Eat Delete: The Anti-Quick Fix Approach

by Pooja Makhija

Want to lose seven kilos in a month? Would you like to get that bikini bod in four weeks flat? Or do you want a ten-day solution to a sexier you? If you believe that weight loss is a race against time and a screeching, gasping sprint to the finish line, it is better you don't read this book. There is no such thing as a 'quick fix' for weight loss. The key to a hotter you is to take it easy, really listen to your body, and make measured and sustainable nutritional and lifestyle changes. The starting point of any weight-loss programme doesn't begin with what's on your plate, it begins with what's in your mind. Nutritionist to the stars Pooja Makhija gives you a combined mind-body holistic solution, a convenient, easy-to-use reference. So you can be in the best shape of your life. Every day from now on.

Genres: Health, Diets

286 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 21, 2012

Reviews

[Aneesha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very useful, I have learned a lot...must read for everyone. Hopefully will use some of this information

[Deepak Garg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book motivates you on your weight loss journey, gives you so many useful tips. You might not agree with some tips, but that’s your right. A must read book for everyone who’s willing to be fit.

[Bhavesh Rathore · Rating 5 out of 5]

My rating : 4.5 * out of 5 .

This book authored by Pooja Makhija who is a star nutritionist presents in a unique way anti quick fix approach for permanent weight loss .It emphasizes on the process and enjoying sticking to it so you end up a winner in this journey of endurance.It aims to take stress away from the expectation of losing weight and get on with one's life .The quick fix to losing weight is more of a temporary victory with loads of hidden side effects that ultimately slide you back to older ways and additional weight gain .

Anti-Quick Fix :-

Born out of collaboration with leading psychiatrists and qualified nutritionists , the approach is divided into 4 parts namely Know, Trust, Invest and Finish which basically is diagnosing the weight gain reasons followed by knowing the innner workings of your own body and is further helped by investing in healthy toolkits to finish off with your goal and staying on track forever . The simple formula behind this is the logic , whatever calories you eat , if you burn them off via keeping certain logics like BMR in mind you would stay at the same weight .


KNOW :-

Food is everywhere if not in our face there in our mind .If your relationship with food is complicated , your associated weight loss journey will be complicated too .Do you regard food as an entertainment meaning meeting friends over food events rather than may be walks , movies etc .It's a proven fact we tend to eat/drink more in presence of others than we should .Get into more of food free activities like or shortent the calorie intake with a coffee instead of a full meal .Is food your escape and your emotional rides tend to impact your eating habits then you need to vent out those moments elsewhere like dancing,call a friend if distressed .Is food your boss or seduces you and renders you helpless , change your environment and be mindful .Do you eat in order to avoid wastage , that;s when quite a lot of kilos pile on .May be a few reuse ways would go a long way in helping you or donate the food .Is food your sworn enemy and you are dieting as hard as anybody , all the above cited issues need to be addressed and you need to make food your friend and work wiht it towards the end result .

There are a few questionnaires to decide what kind of eating personality you are and how you would tackle the tendancy .What's your motivation and how strong it is to succeed in the weight loss journey as there will come time when being patient will be of immense help .

Author has aptly said " The decision you make at the top affects the bottom " and the willpower strengthening techniques to say no to sweets once, twice and then it gets ingrained within your memory cells if the situation does not permit you to eat the same .This is where to strengthen your willpower so you dont cave into the temptations galore , you are advised by the author to eat every 2 hours so your sugar levels are stable enough for you to say no when that crunch time comes .Your environment needs to be aiding you in to avoid mistakes and even if you make a mistake don't hold yourself to it , get back on the saddle once more .For a habit to form you need around 21 to 28 days to keep going at it to make it an automatic response .

