| Ackerman, Norman MD | Fat No More | Professor at medical school and bariatric surgeon details different weight loss surgery procedures, medical aspects and his experience. 1999 |
| Adkins, Robert MD | Diet Revolution | I have read three editions of this
book, from the first edition released in approx 1972 to the latest edition of
the Atkins Book, apparently Robert Atkins last effort. In the last book,
he admits that too many low carb calories can make a person fat and suggests
portion control. Also his chapter on the science behind the diet is less
than impressive since he quotes no studies on regimes inducing ketosis which is
what his diet calls for. And the studies he DOES quote seem to be a part of dead
end research from the 1950's. A physicians warning site about low carbing, albeit brings up some good points of question about this program, is a bit misleading in that it is sponsored by a group of physicians who advocate a vegan lifestyle: Atkins Diet Alert // a PCRM site Low carb - high protein - can be high fat. Most studies not financed by the Atkins Corp show that this plan can raise cholesterol and also that it is possibly hard on the kidneys. Weight loss is thought to be effected not as Atkins claims (according to any physician I've talked with) but because people on the Atkins Plan tend to eat less calories than they normally do. Many dieticians claim they have never seen a long term weight loss with this diet. |
| Agatston, Arthur | South Beach Diet | This physician writes honestly and using sound science most of the time. He considers the high fat element of Atkins diet to be "outdated" because he stated that when Atkins promulgated his diet in the early 1970's we didn't know about the connection between saturated fat and heart disease. The South Beach diet is still low carb though less drastic than Atkins and allows for cheating every so often. People on the South Beach diet average 90 or so carbs a day which at least, keeps them out of ketosis. Dr Agatston takes a statin drug himself for lowering cholesterol so even his lower fat version of low carbing is not working to bring his cholesterol down. |
| Amercan Heart Assn | Fitting In Fitness | Information on how to start and maintain a fitness program with "intention exercise". 2000 |
| Bacon, Linda, PhD | Health at Every Size | This is one of the best researched books I've ever read. It contains complete information on being making healthy food choices, obesity research and more. Available at www.lindabacon.org RECOMMENDED! |
| Bailey, Covert | Fit Or Fat Woman, The | Comprehensive information about how to get in shape through aerobic exercise (cardio) and why this is important to do. If you don't remember Covert Bailey, he's the guy who used to sell the HealthRider! |
| Blumberg, Joan Jacobs | The Body Project | Society pressures women into making their bodies and how they look into a project which consumes many hours. Details how this came about historically and also how product manufacturers exploit this aspect to create markets for their products. Finally Blumberg looks at the emotional stress this pressure to "look good" can cause in all women. |
| Boasten, Michelle | Weight Loss Surgery | Patient details preparation for surgery, after surgery care and insurance issues. |
| Campos, Paul, PhD | The Obesity Myth ( renamed to the Diet Myth) | Why American's obsession with weight is hazardous to your health. Attempts analysis of why fatness occupies so much of our time and mental energy when diets clearly don't work and may cause the very problem they are supposed to fix. |
| Childers, Greer | Be A Loser | with Bobby Katz. Glam suicide blond proposes a 'new' way to 'lose weight' only requiring 15 minutes of 'breathing' and calisthenics a day. Unfortunately, she herself does not use it to stay lean. |
| Colles, Lisa | FAT, Exploding the Myths | A PBS TV show and BBC series was based on this book which details the latest research proving genetics cause obesity. Includes the PIMA Paradox, leptin research and more. Very recommended! |
| Cooper, Charlotte | Fat and Proud | Fat and Proud Britisher talks to the reader about fat acceptance, fat phobia, the uselessness of dieting and more |
| Everson, Cory/Jacobs,Carol | Fat Free and Fit | Former Bodybuilder and respected fitness guru details her program which is (you guessed it). Low fat - high carb and daily exercise. Cory feels weight training should also be a part of a fitness program to maintain muscles, raise metabolism and preserve strength. |
