mills, Unilever and others
“5 Essentials for a Winning Life” by Chris Carmichael and Jim Rutberg (Rodale, $24.95)
The plan: Balance relationships, career, fitness, nutrition and health to live life to its fullest.
Sample dinner: Grilled, roasted or baked pork tenderloin; steamed green beans; two baked small new potatoes
No-no list: Soda, corn syrup, trans fats, alcohol (for three weeks), tobacco and calorie-laden coffee drinks
Celebrity endorsement: Lance Armstrong, whom Carmichael coached
“The F-Factor Diet” by Tanya Zuckerbrot (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $24.95)
The plan: High fiber and lean protein at every meal, to feel full on fewer calories
Sample dinner: Mixed green salad with vinaigrette, 6-ounce broiled sole with lemon, 1 cup sautéed broccoli, hot tea
No-no list: For the first two weeks, no starchy food, including bread, beans and pasta; also, no milk, fruit juice or fatty meats
Celebrity endorsement: Brian Dennehy
“The Juan-Carlos Cruz Calorie Countdown Cookbook” by Juan-Carlos Cruz (Gotham, $26.95)
The plan: Start by eliminating 100 to 150 calories a day, and over five weeks, work up to cutting 500 calories. Exercise.
Sample dinner: Gazpacho; crab and avocado quesadilla; steamed asparagus; banana cream pie
No-no list: Mindless eating, sodas, junk food, sports drinks, orange juice from concentrate, whole milk and high-calorie
coffee drinks
Celebrity endorsement: Cruz himself, a former pastry chef and star of Food Network’s “Calorie Commando” and “Weighing In”
Staying on track
These websites can help keep you on track if you’re trying to lose weight: howstuffworks.com/calorie.htm
We associate calories with food, but a calorie is just a measurement of energy (the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius) that can apply to anything. How Stuff Works explains how this relates to your weight and includes links to basic charts showing the caloric content of different foods and the calories burned by various physical activities.
calorie-count.com
The handy site is built around a huge database listing the calories and nutritional info for all kinds of foods, even unusual dishes such as bison and menu items at popular restaurants.
nutritiondata.com
Nutrition Data provides complete nutrient listings for all types of food for people trying to watch their weight or those with special dietary needs.
caloriesperhour.com
Calories Per Hour is a kind of streamlined version of Calorie-Count. It offers many dieting tools, such as calculators for weight loss and calories burned by various activities.
iateapie.net
I Ate a Pie provides dozens of reviews for packaged diet foods sold in grocery stores. Considering the scads of products just in the frozen-foods aisles, this is a highly useful service for those who are counting calories.
ivillage.com
The comprehensive diet section at iVillage not only includes many of the tools of the other websites but also articles and features typical of an online magazine.
diet-i.com
Diet Information has subjective overviews of various diet plans, although navigating among the many ads can be cumbersome.
-Randy Salas, Minneapolis Star Tribune
