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Always Hungry?: Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently
Always Hungry challenges the age old methods for healthy eating and weight loss. If you have ever been frustrated by failure after failure to count calories, this dietary approach is for you. Dr. Ludwig's approach allows calories to work for you. Dr. Ludwig goes into detail of how he has scientifically discovered the fact that not all calories are equal.
Through a series of three phases the Always Hungry eating plan allows the dieter to conquer the cravings that always sabotage the best diet plans on the market. This is not a one week diet trip that you will jump off at first trouble, rather, this is a three phase life journey that will enhance your life and free you from eating foods (even food thought to be good like low-fat foods) that hold your body hostage.
Through a series of three phases the Always Hungry eating plan allows the dieter to conquer the cravings that always sabotage the best diet plans on the market. This is not a one week diet trip that you will jump off at first trouble, rather, this is a three phase life journey that will enhance your life and free you from eating foods (even food thought to be good like low-fat foods) that hold your body hostage.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published December 29, 2015
1403 people are currently reading
4777 people want to read
About the author
David Ludwig
4 books12 followersDavid S. Ludwig, MD, PhD, is a practicing endocrinologist, researcher, and professor at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Ludwig also directs the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. His research focuses on how food affects hormones, metabolism, body weight, and well-being.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 363 reviews
April 4, 2016
For most of my life I’ve approached eating somewhat skeptically. I was not raised in a household that entertained even a curiosity about nutrition, to say the least. It took until I was nearly twenty before I had the palate to even choke down a green salad. The body can be capable of handling a lot, but as all of us learn at some point, the body has limits. For me, it had become more that my body was my limit - or more, my relative size was not something that occupied conscious space, but rather I could intuitively feel that I was not healthy.
I’d like to qualify this review by saying this is the first time I’ve ever followed a formalized, long-term eating plan in my life. I completed the first 3 weeks of the plan exactly as laid out - which means, I followed the suggested menu precisely. The first 3 weeks also happen to be the amount of time in which you have a comprehensive, detailed, down-to-the-ingredient-shopping-list plan laid out for you to follow.
I would like to start at the place I feel is most helpful - which were the challenges.
It involves a lot of prep work. If you do not already spend a lot of time in the kitchen, the amount of work this program demands might come as a bit of a shock.
Which means, it involves a lot of time. While each of the individual recipes tend to be fairly simple, you are eating homemade breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. Every. Single. Day. It adds up to time spent in the kitchen, and a lot of dishes.
It involves some specialty ingredients, and thus gets expensive. If your food budget is bare bones, this plan will probably not work for you. Items like miso paste, flax oil, avocado oil and whey protein are not cheap - and if you don’t live in a city, I’d imagine they may be hard to find. Beyond the initial investment required in some of these ingredients, the plan otherwise consists almost entirely in fresh fruits and vegetables, and quality proteins including beef, chicken, fish and tofu - which means if you want to do this plan right, you should be buying wild-caught fish, and pasture raised meats whenever possible. There is a vegetarian version of the plan (which could plausibly save a lot of money, even if you’re not vegetarian) but you have to be prepared to eat a lot of tofu and tempeh.
You’re going to be grocery shopping 3 times a week. I don’t know about you, but if I’m already prepping and cooking food every single day, this is kind of a lot.
Beyond the minor annoyance of occasional dislikes of ingredients chosen (such as discovering it’s possible to love avocados and still want to gag every single time you catch a hint of the flavor of avocado oil), these were the biggest pitfalls of the plan.
Now, the advantages.
You will rarely feel hungry. Each meal and snack was satisfying on a level beyond taste, by which I mean, I felt incredibly sustained and thus really able to focus a lot more energy on what matters.
You will learn how your body deals without sugar, and it will shock you. The entire idea is that you are taming the body’s insulin response, which in turn calms the rest of your body from an angry, uninhabitable planet type-vibe to a relaxed, functional, well-oiled and productive machine. Which feels a lot more incredible than it sounds. It’s tough to understand just how much certain foods affect you until you get a sense for what it feels like to live, and happily, without them.
The plan is incredibly structured and detailed I know that doesn’t sound like an advantage at first - but it actually kind of is. When you’re busy, spending time and energy on what you’re going to eat can easily veer from being a pleasure to being an emotional drain and a major time sink.
There are preplanned shopping lists you can easily print out, and shop from, or use to order your groceries. I appreciated the tools that the plan provides - it made it easier for me in ways that allowed me to save energy on the actual work of making the food. But again, having the time and energy to make the food, and to be able to afford the markup to order my groceries, speaks to a sort of privilege that is not necessarily available to everyone.
You’re going to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. Again, because you’re buying a ton of it. But in addition to this having physical implications, there’s actually research out there that says eating 7 servings of fruit and vegetables per day is actually linked with peak mental health, as well as physical health. Which means that if you can do it, chances are, you’re going to feel amazing.
Even as I write this review from a really earnest place, I can’t help but feel gimmicky about it. It’s impossible to turn a corner in this country without someone trying to tell you how to eat, and so it feels loaded for me to approach yet another book, and plan, that is doing basically that. There are a lot of systemic issues that contribute to poor access to proper nutrition in this country - and a lot of interests that stand to gain from that lack. Other than potential book sales, I couldn’t think about what David Ludwig - a medical doctor, and Harvard researcher both - might stand to gain, other than actually advancing our knowledge in the field of how to better care for our bodies by starting at proper nutrition.
I’m writing this from the remove of a bit of distance - I’ve had both successes and failures with the plan as laid out, and at this point in time, I’ve only completed the first 3 weeks of the plan. During that time, I lost 9 pounds and 2.5 inches from my waist, and I felt amazing. Incredibly at home in my body. Even after only the 3 weeks spent, following the regimen exactly as it was laid out, my physical well-being and mental acuity have both improved to a degree I would never have imagined possible. After 3 weeks, I decided - in part due to laziness - to return to my old ways. After that week, I not only feel considerably worse than I did during those entire 3 weeks (now that I know the alternative), I feel even more motivated than before to return to it, because now I know what is possible. It takes work, but as they say, nothing worth having necessarily comes easy. But in this particular arena, the work does not always amount to reward. In this case, it absolutely does, simply by virtue of the ways it puts you back in touch with your own body.
I feel I can confidently say this book taught me how to eat for the first time in my life.
I’d like to qualify this review by saying this is the first time I’ve ever followed a formalized, long-term eating plan in my life. I completed the first 3 weeks of the plan exactly as laid out - which means, I followed the suggested menu precisely. The first 3 weeks also happen to be the amount of time in which you have a comprehensive, detailed, down-to-the-ingredient-shopping-list plan laid out for you to follow.
I would like to start at the place I feel is most helpful - which were the challenges.
It involves a lot of prep work. If you do not already spend a lot of time in the kitchen, the amount of work this program demands might come as a bit of a shock.
Which means, it involves a lot of time. While each of the individual recipes tend to be fairly simple, you are eating homemade breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks. Every. Single. Day. It adds up to time spent in the kitchen, and a lot of dishes.
It involves some specialty ingredients, and thus gets expensive. If your food budget is bare bones, this plan will probably not work for you. Items like miso paste, flax oil, avocado oil and whey protein are not cheap - and if you don’t live in a city, I’d imagine they may be hard to find. Beyond the initial investment required in some of these ingredients, the plan otherwise consists almost entirely in fresh fruits and vegetables, and quality proteins including beef, chicken, fish and tofu - which means if you want to do this plan right, you should be buying wild-caught fish, and pasture raised meats whenever possible. There is a vegetarian version of the plan (which could plausibly save a lot of money, even if you’re not vegetarian) but you have to be prepared to eat a lot of tofu and tempeh.
You’re going to be grocery shopping 3 times a week. I don’t know about you, but if I’m already prepping and cooking food every single day, this is kind of a lot.
Beyond the minor annoyance of occasional dislikes of ingredients chosen (such as discovering it’s possible to love avocados and still want to gag every single time you catch a hint of the flavor of avocado oil), these were the biggest pitfalls of the plan.
