The FLEX Diet Review (and Giveaway) – Healthy Heddleston

Giveaway Closed. Congrats to Rachel for winning her copy!

As a Registered Dietitian, I am often times asked which books are credible sources for weight loss. Because of this, I am very grateful to Rita with FitBlogger for selecting me as a reviewer for The FLEX Diet, released in January 2011.

·Overview

The FLEX diet is divided into three parts. Here is what the book touts:

-Today: is a two-week phase where you begin to make the changes to diet and lifestyle that will last a lifetime. Selecting from a variety of engaging choices, you create the diet that best suits you to prevent early burnout and frustration.

-Every Day: is a three week phase that introduces meal plans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, full of tasty recipes and complete nutritional information along with heart healthy exercise and lifestyle regimens.

-Your Way: offers you the tools needed for a lifetime of success and healthy living by giving you the opportunity to further personalize your plan. You choose, you lose.

Sounds interesting, right? Each section then provides solutions for you to possibly initiate into your life. The goal of the Today section is to get you started with 31 solutions you can use right now. After two weeks, you move onto the Everyday section, which breaks down solutions 32-112 into five categories. Dr. Beckerman refers to these categories as the five “senses” of wellness: eat, drink, exercise, act and live. After three weeks, you move onto the Your Way section, with solutions 113-200 following the same five senses of wellness.

·Solution Examples

Today

Solution #9: Blog – I thought you would all enjoy seeing this as a Today Solution since we are a community of fitness bloggers. Dr. Beckerman states that blogging holds you accountable and gives you outlet for your angst and success. We know this is very true. He further gives URL’s of successful weight-loss, blogs you would have heard of in fact! I spoke with a few of the ladies, and they had no idea their URL’s were going to be in this book! Just an interested fact!

Every Day

Solution #71: Switch to Skim – This is a quick solution to help reduce your calories. Dr. Beckerman also provides a calorie comparison for all percentages of milk – whole, 2%, 1%, and skim.

Your Way

Solution #156 – Increase Your Time Exercising by Just One Minute Each Week, and Exercise Faster – This solution encourages interval training to make sure your exercise routine doesn’t stay too routine.

·About The FLEX Diet Author

James Beckerman, MD is a practicing cardiologist in Portland, Oregon. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University and earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Beckerman completed his medical training at Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University Hospital. He serves on the Oregon Governor’s Council for Physical Fitness and Sports.

·My Thoughts

I’m sure this is the section you’ve all been waiting for, right? Please, let me amuse myself. While, I am actually really fond of the personalization this book offers via solution options, I have issue with the weight-loss claims each section touts it will provide. Yes, I know. I was holding out on you.

The Today section states, “expect to lose five pounds in the next two weeks. Five pounds that shouldn’t come back.” The Every Day section then states the solutions “will help you lose ten more pounds in just three weeks.” First of all, I’m not sure how Dr. Beckerman came up with these numbers. I realize his has a bunch of references in the back of the book, but I read almost the entire book – with only some skimming – and did not see him refer to these references specifically. Secondly, recommended weight loss per week is only 1-2 pounds! His claims certainly exceed the recommendations and I wouldn’t suggest losing more than the recommended amount unless you are working closely with a Registered Dietitian.

I had planned on critiquing the book for not having a Registered Dietitian co-author until I looked more closely at Dr. Beckerman’s references. I see plenty of articles from the Journal of American Dietetic Association, Nutrition Research, British Journal of Nutrition, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice and more, so I will let it slide.

However, an RD co-author could never hurt – and I would hope (s)he wouldn’t let Dr. Beckerman get away with suggesting a greater amount of weight loss per week than is recommended!

And finally, while I am not a fan of using the word diet in meaning, something you go on to lose weight, I feel that this book does offer plenty of solutions to make lifestyle changes — which is what people should actually aim for when trying to lose weight. I do not agree with all 200 solutions offered in this book, but I feel The FLEX Diet does offer enough solutions for you to determine which options might work for you!

Thanks again for having me review this book. Until next time…

Your,

Healthy Heddleston

P.S. If you would like the opportunity to be a part of future book and product review, get on the list!