Diane Irons
Cameron Diaz helps keep her 5'9", 120-pound figure by eating chicken for breakfast. Models take kelp tablets to speed up their metabolisms. An hour of hot and heavy lovemaking can burn up as many calories as 40 minutes on a treadmill.
The World's Best-Kept Diet Secrets has 300 pages of fascinating facts like these. Written by a model who deftly separates dieting myths (the "negative-calorie" status of celery) from the real interesting tidbits (combining garlic and papaya tablets makes for a powerful diuretic), this book's perfect for anyone confused by the muddle of diet information in magazines. It's especially designed for anyone just starting on a weight-loss plan in need of inspiration and guidance and anyone whose weight constantly yo-yos.
1 Probably the BEST diet book on the market!
Why? Because it is not just ONE diet plan, or "THE" diet - Diane Irons shares many different tips, hints, tricks, and plans that have worked/still works for many different REAL people. The reader is left to choose what she likes and is armed with the knowledge she needs to design her very own personalized diet plan.
2 What a joke!
This is supposed to be a book about how to lose weight safely and easily? Eating two small meals a day is not safe!! It is not healthy for Cameron Diaz to weight 120 lbs. at 5'9! (I agree that amazon.com seemed to endorse this unhealthy weight.)Anorexics may find this book helpful, but it is strongly not recommended. It views food as the "enemy" and gives countless crazy ways to ward off this "evil foe". It promotes a unnatural and unhealthy lifestyle. A person with a weight problem must learn to value herself and have a purpose in life, not try to starve herself or do ridiculous things to reduce her size. Yo-yo dieting, promoted in her book, is tiring and gets harder and harder as your body fat percentage increases with each cycle. A subtle lifestyle change is how one loses weight safely and will keep if off much easier because no drastic changes have been made; this is simply a natural, healthy lifestyle.
The main problem with this book is that its whole attitude is to lose weight so you'll feel better about yourself, not feel better about yourself so you will treat yourself well and consequently lose weight if you are overweight.
3 A diet book that actually works!!
This is the only diet book I have read that really shows results! No, this is not one of those books with just one diet to follow. This book pulls together secrets from models, superstars, people who have had succesful diets, and more. Inside this book, you will find neat secrets that will help you lose weight without going through all that trouble! I also enjoyed learning how models, singers, and actresses stay so thin. For example, did you know that many models carry kelp tablets to speed up metabolism? Or, that Jamie Lee Curtis onece cut all fat from her diet and ate nothing but vegetables to get a role in a movie?! Not only that, but this book also includes many success stories of people who have been on diets and came out happy and appreciative of their bodies. You will also find free sources (mostly websites) which provide advice and tips for dieters. I also enjoyed the chapter with tons of delicious recipies all under 200 calories. Whether your goal is to lose 35 pounds in two months, or you just need to lose 5 pounds for a party next week, this book is a wonderful reference and very helpful.
4 You will LOVE this book! It really caters to everyone...
Aargh! I cant understand why this book got a 3/5. I guess it is most likely because people are criticizing the author on her lack of scientific information. BUT this book is valuable in so many ways. Perhaps most importantly, it is a lot of fun to read. I find myself perusing it often, and it keeps me motivated to stay healthy and it offers so many different approaches to health that you will never get bored with a regimen. The author offers dieters and people who are looking for ways to cut calories in general a HUGE variety of tips and tricks that are INEXPENSIVE (so inexpensive, I am a poor college student and find virtually all of her suggestions doable). The author has not done scientic research but has approached this subject in (I think) a much more valuable way, that is journalistically. Instead of buying some doctor's get rich fad diet book that works in theory but not in practice, you can buy this book and learn what celebities do to keep their weight down. Not that I am all that interested in celebrities, but when you consider that their fortunes rely a lot on their looks, you can trust that they know what works-at least for them. That is really the best thing about this book. It is so chock full of interesting tidbits, that you are bound to find some ideas that you can incorporate into your own lifestyle. So while not all suggestions will be relevant to you now (but who knows, maybe in a few years they will be), you are sure to find some tips that will be very valuable to you. The recipes in the back are also EASY to do, with no exotic ingredients to hunt down. Also, the author tells a lot of non celeb stories, and that is just as valuable if not more that her recounting of the celeb stories. This is an EXCELLENT book if you are just starting out as well, it will DEFINITELY get you motivated, and also theres a valubale lil part that makes you think about why you overeat. what more could you want in a diet book?
5 Loved it
This book can make you feel like you're overhearing a conversation between supermodels. Personally, I loved hearing all of the diet "secrets" of the celebs. Although not all of the tips worked for me, I've lost 5 pounds with the help of this book, and this book only. It has great diet plans inside, as well as exercise tips.
6 This book has glaring problems.
.
This book is full of "facts" that are not backed up with scientific evidence. In fact, there are glaring false statements.
The author carelessly states that "yo-yo dieting is not dangerous". There have been plenty of studies which show otherwise. A study at Tufts university has proven that when a person loses, say 10 pounds, without doing some sort of weight-training, they don't lose 10 pounds of fat. They lose some fat, some muscle mass, and even some bone mass. If they yo-yo back and gain back the 10 pounds, they gain back ONLY the fat. This DOES make it harder to lose weight next time, contrary to the author's statements. This kind of flippant uneducated remark could harm many people.
The book also contradicts itself. In one section called "myths" the author talks about appetite-surpressing earrings that are supposed to work on the same premise as accupuncture. The book bashes the practice, yet ten pages later tells the reader to pinch their earlobes with their fingers to control their appetite, a method which works on the same premise as reflexology. Accupressure, accupuncture, and reflexology all work on the principles of meridians so it's the same thing. Even if you didn't know that, you can see the glaring contradiction.
I'll stop at two examples.