Now, the advantages.
You will rarely feel hungry. Each meal and snack was satisfying on a level beyond taste, by which I mean, I felt incredibly sustained and thus really able to focus a lot more energy on what matters.
You will learn how your body deals without sugar, and it will shock you. The entire idea is that you are taming the body’s insulin response, which in turn calms the rest of your body from an angry, uninhabitable planet type-vibe to a relaxed, functional, well-oiled and productive machine. Which feels a lot more incredible than it sounds. It’s tough to understand just how much certain foods affect you until you get a sense for what it feels like to live, and happily, without them.
The plan is incredibly structured and detailed I know that doesn’t sound like an advantage at first - but it actually kind of is. When you’re busy, spending time and energy on what you’re going to eat can easily veer from being a pleasure to being an emotional drain and a major time sink.
There are preplanned shopping lists you can easily print out, and shop from, or use to order your groceries. I appreciated the tools that the plan provides - it made it easier for me in ways that allowed me to save energy on the actual work of making the food. But again, having the time and energy to make the food, and to be able to afford the markup to order my groceries, speaks to a sort of privilege that is not necessarily available to everyone.
You’re going to eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. Again, because you’re buying a ton of it. But in addition to this having physical implications, there’s actually research out there that says eating 7 servings of fruit and vegetables per day is actually linked with peak mental health, as well as physical health. Which means that if you can do it, chances are, you’re going to feel amazing.
Even as I write this review from a really earnest place, I can’t help but feel gimmicky about it. It’s impossible to turn a corner in this country without someone trying to tell you how to eat, and so it feels loaded for me to approach yet another book, and plan, that is doing basically that. There are a lot of systemic issues that contribute to poor access to proper nutrition in this country - and a lot of interests that stand to gain from that lack. Other than potential book sales, I couldn’t think about what David Ludwig - a medical doctor, and Harvard researcher both - might stand to gain, other than actually advancing our knowledge in the field of how to better care for our bodies by starting at proper nutrition.
I’m writing this from the remove of a bit of distance - I’ve had both successes and failures with the plan as laid out, and at this point in time, I’ve only completed the first 3 weeks of the plan. During that time, I lost 9 pounds and 2.5 inches from my waist, and I felt amazing. Incredibly at home in my body. Even after only the 3 weeks spent, following the regimen exactly as it was laid out, my physical well-being and mental acuity have both improved to a degree I would never have imagined possible. After 3 weeks, I decided - in part due to laziness - to return to my old ways. After that week, I not only feel considerably worse than I did during those entire 3 weeks (now that I know the alternative), I feel even more motivated than before to return to it, because now I know what is possible. It takes work, but as they say, nothing worth having necessarily comes easy. But in this particular arena, the work does not always amount to reward. In this case, it absolutely does, simply by virtue of the ways it puts you back in touch with your own body.
I feel I can confidently say this book taught me how to eat for the first time in my life.
February 12, 2016
With Always Hungry?, there are two things to review: the book as a book and the book as an eating system.
The eating system has been working great for me. In the month I’ve been on it, I’ve lost 10 pounds without feeling like I’m dieting and no “white-knuckling” it to the next meal. But more importantly, I’m feeling healthier and happier than I have in years and I’m cooking & eating delicious food.
The book lays out science behind the eating system clearly. It can get fairly in the weeds in some chapters, but it convincingly explains all the problems with processed carbohydrates dominating a diet. The scientific principle of changing your diet in order to change biology which then, in turn, changes your cravings and, as time passes, change your weight set point is a bit counter intuitive at first, but once you get past that, the ideas go from surprising to revelatory and then are so natural that it’s easy to forget I ever thought otherwise. I liked his focus on improving health through diet with weight loss just a side effect.
In addition, the book’s recipes are great. The food plans are fairly easy to follow, but I found that the simplified food plan (available for free as a PDF on his website) worked better for me.
My main criticism is that when Dr. Ludwig expands beyond the nutrition science and diet recommendations, the book starts to falter. While his explanation of the perverse incentives of food companies is correct, he only begins to scratch the surface of how capitalism’s profit imperative kills our health. I think he missed an opportunity to tie toxic food in with the toxic stress and overwork that comes from capitalism’s drive to maximize profits at all costs. Similarly, his policy analysis ends up being naive and incomplete due to a combination of a desire to appeal to conservatives as well as his technocratic (albeit goodhearted) liberalism. We can't begin to solve a systematic problem without systematic revolutionary change.
The eating system has been working great for me. In the month I’ve been on it, I’ve lost 10 pounds without feeling like I’m dieting and no “white-knuckling” it to the next meal. But more importantly, I’m feeling healthier and happier than I have in years and I’m cooking & eating delicious food.
The book lays out science behind the eating system clearly. It can get fairly in the weeds in some chapters, but it convincingly explains all the problems with processed carbohydrates dominating a diet. The scientific principle of changing your diet in order to change biology which then, in turn, changes your cravings and, as time passes, change your weight set point is a bit counter intuitive at first, but once you get past that, the ideas go from surprising to revelatory and then are so natural that it’s easy to forget I ever thought otherwise. I liked his focus on improving health through diet with weight loss just a side effect.
In addition, the book’s recipes are great. The food plans are fairly easy to follow, but I found that the simplified food plan (available for free as a PDF on his website) worked better for me.
My main criticism is that when Dr. Ludwig expands beyond the nutrition science and diet recommendations, the book starts to falter. While his explanation of the perverse incentives of food companies is correct, he only begins to scratch the surface of how capitalism’s profit imperative kills our health. I think he missed an opportunity to tie toxic food in with the toxic stress and overwork that comes from capitalism’s drive to maximize profits at all costs. Similarly, his policy analysis ends up being naive and incomplete due to a combination of a desire to appeal to conservatives as well as his technocratic (albeit goodhearted) liberalism. We can't begin to solve a systematic problem without systematic revolutionary change.
September 5, 2016
It works.
I have been following this eating approach since the beginning of the year and have lost almost 30 pounds without suffering. The key is to find a system that will work for you that you can follow for the rest of your life, not 'while you're on a diet.'
Part of why this works for me is the research and logic Dr Ludwig brings to bear. He starts with the question 'why has America gotten progressively more obese since it began low-fat diets?', and then explains the metabolic effects of such a diet. The solution: full fat products, no simple carbs, don't count calories but eat mindfully. Result: weight loss, energy, better skin, less arthritis pain (less inflammation). Once I had some logical basis for the plan, and satisfying foods and recipes, I could stick with it.
I understand that there are several books promoting this research out there; this one was a good combination of research, plan, recipes, and timing.
I have been following this eating approach since the beginning of the year and have lost almost 30 pounds without suffering. The key is to find a system that will work for you that you can follow for the rest of your life, not 'while you're on a diet.'
Part of why this works for me is the research and logic Dr Ludwig brings to bear. He starts with the question 'why has America gotten progressively more obese since it began low-fat diets?', and then explains the metabolic effects of such a diet. The solution: full fat products, no simple carbs, don't count calories but eat mindfully. Result: weight loss, energy, better skin, less arthritis pain (less inflammation). Once I had some logical basis for the plan, and satisfying foods and recipes, I could stick with it.
I understand that there are several books promoting this research out there; this one was a good combination of research, plan, recipes, and timing.
December 19, 2019
Oof. It's hard to rate this one. It's another book promoting some version of paleo/atkins/keto a.k.a. high fat, high protein, almost no carbohydrate diet.
The 'science' behind the book centers mostly around insulin. Ludwig's 'position' is that "fat cells take in or release calories only when instructed to do so by external signals--and the master control is insulin." (He calls insulin as "the ultimate fat fertilizer")
While I agree that anything containing refined grains, concentrated sugars, and potato products (i.e. potato chips and tater tots) rapidly raise insulin, I felt the book did not provide convincing evidence that these foods "program fat cells to hoard calories" as Ludwig claims. (90% of the 'science' presented in the book is studies on people or rates who eat low carb diets -- I'd rather see blood tests to prove points).
