[.ca] Suzanne Somers' Eat Great, Lose Weight (ISBN 0609800582)

From Amazon.com:
Years ago, Suzanne Somers lost the chance to appear on a hit television series because she was "too chunky." That missed opportunity started her on a "diet roller coaster," trying all kinds of diets. Now Somers believes that diets and deprivation do not help people lose weight in the long-term. In Eat Great, Lose Weight, she explains the food-combining plan she calls "Somersizing": eliminate "funky foods" such as sugar ("my body's greatest enemy") and white flour; eat fruits alone on an empty stomach; eat proteins and fats with vegetables and without carbohydrates; eat carbohydrates with vegetables and without fat. Sommers presents 113 recipes that certainly don't resemble a traditional diet and might make a weight-loss expert's hair curl, such as Crispy Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella Finger Sandwiches, Flourless Cheese Souffle (with butter, eggs, cream cheese, and Gruyère cheese), and Grilled Pepper Steak with Herb Butter (trim the fat from the meat, but add both butter and olive oil). There's no nutritional breakdown, so you can't count fat or calories. Somers admits that "many experts will argue that food combining is a myth," but she says it works for her, and she credits it with trimming her down to 116 pounds, even though she eats "more than ever."

Just plain delicious!:
Whether or not you follow the somersize program, you will love the recipes from Suzanne Somers! They are very tasty! And for anyone looking to find delicious ways to include more vegetables in your diet you'll find lots of ways to incorporate them.

it works, in SOOOOO many ways, but beware!:
Suzanne's books are written in an easy-going personal style with lots of anecdotes about her family life and career to support the theories of food combining. You will not find any graphs, charts, diagrams, or otherwise "scientific" information to back up the claims here--just true life success stories from obese people who have reclaimed their lives and health after starting on this way of eating. I have been on this way of eating for 4 months and everyone keeps asking me if I've done something with my hair, skin, weight, etc., because every aspect of me has improved since I started this way of eating. Keep the compliments coming! CRAVINGS: YES, you will get them the first week as your body adjusts to eliminating caffeine, sugars, chemicals, starches, etc. After 1-2 weeks, the headaches subside as your body relearns to accept and metabolize REAL food. Like a drug junkie, the initial detox period is the most difficult. Being a sugar junkie is REAL and not imagined. WEIGHT LOSS: Not everyone loses weight at the same rate. It took Suzanne 2 MONTHS to see results on this way of eating. I saw results in 4 days--while I was immobilized by a back injury (no excercise here). And if you exercise regularly, don't necessarily expect to lose weight--expect to lose INCHES! Your goal shouldn't be a number on the scale, but rather a body fat index. If you lose fat inches all around but gain muscle, who cares how much you weigh? DIFFICULTY: If you're used to preparing all your meals from a box (pasta, hamburger helper, instant potatoes, ortega, rice-a-roni, etc.) you will find this way of eating VERY challenging at first. You will learn how to prepare meals using WHOLE food ingredients, rather than processed foods full of chemicals. Real food can take lots of time to prepare--but doesn't have to: tonight I cooked gourmet herb omelettes, filled with veggies and cheese, for me and my friend in 10 minutes. If you need meal ideas and suggestions for quick and easy meals, get Suzanne's 4th book on this, "Quick and Easy", or visit the discussion boards at suzannesomers.com. CONFUSION: Some people complain about being confused on this way of eating because it involves combining food groups, eating at different intervals, etc. Any new diet has a learning curve that you must adjust to. So expect to be a bit confused at first. The book has a helpful "cheat sheet" to guide you in food choices and timelines. You can carry this with you in the supermarket or restaurants (YES, you can eat at McDonalds and Wendy's on this way of eating!!). GREAT TIP: Check out suzanne's web site and visit the Chat Room to get instant live help from others who are on this way of eating, or visit the Discussion Boards to get thousands of recipes, meal ideas, dieting tips, etc. to help you live out the principles espoused in this book. BEST OF ALL: The way of life described in this book really works! I have never felt better, I sleep better, am steadily losing weight, love all the fabulous food I eat, never feel hungry or deprived, can eat as much as I want, and have stopped craving all the starchy and sugary foods that used to comprise my diet. TRY IT!!