Besides having obvious contradictions which make me wonder if the book was ever even proof-read, the book has dangerous false statements in it that could harm people.
If you want to read a very sensible book on weightloss that is backed up with good scientific research, check out the book "Strong Women Stay Slim" by Miriam Nelson.
7 This was a great book!!
I would just like to say, to all those other reveiws out there, just because you guys dont agree with the book, you dont have to put Diane Irons down!! You probly just dissagre with it because your jealous of all the skinny people in hollywood. You knew what to expect before picking the book up so stop complaining!!! Anywayyysss, for those gurls out there who want to drop a few quick pounds.....get this book!!its a great book to have on hand just incase your ex-boyfreinds coming to town, or you just want to impress your husband...its great!!
8 A sigh of relief from the dirty diet books
If anyone goes into a book store in the diet/beauty section, you get bombarded with thousands of titles from doctors to celebrities to models-----they all claim they have the answer to losing weight. But, Diane Irons goes beyond that with the things she has found out from her own experience. You really feel like she cares about this because she knows all women worry about this kind of stuff all their life. Her secrets and recipes are so fun to whip up and they really work! Plus, you feel like you aren't getting ripped off by buying over priced products. This book does not mess around. She does a wonderful job of uncovering secrets, without lecturing us on our lifestyle. I would recommend this book to anyone---not just people trying to lose weight, but also those of us who want to learn to keep our bodies beautiful on the inside and on the outside!!
9 ridiculous! Not worth the paper it is printed on!
Diane, what exactly are you professing? That we all adopt ridiculous "hollywood secrets" to become anorexic in order to be thin? Your tips are dangerous, not sound nutrition and make you look like a snake-oil salesman trying to peddle this junk to the dieters of America. Really, there needs to be some sort of standard someone must pass before they can put out a diet book, like that you should have had to atleast have been heavy once and used these tips to lose weight. Those that can't.......teach~! right Diane!?
10 All Tips without the Hype
This book is the best! First, I loved the interviews with successful dieters. Real stories (very blunt) about marriages breaking up, embarassing moments, you name it. Then, I liked the research that Ms. Irons has done with scientists explaining myths and supplements. Another area that this book has that no other diet book does is how to look your best while going down the scale. That's a great approach! What really makes me use this book each day to keep me motivated are the absolutely delicious recipes (about 100). Not only are they easy to use, but they're all under 200 calories. Cookies, meatloaf, even chocolate truffles (60 calories). I've read every diet book on the market, not any come close to a realistic life plan. This does it all!
11 Disappointed and apalled!
A dangerous book for almost any woman to read. The author believes we should all strive to be Elle Mcpherson (who, by the way, must choose between 2 meals a day) or other supermodels and female celebrities who fast for days to lose wieght. The diet "tip" are hackneyed and there is not one passage about learning to like yourself.
12 5 Diet Books in One!!
I feel this is the best diet value out there. It's not one diet, but diet tips taken from famous people and every day people, a compilation of delicious recipes that I have found very easy to make (love the enchiladas & s'more fudge), as well as free resources. Ms. Irons has done her homework, and has covered everything from supplements (with warnings!) and mind games that really work! I would have paid $14.95 for the 100 recipes all under 200 calories alone. The rest (spa secrets,anti-bloating, dressing thinner,) is an absolute bargain!!
13 This Book Deserves a Zero
I read part of this book in the library (I'm so glad I didn't support the author and publishers by buying it) and was thoroughly appalled.
This book is filled with ill-conceived, harmful weight loss "secrets" that help a few Hollywood beauties keep their anorexic-like figures at weights far below the range considered healthy. It is NOT healthy for a 5'9" woman to weigh 120 pounds (though the book and even Amazon, by showing the initial review here, make it sound like a badge of honor to be skeletal), much less is it a realistic or healthy goal for an average woman to aspire to.
This book is littered with example after example of two things I find repulsive: 1) celebrities who mistreat their bodies to remain at skeletal, unhealthy weights and 2) "solutions" that are NOT permanent, NOT healthy, and can have disastrous effects long-term. There is a plethora of research that shows that severely restricting your caloric intake slows down your metabolism, making it extremely difficult to keep any weight lost off permanently, yet this method is recommended throughout the book. There is rarely if ever any mention of the role exercise plays. There are so many things here that are contradictory to what ALL recent, legitimate research shows that I have neither time nor room to mention them.
Suffice it to say if you want to get to a healthy weight, and you want to do it safely and have a better chance of remaining at the weight permanently, read any of these books: The New Fit or Fat by Covert Bailey, Lean Bodies by Cliff Sheats, or Make the Connection (though I would strongly recommend weight training, which is not discussed much in this book) by Oprah Winfrey and Bob Greene.
14 This book offers much more than a diet.
I really enjoyed this book. It offers many practical suggestions for healthy eating and weight loss. While it is not a diet, it offers inspiration on many levels. I plan to read it regularly to boost my resolve and renew my commitment to the improvement of my own lifestyle.
15 At last, a book that has everything I've ever looked for!
I am thrilled! Finally a book that is not one person's story, a new hair-brained idea about combining foods, or having to count everything while exercising 4 hours a day. Diane Irons has done her homework. The stories are compelling, the recipes are delicious, and her book is so complete, that if you need a quick 3 day diet it's there...if you are looking for natural supplements there's a chapter on that. Plus I loved all the psychological tips for getting rid of cravings. Ms. Irons admits that she lost modeling contracts because of an ongoing weight problem. She's been there, done the research, and isn't trying to sell us any gimmicks. Best diet book I've ever read.
16 When will we have a book by a real woman who used to be fat
I think that the book is good overall, however, I am tired of people whom have never had a weight problem telling us what we have to do to be thin, walk in my shoes, then offer improvement!!