I did appreciate Ludwig acknowledging that stress and sleep deprivation can also play a role. While he does not 'admit' they affect insulin directly, he says stress/lack of sleep/sedentary lifestyle "have forced fat cells into calorie-storage overdrive." He also says that "overeating hasn't made our fat cells grow, our fat cells have been programmed to grow and that has made us overeat..." (I didn't feel this was supported by the evidence in the book, however, I do agree with his secondary position that "people chronically overeat because they're trying to keep enough calories in the blood" I don't think that is always the case, but this is akin to "toxic hunger" a.k.a. the unpleasant 'withdrawal' symptoms people get during the second stage of digestion (that tends to only occur when we eat crap... I have a whole podcast episode on this if you're curious to learn more. I first heard about it in Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, which is another low-carb diet, albeit a plant-centered one).
The problem I have with this book is while he acknowledges addiction, in that, these foods cause blood sugar drops (swings) that are biologically addictive (a biological reward is triggered after ingestion), he denies the existence of food addiction and completely ignores any psychological component, even addiction itself is treated as a physical ailment... if you just eat no carbs, then you won't be hungry or have cravings! ::eyeroll::
I believe that may be true for some people... however, most of the people I have worked with who had food issues, overeating, constant hunger or cravings, still experienced them, even months after a low carb diet (hence why they became my clients). I personally experienced the most insane hunger of my life the three times I tried a low carb diet.
One point I found interesting was his casual attack on Brian Wansink of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. He said "Or serve meals on a small plate, so that you'll believe you've eaten more than you have. The problem is, this strategy makes the body-mind disconnect worse." Admittedly, that hadn't occurred to me and is making me rethink a few things.
I also appreciated that Ludwig says exercise is often more hurtful than helpful... that it artificially raises hunger which causes overconsumption (something I've said for years) and that if we exercise, especially when we don't want to, we "compensate" later by eating more high pleasure foods (i.e. desserts) or we exercise even less, meaning we lay on the couch more than we would had we not "exercised" (this is, ironically, coming from Wansink's research).
I did appreciate his inclusion of 2 new studies (from Europe) that suggest "sedentary habits may not lead to increased body fat in the way we tend to think. instead the process of gaining fat may cause people to become less active" HOWEVER, he spends the first part of the book also blaming a "sedentary lifestyle" for the "obesity problem" so...
BOTTOM LINE: It's the same truth we all know--improve the QUALITY of your food. Eat whole foods and less processed foods. Calorie counting does not work as all calories are not equal once ingested... Genes may play a role... specifically, you may not be able to tolerate "rapid" weight-loss, but regardless... the only known way (so far) to change your set point (the weight your body will it to keep you at, making exercise often futile in the battle) is through changing the quality of your food. Again coming back to WHAT YOU EAT MATTERS most.
The 'science' behind the book centers mostly around insulin. Ludwig's 'position' is that "fat cells take in or release calories only when instructed to do so by external signals--and the master control is insulin." (He calls insulin as "the ultimate fat fertilizer")
While I agree that anything containing refined grains, concentrated sugars, and potato products (i.e. potato chips and tater tots) rapidly raise insulin, I felt the book did not provide convincing evidence that these foods "program fat cells to hoard calories" as Ludwig claims. (90% of the 'science' presented in the book is studies on people or rates who eat low carb diets -- I'd rather see blood tests to prove points).
I did appreciate Ludwig acknowledging that stress and sleep deprivation can also play a role. While he does not 'admit' they affect insulin directly, he says stress/lack of sleep/sedentary lifestyle "have forced fat cells into calorie-storage overdrive." He also says that "overeating hasn't made our fat cells grow, our fat cells have been programmed to grow and that has made us overeat..." (I didn't feel this was supported by the evidence in the book, however, I do agree with his secondary position that "people chronically overeat because they're trying to keep enough calories in the blood" I don't think that is always the case, but this is akin to "toxic hunger" a.k.a. the unpleasant 'withdrawal' symptoms people get during the second stage of digestion (that tends to only occur when we eat crap... I have a whole podcast episode on this if you're curious to learn more. I first heard about it in Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, which is another low-carb diet, albeit a plant-centered one).
The problem I have with this book is while he acknowledges addiction, in that, these foods cause blood sugar drops (swings) that are biologically addictive (a biological reward is triggered after ingestion), he denies the existence of food addiction and completely ignores any psychological component, even addiction itself is treated as a physical ailment... if you just eat no carbs, then you won't be hungry or have cravings! ::eyeroll::
I believe that may be true for some people... however, most of the people I have worked with who had food issues, overeating, constant hunger or cravings, still experienced them, even months after a low carb diet (hence why they became my clients). I personally experienced the most insane hunger of my life the three times I tried a low carb diet.
One point I found interesting was his casual attack on Brian Wansink of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. He said "Or serve meals on a small plate, so that you'll believe you've eaten more than you have. The problem is, this strategy makes the body-mind disconnect worse." Admittedly, that hadn't occurred to me and is making me rethink a few things.
I also appreciated that Ludwig says exercise is often more hurtful than helpful... that it artificially raises hunger which causes overconsumption (something I've said for years) and that if we exercise, especially when we don't want to, we "compensate" later by eating more high pleasure foods (i.e. desserts) or we exercise even less, meaning we lay on the couch more than we would had we not "exercised" (this is, ironically, coming from Wansink's research).
I did appreciate his inclusion of 2 new studies (from Europe) that suggest "sedentary habits may not lead to increased body fat in the way we tend to think. instead the process of gaining fat may cause people to become less active" HOWEVER, he spends the first part of the book also blaming a "sedentary lifestyle" for the "obesity problem" so...
BOTTOM LINE: It's the same truth we all know--improve the QUALITY of your food. Eat whole foods and less processed foods. Calorie counting does not work as all calories are not equal once ingested... Genes may play a role... specifically, you may not be able to tolerate "rapid" weight-loss, but regardless... the only known way (so far) to change your set point (the weight your body will it to keep you at, making exercise often futile in the battle) is through changing the quality of your food. Again coming back to WHAT YOU EAT MATTERS most.
June 3, 2016
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
The bad news about Dr. David Ludwig's newest book, Always Hungry? -- and this is only minor bad news at most -- is that what he calls "revolutionary" information is not actually that revolutionary, essentially repeating the same story from half a dozen other nutrition books I've read that have been published in the last year or two. But that's the good news about this book as well, which is much more important, that Ludwig is preaching a message here that has essentially been confirmed by all the other medical professionals who are currently writing about the absolute newest things science has learned about health and eating in the last couple of years; that the way we've been taught for decades about weight management is essentially worthless BS, that there is no such thing as a simple math formula for "calories in" and "calories out" of our bodies, and that the key to weight loss is not how much food one eats but rather what kinds of foods you're putting into your system.
Specifically, Ludwig (a longtime professor at Harvard Medical School) is confirming something that's becoming more and more of an accepted reality in the 21st century -- that the main reason the US has seen an epidemic in obesity rates since the end of World War Two is because of the growing amount of corporate processing we've been doing since World War Two to the food we eat, innocently begun in the Mid-Century Modernist "Plastic Age" years but that has turned into an overwhelming tragedy by now, with the main culprit being the way that we are now systematically stripping nearly every carbohydrate in our diets (flour, wheat, pasta, rice, chips, potatoes, corn, breakfast cereal, etc) of the things nature puts in those grains to make them slower to digest, and therefore easier to burn off at a small and regular rate over the course of an entire day. The lack of such elements makes our bodies convert these carbs into sugar much faster, which makes our insulin levels go through the roof, which means we burn off that food frighteningly fast (think for example of the crash you experience a couple of hours after a lunch at McDonald's), which in turn sends signals to our fat cells to "hoard" those sugars because it mistakenly believes we're not getting enough to eat (but see this book for a more detailed explanation of that process). Eliminate this processed stuff from your diet, Ludwig argues -- basically, all fast food and all frozen dinners, plus "white" versions of any of the things listed above -- and you're already 95 percent of the way towards a healthy diet that will bring you back to your genetically "natural" weight, whatever that might be; the only thing left at that point is to balance out the food that remains to levels that we as contemporary Americans are usually a little off from, including a little more protein than what most of us typically get right now, and a substantially greater amount of what nutritionists call "good" fat (found in things like nuts, olive oil, fish, avocados, and the unprocessed versions of dairy products, i.e. the "full fat" versions of milk, butter and yogurt).