| Fraser, Laura | Losing It | Fraser, a journalist, did an exhaustive research of the diet industry and various claims as well as supposed 'cures' for obesity. She discovered that the zeal to sell a product on the part of the diet industry often causes a cover-up of the truth about weight control and obesity. |
| Flancbaum, Louis, MD | Doctor's Guide to Weight Loss Surgery | This book is very pro surgery but Dr Flancbaum tries to make sure his patients have 'informed consent'. I found the book very informative. |
| Gaesser, Glenn, PH.D. | Big Fat Lies | Gaesser, a college professor did a metastudy of all the research on obesity including the nurse's study and the MetLife studies upon which the weight charts are based and found to his surprise that to date, no study has shown a DIRECT LINK between obesity and morbidity. (1996, 2002) |
| Gaesser, Glenn, PhD | The Spark | Reflecting recent studies which show that short bursts of exercise can produce the same fitness benefits as one longer session, Gaesser details a complete fitness program and low fat nutritional lifestyle to help anyone get in shape. Gaesser is an exercise physiologist and has a lot of information to offer in this book. (2001) |
| Geyer, Celesta | Diet or Die | Celesta worked as a 'fat lady' in Barnem in 40's and 50's topping out at 750 lbs. In the early 60's she developed physical problems as a result of her weight and was told by her doctor that if she didn't lose weight, she would die. She went on a calorie restricted diet, lost her weight in three years (lost her job also!) and remained around 170 lbs thereafter. |
| Glenn, Morton B. MD | How to Get Thinner Once and For All | This book was so memorable I don't remember much about it. I believe it approached the control of obesity through psychological means (learn to know when you are full etc) none of which works for most of us or we'd have done it long ago. |
| Greene, Bob/Winfrey, Oprah | Make The Connection | Bob Greene, formerly Oprah's personal trainer, gives advice on starting an exercise program and using it effectively for weight control. It is likely that Oprah to achieve her recent svelte figure is using more than Greene's exercise regime i.e. calorie restriction. Some have theorized Oprah might have had bariatric surgery like the adjustable lap band a couple of years ago. |
| Hanson, Vikki | 7 Secrets of Slim People, The | with Shawn Goodman. The authors have recovered from eating disorders and know that dieting and starvation is unhealthy. Good suggestions for healthy weight control and excellent explanation why dieting is unhealthy |
| Hart, Dani | I want To Live - gastric bypass reversal | Dani relates her experience with a
gastric bypass and the problems which made it necessary for her to have the
surgery taken down. Available on Amazon.. |
| Health Media of America | Weight Loss and Nutrition | The FDA guidelines on healthy diet, low fat, high carb, dairy etc. |
| Kolata, Gina | Re-Thinking Thin | Science editor of the NY times researches the connection between fatness and health and discovers some eye opening things. |
| Leverton, Steven | The Best Little Girl in the World | Details a case history of a teen with anorexia. Certain psychological factors in anorexia may also be present in extreme obesity. |
| Maharam, Louis, MD | Exercise High, The | Dr Maharam who exercises daily himself, feels that if we find the right exercise and exercise at the correct intensity we can all feel the runner's high. He has several patients that he converted to be able to enjoy exercise. |
| Mayer, Ken | Real Women Don't Diet | Mayer laments the affinity of women of the 1990's to starve to attain boyish looking figures. |
| McGraw, Phil, PhD | The Ultimate Weight Solution - The 7 keys to permanent weight loss | Dr Phil of Oprah fame presents a complete weight control program which includes use of cognitive psychology tools as well as a food plan (which is similar to the exchange diet) and an exercise plan. He pulls no punches and presents no gimmicks. Dr Phil states it's like traveling a corridor on the up incline with seven doors. Each "key" opens the door in front of you and then you go to the next door and work the next key. If you do not open that door, you slide backward. The cognitive methods present in this book are powerful ways to reprogram the brain against overeating and emotional eating. Available on www.drphil.com |
| McGraw, Phil, PhD | The Ultimate Weight Solution Companion | In paperback - this is a list of the nutritional information on foods, a short synopsis of the 7 keys and lots of helpful hints in working the program. |
