There’s no one diet book out there that works for everybody (otherwise, how would we health editors stay in business?). Everybody takes a different approach to dieting; therefore, we rounded up eight very different books so there is something for all tastes.
Men Don’t Diet, Men… Refuel – A 24-Day Eating Plan to Shed Fat, Boost Tetosterone, and Pump Up Strength and Stamina, by Dr. John La PumaLove-handles are normally reserved for the female body, but with the wrong lifestyle, a man’s body can turn softer because of a hormonal state that’s more reminiscent of the opposite sex’s, Dr. La Puma explains in his book.He doesn’t believe in generic diets for men. Through three quizzes he helps the reader measure his testosterone, find out if he’s overweight and then formulate specific goals all in order to “restore optimal testosterone levels, eliminate dangerous visceral fat and improve sexual performance.”
Hot tip from the book: Get rid of parabens
“By mimicking or blocking important sex hormones you make, xenoestrogens or antiandrogens lead to dramatically out-of-balance hormones. When your estrogen and testosterone levels are out of balance you don’t build muscle or burn fat efficiently, your skin is too smooth, you have man boobs or love handles and you have trouble getting it up. Essentially, you begin to turn into a girl. You aren’t likely to see ‘xenoestrogen-free’ on product labels anytime soon. What you can look for, though, is ‘paraben-free.’ Parabens are xenoestogens found in lotions, including sunblock. Since these are spread all over the skin, it’s best to buy paraben-free products whenever possible; look for it on the label.”
Brad’s Raw Made Easy – The Fast, Delicious Way to Lose Weight, Optimize Health, and Live Mostly in the Raw, by Brad Gruno
Raw food doesn’t have to be tasteless raw carrots and a horrifying celery juice, argues the founder of Brad’s Raw Foods. In fact, on Gruno’s “cooked under 115 degrees”-list, there’s nothing less than mac and cheese!
“Brad’s Raw Made Easy” takes you through everything from the science of raw food to a basic step-by-step transition to going raw. Importantly, he acknowledges that living raw in a non-raw world can be hard. After a four-weeks cleanse he allows the reader to switch over to an 80 percent raw, 20 percent cooked eating plan.
Hot tip:Use your food journal before eating
“It really helps to keep a food journal. Some people prefer to write down what they ate after eating, but you may want to try writing down what you are about to eat, and possibly describing the process you took to prepare the meal. Visualizing your meal this way can make you appreciate it more, and pre-satisfy your senses!”
The Sugar Smart Diet: Stop Cravings and Lose Weight While Still Enjoying the Sweets You Love! by Anne Alexander
It doesn’t help much to cut away the weekly cupcake if you consume large quantities of sugar every day from hidden sources such a cereals and “healthy” breads. Anne Alexander, the editorial director of Prevention magazine, brings awareness to the many “faces of sugar” and helps the reader through a 32-day sugar step-down that ends with the quite surprising “Hello, Sugar!” chapter, allowing the sweet stuff back into one’s diet. The point is, she writes, that “sugar smart for life means being aware of where the sugar lurks in your diet and making informed choices.”
Hot tip: Sugar comes in the sneakiest forms
“Sugar Mimics are foods that don’t typically taste like sugar but mimic its action in the body. Foods like crackers, pretzels, potato chips, bagels, white rice, and pasta may not contain sugar per se, but they might as well – they’re digested as rapidly as sugar.”
The New Lean for Life- Outsmart Your Body to Shrink Fat Cells and Lose Weight for Good, by Cynthia Stamper Graff and Réginald Allouche
The “Lean for Life” program has been around for more than 40 years, but now it’s here in a new version by the daughter of Dr. Marshall Stamper, who originally pioneered the program (with nutrition expert Dr. Réginald Allouche). This 2014 version has an incorporation of Allouche’s research on appetite and how the brain and gut work together on weight loss. The book offers a 28-day prescription to shrink fat cells.
