The G.I. Diet Cookbook

THis book is awesome! The seller is even better! At first they mistakenly sent the wrong book. As soon as I let them know, they immediatly sent the correct book, overnight priorit mail, and let me keep the first one! I was so impressed with how fast the fixed the problem, and how wonderful they were. I would absolutely order from them again, and recomend them to another buyer. Thanks so much for everything!

I was given this book as a gift after I had started the GI diet. I find myself time and time again going back to my favorite recipes in this book. My favorites include the black bean burritos, strawberry tea bread, carrot muffins, tortilla chips, Mediterranean summer salad, black bean tabbouleh, falafel with yogurt mint sauce, barley risotto, coconut curry beef, bacon and egg muffins, and apple burritos. Can you tell I love this cookbook? I find a lot of great recipes that fix my cravings for ethnic foods and just as many that fit the bill for your basic American fare. I would recommend this cookbook to anyone, not just those trying to lose weight. It has very sensible and delicious recipes that are easy to follow and turn out great.

This diet has really worked for me and I want to add some of my observations. There are some pretty comprehensive reviews on here already so I will not summarize anything from the book to minimize repetition. Stats on me: I started in May of 05 and lost 5 pounds a week for the first four weeks. I only lost so much because I was well over 200lb (as a 5'5'' female). After that it was more gradual with plateaus and minor ups and downs. I have gone periods were I was only following it 50% faithfully and did not gain the weight back. I am moderately active: gym two to three times a week (usually for an hour water aerobics class) and I do not have a car so I walk everywhere. Diet Pro's: - Its Healthy. No doctor would be concerned if his/her patient ate veggies and balanced whole grains and lean proteins. Worst-case scenario: you try it and don't loose weight, but you will not have hurt your metabolism or raised your cholesterol in doing so. - Its Not a Gimmick. This is not based on "eat all the bacon and cheese you want" or some other counter-intuitive nonsense. Its principals are in line with what is known and widely accepted in medical science. - Cuts Cravings and is designed to keep your belly full. With three meals and three snacks a day of slowly digested food I am not hungry. Additionally, keeping my blood sugar stable stopped the need to binge eat. - Not dogmatic. Ever read a diet book where you feel like the author is practically trying to convert you to a religion? Gallop certainly believes in this diet and he makes no mention that it might not work for every person (see con below), however he spends most of his time laying out simple science and practical guidelines. He even says your goal should be to follow it 90% of the time. If you have a cookie, big deal, the worst thing that can happen is it will take slightly longer to lose some weight. Diet Con's: - Unfortunately, as with all diets, this will work great for some people and not for others. Its more likely to work for you if you: o Tend to carry your fat in the belly. i.e. "apple," "barrel," or "cone" shaped for women, or a guy with a "beer belly" o Have major cravings for carbs - perhaps even binge eat on things like pastries, candy, pasta and bread. o Have been diagnosed with insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, or even type II diabetes -The recipes can be bland - more from the author not being a chef, not the principals of the diet, so if you are a practiced cook you can make alterations for flavor and texture that stay true to the diet. The book encourages you to go the author's website where there are recipes submitted by readers available for free and they are quite good. -You will have to cook. I have been on this diet for over two years and like to cook, so its been great for me. This book in the series is by far my favorite. ***UPDATE June 2008*** Make that 90+ pounds lost in three years. I still cook most of my food from the recipes found in Gallop's books. They