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Prevention Promotional Photo
Prevention Magazine, publisher of the Flat Belly Diet, is drumming up a media groundswell with its soon-to-be-released 400 Calorie Fix diet book. You can almost hear the background drumrolls as they promote the November 19 Rachael Ray Show on which they will feature a woman who lost six pounds in two days on the 400 Calorie Fix diet. (What exactly is impressive about this? The contestants on The Biggest Loser banish almost that much weight in the first 15 minutes of every show.)
What is this new miracle plan, this silver bullet, this diet to end all diets? Prevention is being cagey by leaking out only tiny snippets of information, but the scoop is that the diet is based on eating 3-4 meals of 400 calories each. (For the math impaired, that’s a total of 1200-1600 calories for the day.) Loudly trumpeted with this information is, “There are no bad foods! Nothing is forbidden!” (Nothing is forbidden except that additional 1200 calories you’d like to eat once you’ve finished your three or four 400-calorie meals.)
Has anyone else noticed that this is just counting calories in neat 400-calorie increments? Yes, of course it will work. Almost everyone can lose weight on 1600 calories/day. So why exactly should you shell out your $31.95 for this nicely packaged and over-marketed book? Do you really need another lesson in “to lose weight you’ve got to eat fewer calories than you burn”? The 400 Calorie Fix does reportedly offer 400 recipes for 400-calorie meals, so this is for you if you like to cook and would rather spend $31.95 than use a free online calorie counting site such as Calorie Count or the Daily Plate.
Alternatively, check out some of the Madison Diet & Exercise Examiner articles on lowering the count on your liquid calories, satisfying your deepest hunger, and prescription food for health and beauty. They’re all free, by the way, and lovingly written for your slimming consumption.
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Other articles you may find of interest:
Yes, as a matter of fact, liquid calories do make your butt look big: part 1
Yes, as a matter of fact, liquid calories do make your butt look big: part 2
Water: the miracle diet elixir
When everything is tempting and nothing sounds good: satisfying your deepest hunger
When accumulated grief keeps you overweight
Special diet Rx: food for health and beauty
Super-charge your diet and fitness program with the breath of life
Ironman is out: a fitness plan for the less ambitious
Kick it with your own shape-up boot camp
Comments
Great review and commentary! One day it is going to click for everyone, a light bulb will go one and everone will know what they eat and how much they physical do are directly connected to their weight. Until then we will continue to see books touting new ways to promote calorie counting and new videos showing how to move our bodies. LOL!
Your awesome review just saved me $31.95. Thanks!
There are so many books out there claiming to have the "fix" for fatness. Unless by chance, they are a pop up book with a large hammer timed to clunk you in the noggin everytime you reach for a Snickers bar, it still boils down to self discipline, and you can not get that for $31.95. An overweight persons mentality, and I speak from experience as a life long overweight person...is to get the most for the least amount of effort...which is why diets that claim you can eat anything, and do nothing appeal so much to us. I can write a book holding the miracle diet solution secret of shhhhhhhhh ...portion control....shhhhhhhh...and do the same thing this diet book is doing. Omg!!! Who would have thunk it!!??? What will they say works next, regular exercise? I'm going to start saving my money for that book now. Nothing I like better than reading a book to find out what I already know. lol
This is very good advice. I agree. I wouldn't buy the book, and instead, would go to one of the calorie counting sites you mentioned.
Your article gives yet another option for serious thought. One diet does not fit all, so you help many with your well composed information.Thank you
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