The 9-Inch Diet

I really enjoyed this eye opening book. It is written in a funny entertaining style that really shares how much the food industry has indulged our american way of overindulging in food and how sizes have bloomed along with our waistlines. I recommend this to anyone trying to get a handle on their diet the old fashioned way.

This has got to be the most interesting book I have ever read! I'm not that easily impressed, either. My whole perspective towards food, as well as possesions, has shifted. Advertising can really affect the way we view everything. I was fascinated to discover there is a real basis to the old saying our parents always said, "Clean your plate, children are starving in the world". On first appearance, it was very light reading and full of large photos. This book really captured my interest and that of many of my friends. For those of you who are currently on a diet, or have been on diets in the past, you will be especially interested in seeing the pictures of your particular diet displayed on a 9" plate!

My family couldn't believe it when I bought luncheon plates to use as our dinner plates almost 10 years ago. I was still too embarrassed to use them when someone came over to eat, I would pull out the 'regular' corelle dinner set. Now I have some validation for my thinking! Thanks! I have a continual battle with weight. I don't yo-yo or loose weight only to gain it back - I have just stayed at 215 lbs give or take a few for many years. I should be at about 175 for my personal opinion. Now I can see that dining out really can be a problem. Even before I read the book, I realized one time when my family of 2 adults and 3 girls (ages9-16) were seated at a booth table, that when they brought the food, the side which my kids were seated at would have not had enough room if the one kids meal didn't come in a basket! There was plenty of room for them to sit, but three platters would have been end to end and touching each other on the table! And now the fast food places have begun to sell 2 burgers for the price of one, encouraging you to overeat because of the perceived value of food in relation to how much you pay. If it is cheap, it must be ok to eat that much. Really, I feel fast food is trying to change your lifestyle to depend on the small amount of effort required to get it and become a frequently used option in meal planning. No small matter that it would make the average person fatter. We have all grown up with the goodwill of others encouraging us to get seconds, or if nothing else seems to get you out of the blue - then have something to eat... I have tried to keep from saying this to my girls - now that this book has been published, I have had the two older ones read it and we discussed it. It helps them understand other families eating dynamics and made them appreciate that I have not done the same. My husband is a little slower in absorbing the book, but I think it will help him alot. Its not complicated, no journaling or mathmatic calculations, just reduce. The french seem to cook much of thier stuff with butter and lots of cream, but they are still thinner. I would much rather limit what I eat than try to find and 'acceptable' tasting low fat or low calorie alternative. This book helps validate my resolve and make it easier to stick to it. I know this review is lengthy, but its hard to condense a subject which occupies so much of our time, from meal planning, to eating and then to finally trying to loose the wieght gained or deal with the health problems associated with it.

Let me start by saying I love these guys (I don't actually even know them, I only know their work which is spectacular!). I pre-ordered and read the book the day it arrived. As a veteran of Weight Watchers (lost 100 pounds in a year, gradually gained back 120) and Atkins (lost 90 pounds in 6 months and gained back 140) I'm ready for some common sense. More importantly, I'm ready for something I can do the rest of my life and get off the yo yo. One thing these guys are brilliant at is simplification. Whether in their advertising or this book, they are great at taking the complex and making it seem so simple you wonder why you couldn't see it all along. When they say that "diets obviously don't work, otherwise we'd only need one of them" it puts the entire best-selling diet creation industry on notice. Does it work? Who knows, the book arrived yesterday. But... it's near the beginning of 2009, I'm easily 100 pounds overweight and in a pre-diabetic state (don't worry, I'm seeing a doctor and he thinks this is brilliant as well). I don't have a better idea right now so, I'm trying it. Check back from time to time and I'll report on my progress. Stay tuned! Even if it doesn't work... it's worth it for the laughs!