The book is conveniently laid out in two distinct halves; so for people like me who are mostly just interested in the theory of it all, the first half is devoted to nothing but that, but for those who are actively overweight and are looking for an actual practical diet plan, the second half of the book is devoted exclusively to that, including literal day-by-day menu plans for the first month of the program (with accompanying recipes), templates for recording your process, and plenty of appendices giving you nutritional information about nearly every food involved. Combined with some very simple lifestyle advice to go along with the diet (get more sleep, exercise a bit each day, reduce your stress level through things like mindfulness), it's a pretty comprehensive and convincing plan for not just temporary weight loss but a profound and permanent change in the way you live your entire life; and the only reason it's not getting a higher score today is that you have to be very specifically into these subjects in order to find the book of any interest at all. For those who are, it comes recommended, although with the warning that there are at least another dozen similar books on the market right now that you could read instead.
Out of 10: 8.0, or 9.0 for those interested in nutrition
The bad news about Dr. David Ludwig's newest book, Always Hungry? -- and this is only minor bad news at most -- is that what he calls "revolutionary" information is not actually that revolutionary, essentially repeating the same story from half a dozen other nutrition books I've read that have been published in the last year or two. But that's the good news about this book as well, which is much more important, that Ludwig is preaching a message here that has essentially been confirmed by all the other medical professionals who are currently writing about the absolute newest things science has learned about health and eating in the last couple of years; that the way we've been taught for decades about weight management is essentially worthless BS, that there is no such thing as a simple math formula for "calories in" and "calories out" of our bodies, and that the key to weight loss is not how much food one eats but rather what kinds of foods you're putting into your system.
Specifically, Ludwig (a longtime professor at Harvard Medical School) is confirming something that's becoming more and more of an accepted reality in the 21st century -- that the main reason the US has seen an epidemic in obesity rates since the end of World War Two is because of the growing amount of corporate processing we've been doing since World War Two to the food we eat, innocently begun in the Mid-Century Modernist "Plastic Age" years but that has turned into an overwhelming tragedy by now, with the main culprit being the way that we are now systematically stripping nearly every carbohydrate in our diets (flour, wheat, pasta, rice, chips, potatoes, corn, breakfast cereal, etc) of the things nature puts in those grains to make them slower to digest, and therefore easier to burn off at a small and regular rate over the course of an entire day. The lack of such elements makes our bodies convert these carbs into sugar much faster, which makes our insulin levels go through the roof, which means we burn off that food frighteningly fast (think for example of the crash you experience a couple of hours after a lunch at McDonald's), which in turn sends signals to our fat cells to "hoard" those sugars because it mistakenly believes we're not getting enough to eat (but see this book for a more detailed explanation of that process). Eliminate this processed stuff from your diet, Ludwig argues -- basically, all fast food and all frozen dinners, plus "white" versions of any of the things listed above -- and you're already 95 percent of the way towards a healthy diet that will bring you back to your genetically "natural" weight, whatever that might be; the only thing left at that point is to balance out the food that remains to levels that we as contemporary Americans are usually a little off from, including a little more protein than what most of us typically get right now, and a substantially greater amount of what nutritionists call "good" fat (found in things like nuts, olive oil, fish, avocados, and the unprocessed versions of dairy products, i.e. the "full fat" versions of milk, butter and yogurt).
The book is conveniently laid out in two distinct halves; so for people like me who are mostly just interested in the theory of it all, the first half is devoted to nothing but that, but for those who are actively overweight and are looking for an actual practical diet plan, the second half of the book is devoted exclusively to that, including literal day-by-day menu plans for the first month of the program (with accompanying recipes), templates for recording your process, and plenty of appendices giving you nutritional information about nearly every food involved. Combined with some very simple lifestyle advice to go along with the diet (get more sleep, exercise a bit each day, reduce your stress level through things like mindfulness), it's a pretty comprehensive and convincing plan for not just temporary weight loss but a profound and permanent change in the way you live your entire life; and the only reason it's not getting a higher score today is that you have to be very specifically into these subjects in order to find the book of any interest at all. For those who are, it comes recommended, although with the warning that there are at least another dozen similar books on the market right now that you could read instead.
Out of 10: 8.0, or 9.0 for those interested in nutrition
February 4, 2018
The diet described in this book did not work for me. Given the highly individual nature of human bodies, and the subjective values of self-help books, perhaps I should just leave it at that. It might work for you, fair enough. If it does, enjoy.
However, Dr. Ludwig makes some awfully large claims about dietary science in this book that deserve a larger-scale refutation by someone better equipped than I am to make. The book falls into what I call the “conspiracy theory” self-help book. Conspiracy theories are popular because they reassure people that the world’s problems are not their own fault, but that of evil forces beyond their control. They give people an enemy or scapegoat to take out their own frustrations on, while usually offering some kind of new religio-political catechism to adhere to in order to remain one of the righteous. Self-help books, targeting audiences of people who want to feel good about themselves, have increasingly begun to rely on similar tactics. Perhaps it has always been so, I didn’t really read a lot of self-help books until recently.
Dr. Ludwig offers a view of a food industry which has conspired with the government to promote a false view of weight loss, one which tells us to avoid fat and count calories, when the real enemy is “processed” carbohydrates and refined sugars. Note that the concept of “processing” is never clearly defined (surely just plucking a food from the earth is a “process”). There is a certain amount of validity in the basic point (a good conspiracy theory requires a kernel of truth) that Americans eat too much sugar and bread, but he takes this to the extreme of claiming that efforts to lose weight based on portion size are misguided. He supports this by citing a lot of his own research and ignoring large-scale studies like the National Weight Control Registry that have demonstrated the opposite.
Ironically, he claims that the reason most diets fail is because they rely too much on personal discipline, which is bound to fail at some point, but the diet he recommends is the most rigorous and unforgiving I have ever attempted. While I was on it, I sacrificed pretty much all free time to food preparation. I suffered from cravings far stronger than those I have had on a regular diet, where allowances are made for occasional indulgences. Needless to say, this did not make me a happy person, although I will admit that I was rarely hungry. I also lost no weight whatsoever. Again, your mileage may vary.
However, Dr. Ludwig makes some awfully large claims about dietary science in this book that deserve a larger-scale refutation by someone better equipped than I am to make. The book falls into what I call the “conspiracy theory” self-help book. Conspiracy theories are popular because they reassure people that the world’s problems are not their own fault, but that of evil forces beyond their control. They give people an enemy or scapegoat to take out their own frustrations on, while usually offering some kind of new religio-political catechism to adhere to in order to remain one of the righteous. Self-help books, targeting audiences of people who want to feel good about themselves, have increasingly begun to rely on similar tactics. Perhaps it has always been so, I didn’t really read a lot of self-help books until recently.
Dr. Ludwig offers a view of a food industry which has conspired with the government to promote a false view of weight loss, one which tells us to avoid fat and count calories, when the real enemy is “processed” carbohydrates and refined sugars. Note that the concept of “processing” is never clearly defined (surely just plucking a food from the earth is a “process”). There is a certain amount of validity in the basic point (a good conspiracy theory requires a kernel of truth) that Americans eat too much sugar and bread, but he takes this to the extreme of claiming that efforts to lose weight based on portion size are misguided. He supports this by citing a lot of his own research and ignoring large-scale studies like the National Weight Control Registry that have demonstrated the opposite.
