Eat Carbs, Lose Weight: Drop All the Pounds You Want ...

Yes Carbs and yummy foods even my kids like eatting!!!:
I borrowed this book from the library as I wasn't sure if I would like it. I like Denise Austin and use her tapes but I wasn't sure about her diet, plus I was considering the glycemic diet as well. I liked the fact that this diet is very simliar to the principles followed in the glycemic diet, except it uses the glycemic load of the food (a more updated version based on newer studies), which allows more foods I personally like and are extremely health beneficial to be eaten like watermelon, pineapple, etc. This diet doesn't leave me feeling hunger or having cravings like other diets I have been on. I have read the entire book and have been following the diet plan for 11 days and have lost 7 lbs in the first week! I like it so much I am going to buy the book something I never do, because this diet suits me so well. I tried south beach and did lose 30 lbs while on it (which over the course of the holidays was regained), but now finding myself being a single mother of 2 children, I wanted less time consuming recipes with afforable foods that my children would like eatting too, this plan has that. If you don't want to or can't cook all your meals Denise gives you guidelines for substitutions, eatting out, how to maintain once you reach your goal weight. She does suggest you follow her plan as written for the first 28 days but she is reasonable and even advises if there is something you don't like, have a food allergy, or is simply not to your taste substitute it with another meal from the plan you do like or with a food from the substitution list. Denise also gives guidelines for exercising which is stressed as key for life long health, steady weight loss, and maintenance. The only thing that would of made this book better is a shopping list for each week of the plan since she would like you to follow the plan exactly during that time. I understand way she didn't after the first 28 days you can mix and substitute rendering the lists useless, but it still would of been nice. That said I would highly recommend this diet to anyone who loves carbs and enjoys cooking healthy tasty meals.

antiquated:
I have read a few of Denise Austin's books. Frankly, I think her methods are a bit antiquated. The Glycemic Load index that she bases her entire book on is really just a reinvention of the glycemic index diet. Despite the fact that the glycemic load is an improved version of the glycemic index it simply isn't enough to base an entire book on. Frankly, books that do this better are the LA SHAPE DIET or WINNING BY LOSING. All in all, I think Denise is outdated and derivative. Wouldn't waste money on this one.

Low Calorie, Complex Carb, Low Glycemic Diet Book:
Denise Austin's book, if you follow her plan, will help you lose weight. It comes from keeping calories very low (fewer than 1500 a day), eating complex carbs and protein, and exercising. There is nothing here that a person cannot get off the internet for free or in a fitness magazine from the grocery store. Austin has "daily dozen" exercises, which are a cross between yoga moves and calisthenics, and she says 30 minutes of walking a day is also necessary. Duh. She also points out the the Daily Dozen are really for people who are sedentary and not those who already are pretty fit. Another thing that bugged me was that she "tried" the low-carb diet for ONE day and it made her tried and cranky so she KNEW that it was bogus. Well, I'm not saying Atkins is the way to go, but when I went off sweets for a month I wanted to die either by my own hand or someone else's -- I was so miserable with headaches and mood swings that I thought I was hitting early menopause, yet no one would tell me that I should keep eating Hostess Ding Dongs if they make me feel better. My biggest complaints about the book are the repetition (most of the book seems to be filler) and the way the author frequently refers to her "fans." It just got on my nerves, but that is a personal dislike and other readers may never even notice it.

If anyone eats 1300 calories...:
you are going to lose weight. I don't care what you eat. I was initially attracted to this book because I agree that eating "no carbs" is a gimmick and nutritionally unsound. But to claim that diabetics can eat small portions of white flour and sugar is like telling an alcoholic they can just have one glass of wine. Irresponsible!

Lots of info, not enough good recipes:
Denise is great with providing a ton of useful information in this book. The recipes weren't as appealing as I thought they would be. I read the book for the first couple days that I had it, but haven't opened it since. The recipes really did nothing for me to actually attempt to make them.