She compares various mindsets , the thin mindset versus the thinner mindset where you do not fret over a particular figure all the time but the weighing scale going down is still a victory in your favour .The all or nothing mindset which works on no half measures wither side namely dieting or eating .The teacup mindset which makes you stop and think before you take that next gulp .The luxury mindset of exotic food and fancy restaurants or food as social economy .The emergency mindset who get on the weight loss bandwagon as an emergency measure tackling a severe disease .The will it happen mindset which is plagues by doubts or it will happen mindset where you trust your body and your technique to achieve the end goal .Likewise there are other self described mindsets like the "I don't have time mindset " versus the "organized mindset " or the "grass is greener" mindset or " my grass is greenest mindset " and finally the no mindset versus the "it's allowed mindset " .Finally what's your weight loss dream , you need to visualize it and mark it so the reference point of your expectations has been set .

TRUST :-

Trust your body as it can do wonders when acoompanied with right eating habits .Know your BMR's and concentrate on building muscles .Eating smart and work of the subcutaneous ( visible on body ) and visceral ( Around the organs and dangerous one ) fat .Do not try to ward off the fat with starvation because it puts the body into generator mode and into a less than optimum functioning and peels of muscle mass instead of the fat that you were originally after and lead to health issues .You need to keep into account what you eat and how much you eat .Work with your body hormones like Leptin ( signals body is full ) ,Ghrelin ( signals body needs food ) and insulin .Eat after you have exercise to take benefit of enhances BMR and not the other way round .


INVEST :-

Author advises you to break up with bad eating habits like you would dump a bad girlfriend / boyfriend .Set aside a book and not what you have eaten in what portion sizes for a week .This helps you know when yo are at your weakest .Write an open letter to food and make friends with it in categories like best friends, acquaintances and good friends .How you should be setting your goal as both being realistic and challenging , it cannot be a random number rather a range to keep you going without stress .Note down your current weight, pick up that dress which would be a yardstick for you to get into post your accomplishment .Break your goals into 3 month short term goals , plan your nutrition in advance along with your workouts .it would be good to keep a goal which is not associated with weight loss only and something you would enjoy .Plan your me time where food is not a chief guest .

INVEST in NUTRITION and EAT wisely :-

The last bit of your wight loss journey is when the loss seems to be achingly slower and you need more patience with your system and processes to take you through .Don't loose your self in the diet loss journey with camel diets ( drink a lot instead of eat ), monkey diet ( which concentrate on only one food group majorly and ignores others ) ,the cow diet ( one recurring ingredient ) or the cheetah diets which promise weight loss quickly .All these are unhealthly and do more harm to your body in the long run . Body needs good fats MUFA and PUFA and avoid bad fats unsaturated and trans fats .Proteins are building blocks and should be consumed in accordance with your current weight .Complex carbs to be given more weightage as opposed to simple carbs .Know the GI values of the common foods to take a better decision , higher the GI faster it breaks down so the idea is to eat foods with low GI so body can break it down slowly .Vitamins and minerals are a must in her diet plans as they keep the bodily functions balanced and the best of all water .

Stick to a diet plan with respect to calories and avoid artificial sweeteners and alcohol as it can put you back on the weight loss journey .Small changes that make a big impact like avoid the cone when eating an ice cream , it saves 100 calories so does saying no to cheese as an extra topping ,eat fruit instead of drinking it .End of the day take adequate rest via sleep .

FINISH :-

Prepare in advance as temptations will be at every corner the day you start the journey , learn to say no , try to postpone when you know it is going to pile up the calories .Be mindful of the same while on vacation and don't obsess with food on vacation .There are various options in the book on what to eat wrt which cuisine .

End of the day each person on this earth is unique and take pride in this journey and have patience as that will pay off in long run .You are uniquely you and keep up the high spirits on this journey for it to be refurnishing and enjoyable .This book is a must read and the details present in it will give you a different toolset to be successfull on a weight loss journey .

[Ashwyn Mittal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review
Out of 4 Sections, 3 Sections are of Psychological Advice

Pros
1. Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) Calculation Formulas are given.
2. There are some very good real life examples in the book.
3. You will definitely gain some positive knowledge on weight loss from this book.