Ironically, he claims that the reason most diets fail is because they rely too much on personal discipline, which is bound to fail at some point, but the diet he recommends is the most rigorous and unforgiving I have ever attempted. While I was on it, I sacrificed pretty much all free time to food preparation. I suffered from cravings far stronger than those I have had on a regular diet, where allowances are made for occasional indulgences. Needless to say, this did not make me a happy person, although I will admit that I was rarely hungry. I also lost no weight whatsoever. Again, your mileage may vary.
April 16, 2016
I heard an interview w/ David Ludwig and thought that he'd put out an interesting, science-based product. That was not the case. The book is peppered (A LOT) with people's "Always hungry story". They are so annoying that, for me, they take away from the book. Additionally, there wasn't nearly as much science in this book as I had wanted. There isn't much new in this book that a lot of paleo people haven't already been saying - eat some healthy fat, for goodness sake! The only thing that this book DOES bring to the table for people (besides the fat part) is that they can eventually add grains back into their diet (which I actually disagree with - but there you go). If you have completely missed the whole food movement, paleo movement, or Mark Hyman's "Eat Fat Get Thin", then this is a decent book to get you going in the right direction. But if you're hoping for detailed science, this is not your book.
November 24, 2025
I used to live in a much heavier body and I’ve kept a healthy weight for over a decade. This book feels like bs. It’s basically keto propaganda pretending it isn’t. It insists calories in/calories out is a bad way to view weight loss, but a calorie is still a calorie. Five thousand calories of broccoli is still five thousand calories. The book glorifies cutting carbs, labels foods as good or bad, pushes the idea of “negative-calorie” foods, and leans on weak testimonials from people who “walk a lot” (six miles a week) (this is my mileage before 8am on any day of the week??) It avoids talking about exercise for a reason: carbs are necessary for movement, and demonizing them makes that inconvenient therefore the thing here is to promote weight loss without working out. Because working out would lead to hypoglycaemia and heart issues due to lack of carbs ✨
Anyways, don’t ask me why I read this book, I am always curious about diets.
For most people, weight loss still requires eating fewer calories than you burn. Know your BMR, know your activity level, and eat in a way that matches both. If you struggle with cravings, your overall plan probably isn’t sustainable. Aim for mostly nutritious food with room for treats, track with something like a Fitbit if you need guidance, and if you want to eat more, move more. And don’t cut carbs so hard you end up hypoglycemic on a workout floor.
Calories in/calories out can get complicated with metabolic issues. I have thyroid problems, so I adjust my routine: smaller meals through the day, treats at night, higher protein for fullness. Others might prefer three big meals or front-loading breakfast. The point is finding what actually works. This book even misrepresents Mediterranean eating. It’s not drowning everything in olive oil and almonds; it’s balanced meals with vegetables, fruit, bread, some olive oil, nuts, and lean proteins. I know this because I’m from the Mediterranean, unlike an American author who seems convinced potatoes are the devil’s interns.
The book cherry-picks studies from the nutritional dark ages and ignores newer research that shows low-carb and balanced diets work equally well when calories are matched. Shocking how the inconvenient science never made the cut. The constant subtext is: if you crave carbs, you’re broken. No, you’re just alive. Carbs aren’t bad. Fat isn’t always good. It says to avoid anything that raises insulin and tells diabetics to avoid carbs, but then it says to eat ad much sodium as you can. ????? I’VE GOT QUESTIONS.
Anyways, don’t ask me why I read this book, I am always curious about diets.
For most people, weight loss still requires eating fewer calories than you burn. Know your BMR, know your activity level, and eat in a way that matches both. If you struggle with cravings, your overall plan probably isn’t sustainable. Aim for mostly nutritious food with room for treats, track with something like a Fitbit if you need guidance, and if you want to eat more, move more. And don’t cut carbs so hard you end up hypoglycemic on a workout floor.
Calories in/calories out can get complicated with metabolic issues. I have thyroid problems, so I adjust my routine: smaller meals through the day, treats at night, higher protein for fullness. Others might prefer three big meals or front-loading breakfast. The point is finding what actually works. This book even misrepresents Mediterranean eating. It’s not drowning everything in olive oil and almonds; it’s balanced meals with vegetables, fruit, bread, some olive oil, nuts, and lean proteins. I know this because I’m from the Mediterranean, unlike an American author who seems convinced potatoes are the devil’s interns.
The book cherry-picks studies from the nutritional dark ages and ignores newer research that shows low-carb and balanced diets work equally well when calories are matched. Shocking how the inconvenient science never made the cut. The constant subtext is: if you crave carbs, you’re broken. No, you’re just alive. Carbs aren’t bad. Fat isn’t always good. It says to avoid anything that raises insulin and tells diabetics to avoid carbs, but then it says to eat ad much sodium as you can. ????? I’VE GOT QUESTIONS.
January 9, 2016
As someone interested in the political food landscape of our country, this book really impressed me! I devoured the science at the beginning, got menu ideas and loved the political ending with advice on how consumers can help make the needed changes in our current food culture. Great read even for those of us who aren't always hungry!
July 28, 2019
Cw weight, food
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So this sucked ass. Although I'm an open book when it comes to pretty much anything mental health I never really talk about weight/food bc it's such a loaded topic and so personal/intimate for me and I'm just scared. So anyway a Goodreads review is as good a place to start as any other I guess. I've spent the past few years understanding my body in relation to the world and how the world perceived it. Recently I've also been seeking to understand it from "the inside" (lol) if that makes any sense. Like how hunger and cravings and nutrients and energy operate etc. I read this after a friend said it had totally transformed her relationship to food. But this book is stupid for reasons I frankly don't want to get into. Don't read it!!! Ok I'm now looking for accessible books about nutrition that 1) aren't driven by a weight loss agenda 2) take into account social determinants of food/nutrition (that go beyond "big fast food is bad") and 3) take the reader (me) seriously... Ok
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So this sucked ass. Although I'm an open book when it comes to pretty much anything mental health I never really talk about weight/food bc it's such a loaded topic and so personal/intimate for me and I'm just scared. So anyway a Goodreads review is as good a place to start as any other I guess. I've spent the past few years understanding my body in relation to the world and how the world perceived it. Recently I've also been seeking to understand it from "the inside" (lol) if that makes any sense. Like how hunger and cravings and nutrients and energy operate etc. I read this after a friend said it had totally transformed her relationship to food. But this book is stupid for reasons I frankly don't want to get into. Don't read it!!! Ok I'm now looking for accessible books about nutrition that 1) aren't driven by a weight loss agenda 2) take into account social determinants of food/nutrition (that go beyond "big fast food is bad") and 3) take the reader (me) seriously... Ok
April 17, 2018
This might be the book for you if you are a newbie to nutrition and whole food eating. This covers the basics as well as how important it is to avoid processed anything. However, I think I was looking for more science and research because that is one of the reasons I spend some time with books like this. I read a lot of health and nutrition books and this was just one more that didn't stand out in any way. So 3 stars because it might be helpful to those who are new to the idea of eating "real" food.
February 8, 2016
Basically, my review is the same as others I've seen. It's an interesting and probably true theory. But, how feasible is it to follow this plan "forever"...and to cook from a recipe every single night? For me, most unlikely. But, it did give me some thoughts to chew on, so to speak. And perhaps, at a minimum, the two week cleanse would be a good idea.
October 11, 2018
After rave reviews from my sister, who is the most level-headed person I know when it comes to medical trends, I bought this and was immediately impressed by the rational, realistic nutritional advice that Dr. Ludwig advocates. When I stick to the program, I lose weight effortlessly and feel awesome. It does require a lot of pre-planning (as I've learned, there is almost no convenience food that doesn't include sugar, wheat, or potatoes, and that's the only struggle I have since I'm out a lot), but these are totally reasonable dietary changes that eventually allow for moderate amounts of bread and sugar while maintaining weight. Most importantly, it's sustainable over a lifetime: something calorie counting (and starvation) can never be.
