Been Doing Some Reading, Book One

I have been doing some reading lately.  Found some great books to help me fine tune and reinforce my plans.  In order to remember some of what I've read, I decided to write about these books here.  Perhaps you will find a bit of inspiration as well.

The first book that I recently read is, The French Don't Diet Plan by Dr. Will Clower.  This is the book that got me on the right track and out of my months of stalled weight loss!  Here are some highlights of the book:

• Eat real food.  Real food can be found in nature, not faux food like those labeled "low fat" or "sugar free" or filled with chemicals.
• Learn to eat slow.  Spend time enjoying your meal.  Take small bites.  Be a conscious eater.  Use a small plate. 
• Be active without exercise.  Activity is enjoyable.  Exercise is drudgery and you will not keep it up. 
• "This is truly a path.  It's a journey from you current levels of food volume and food quality to a new, more productive level.  You get there by changing what you ask of your body.  You stay there by changing what your body asks of you." 
• "Eat larger and large becomes normal for you body.  Eat small, and small becomes normal.  You decide what kind of eater you want to be, and then be that on purpose until your actions go from intentional to automatic.  You can train your body to expect less food over time. " 
• Food is not the enemy. Overconsumption is!  Americans confuse quantity with quality. (More volume equals value) 
• Eating more does not make you more satisfied.  It just makes you eat more.
• "The amount in front of you determines the amount you will eat.  Understanding that basic fat is how you begin to regain control over your food and weight.  It starts with a decision on your part to order small and serve small.  That way, you get to decide if you overeat or not.  Start small and you'll end small."  
• The goal is to be able to eat all you want, but just want less!  

I loved this book.   It was so encouraging to hear that I really can make a decision and be in control of my eating.  He also makes it clear that we don't have to eat "diet" food.  We just need to control the amount of real food we eat.

I tossed out all the low fat stuff long ago.  We've been eating butter and full fat dairy for a year and I've lost almost 30#.  I totally believe it is the amounts of foods that I was eating that was off.  Just changing to a smaller plate, adding dessert (yes dessert), eating slow, and paying attention to my hunger, has made a huge difference to me.

Next book, tomorrow! 

(These are just my humble opinions, I got the book from the library.)