Having lost and gained the same 20 pounds for most of my life, I have crowned myself “Queen of the Yo-Yo Sisterhood” in reference to my many ups and downs of dieting. If there’s a diet, I’ve tried it.
After gaining an extraordinary amount of weight with my first child, I trod in uncharted territory, becoming obese. Through portion control, quality control and frequency patrol, I have lost nearly 40 pounds without dieting and have given up on that self-sabotaging habit forever.
Then along came Snack Yourself Slim by Richard Warburg, PhD, JD and Tessa Lorant, MA. Touted as a non-diet book, and titled with an irresistible assertion, I couldn’t wait to begin.
Alas, I should have stopped at the title. The basic principles in this lightweight, half-assed, typo-riddled piece could easily have fit in an 8-1/2” x 11” two-fold pamphlet instead of meandering into a 140-page book.
With Warburg’s PhD, I would have expected an assuring, perhaps even authoritarian tone, rather than this shallow, contradictory, repetitive piece. The writing style is casual and sometimes cutesy. And when an author declares, “no pun intended” more than twice, you know it was on purpose.
The premise of Warburg and Lorant’s eating plan is to break up what you would regularly eat in a day into 12 to 17 small meals called EATALL(TM) portions, eating every hour upon waking until bedtime. Followers of the EATALL(TM) plan are cautioned to not eat more than they are accustomed to. Simply re-allocate what they usually eat in one day, to more than a dozen snacks of approximately 100 calories each.
This revolutionary approach claims to help you lose “waist” (no pun intended, the authors claim), reduce cholesterol and stabilize, or maybe even cure, diabetes.
EATALL(TM) is a catchall meaning any type of food or activity that reduces the calories of meals. Warburg, at 6 feet tall and a whopping 178 lbs., discovered the EATALL(TM) way after desperately trying to lose four pounds. What he miraculously found was that while using the EATALL(TM) way, he lost an amazing 18 pounds in two months by eating small food portions many times a day.
The book is divided into a hodgepodge of sections, touching on the psychology and science of the EATALL(TM) plan, testimonials from EATALL(TM) plan success stories, how to use the EATALL(TM) plan, and suggested foods to use in the EATALL(TM) plan.
Article comments
1 - carol
She complains about "preparing snacks all day". What's to prepare for a half cup of cottage cheese and a cracker? a piece of whole wheat toast? a piece of bread with a slice of cheese on it? a piece of fruit? a piece of leftover chicken? a spoonful of peanut butter? The real time consuming deal is preparing a full blown dinner, altho it can yield leftovers. maybe.
what's she preparing for snacks? fancy hor d'oeuvres? little danish finger sandwiches?
This complaint made her sound a bit dense, when it came to common sense. which she abandoned as she escalated her assault on the book into near hysteria.
2 - skinnierthanyou
you sound like a fat miserable person. Just wanted to let you know that your article put me off to anything you would ever write in the future. There is a way to critique people without bashing them.
I've lost so much weight doing it and it teaches you portion control so you can eat whatever you want to, but keep it within the 100 calorie range every hour. That's what skinny people do, and that's why they say they can eat WHATEVER they want, it's just you eat a huge portion and they don't. GET IT NOW?
3 - carfash
For a food addict as I am, this "diet" or plan is perfect for me. It takes no time to do the snacks and I know that in 45-55 minutes, I can have more. Cutting down portions to this extent of 100 cals per hour, helps the stomach to "shrink" and get used to smaller portions. I do interspace it with high and low calorie days and I seem to lose more from the high calorie days, but perhaps that's just me, as dieting is so individual anyway. I put everything on the computer and I'm very happy with this approach. I have learned from this plan to be aware, i.e., mindful eating, to be patient, to have better understanding on calorie content and portion control and that 100 calories will satisfy a person's (mine) to overeat."Each to his own, said the old woman as she kissed the cow." (old southern saying) OH, by the way, I think you learn more about any approach if you try it for more than only one day. In this plan, you need to record your daily weigh, daily fruit and vegetable intake and other details as per individual need.