I do think the recipes can feel a little boring after a while for someone who loves to experiment with new flavors, but they are delicious, and once you understand the ratios you can try variations or non-AH recipes with the myriad ingredients that are allowed on the program. When I was counting calories, I would never have believed that I could feel full all day, but I do and it's amazing.
I do think the recipes can feel a little boring after a while for someone who loves to experiment with new flavors, but they are delicious, and once you understand the ratios you can try variations or non-AH recipes with the myriad ingredients that are allowed on the program. When I was counting calories, I would never have believed that I could feel full all day, but I do and it's amazing.
July 25, 2020
Did not finish. If you encounter a book that tells you how everything in nutrition science so far has it wrong, it better give you some good explanations why. This one? Gives you mice studies. That do not even support the thesis.
And it is yet another keto propaganda book. Please, no. So many people find success on a balance CICO diet, but this book tries to make the claim that calories don't matter. Please, skip it.
And it is yet another keto propaganda book. Please, no. So many people find success on a balance CICO diet, but this book tries to make the claim that calories don't matter. Please, skip it.
June 22, 2016
A well-researched scientific approach to weight-loss focusing on a higher-fat lower carbohydrate diet. Vegetarian options are included but almost entirely consist of tofu or tempeh!
December 4, 2017
Добрият доктор Лудвиг отваря храбро уста да каже А, Б, но за В не му стига смелост.
Режимът му накратко: (М - мазнини, В - въглени, П - протеини)
3 фази. Първа ударна - 2 седмици - високомазнинна отключваща - М50%/В25%/П25%.
Втора - до отслабване - М40%/В35%/П25%.
Трета - поддържаща - М40%/В40%/П20%.
Разказва за инсулина, за инсулиновата резистентност, за диабета, за различните калории в зависимост от произхода им, което е супер за хора, които тепърва навлизат в материята с метаболизма.
Според мен третата фаза е изцяло нереалистична, тъй като е общо взето връщане към храненето, с което си надебелял. Сега ако някой е функционирал на 80% въглени, може и това да е подобрение за него. Но който мисли да запази отслабнатото, трябва да забрави за такъв процент въглехидрати и за допустимите според добрия доктор хлебчета, захар и плодове. Е, Лудвиг споменава, че въвеждането на въглехидратите е индивидуално, че всеки има своя граница, но ако си стигнал бая кила, от години се бориш - сори, друже, истината е, че тези 40% въглехидрати ще те върнат на изходна позиция ПЛЮС, защото инсулинът и гладът само чакат да се отпуснеш. Мляс.
Режимът му накратко: (М - мазнини, В - въглени, П - протеини)
3 фази. Първа ударна - 2 седмици - високомазнинна отключваща - М50%/В25%/П25%.
Втора - до отслабване - М40%/В35%/П25%.
Трета - поддържаща - М40%/В40%/П20%.
Разказва за инсулина, за инсулиновата резистентност, за диабета, за различните калории в зависимост от произхода им, което е супер за хора, които тепърва навлизат в материята с метаболизма.
Според мен третата фаза е изцяло нереалистична, тъй като е общо взето връщане към храненето, с което си надебелял. Сега ако някой е функционирал на 80% въглени, може и това да е подобрение за него. Но който мисли да запази отслабнатото, трябва да забрави за такъв процент въглехидрати и за допустимите според добрия доктор хлебчета, захар и плодове. Е, Лудвиг споменава, че въвеждането на въглехидратите е индивидуално, че всеки има своя граница, но ако си стигнал бая кила, от години се бориш - сори, друже, истината е, че тези 40% въглехидрати ще те върнат на изходна позиция ПЛЮС, защото инсулинът и гладът само чакат да се отпуснеш. Мляс.
March 16, 2016
Good book with pretty solid recommendations for reducing sugar. Love the explanation of how sugar impacts our fat cells -- definitely has me trying to keep my sugar down. Also like that they endorse good fats.
April 23, 2019
David Ludwig MD/PhD is an endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He has become a staunch advocate for a version of healthy eating that roughly mirrors the Mediterranean diet.
In Ludwig's opinion the obesity epidemic and diseases linked to obesity are being driven by our out-of-control consumption of unhealthy processed foods which happen to be high in refined grains and sugar (aka bad carbs.) He also goes out of his way to vindicate fat, claiming that the public's fear of fat is not only unfounded but is partly what led to the real culprit behind our expanding waistlines, the abundance of sugary low-fat alternatives that flooded our grocery store shelves back in the eighties, products that despite backlash movements like Atkins, Paleo, and Keto are still perceived by many to be "healthier" by the general public because they are low-fat.
While he throws in a little science to keep it interesting, the first half of the book could be summarized like this. Fat was wrongly demonized. Sugar soon replaced the fat as manufactures scrambled to give us what we wanted (cheap, fast, tasty food that is also healthy), and consumers gobbled down these low-fat, fat-free, sugar-laden supposedly healthier foods. What nobody told us was that sugar and highly refined grains like white flour lead to huge insulin spikes, and these insulin spikes favor fat storage. They also leave us feeling hungry soon after a meal. But more importantly, thanks to repeated exposure to high levels of insulin, over time our bodies metabolic system has become dysfunctional...favoring fat storage and leaving us feeling hungry, despite eating more than sufficient calories. According to Ludwig, the solution is simple if not intuitive. Want to lose fat? Eat more fat.
The second half of the book is a "how-to" step-by-step process. Ludwig's diet starts off with lots of fat. Though he briefly addresses saturated fat, acknowledging that it may be linked to negative health outcomes, he mainly stays away from this particular topic.
The first (and most restrictive) stage of the diet encourages people to eat 50% fat, 25% carbs, and 25% protein. Heavy on fat and light on carbs (with no grain, sugar, or starchy veggies), this stage is supposed to jump-start weight loss by "healing" the fat cell so that our bodies can get back to doing what they were designed to do: keep us within a healthy weight range.
In stage two, fat decreases to 40%, carbs increase to 35%, and protein stays at 25%. In addition, dieters can begin to add back in whole grains and starchy vegetables with the exception of potatoes (oh the poor potato.)
Stage three provides more options as dieters experiment to find the right macronutrient mix for their body but will generally be closer to 40% fat, 40% carbs, and 20% protein. During this stage, dieters can start adding back in carbs (even some of the bad ones), but are cautioned to limit refined grains and sugar. In the end, the amount of carbs unrefined and refined will vary from person to person.
Ludwig provides recipes, downloadable grocery lists and a whole cache of other forms designed to assist dieters in planning and tracking what they eat as well as documenting how they feel in response to tweaks in the diet. To his credit he also briefly addresses sleep and stress, though not in any great depth.
Conclusion: Much of what Ludwig says is spot on and consistent with the existing research. His diet is designed to be a common sense approach to eating that mirrors the Mediterranean diet. The book is peppered with personal excerpts in which people rave about the results. That said, knowing the statistics on weight loss, I'd be interested to know what the 2-year or 3-year success rate for the plan was. Do the individuals in this book actually successfully keep the weight off? Do they continue to eat in a manner that allows them to maintain their healthy weight?
And while the goal here is to help people make better choices, it feels an awful lot like a diet. In that sense, the book's biggest weakness is that while it tries to appear as if it is an individualized program focused on making sensible, healthy choices, it really isn't. It's a diet, or at least it starts off that way.
My guess is that many people will have success, at least initially. But what I've found in working with people in the real world is that real and lasting behavior change usually takes more than a book (even one advocating for a reasonable approach) and a few months making better food choices.
Getting people to change their diets over the long haul is no easy feat, especially when instant weight loss isn't guaranteed. Of course, Ludwig's first phase of the diet is designed to foster some quick weight loss. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Ludwig's approach will really make any difference for most people as there are already lots of reasonable dietary approaches out there. He seems to suggest people fail on diets because they get hungry, and they won't get hungry on his diet therefore people will not fail on his diet. I, on the other hand, think many people succeed on many different diets because they work in the short-term. Then most people gain it back because life and habit take over and they haven't yet developed the long-term strategies, motivation, and support systems necessary to foster lasting change.
