AARP New American Diet: Lose Weight, Live Longer

by John Whyte

Weight loss for grownups! Drawing on the NIH/AARP Diet and Health Study, the largest-ever survey of American diet and lifestyle Complete with three prescriptive weight-loss plans, the AARP New American Diet helps you lose up to 10 pounds in 2 weeks while staying vital, happy, and healthy for a lifetime. Author John Whyte, MD, Chief Medical Expert for the Discovery Channel, reveals surprising new research insights, such as the fact that drinking diet soda and eating fat-free foods can actually lead to weight gain. Filled with practical advice and listing the top 25 diet busters and the top 25 diet boosters, this breakthrough book combines the best of the Mediterranean diet and the American diet and includes up-to-the-minute guidelines on meat, alcohol, fat, sugar, and fiber consumption.

Genres: Health

240 pages, Hardcover

First published November 27, 2012

Reviews

[Diane D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every January you can count on me checking out at least one healthy eating or weight loss book, and there are certainly plenty of these books out there to choose from. As a baby boomer, this new book seemed like a wise choice.

Although I enjoyed this book, I have to admit that there wasn't much in the way of new information. I think we all know, as the book suggests, we should: limit eating out, choose healthy snacks like nuts, baby carrots and low fat dairy choices. Also, eat more fish instead of red meat and fill up on fruit, veggies and whole grains. It is sensible eating, not eliminating everything that we like that makes a weight loss program work.

There are some chapters on diet, exercise and disease as well a chapter about emotional eating and cravings that I enjoyed. I did like that there were some good menu plans to follow for either 7, 14, 21 days or even for an entire month. There is also a section with questions and answers about certain foods and beverages like coffee, soda, processed foods and meats, but again, much was familiar. I do plan on trying a few of the recipes provided which includes soups, side dishes and even some main dishes. One thing that I did notice is that with a few of the recipes the portion side seems inaccurate so I will use my judgment if that seems to be an issue with one of the recipes I select.

As with most weight loss books, the goal with this book is make the plan work for you and your lifestyle, with the goal of long term healthy eating to minimize our risk for cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. I think most of us know what we need to do, it's doing it that is the hard part.

I liked this one well enough, but you might want to browse a copy at your local bookstore or library to see whether it's for you.

[Debra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't really think this would offer any new advise, but I was disappointed that it wasn't at well edited. The recipes look fine but I doubt the number of servings are accurate. I couldn't imagine eating a turkey sandwich made with 2 cups of chopped turkey.

I do think there are some sound ideas and plan to implement them a few at a time. Healthier eating, exercise and enough sleep all make perfect sense to me. I don't care for meal plans that specify exactly what to eat for every mean with no options for substituting. But I think I can work out general eating guidelines from the plan. Too bad and alternate version of the eating plan wasn't offered with food options.

But still worth reading and thinking about. I'm perfectly happy having an excuse to drink coffee every day.

Happy healthy eating and reading!

[Jane Bigelow · Rating 2 out of 5]

There isn't much new here. Those of us who've been around long enough to be interested in an AARP publication have probably seen almost all of it before.

I have one major complaint: there's no nutritional analysis at all given with the recipes. None. Yes, the author has said that he doesn't think we need to count calories. (Maybe, maybe not; your mileage almost surely will vary.) Did he also decide that no one needs to know just how many grams of sugar, salt, or anything else is in these? If you or someone who eats at your table is on a restricted diet, good luck figuring out if any of the recipes are within the allowances. You probably can, at least approximately, but why should you have to?

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book pulls together many of the recommendations for a healthy diet into one plan. As someone who reads health and diet books, I did not find much new information. I would recommend this book to anyone who currently eats the unhealthy stereotypical american diet. It provides an easy to follow plan to eat for health. It would be less helpful for those who already eat fairly healthily. Although this book many times recommends eating more fruits and vegetables, it only includes 5 servings per day instead of challenging the individual to aim for 7 servings.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read tons of diet books and i've been on tons of diets. There is absolutely nothing unique or new in this book. Nothing about why we eat. You have to be living under a rock if you don't know soda is bad for you or eat a variety of fruit and vegetables. I can't believe the people profiled in this book kept their weight off after a year.

[Diana Isoardi smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good refresher with decent recipes aimed at boomers. I followed the menus far less than religiously and lost 6 pounds in a month.

[Roland Haertl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it first in 2012 and checked items over the years. Well done.