(although I probably shouldn't call it a "diet" book because it aims to make a person never diet again, but instead to "reprogram" their way of thinking.)
I am not the average diet consumer. I actually LOVE reading about the technical aspects...the studies in the New England Journal of Medicine, new findings in fitness that increase caloric burn...for me, it's good reading.
For most people it's boring as all get out.
But most people, at least in the U.S., aren't happy with their weight either.
That is why this book interested me, and I think it would anyone who wants to "lose a few" or help someone else do it, but I was very skeptical. Anyone who reads my reviews has seen me mention I am a weight loss coach and I daily see the seriousness and pain of those unhappy in their own skin. I take it seriously. I had big doubts that a book meant to help you lose weight in a lighthearted way would seriously have the facts behind it to make it happen.
It did, however.
In fact, I suggest this book to clients in my weight loss classes now. I kid you not. It's actually a new way of looking at a very old subject. When people decide to lose weight they typically are not at the peak of happiness. In fact, they are typically frustrated, depressed, full of negative self-talk, and unhappy. To then want to read a very serious book about weight loss doesn't always fly. Or even hear someone talk about it. But I have read good serious books about weight loss...I am not panning them; they just don't make most people want to read 'em cover-to-cover typically.
The difference here is that this gives you REAL facts (and I will personally back 'em up. I am the world's biggest skeptic on weight loss books and marketing because of my profession so I am IMPRESSED that this was no fad new gimmick, no silly suggestions. This is a motivator but still backed by the biggest medical studies in HOW to lose weight. I can quote you the biggest medical studies because I love facts.) The differene here is that those facts(...all the "REAL DEAL" facts, not just ones meant to sell a book) are here, but you WANT to read them because of the humor interspersed to make it interesting. Yep, boring facts are laid out so you enjoy them, and the biggest difference, make you motivated to change.
Motivation to change...you know how your friends can tell you things that motivate you that most books couldn't? Those things that stick? This is filled with them. The writer is, without a doubt, hilarious...but what I love is that the facts stick because of how they are written. Yes, you'll know all about BMI, the diet industry, the brainwashing of advertising, weight loss myths, waist-to-hip ratio, the fact that statistically across the board men and women weight 25 lbs more on average than we all did 40 years ago and why...you'll learn tons of stuff that is all science based, but you'll laugh hysterically at what you learn, and how you learn REALLY how to get it off.
Here's what I mean as an example. We all make excuses when we want something that is an indulgence even if we aren't hungry, right? That dessert at the end of the buffet line? The donut in the work lounge after we aleady ate breakfast? Do you know that many I work with who begin fitness programs for the first time gain weight because they use it as justification for more eating (rather than muscle gain) often with the phrase "a car cannot run without fuel and so I need more fuel to work out". Oh, we all have those justifcation phrases in our head. She gives you phrases to think in response to those when they hit. Here's an example of the chapter on calories:
"How much do we really know about calories? Let's find out. We know the basic concept that calories are like fuel.. We know that, like cars, our bodies nead fuel to run. However, we also know that if you put too much fuel in your car, it spits and splashes on your shoes, so calories aren't exactly like fuel, and certainly not as expensive." She goes on to spell it out: "When cars are completely fueled up, they can't hold any more gas. When people are completely fueled up, they can still eat another cookie"
This begins a chapter, filled with jokes, but really, really solid facts of how to look at it. How to realize that weight loss happens when you take in less calories than your body burns so it dips into that spare tank (fat) to keep it going. And thus, the loss. This is often forgotten in the land of marketing of magic pills and restricting things like carbs...the actual science. Yes, she goes into determining your caloric needs, the basal metabolic rate, etc. but she does it while you are dying laughing at the jokes and cartoons in every line and page. Do I love that? I do. Yes, we were conditioned that not finishing our plate is "wasting" it. That's addressed. Those mental blocks.
There is a summation at the end of each chapter. Although I only shared a couple of paragraphs of that chapter, here's an example of the summation:
Calories are not the enemy, but that doesn't mean you can turn your back on them.
If your gas tank were as stretchy as your stomach, you could hardly afford to drive to work.
Some people do not have enough to eat. You are not one of them.
Nothing is off-limits if you limit how much you eat. Okay, so all that's simple. We kinda know all that. But the book goes into toxic ingredients that affect us, it goes into the same reprogramming I use in my weight loss classes, it digs deep to show you facts about sugar, salt, nutrition labels, foods that will shock you, facts that will shock you. And, more importantly, it is interactive. It asks you questions about yourself for self-discovery. And that, too, is a tool we weight loss instructors know must be done to help in weight loss.
As for the writing style, I had a hysterical English teacher when I was in high school. To this day, I remember actual sentences he said in teaching simply because they were taught with humor. So they stuck long after my dry science teacher's lesson left my brain immediately after the test.
Funny how that works. Literally.
I expected to not like this book. I like few weight loss books. But this actually isn't a diet book. It's about changes in your life that are easy to do that result in proven weight loss. It's even more about getting them into your brain in a hilarious way so you understand them and remember them when you are wanting to pick up a bad habit or a red velvet cupcake again.
I use motivational quotes when I help those in my groups to lose weight. They stick. She does too. In fact, I came into this book quite sure I wouldn't like it but the methods used are all those that any weight loss professional is taught to use to make lasting changes. Everything is hit on in the book...emotional eating rather than out of hunger and how to get past it, affirmations, reprogramming, the facts of what works and what doesn't.
You won't open this book and get a diet plan. It's more of a guide that will cause you to make changes. And I personally believe that's actually what people need. Losing weight means it's something you expect to find again. Dropping weight for good is a whole other mindset.
Negatives: I try to never leave any of my Amazon reviews without a negative so that it gives the full picture. The only thing I could think of here is that if you are expecting your food to be mapped out for you, you won't find it in here. That's a positive for me because you aren't in a deprivation phase which doesn't last...but if you are expecting it, know that going in. If you are really serious and dry, you'll also probably want something else because this is full of jokes and cartoons in spite of the dry subject. Honestly, fact-wise and motivation-wise, however, I have no negatives. I just don't.
CONCLUSION: This is my "hot list" book to suggest for weight loss. Anyone can "get it" and have tons of "aha!" moments and stop beating themselves and their plates down and be motivated in new ways for change that stick...and the book makes you actually WANT to read it from cover to cover...I didn't write any of the humor examples but they are pretty much in every sentence. When I am a raving fan of something it's quickly evident in my reviews. When I hate something, I spell out why just as clearly.
Raving fan. And, because raving fans always make me think they know the author or have some other personal interest in the book, I will state outright that I absolutely do not... I rarely have time to read a book (very few of my reviews are for books) so it has to wow me.
So well done on a subject that is my personal passion.
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The Diet Joke (Paperback)Product Description: Ready to lighten up? This easy-to-follow reprogramming guide can help. Filled with humor and fun,
The Diet Joke is a laugh-riot, common-sense approach to better health. Funny lady Lisa Pedace takes readers on an entertaining journey that begins with the word "diet" and ends with a smile, with plenty of belly laughs in between. What we eat, why we eat, how we diet--it's all covered in knee-slapping style. Funny illustrations and thought-provoking activities drive the message home: It's time we take better care of ourselves. Who says losing weight has to be so serious?
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