In Ludwig's opinion the obesity epidemic and diseases linked to obesity are being driven by our out-of-control consumption of unhealthy processed foods which happen to be high in refined grains and sugar (aka bad carbs.) He also goes out of his way to vindicate fat, claiming that the public's fear of fat is not only unfounded but is partly what led to the real culprit behind our expanding waistlines, the abundance of sugary low-fat alternatives that flooded our grocery store shelves back in the eighties, products that despite backlash movements like Atkins, Paleo, and Keto are still perceived by many to be "healthier" by the general public because they are low-fat.
While he throws in a little science to keep it interesting, the first half of the book could be summarized like this. Fat was wrongly demonized. Sugar soon replaced the fat as manufactures scrambled to give us what we wanted (cheap, fast, tasty food that is also healthy), and consumers gobbled down these low-fat, fat-free, sugar-laden supposedly healthier foods. What nobody told us was that sugar and highly refined grains like white flour lead to huge insulin spikes, and these insulin spikes favor fat storage. They also leave us feeling hungry soon after a meal. But more importantly, thanks to repeated exposure to high levels of insulin, over time our bodies metabolic system has become dysfunctional...favoring fat storage and leaving us feeling hungry, despite eating more than sufficient calories. According to Ludwig, the solution is simple if not intuitive. Want to lose fat? Eat more fat.
The second half of the book is a "how-to" step-by-step process. Ludwig's diet starts off with lots of fat. Though he briefly addresses saturated fat, acknowledging that it may be linked to negative health outcomes, he mainly stays away from this particular topic.
The first (and most restrictive) stage of the diet encourages people to eat 50% fat, 25% carbs, and 25% protein. Heavy on fat and light on carbs (with no grain, sugar, or starchy veggies), this stage is supposed to jump-start weight loss by "healing" the fat cell so that our bodies can get back to doing what they were designed to do: keep us within a healthy weight range.
In stage two, fat decreases to 40%, carbs increase to 35%, and protein stays at 25%. In addition, dieters can begin to add back in whole grains and starchy vegetables with the exception of potatoes (oh the poor potato.)
Stage three provides more options as dieters experiment to find the right macronutrient mix for their body but will generally be closer to 40% fat, 40% carbs, and 20% protein. During this stage, dieters can start adding back in carbs (even some of the bad ones), but are cautioned to limit refined grains and sugar. In the end, the amount of carbs unrefined and refined will vary from person to person.
Ludwig provides recipes, downloadable grocery lists and a whole cache of other forms designed to assist dieters in planning and tracking what they eat as well as documenting how they feel in response to tweaks in the diet. To his credit he also briefly addresses sleep and stress, though not in any great depth.
Conclusion: Much of what Ludwig says is spot on and consistent with the existing research. His diet is designed to be a common sense approach to eating that mirrors the Mediterranean diet. The book is peppered with personal excerpts in which people rave about the results. That said, knowing the statistics on weight loss, I'd be interested to know what the 2-year or 3-year success rate for the plan was. Do the individuals in this book actually successfully keep the weight off? Do they continue to eat in a manner that allows them to maintain their healthy weight?
And while the goal here is to help people make better choices, it feels an awful lot like a diet. In that sense, the book's biggest weakness is that while it tries to appear as if it is an individualized program focused on making sensible, healthy choices, it really isn't. It's a diet, or at least it starts off that way.
My guess is that many people will have success, at least initially. But what I've found in working with people in the real world is that real and lasting behavior change usually takes more than a book (even one advocating for a reasonable approach) and a few months making better food choices.
Getting people to change their diets over the long haul is no easy feat, especially when instant weight loss isn't guaranteed. Of course, Ludwig's first phase of the diet is designed to foster some quick weight loss. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Ludwig's approach will really make any difference for most people as there are already lots of reasonable dietary approaches out there. He seems to suggest people fail on diets because they get hungry, and they won't get hungry on his diet therefore people will not fail on his diet. I, on the other hand, think many people succeed on many different diets because they work in the short-term. Then most people gain it back because life and habit take over and they haven't yet developed the long-term strategies, motivation, and support systems necessary to foster lasting change.
August 18, 2017
I consider myself to be a good critical thinker and reasonably knowledgeable about health and nutrition. All the same, I have found myself confused and despairing over food. What is healthy eating? What is moderation? Why is it so hard for me to follow "the rules"?
This book- written by a mainstream physician- suggests we have to answer another question first: why am I so hungry in the first place?
There's a lot of science in here, and also honesty about the limitations of evidence-based nutrition studies. I appreciate all the nuance. I have resisted many a dietary approach because they often seem rooted in reactionary ideals (modern life is bad!) or conspiracy theories (it's the ------ lobby!) that make me suspicious. This book has a more believable explanation: we made some mistakes in creating eating rules in 20th century America. Ok! So let's fix it.
I was also gratified that this book synthesized a lot of one-off things I had heard and suspected (hoped!) were true: butter good! full fat dairy good! dark chocolate good!
So the gist is this: we need to eat more fat on a daily basis, and most fatty foods are "good.". Moderation in grains is far fewer grains and different grains than the 6-11 serving of white bread and pasta recommended by the food pyramid of my youth.
The book outlines a 3-phase eating plan with 2 weeks of initial rigor (and cutting out of some specific foods entirely) before evolving to the basic approach where nothing is off limits provided you are eating your fat and not overdoing your grains.
We're doing a few practice/partial weeks of phase 1 to accommodate all our August family birthdays before doing a by-the-book phase 1 in September. I do notice a difference in my hunger as postulated by the book so I'm feeling hopeful and in control for the first time in a long time! Looking forward to giving the full program a chance and seeing what happens.
This book- written by a mainstream physician- suggests we have to answer another question first: why am I so hungry in the first place?
There's a lot of science in here, and also honesty about the limitations of evidence-based nutrition studies. I appreciate all the nuance. I have resisted many a dietary approach because they often seem rooted in reactionary ideals (modern life is bad!) or conspiracy theories (it's the ------ lobby!) that make me suspicious. This book has a more believable explanation: we made some mistakes in creating eating rules in 20th century America. Ok! So let's fix it.
I was also gratified that this book synthesized a lot of one-off things I had heard and suspected (hoped!) were true: butter good! full fat dairy good! dark chocolate good!
So the gist is this: we need to eat more fat on a daily basis, and most fatty foods are "good.". Moderation in grains is far fewer grains and different grains than the 6-11 serving of white bread and pasta recommended by the food pyramid of my youth.
The book outlines a 3-phase eating plan with 2 weeks of initial rigor (and cutting out of some specific foods entirely) before evolving to the basic approach where nothing is off limits provided you are eating your fat and not overdoing your grains.
We're doing a few practice/partial weeks of phase 1 to accommodate all our August family birthdays before doing a by-the-book phase 1 in September. I do notice a difference in my hunger as postulated by the book so I'm feeling hopeful and in control for the first time in a long time! Looking forward to giving the full program a chance and seeing what happens.
June 8, 2022
Here’s the basic strategy: 1. Turn off the starvation response by eating whenever you’re hungry and until fully satisfied. 2. Tame your fat cells with a diet that lowers insulin levels, reduces inflammation (insulin’s troublemaker twin), and redirects calories to the rest of your body. 3. Follow a simple lifestyle prescription focused on enjoyable physical activities, sleep, and stress relief to improve metabolism and support permanent behavior change.
This book was (surprisingly) insightful. Thinking I’ve read just about every book, blog and article concerning weight loss. The outcome of all this research - know yourself. And, even after finding that 🔑 to turn up your own weight-loss furnace - what seems to work brilliantly - stops working, at all, or not the same. This book is full of information and tips on helping us to “flip the script” and a spotlight on all the obstacles, in our society, in place to alter our attempts to eat better.
