Stop The Diet, I Want To Get Off! by Lisa Tillinger Johansen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of diets with new ones coming out every day. Some of them are just plain ridiculous and make wild promises of massive weight loss with no exercise if you only take this pill or eat a miracle food. Some are highly restrictive and would be impossible to keep up with long term. Some are just plain harmful - I'm looking at you Cotton Ball Diet.

In her book, Stop the Diet, I Want to Get Off, Registered Dietician Lisa Tillenger Johansen explains these diets in plain, easy to understand language. She explains which diets are fads, which are harmful, and which might actually work. I did sense a bias towards the standard calorie counting, low fat, aim towards vegetarianism diet in her writing, which I assume is what is taught to nutritionists and dieticians these days.

This would be a good book for anyone who is interested in starting a weight loss journey to keep them from falling down the rabbit hole of the current fad diet. However, some of the advice is dated and simply choosing low fat isn't always the answer. Many low fat foods cut down on fat but are loaded with sugars. She also disdains lowered carb dieting, which if done properly is a boon to many dieters, and is easy to maintain as a lifestyle choice.

The main take away advice is good advice:
- drinking water instead of sugary soda
- don't be too hard on yourself
- exercise
- eat for hunger, and only until full
- have a support system
- cut back on sugar
- read nutrition labels



View all my reviews