Life Changing Book!:
I just didn't believe it could be true, which is why I had this book in my closet for three years following the time I purchased it. I was scared of it. Scared I could never eat like that and lose weight. Surely, it wouldn't work for me, I thought. For some lucky folks, it may, I believed, but not for me. Finally, in desperation, I pulled out my copy a month ago and have been following it faithfully ever since. I have lost 28 pounds since I began and I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! This is the most amazing program, thing, idea, way of eating, I have ever heard of. I am a woman who has fought her weight all of her life! I have had times in my life when I was thin, yes, and I literally starved myself to get and stay there. Well, food is life and you can only white knuckle is so long before you give in and blow it. I have lost over 80 pounds three times in my life and I have always gained it back. I have cried myself to sleep for the past 30 years asking God for an answer, I just wanted to be normal, a normal person, able to eat and not balloon out. Obesity is a terrible disease and those who suffer from it are treated with such contempt by our society. I won't go into too much about Suzannes program itself as there is plently of information out there, check out www.suzannesomers.com. All I can tell is that this program has worked for me and I am thrilled! This is NOT A DIET, I know it sounds cliche', but it is true, this really is a way of life, a wonderful, enjoyable, tasty, rich, way of eating and living. I can do this forever! I eat more now than I have ever eaten before in the past, even at my heaviest!!! This book was the answer to my prayers! I am free, I know, I will never be fat again! I PROMISE THIS PROGRAM IS LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER TRIED BEFORE....LIFE CHANGING! POWERFUL! AN ANSWERD PRAYER!

Excellent book! Even if you struggle with eating disorders.:
There is not much to add since there are already quite a few reviews already listed on this site, but I just wanted to add one thing... a really important benefit. This is a fantastic program for anyone who wants to loose weight, or just feel healthier and more energetic, but it is also a program that actually works for people who are or have been struggling with eating disorders. I have had problems with both anorexia and bulimia for a number of years in the past and have always had an odd relationship with food. Although I have been "healthy" for a few years now (it's kind of like having been an alcoholic, you're never cured you just add to the time you are in recovery...). Every time I approach a diet of any kind to loose weight, all the bad memories and bad habits are threatening to return plus my body completely shuts down and goes into starvation mode hanging on to every tiny bit of food you allow yourself to consume. The result is that you don't loose any weight at all - you're just hungry and depressed! With Somersizing this is not a problem anymore. I feel like I have finally been "saved"! Being addicted to food (weather it be lack there of or too much of it) is a real problem, in fact it is to some degree even harder than a drug addiction. Food is LEAGAL, and it is EVERYWHERE... and you actually NEED food to survive, unlike drugs... But enough of that... back to Somersizing... The fact that you can eat until you are full you never feel hungry thus eliminating bad flash backs, and since you don't have to eliminate any whole huge food groups (see Atkins for example) you never feel bored or deprived either. It is simply AMAZING! You feel energized, healthy and happy, and your body actually responds like it is supposed to do - by loosing weight! I never was able to establish a healthy relationship with food until I read Suzanne's book, I thought that in order to be free from the eating disorders I had to accept being a little chunky (not fat but still unhappy with my weight) since my metabolism was severely disrupted by all my roller-coaster diets and my years of disorders and would not comply with a normal diet structure. Not so anymore! I finally ENJOY food! Thank you Suzanne!!!

Excellent book! Even if you struggle with eating disorders.:
There is not much to add since there are already quite a few reviews already listed on this site, but I just wanted to add one thing... a really important benefit. This is a fantastic program for anyone who wants to loose weight, or just feel healthier and more energetic, but it is also a program that actually works for people who are or have been struggling with eating disorders. I have had problems with both anorexia and bulimia for a number of years in the past and have always had an odd relationship with food. Although I have been "healthy" for a few years now (it's kind of like having been an alcoholic, you're never cured you just add to the time you are in recovery...). Every time I approach a diet of any kind to loose weight, all the bad memories and bad habits are threatening to return plus my body completely shuts down and goes into starvation mode hanging on to every tiny bit of food you allow yourself to consume. The result is that you don't loose any weight at all - you're just hungry and depressed! With Somersizing this is not a problem anymore. I feel like I have finally been "saved"! Being addicted to food (weather it be lack there of or too much of it) is a real problem, in fact it is to some degree even harder than a drug addiction. Food is LEAGAL, and it is EVERYWHERE... and you actually NEED food to survive, unlike drugs... But enough of that... back to Somersizing... The fact that you can eat until you are full you never feel hungry thus eliminating bad flash backs, and since you don't have to eliminate any whole huge food groups (see Atkins for example) you never feel bored or deprived either. It is simply AMAZING! You feel energized, healthy and happy, and your body actually responds like it is supposed to do - by loosing weight! I never was able to establish a healthy relationship with food until I read Suzanne's book, I thought that in order to be free from the eating disorders I had to accept being a little chunky (not fat but still unhappy with my weight) since my metabolism was severely disrupted by all my roller-coaster diets and my years of disorders and would not comply with a normal diet structure. Not so anymore! I finally ENJOY food! Thank you Suzanne!!!