Will I follow the suggested plan, most likely, not. Only, I will forever be more aware of and found new tweaks to consider in my own plan. Read the book, take for your own what you will, and know better and do better. Our bodies are in constant flux and we will never stop looking for ways to elevate our health to new levels.
Pay special attention to the Epilogue. Knowledge is power. Exercise yours.
Read the audio version, narrated very well by the author with Dawn Ludwig.
Recommend ✔️
This book was (surprisingly) insightful. Thinking I’ve read just about every book, blog and article concerning weight loss. The outcome of all this research - know yourself. And, even after finding that 🔑 to turn up your own weight-loss furnace - what seems to work brilliantly - stops working, at all, or not the same. This book is full of information and tips on helping us to “flip the script” and a spotlight on all the obstacles, in our society, in place to alter our attempts to eat better.
Will I follow the suggested plan, most likely, not. Only, I will forever be more aware of and found new tweaks to consider in my own plan. Read the book, take for your own what you will, and know better and do better. Our bodies are in constant flux and we will never stop looking for ways to elevate our health to new levels.
Pay special attention to the Epilogue. Knowledge is power. Exercise yours.
Read the audio version, narrated very well by the author with Dawn Ludwig.
Recommend ✔️
January 23, 2020
As cliched as it may sound, I started this book on the first day of they year. While I was not new to the kind of relationship with food discussed by the author, it served as a reinforcement for me to get back on my healthy eating habits wagon. The science behind the recommended eating habit is well explained in simplistic terms.
The author talks about how you can develop a healthy relationship with food by starting to eat wholesome food and still loose weight without counting calories. He talks about intuitive eating habits - stop eating when full, take another serving when you need it. Fuel your body with the right nutrients and constantly listen to it.
I am however not convinced on the not counting calories part. It makes me think If there is a middle ground- count calories when you are initially into the program and go with your instinct once you have understood the needs of your body better.
The author talks about how you can develop a healthy relationship with food by starting to eat wholesome food and still loose weight without counting calories. He talks about intuitive eating habits - stop eating when full, take another serving when you need it. Fuel your body with the right nutrients and constantly listen to it.
I am however not convinced on the not counting calories part. It makes me think If there is a middle ground- count calories when you are initially into the program and go with your instinct once you have understood the needs of your body better.
February 15, 2021
Cutting Fat Adds Weight.. In fact, obesity rates have skyrocketed and people have become less healthy since nutrition experts began suggesting that people cut back on dietary fat.
Exercise is important for general health not for losing weight.. You can’t lose weight by spending more time at the gym, We tend to overestimate the number of calories we burn while playing sports, for instance, and it actually takes a lot of effort to burn the calories contained in a single chocolate bar.
Insulin Effect.. Consuming too many refined carbohydrates, such as sugar and processed starch, causes your body to produce a lot of insulin and this, ultimately, leads to weight gain.. Any food you eat (even healthy) alerts insulin which resist burning fat.
Exercise is important for general health not for losing weight.. You can’t lose weight by spending more time at the gym, We tend to overestimate the number of calories we burn while playing sports, for instance, and it actually takes a lot of effort to burn the calories contained in a single chocolate bar.
Insulin Effect.. Consuming too many refined carbohydrates, such as sugar and processed starch, causes your body to produce a lot of insulin and this, ultimately, leads to weight gain.. Any food you eat (even healthy) alerts insulin which resist burning fat.
December 29, 2022
If you're familiar with the concept behind the glycemic index and glycemic load you probably won’t find anything earth shattering here but the way the information is presented, along with charts, logs, shopping lists, and recipes (lots of recipes!) makes following the Always Hungry? plan sound doable. I especially like that it is more plant-based than other reduced carb plans I’ve tried and includes recipe modifications for vegetarian meals. The testimonials peppered throughout the book did get repetitious but I don’t doubt them since a family member’s success with the plan is the reason I read this.
October 23, 2019
I haven't tried this way of eating yet but I found the book very interesting and like that this is not a very restrictive diet (aside from the first two weeks) unlike keto, Whole 30, etc. I have already enjoyed some of the recipes and may try to incorporate some of the ways of eating into how I eat. I found the scientific explanations interesting as well.
August 11, 2021
I don't usually feel like buying the books I read, but this one will definitely be on my shelf as a reference and a guide. I highly recommend for anyone looking to live a healthier life in today's highly processed food world.
February 7, 2022
Nope - couldn't do this one. He's very pro-Keto/no carb and blames obesity for all health problems for large people. He needs to read more of the newer research on obesity and also I hate keto. There's no balance there. So I'm stopping after 50 some pages. This one is not for me.
April 20, 2021
Science of weight gain and retention told in easy to understand terms. Suggestions for how to change eating habits and lose weight based on the science, with suggested menus and recipes.
November 18, 2019
I am heading back to the U.S. after living abroad. I will be in the U.S. just 5 months, but every time I return for very long I gain weight and I feel "always hungry". So when I saw this title I thought it might give me some insights into how to win the battle. A lot of this book backs up one of my favorite game-changer diet books, The Perfect 10 Diet. The truth that fat is not the problem but processed carbs and sugar, was repeated here. I liked that Ludwig didn't go all the way to Keto but found some middle ground. One of the chapters that helped me the most was how to navigate eating out. We are on the road quite a bit when in the U.S. so those tips were helpful.
At the end of the book, Ludwig got a bit political which I didn't appreciate a whole lot, but as I listened to what he was saying it made me mad. Not at him, but at myself for how easily I can be influenced by my tastebuds and crave food that is bad for me. Mad at how easily I am persuaded by ads and popular food trends. The premise of the book is that there is a lot of great-tasting healthy food out there but you have to look for it and then choose it. I feel prepared for the challenge, I think. But why oh why does Thanksgiving have to be my first battle?
At the end of the book, Ludwig got a bit political which I didn't appreciate a whole lot, but as I listened to what he was saying it made me mad. Not at him, but at myself for how easily I can be influenced by my tastebuds and crave food that is bad for me. Mad at how easily I am persuaded by ads and popular food trends. The premise of the book is that there is a lot of great-tasting healthy food out there but you have to look for it and then choose it. I feel prepared for the challenge, I think. But why oh why does Thanksgiving have to be my first battle?
October 19, 2023
I really liked this book! As someone who grew up during a period of fat-is-the-enemy diet culture, this book was interesting and refreshing. I appreciated how it really emphasized the importance of eating when you're hungry instead of trying to disguise hunger cues (i.e., drinking a glass of water and going for a walk). I believe the evidence it gave supporting its high fat, low carb diet was sufficient in making a convincing case to at least give it a try. I also really liked the little testimonials scattered throughout the book.
It wasn't a perfect read for me because I think there should have been more information about the effects of different foods on the body, aside from their ability to keep you satiated (for example, the effect of certain protein sources on hormones). His approach at times seemed a bit too broad, with him basically just emphasizing the importance of high fat and high protein foods. Nutrition can't be one size fits all.
Overall though, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in conquering cravings and developing mindful eating habits.
It wasn't a perfect read for me because I think there should have been more information about the effects of different foods on the body, aside from their ability to keep you satiated (for example, the effect of certain protein sources on hormones). His approach at times seemed a bit too broad, with him basically just emphasizing the importance of high fat and high protein foods. Nutrition can't be one size fits all.
Overall though, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in conquering cravings and developing mindful eating habits.
September 23, 2020
Most of this book was your basic, low-carb diet book, similar to Atkins, South Beach or Suzanne Summers. However, I gave this book an extra star for two reasons: research and policy implications. The many research studies, as well as the policy implications included in the final chapter make this book stand out from the others. I was particularly impressed with the author’s bravery in taking on the food industry and boldly challenging the idea that food choice is merely a function of personal responsibility. Bravo! In fact, I would have liked to see even more examples and research on how the food industry insinuates itself into public policy and the consequences (intended or unintended) this has on our health.
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