Saturday Read: YOU on a Diet, by Dr. Oz

Admit it: most of you made a New Year’s Resolution that had something to do with your body. Maybe it was to lose weight, or get in shape, or build muscle, etc, etc. And maybe you have been doing great so far. Go you!

By Alex K.

Unfortunately, though, we’re only 23 days in and most people will toss their lofty hot-body goals out the window in only a few more weeks. And who can blame them? Losing weight and getting fit isn’t easy and most of us probably aren’t doing it right.

Thankfully, there’s a really helpful book to aid in this giant transition.

I’m sure everyone reading this has heard of Dr. Oz before. If not, then get out from under that rock! Dr. Oz got his start as Oprah’s go-to health guru and has now graduated to his own daytime medical show. People love Dr. Oz because he’s cute (at least to moms), smart and really breaks down the confusing stuff about our bodies and health in a way we can all understand. He also happens to talk about poop, which is probably what attracted most people in the first place.

Anyways, my mom is a health-nut, so naturally she owns every single one of Dr. Oz’s books (with the exception of YOU Having a Baby, thank god ) and she raves about them. While home, bored, and tempted to eat another brownie last weekend, I spotted my mom’s copy of YOU on a Diet and decided to see what all the fuss was about. If Dr. Oz could take the entire country by storm perhaps he had something useful to say. And maybe reading a book about health would distract me long enough that I wouldn’t eat an entire tray of brownies.

YOU on a Diet is written like a toned-down textbook. It’s got all the essentials from physiology, anatomy, nutrition, etc, without all that boring and confusing medical jargon. It’s not dumbed down in any way – just straightforward enough that everyone can understand what’s going on.

The book is broken down into 4 great sections: What a Waist!, The Biology of Fat, The Science of the Mind and The YOU Diet and Activity Plan. In the first three, you learn about EVERYTHING to do with dieting, from how food travels through your body to the psychological impact of a failed diet. Dr. Oz’s goal is to really teach what’s going on in our bodies so we understand what will work and what won’t work when we finally start section four, the diet. Having this knowledge, according to this book, will allow us to make informed decisions and truly be successful at maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

This book was incredibly informative and even interesting. It didn’t really feel like I was reading some boring textbook, but I still took so much great information from it. And I have definitely changed the way I approach food and my body.

If you are having trouble sticking to that Cabbage Soup diet or don’t really trust those shakes the Kardashians are pushing, You on a Diet is a really great read.  It will teach you how to not only appreciate your body, but about the processes of eating, exercise and metabolism. In the immortal words of Schoolhouse Rock, “Knowledge is power” and that is certainly the case when it comes to your health!