[.ca] Your Body, Your Diet: A Complete Program for Losing ... (ISBN 0345479114)

Your Body, Your Diet:
Elizabeth Dane is a genius! I can't believe how much her book and philosophy has helped me. I have dropped over 20 pounds since I got her book and my energy level has increased more than I ever dreamed it could. I've tried so many ways to lose weight and increase my energy and what Elizabeth has written is magic. Dr. Dane's knowledge of what works is simply amazing! You'll agree.

Transformative Book!:
Wow! What a book! This book is an astonishing work. Not only does the author cover all that is necessary, she actually taught me to create an eating plan that works right for me - for my body, for who I am. Talk about customized! I felt like I'd spent hours getting a personal consultation from her by the time I'd read the book. The information is worth the effort. Her website supplemented what I learned in the text and I find myself feeling better all the time! (And looking healthier, too!)

Not another diet book, please!:
Only a very small percentage of us do not enjoy sugar, salt, enriched flour products, dairy foods and a good cup of coffee. Yet the author of this book is telling us that these are the very foods we are to avoid (packaged foods, as the book says, and more): breads, cereals, cakes, cookies, doughnuts, crackers, additives, sweeteners, pasta (yes, pasta), muffins, white sugar, beet sugar, cane sugar (ALL sugar...really? How can you do that?), butter, margarine, mayonnaise, soft drinks (yes, diet too), beef, lamb, veal, shellfish, olives, pretzels, even white rice and dozens more. What's left? What foods don't fit into any of these groups? This is the most far-fetched and preposterous book about dieting that I've read in recent memory. The author has NO references. Not one single bibliographic reference to support her claims, which I find highly annoying. I can't believe someone with a Ph.D. wouldn't do research! "Your Body..." is 500 pages and 23 chapters, filled with mere philosophical anecdotes and personal experiences and recipes that are nearly impossible to follow. "If you're feeling irritated" (with the new diet) "you're par for the course" (and you'll just have to be satisfied with an unsatisfying meal), as if the body WOULDN'T cry out for some real food! How can we "customize an effective diet based on your own unique metabolism" or "discover the right balance of nutrients for your body" if all but five percent of available foods are summarily dismissed? What about taste? What about Christmas? Are we supposed to mope about while all our friends really get to enjoy holiday meals and treats? Our author dismisses that popular foods still contain nutrients in spite of their high calories. Pizza has a balance of protein, carbs and fats (which are necessary to feel satisfied after a meal). Ice cream is loaded with calcium and protein. Also diminished in this book is the importance of fats in the body. Not only are the presented diets too restrictive, too bland, they are contrary to the basic premise of enjoying a meal. Mostly it's about prep time, which few of us have in our busy day. These recipes take a long time to make! We buy processed foods because the FDA has ensured that they are, in fact, the safest in the world, delicious and nutritious. And how could I "be my best self" as the book says if I really want to eat--but can't, if I want to be "happy"--a food that is "forbidden?" Books like this look attractive, but they all end up in the same places: in the discount bin, forgotten, because nobody could actually develop a consistent lifestyle around it. The rest of this "work" is common sense, and we've already figured out which foods are beneficial and which are not. I only gave more than one star because the writing style is good and the page layout attractive. But that's it. If I'm wrong, then why is it selling for only one-third of it's original price?

More than a Diet - A Lifelong Self Improvement Tool:
So far, I recommend it highly. It's working for me, I feel awesome and I've only been using this for two weeks. Very meaty info, yet easy to read and understand. the most interesting health book I've ever read. Personally, I am less concerned about weight loss than overall health, but this book appealed to me because of the integration of Chinese Medicine and Western Science, and the Meta-type concept convinced me I could live a healthier lifestyle, specifically tailored to my body and personality, even if I don't need to lose weight. "Complementary" medicine is growing in popularity but no one else has ever clearly explained concepts like Yin and Yang, for example, in ways we can understand through science. Dr. Elizabeth Dane very clearly and in a friendly way, explains how Yin and Yang (Chinese) are aligned with our nervous system and body energies (Western science). I started slow with the book, on the healthy eating and exercises, and then I add more ideas from the book in phases. I go back to it daily, understanding my Meta-type specifics, picking up new ways of relaxing and managing stress, modifying recipes from magazines like Cooking Light with my Meta-type foods. What I don't need is another book filled of charts of calories/fiber/fat that some lab puts out for every single body as "ideal" that's impossible that I have to memorize. Yuck. I've seen all different body typing studies, but none that is as comprehensive as this. This one includes mental, spiritual and all other experiences of health besides eating less to lose weight. I recommend it highly.

A Perfect Blend of Chinese Medicine and Western Science:
People who cannot see past the broad, quick-fix diets of our generation may react skeptically, even harshly to the methods outlined in Dr. Elizabeth Dane's book, "Your Body, Your Diet." Even more naïve are those who still want to believe that we are not affected by what we put in our bodies. Nothing could be further from the truth. What is also true, and is most often overlooked, is that who we ARE often defines what we WANT to put in our bodies. Our Meta-type determines our needs and our cravings, good and bad. This ideology is the very fiber of Dr. Dane's methods. By understanding our unique self, we take the greatest leap toward health and happiness. There's a reason why diet "gurus" can pop out a new book every six months and have it sell-chances are their last book didn't work for you and you're left still searching for a solution. There's also a reason Dr. Elizabeth Dane has put out only ONE book in over 25 years of practice as a clinical nutritionist and O.M.D. (Oriental Medical Doctor)-because this book is the only one you will need. It's a perfect blend of Chinese Medicine and Western Science, based on Dr. Dane's original, frontline research-real work she's done with real people for over two decades. The problem with most "quick fix" diets it that they don't require any real change in lifestyle. They offer just a few new recipes and cutting out some snacks, and more exercise, of course-just re-hashing the obvious things we've been told for years. But because diets such as these don't require much change, they don't affect much real change either. Dr. Dane's book succeeds because of an approach that's targeted to the individual-it's not a "one-size-fits-all" or "diet-of-the-month." Her plan may be harder to adjust to at first, and can initially appear very time consuming. But then, millions of Americans have wasted lots of time reading through new diet book after new diet book over the years. And as with anything, once a routine is developed, these changes become a part of daily life-and, best of all, Dr. Dane's results are permanent.