I don’t usually make it a habit to read or review “diet” books, but The New You (and Improved) Diet by Keri Glassman had a better sounding premise to me, so I thought, “Why not?”

What intrigued me into thinking this book would be so much better and different from others? The 8 “rules” that not only promise to help you lose weight, but to help you change your life forever. They seemed to scream the antithesis of every diet book ever made.

 

But the book didn’t start off that way… it immediately started to feel like an overly-restrictive diet plan and made claims that it would help you drop 20 pounds in 8 weeks. I don’t like things that tell people they’ll lose a specific number of pounds, because everyone’s anatomy is unique. And the first chapter has a 4-day “cleanse” that seems like a ridiculously small amount of food.

The author is a runner and I’m sure that she wouldn’t encourage a client to eat like that if they wanted to drop weight and continue running. It just doesn’t seem right! (My RD would kick my ass if I ate that meal plan, but then again… I’m not trying to lose weight either.)

Despite that, there are some things I like in the book. I do like the concept of the chapters or “rules” to follow. A plan that encourages you to eat more, focus on your breathing, drink your water, branch out from just working out at the gym, having some “sexy time”, taking care of yourself, sleeping without your electronics (that’s the alone part, not booting your significant other from the room) and clearing out the physical/mental clutter from your life… those are good things!

Little things in the book that I really liked:

Make 1 Minute Count
Two times during the week do something that is very hard for you, but just for one minute. We can all manage a minute, right?

 

Importance of Taking Care of Yourself
This is something I’ve struggled with my whole life, and it’s even harder now that I’m a mom. Granted, I can’t just tell Alex, “Go fend for yourself sweetie, mama’s gotta run.” But I do need to make it a priority to fit that into my life with her. And the author incorporated my favorite analogy ever about taking care of yourself, the good ol’ airplane oxygen mask.

If you don’t have weight to lose, I feel the principles are solid but the way it’s written is too focused on weight loss to be helpful. But if you do need to lose weight and don’t want to keep up a steady running program while you’re dramatically cutting calories, this book could be useful. I honestly do not feel that the meal plans are enough fuel to keep you going. A breakfast recommended frequently is scrambled eggs, one egg and two egg whites with some dried oregano. That’s just not enough!