Reviews of Lose 50 Pounds in 50 Days!: And Keep it Off!

"In 10 easy-to-digest chapters covering 66 pages, Pribyl outlines a daily diet that includes a lot of healthy food choices" -- New Era Newspaper, Lancaster, PA July 5, 2005

"It is a pragmatic book on achieving fast, easy and permanent weight loss" -- The New York Review of Books, November 17, 2005

"Lose 50 Pounds in 50 Days! And Keep it Off! is a quick read for fast and permanent weight loss" -- The Bloomsbury Review, May/June 2005 issue

"The chapters hint at the common-sense approach he uses". -- Green Bay Press Gazette, April, 2005

It is a pragmatic book on achieving fast, easy and permanent weight loss. -- The New York Review, Novenber 17, 2005

Pribyl outlines a daily diet that includes lots of liquids and healthy food choices. -- New Era, Lancaster, PA, July 5, 2005

The author has kept the weight off with an incredibly easy program. Simply, the techniques Work! -- The Bloomsbury Review, May/June 2005

The chapter titles hint at the common sense approach he uses. -- Press Gazette, Green Bay, WI, April 4, 2005

Product Description

Lose 50 Pounds in 50 Days! And Keep it Off! is an actual account of how the author lost exactly 50 pounds in 50 days in 1990 and has kept the weight off. Without special foods, classes or products!

Women's Health Perfect Body Diet: The Ultimate Weight Loss and Workout Plan to Drop Stubborn Pounds and Get Fit for Life! is an excellent addition to the literature on women's health and weight loss. It will help veterans of the dieting roller-coaster overcome hunger, build lean muscle mass, burn fat and maintain energy and mood levels.

Developed by the editors of Women's Health magazine, the eight-week program consists of two eating plans, with each of the five-to-six daily meals containing a balance of protein, fat and carbohydrate. After determining body shape, calculating ideal weight and doing a simple test for carbohydrate tolerance, readers will know which plan to follow.

Both plans pivot around hunger-banishing fiber, particularly glucomannan, a soluble fiber that stimulates satiety, helps burn fat and is featured in many of the plan recipes. Although daily meals for the entire program are charted, readers will learn enough about perfect and not-so-perfect proteins, fats and carbohydrates for their type to create meals that are low in sugar, high in nutrients and efficiently metabolized by the body.

The exercise portion of the plan is rigorous: at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day of the week (three days each, strength training and cardio workouts; one day of general physical activity), but even those with no gym experience will be able to follow the detailed daily routines. In fact, this convincing presentation of the benefits of calorie-burning exercise may cause many to dive in with enthusiasm, knowing that they can eat well and maintain their weight. (Jan.) - Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impressively modern in design, The No-Grain Diet brings a realistic viewpoint to the problems of weight loss in a genuine effort to improve the health of an ever-growing number of obese Americans. Offering a variety of "food plans," along with a set of techniques aimed at controlling emotional eating and cravings for "bad" foods, Dr. Joseph Mercola clearly understands how to motivate us--in one section, he suggests that rather than "living by the scale," we measure our success in relation to the fit of our favorite pair of slightly-too-snug jeans.

Many recipes are included, most of which are free of the boring flavor substitutes so common in diet books. The diet itself combines several familiar concepts. The "no grain" model emphasizes organic vegetables and quality protein, with limited fruits and absolutely no simple carbs. Mercola's idea of "quality protein" is somewhat startling--he is deeply concerned about toxins, and urges grass-fed beef over potentially mercury-filled fish. His main point is frequently reinforced: refined grains of any type are basically deadly and eating them should be viewed as an unhealthy addiction.

Here, the book veers off in a new direction: rather than gently nudging our habits in a new direction, he suggests we break what he insists is an addictive cycle with a method called "EFT," or "Emotional Freedom Technique." As a way to avoid surrendering to desires, his system of tapping acupressure points and repeating affirmations is used to overcome them. While repeat dieters will understand the necessity of examining emotional ties to food, Mercola's voice becomes a tad strident, and possibly downright offensive to those with a different opinion on what constitutes an addiction. --Jill Lightner

From Publishers Weekly

"Don't be surprised if you never again want to eat starches, sweets, and grains!" Osteopathic physician Mercola stands on the shoulders of Atkins (and gives a nod to Gary Taubes, author of the New York Times Magazine cover article many believe blew the lid off high-carb, low-fat diets forever) to make big claims in this guide for overweight readers. Mercola's diet, which he's honed for over a decade at his Illinois wellness center, offers "near miraculous results," and will allow its followers to "permanently conquer food cravings," he says. The secret to lasting weight loss, according to Mercola, is to cut out starches, sweets and grains entirely. (Dieters on the maintenance program are allowed "healthy" grains-buckwheat, quinoa, etc.) But though Mercola offers three different eating plans (The Booster, The Core and The Advanced Food plan) and plenty of no-grain recipes, his program goes beyond mere dieting: Mercola is a proponent of the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), a kind of "psychological acupressure" that he says is "the equivalent of AA for grain addiction." Developed by Gary Craig, EFT involves tapping on pressure points in the face and upper body while repeating a healing, key phrase, such as "Even though I want to have pizza, I deeply and completely accept myself." Mercola's course for weight loss is an intensive one, with rigorous rules and plenty of additional components-lifestyle changes, supplements and self-affirmations-that take a lot more energy than calorie counting. But that's the whole point, Mercola says, because cutting back on calories or carbs alone leads to temporary weight loss at best. For those willing to dedicate themselves to such a program, Mercola's guide may offer real results, and the case studies he includes should certainly help with motivation.