| Morehouse, Lawrence MD/Gross | Total Fitness in 30 Minutes a Day | This physician was advisor to the astronauts, devising an exercise program to keep them fit under conditions of no gravity. The book has excellent suggestions for beginning an exercise program. |
| Nidetch, J./Heilman, J. | The Story of Weight Watchers | Jean Nidetch was around 210 lbs when she got into the bathtub and discovered that most of her 'floated'. She approached the New York obesity center and went on their low fat, high carb eating program. Needing support, she formed a group of housewives who met once a week, weighed in and gave each other moral support. This was the beginning of Weight Watchers International |
| Olson, Susan/Colvin, Robt | Keeping It Off-Winning at Weight Loss | Olson, a member of MENSA, studied a group of women who had dieted and successfully kept weight off for several years, in search of what they were doing to keep the weight off. One thing she found is that all of them exercised daily. |
| Ornish, Dean, MD | Reversing Heart Disease | This cardiologist reversed heart disease in 10,000 patients using a low fat, mildly calorie restricted nutritional program, combined with cardio vascular exercise ("aerobic exercise"), at least five days a week. This program which I went on in 1994, has kept me healthy and surgery free (so far) ...I was born in 1944...am 74 years old at this writing. |
| Oz, Mehmet, MD | YOU ON A DIET | This book advocates healthy eating
with an emphasis on keeping low fat (Dr Oz is a cardiac surgeon!) and light
exercise (he provides a set of range of motion and light calisthenics in the
book) with doing 30 minutes of walking most days for cardio. His theories about
the omentum being "bad" are theories only. Medical science does not know
what the omentum (a sheath in the abdominal cavity) does - some have opined it
might be part of the immune system. Oz suggests instead of weighing, you
measure your waist. Waist measuring 32 or less, he feels is healthy for
women and 35 inches or less, healthy for me. If you are middle aged like
me and have no waist, "Waist management" may not be for you. Dr Oz is big
into avoiding processed foods and eating whole foods but diet soda is ok with
him. (?) Review of Dr Oz diet plan |
| Pool, Robert | FAT: fighting the Obesity Epidemic | Research on obesity and the causes (2001) |
| Posner, Robert, MD/ Hlivka, Linda, MBA,CN | Stress Eater Diet | Click for complete review of this book |
| Powter, Susan | Pocket Powter, The | Powter answers questions about her low fat, high carb combined with exercise weight control program. |
| Powter, Susan | Stop the Insanity | After a nasty divorce, the author, a on and off "go go dancer" found herself overweight 150 lbs overweight and broke. Vivacious and charming, she lost the weight through diet and exercise, then wrote this book which promised the reader that they could eat "all they want" of low fat foods and never gain. The program was fashioned on the Pritikin plan but modified to allowing anything under 20 percent fat. With the advent of many low fat foods which are very caloric, one can gain weight on this plan, even with doing the daily exercise. Her new plan restricts processed foods among others. |
| Powter, Susan | The Politics of Stupid | Presents Susan Powter's updated program - still low fat with 30 minutes of exercise a day but limited to "whole foods" restricting all processed foods, junk foods etc. Susan appears to be a vegan now. This book also contains a lot of insights about how the TV media manipulates the public to buy products which are unhealthy. Available at: www.susanpowteronline.com |
| Prysby, Sandra Dalka | Slow But Sure | "How I lost 170 lbs with the help of God, Family Circle Magazine and Richard Simmons". Prysby is one of several people who was morbidly obese and lost her weight using exercise and portion control. She has kept it off for several years. |
| Roizen Michael, MD, Oz, Mehmet | You on a Diet | This was a 90 minute video on PBS by Dr Roizen containing the main ideas and facts of the diet. |
| Rubin, Jordan | The Maker's Diet | Details how author was ill and cured illness with a diet of natural foods mentioned in the Bible. |
| Schlosser, Eric | Fast Food Nation | The dark side of the All American Meal. Schlosser with a heavy bias toward "whole foods" and the Democratic party, makes a weak case for demonizing fast food. The real issues of too many calories and transfat he does not touch but instead maintains that somehow meat packing workers are slicing themselves to death (because they are all illiterate Mexicans) and all would be solved by labor unions and a Democratic administration. |
