Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Book Review: Let's Do Lunch

I need to lose about 30 pounds.  My husband, however, needs to lose -- well,  more.  I know that for me, if I just eat smart and get some exercise, I can lose what I need to.  Dale, though... well, he needs a bit more of a plan.  We have looked at a number of things.  Most books about losing a significant amount of weight (over 100 pounds, let's say) suffer from one of two problems, in the opinion of my husband:
  1. The person has never had a significant weight issue themselves, which may not be a big deal to folks like me who also have never had significant weight issues; or
  2. They are encouraging all kinds of new-agey stuff that just feels WRONG for us as Christians.
My opinions of the weight loss plans we've considered over the years are that they suffer from one or both of two problems:
  1. They rely on expensive foods.  Some require expensive shakes.  Some rely on lots of specialty foods.  But almost every book expects that we will spend more money on a single person than we have budgeted for the entire family.
  2. They require Dale to be able to have consistent lunch times and be able to pull together complicated meals while he is at work.
When I read the description for Let's Do Lunch: Eating all the Calories and Carbs you want to lose weight! by Roger Troy Wilson, I knew I needed to get this book.
Roger Troy Wilson weighed 425 pounds and had a 5-foot waist. He had given up on losing weight and prayed that he would die and go to Heaven.
After fifteen years of experimenting with different foods and eating patterns, he discovered how to actually have fun losing weight easily---almost the complete opposite of most diets. He lost 230 pounds and 24 inches from his waist.
Today Wilson has maintained his weight loss for years. “You do not need to exercise or count carbs. You can do it without portioning and shakes and chemicals,” says Wilson. In Let's Do Lunch, he reveals:
* the dumbest thing we all do that keeps us from losing weight
* which “non-fattening” foods are actually fattening
* special ways to eliminate cravings
* where to go and what to get when you want to eat something quick
Once you’ve read Let’s Do Lunch, you’ll never think of eating any other way.
What hooked me the most was that this book is published by Thomas Nelson, so I had high hopes that it wasn't going to include any daily sun worship exercises.  Now, I don't think Dale needs to drop 230 pounds.  But he certainly can relate to Wilson far more than he can relate to many other 'diet book' authors.

What did I think?  Well... I think the subtitle is misleading.  One major emphasis of this eating plan is that you are to eat enough to be full and not starving yourself.  But he is also encouraging you to give up what most of us think of when we hear the term carbs -- no potatoes, little or no bread, no rice, no pasta.  You are supposed to eat beans, peas and corn instead.  He's probably right, and one thing I have always done when I am trying to lose weight is to cut bread and potatoes dramatically.  Okay, we can eat the "right" carbs without counting them.  But the subtitle is still misleading.

The book includes the author's story, which I did find very inspiring, and I'm sure Dale will too.  It includes details about his plan, including details on why.  It includes tips, hints, pitfalls, suggestions for eating out, a section on stocking your pantry, and a lot of testimonials.  It includes a 14 day plan, and a bunch of recipes (70+), most of which look quite good.

We haven't tried his plan yet.  Dale still needs to read the book.  Probably three times like the author recommends.  We need to pray about it.  Because, while this book addresses both of my husband's main concerns about eating plans, well, it fails both of mine:
  1. The author recommends fruit.  A LOT of fruit.  If we follow his recommendations exactly in this regard, our entire food budget is going to be spent on fruit for Dale, leaving no money to purchase food for anyone else in this house and leaving no money to purchase anything else for Dale either.  I may be slightly exaggerating... but not much.  Seriously, I'm pretty sure that the fruit recommendations would leave us with under a dollar a day to feed the rest of us.  I can't do that.
  2. The recommendation, which makes total sense, is to eat your big meal of the day at lunch.  I can do that.  For Dale, though, that is really challenging.  Especially given that if we follow #1, we have exactly no money to spend on lunch, so we can't even adjust our budget to purchase some more convenient options for him.
That being said, I'm very glad I received this book.  And... with some modifications, I think we can even make this work.   For instance, he does give alternatives for making dinner your main meal of the day.  On those days, he has you eating something with your fruit for breakfast, which would help with the affordability.  Usually, lunch is a soup/salad type of thing, which we could probably make work.

I'll need to adjust my thinking about food a lot.  And that will probably be a good thing.



Disclaimer:  As Booksneeze Blogger, I did receive this book for free from Thomas Nelson.  No other compensation was received.  The fact that I received a complimentary product does not guarantee a favorable review.  It does guarantee a review. A fair review. But I am not going to praise something unless I think it deserves the praise.  If I don't like it, you'll hear that.  And hopefully with enough detail as to why so you can decide for yourself if what I hate about it makes it perfect for your family.  For more about my take on reviews, visit my blog post here

2 comments:

Laura O in AK said...

Debra ~ affordability is a big thing for us as well. Let's just say that fresh anything is more expensive up here, and even then the quality is sometimes lacking. But, I can make changes and try eating less foods that are inclined to land on my hips. Too bad I'm seriously reliant upon a daily dose of chocolate...

Unknown said...

I have this book, and I am supposed to be reviewing it. I need to review it. I don't want to :(. I'm gonna have to now though, now aren't I? Giving up bread and pasta is hard (and soda...)

Amy B