Basic Rules:
- Do not eat breakfast- the theory is, we've burnt off all our calories from the day before during the night, therefore by running on empty for 3 hours in the morning we will be burning fat not food
- Cold baths every morning- "room temperature", between 15-20 Degrees Celsius. Every morning for up to 15 minutes to "get an increased metabolism for 12- 15 hours"
- Black Coffee- apparently we need to drink this every morning along with the cold bath and no breakfast and "it tells your body to burn fat much faster" (if you don't like coffee take caffeine pills)
- Movement- "Move over exercise"apparently people who fidget more are generally skinnier, you have 3 POMs in a day (periods of movement) so in other words exercise right?!
- No snacking- stick to 3 meals a day and keep them well spaced out
- Meals- very low in carbs, fruit etc. but very high in protein and oily fish (sounds like the atkins diet?)
There is loads of chapters, but I wont lie.. I cant be bothered to list the rest of the rules because I feel them pointless.
So, I'm the type of girl who is OBSESSED with dieting and weight loss, like most girls nowadays! I have a very destructive relationship with food and it is constantly on my mind along with weight loss, I will do almost anything so am a sucker for 'quick fixes', 'tips and tricks' and anything that promises to melt away the fat. The problem is, I am not alone... this is such a common issue with so many men and women that it is easy to prey on us with new and "proved" ways of shifting the pounds.
I have successfully lost substantial weight in the past, both in healthy and not so healthy ways as I will admit I suffered from very disordered eating in the past. But now I Generally I know what works for my body and with 2 doctors as parents I have been well educated in the art of weight loss.
This book does talk sense in many areas, but if I'm honest it was absolutely nothing I didn't already know. The author has just tried to make it sound more interesting by adding "cold baths" and "black coffee" as tips and tricks, but I've seen these tips on many ProAna websites that I visited frequently back in the day. They are very unpleasant things to put your body through along with cutting out breakfast, and I now firmly believe that no diet should be torture, if you feel tortured you can NOT keep it up. Admittedly the title states "6 weeks" which obviously implies you must stop these rituals after a certain amount of time... but what about if you're significantly overweight? 6 weeks is too short a period to "get skinnier then all your friends". Maybe you do just need a quick fix and want to lose the weight fast but you need to remember that it is next to impossible to keep that weight off if you just go straight back to your old lifestyle... and that's what we all do! If you put the weight on in the first place then you do need to reevaluate your lifestyle and that can not be done in 6 weeks by having cold baths and suffering! Obviously the book is trying to help you back in to a normal way of eating AFTER the 6 week period to help you change your lifestyle, but i just don't think you need to purchase this to help you.
I'm no scientist, but the basics of losing weight is BURN MORE THEN YOU CONSUME. End of, thats all we needed to know. So if anything this book has made me realise I need to stop being so stupid, I need to stop looking for quick fixes, stop buying "diet pills" and books that will not help me. The painful reality of being slim is... we have to say no sometimes! I can not stand over weight people who say "I hardly eat anything" (this does not apply if you have a serious health issue that is out of your control) thats a lie, you are lying to yourself... you are not hurting anyone by secretly eating that piece of cake but yourself! I have been in denial myself over food, secret eating and comfort eating... but at the end of the day, when I wasn't happy with the way I looked it was my fault and my problem no one elses!
A book, a TV programme, your doctor, family, friends... none of them can force you to lose weight. They can educate you what ways are healthy but it is you that needs to do it, for yourself.
VERDICT- dont waste your money on this book, it has not helped me lose weight. Since reading it i have lost weight.. but none of this was down to cold baths or black coffee- it was down to my own will power and moving a bit more then i consumed. Simples.
Love Jasmine
x