| Shamblyn, Gwen | Weigh Down Diet | The theory of this plan is that our bodies know what they need and will tell us. No food restrictions, no required foods. Participants are told to eat half of what they usually eat, leave food on the plate, stop eating when it doesn't taste so good, eat slowly, eat only 3 meals a day and pray to God when you get hungry and it's not mealtime. Shamblyn, a registered dietician has deviated from medically accepted nutrition (for instance she takes no vitamins since her grandfather did not take a vitamin and she doesn't exercise either). But her book contains some good hints for curving overeating and overcoming food addiction. |
| Simmons, Richard | Never Give Up | Furnishes
several case histories of morbidly obese people who took their weight down
to a healthy size using a low fat - high carb/ daily exercise program advocated
by Simmons. www.richardsimmons.com |
| Simmons, Richard | Still Hungry After All These Years | Autobiographical book details Simmons childhood and causes of his eating disorder. Soon in the book, the reader sees that Simmons is not hungry for food but for love. This follows with the current thinking about eating disorders i.e. that they are not about food. |
| Simmons, Richard | Never say Diet Cookbook | Recipes and Richard's own wisdom about weight control and self image |
| Simpson, Terry, MD | Weight Loss Surgery, A Lighter Look at a Heavy Subject | Excellent book on weight loss surgery, the details, the after diet, and after care - very comprehensive. Available at: www.obesitydr.com |
| Smith, Kathy | Getting Better All the Time | Smith advocates walking, walking, walking but also, for the first time reveals a fact or two about her marriage, motherhood and her background. |
| Smith, Kathy | Walkfit for a Better Body | Walking is Kathy Smith's favorite exercise and she tells how she incorporates it into her daily life. |
| Solomon, Neil MD | The Truth About Weight Control | In the face of a lack of general knowledge about weight control and fad diets abounding (actually not much has changed), Dr Solomon wrote the one of the first extremely informative books. Advocating a low fat, high carb diet, he detailed why extreme dieting is destructive to the body, a revolutionary idea in the 1970's. |
| Somers, Suzanne | Get Skinny on Fabulous Food | Cutsie Hollywood star advocates French 'food mixing' for weight control but actually lives on a very low calorie diet to maintain svelte figure. |
| Trudeau, Kevin | Natural Cures "They" Don't want you to Know About | see full review of this book |
| Trudeau, Kevin | The Weight Loss Cure "They" don't Want you to Know About | Kevin makes huge claims in the book and in his infomercial about the diet advocated in this book and although the FDA banned it in the 1950's and thus you must obtain the medication from another country, it's made a modest comeback. It's based on the 1950's theories of UK doctor, Albert Simeons who opined that injecting HCG (a hormone found in pregnant women's urine) plus 500 calories a day would cause good weight loss. Several studies have suggested that HCG is not effective and of questionable safety and 500 calories a day is not only starvation, but likely to really damage the metabolism making regain almost a sure thing. Skip this one! |
| Truman, Karol Kuhl | Looking Good | details exercising on the rebounder and benefits and techniques (small trampoline) |
| Vanderlinden, Norre, Jan | Practical Guide to the Treatment of Bulimia | Guidelines to the treatment of bulimia are given for family Bulimia members and other interested parties. |
| Vogel, Shawna | Skinny on Fat, The | Vogel took up where Fraser left off and reveals more about the diet industry and the need for women to be at war with their bodies. |
| Waterhouse, Debra | Outsmarting the Midlife Fat Cell | Good explanations of why peri-menopausal women gain weight around the middle and healthy suggestions for weight stabilization |
| Waterhouse, Debra | Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell | Waterhouse is in favor of sensible programs - she believes in low fat, high carb programs but does not stress exercise enough IMHO. However, she has lots of good information to share. |
| Wilson, Carnie | Gut Feelings | Honest re-telling of this singer's gastric bypass journey - with comments by her doctors and surgeons. |
| Wilson, Carnie | I'm Still Hungry | Singer's continued experience after her gastric bypass. |