Hot tip: Stick to fewer flavors
“Although some variety in your diet is required for optimal health, too much variety can lead to overeating. Your mouth relies on sensory stimuli, including aromas, textures and flavors, to send satiety signals to the brain. The human mouth loves all of these, and the more variety of them available, the more it wants to get its fill of each of them. If a variety of flavors, textures and aromas are jam-packed into one single food source – say the crunchy crust, melted cheese, spicy tomato sauce and piquant pepperoni on your pizza – your mouth demands more of it to savor it all.”
The Cosmo Bikini Diet – Lose 15 Pounds and Get a Sexy, Super-Toned Body, by Holly C. Corbett & the editors of Cosmopolitan
The women magazines always tell us what tiny bikinis to wear, but what good does a hot bikini do on a flabby body? Now, Cosmo editors and writer Holly C. Corbett have dedicated a whole book to helping you look as good as the models on their pages. The writers call the diet an “UNdiet lifestyle adjustment” and write that “it’s all about your feeling healthy, strong, and confident every day,” whether or not you’re donning a two-piece. They dole out meal plans from a nutritionist and different workouts from, amongst others, trainer Tracy Anderson, plus tips and tricks.
Hot tip: Tummy-flattening foods
“Big beach day ahead? These bloat-fighting foods will get you a flatter tummy by the afternoon to keep you feeling foxy and confident.
- Asparagus (“rich in calcium and magnesium … that helps you digest”)
- Cottage cheese (“easy to digest”)
- Cucumber water (“dehydration can inflate your stomach”)
- Fish (“rich on omega-3-fats … that speed up digestion”)
- Garlic (“helps your liver filter toxins, so your body can metabolize fat properly”)
- Grapefruit (“This fruit is challenging to eat, slowing you down”)
21-Day Tummy – The Revolutionary Diet That Soothes and Shrinks Any Belly Fast, by Liz Vaccariello and Kate Scarlata
What if the food eat to be healthy actually is the food that causes us stomach inflammation? Vaccariello and dietitian Scarlata have rounded up the foods that both shrink your belly but also soothe it — the so-called “belly buddies.” It dares to say the words gas, bloating and diarrhea, and through a 21-day meal plan, helps the reader get back on the track.
Hot tip:Tummy Twister or Tamer?
“Most nuts are good for your tummy, but pistachios and cashews are high in fructans and GOS [Sugar chains hard to digest].”
Within: A Spiritual Awakening to Love & Weight Loss, by Dr. Habib Sadeghi
If you want to move forward in life – maybe towards a weight loss – you have to start with self-love, according to Dr. Sadeghi. In his book he writes, “there’s a reason the first four letters of ‘evolution’ spell ‘love.’ You don’t see it at first because the letters are backwards. It’s hidden. Evolution and change are grounded in love because they move us forward in life, but the immediate benefits can be hidden from us because we don’t know how to look deeper.”
The book helps the reader forgive him or herself, find personal truths and stay in a positive flow — which can help with weight loss— through a 40-day program.
Hot tip:Choose the right affirmation
“Choose an affirmation that works for you. Don’t try to convince yourself that you’re thin right now. Your mind will reject that statement. Just be sure it is in the present tense and you feel no resistance when you speak it. You might choose, “My healing is in process and my body is following freely.” Repeat silently or aloud as needed throughout the day.”
The Protein Boost Diet – Improve Your Hormone Efficiency for a Fast Metabolism and Weight Loss, by Ridha Arem
Do you sometimes wonder how come your constant dieting leads to nothing but a bad mood? Maybe you need to look at your thyroid. In “The Protein Boost Diet Dieting” Dr. Arem helps the reader speed up metabolism on a molecular level. The book also contains a protein-boost diet and an exercise program.
Hot Tip: Proteins First, With Fiber
“When you start a meal, eat protein first, along with belly-filling fiber. This duo fills you up quickly (much sooner than if you’d eaten carbs).