Cons
1. Starting of the Book is not very interesting. It deals with your psychological relationship with food. But if you continue reading it becomes a little bit interesting and shows the mistake you are making in daily life.
2. It starts by convincing you about avoiding unhealthy foods without telling anything about which foods are unhealthy.
3. This book presupposes that all the weight gain due to binge and tells you psychological ways to avoid binge.
4. Psychological advice is given on how not to stop in between a diet control programme without giving any knowledge on how to make a diet plan, what to eat and not to eat.
5. All Psychological advice should have been given at the end of the book and not in begining.
6. All Psychological motivation is general and applies to any task, So that you don't leave it in-between. Why it has to be given in a weight loss book that too at the begining.
7. Second section 'Trust' has some good weight loss tips/knowledge. But again the Third Section ' Invest' is full of Psychological advice.
8. Writer wants you to write a long letter to the food you eat.
9. In the 4th Section is again full of psychological advice on how to avoid over eating on Social occasions and Vacations.
10. Out of 4 Sections 3 are full of psychological advice. Only 1 section talks about weight loss tips.

[Swati · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to write a positive feedback but I couldn't, since the beginning 35% and end 15% was so dull that I dozed off completely.

Focusing on positive points are..
- The writing is not condescending and demeaning to women as opposed to the book I read by some famous nutritionist.
- Fundamental and simple explanation of leptin and ghrelin, BMR etc
- Food as a friend and not your boss
- Meticulously chosen food from different cuisine around the world (which btw I wont remember)
- Importance on exercise (cardio, HIIT, walking etc)
- some real life examples

Some stuffs which personally i didn't like
- the first 35% was so boring to focus like your psychological dependence on food, food as a friend, Indian societies and their food dependence etc. I mean its good to be aware of, ranting for so long is not what i m looking for.
- mean plan for 1200 calories to 2000 calories or more..
- principle of eating every 2 hours (doesn't work for everybody)
- Less mention of 'why' the food is healthy or crap.

If you want to motivate yourself, read it not as a source of in depth information.

[Aishwariya Laxmi · Rating 5 out of 5]

#eatdelete by #poojamakhija is my 'go-to' book for weight-loss inspiration. Weight loss books are a dime a dozen, but this is the first book I came across that devotes a whole section to the mindset change necessary for #weightloss. It is written well and covers a lot of ground. I highly recommend this book to those who like to re-read their weight loss books for inspiration. I read this book in 2016 or so. Read it again now in 2018 when I needed some motivation.

[Mihika Sawant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for anyone who wants to lose weight in a healthy fashion

Loved everything about the book. They way all issues are addressed and tackled pertaining to weight loss and healthy living is commendable. Recommended even if you are not on a weight loss journey.

[Ipsita Gochhayat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly scientific in approach, the author parts with some approaches to healthy eating. Someone embarking on their fitness journey can definitely benefit from reading this. Not a run of the mill diet book.

[Vidya · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book, Pooja reinforces the priniciples Rujuta has spelt out in her book, Dont Lose your mind, lose your weight.
One can skip this one, if he/she has read the former.

[Ramesh Arreja · Rating 4 out of 5]

Will change the way you think about weight loss

[Deepali Garg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has single handedly changed my relationship with food and nutrition in general. I've lost tons of weight while enjoying my favorite food items.

[Neha Kapoor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very practical book. Must read for all fitness enthusiasts and aspirants.

[Mani Kumari · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is very useful

[Noor Anand · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book gives some good tips on weight loss. I haven't tried out the method given by her in the book, so can't say how effective it will be, but it does make me want to try!

[Vedaant · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Excellent book!

[Sandhya Paswan · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first book purchase for weight loss but I understand only weight loss is not that I wanted right now I want good physic ➕ health.

[Yoginder Agarwal]

Worth a read, specially for those on the heavier side.

[Caitlyn]

The power of nutrition given in this book is amazing.. Also ,the way we can change our lifestyles with just tiny things can help anyone to reach their goal..