No one know the self-denial - and the failure rate - of dieting better than Suzanne Somers. Under constant make-or-break career pressure from thinness-obsessed Hollywood, she has tried every diet imaginable. Now, after years of experimentation and consultation with experts, she has developed a weight-loss plan that truly succeeds. The secret to gaining control over your weight, Suzanne reveals, lies not in how much you eat, but in what you eat, and in what combinations. On her breakthrough program, you'll eat foods in "Somersize" combinations to reprogram your metabolism, shed pounds for good, and gain more energy than ever before! The deliciously satisfying Somersize program allows you to eat incredible meals - with cheeses, sauces, dressings - without worrying about portions! Imagine being able to enjoy, for example, Roasted Chicken with Mushroom-Sausage Stuffing and Tarragon Gravy. When combined with Zucchini Carpaccio and followed by Sugarless Cheesecake, you'll have a perfect Somersize meal that's easily digestible. And these are just a few of Suzanne's more than one hundred recipes in Eat Great, Lose Weight. Somersizing is not a diet, but an eating plan for life. You'll learn how to free yourself from food cravings, how to get off the diet roller-coaster, and how to make movement and fitness an enjoyable part of every day.

Suzanne Somers' Eat Great, Lose Weight

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By Suzanne Somers

Crown

Copyright © 1997 Suzanne Somers
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0517708612

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Many years ago, when I was just starting out in television, I landed a guest-starring role on a hit series called Starsky and Hutch. Three days before I was supposed to start, I got a call from the producer. My ears perked up when I heard his voice. He told me that he and the director had been sitting around talking, and they decided I was just 'a little too chunky' for the part. They recast the role and I cried myself to sleep. I was twenty-nine years old and twenty pounds overweight.
        
That's when my diet roller-coaster began. Determined to lose those pounds, I tried every diet in the world. The shakes, the calorie counting, the packaged foods, the fasting, the grapefruit, the cottage cheese, the celery . . . and guess what? They all worked. That's right. Every time I went on a diet, I lost weight. But, within a short time of going back to eating like a normal person, I would gain back all the weight and often a little extra. Then I'd scour the fashion magazines for the next dieting trend, and off I'd go on my path toward deprivation -- all in the name of being thin.
        
What I really wanted was to find a way to eat healthy, nutritious, yet flavorful foods in substantial portions and still lose weight. And I'm happy to tell you I have found it. After working with many nutritionists, reading books, and practicing trial and error on my own body, I have finally found a way to control my weight without deprivation. I call my program 'Somersizing,' and Somersizing is not a diet. Diet is a nasty four-letter word that conjures up negative thoughts of sacrifice and obsession and guilt. Based on eating everyday foods in specific combinations, Somersizing is a lifestyle that will change your way of thinking about how to lose weight and how to increase your energy. Eating the Somersize way is a pleasure. It is a program for life, a program I will happily live on for the rest of my life.

There are a few basic rules you will learn, and then you're free to eat whatever you want, in a restaurant, at home, or on the road. On the Somersize program, you first eliminate a small group of what I call Funky Foods, foods that wreak havoc on our systems. Then you separate normal, everyday foods into four Somersize Food groups: proteins and fats, vegetables, carbohydrates, and fruits. Finally, you follow these seven easy steps:

1) Eliminate all Funky Foods.
2) Eat Fruits alone, on an empty stomach.
3) Eat Proteins/Fats with Veggies.
4) Eat Carbos with Veggies and no fat.
5) Keep Proteins/Fats separate from Carbos.
6) Wait three hours between meals if switching from a Protein/Fats meal to a Carbos meal, or vice versa.
7) Do not skip meals. Eat three meals a day and eat until you feel satisfied and comfortably full.


Since I started properly combining my foods, I have trimmed down from 130 to 116 pounds -- the amount I weighed as a teenager. And since I reached my goal weight, I have fluctuated no more than 3 pounds. I eat delicious foods -- I eat cheese, I drink wine occasionally, and you would be shocked to know how much chocolate I eat and still maintain my weight.
        
Some experts will argue that food combining is a myth -- a calorie is a calorie and it doesn't matter how you combine them, it only matters how many you eat and how many you burn off. The debate has gone on for many years, and I'm sure it will continue for many more. All I can tell you is that it works for me. I can eat all the wonderful foods I love and still lose weight. I don't have to give up flavor. I don't settle for boring meals with no sauce. I enjoy rich and flavorful foods. I don't count calories or fat grams.

Throw everything you think you know about diets out the window. Somersizing is an easy and effective way to look and feel your best while enjoying life to the fullest. I put this book together to show you how I eat and to share how I cook for my family. I've compiled more than a hundred of my favorite Somersize recipes for you to try for yourself -- everything from Thanksgiving Turkey with Mushroom Sausage Stuffing to Decadent Chocolate Cake -- and I'm sure you will agree that this is a sinfully delightful way to Eat Great, Lose Weight. Enjoy!

Continues...

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Excerpted from Suzanne Somers' Eat Great, Lose Weight by Suzanne Somers Copyright © 1997 by Suzanne Somers. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Actress, comedienne, and entertainer Suzanne Somers is a symbol in the fields of fitness and recovery.  She is the spokesperson for and owner of the enormously successful ThighMaster line of fitness products, the star of the long-running sitcom Step by Step, and the former star of Three's Company.  Author of the best-selling Keeping Secrets, she lectures nationally about the effect of addiction on families.  Suzanne lives in the California desert with her husband, Alan Hamel.

More celeb dieting: Whatever you think of Somers, her prescriptive for weight loss sounds ideal. Copyright 1998 Library Journal Reviews

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It has been argued that one can lose weight and still eat large amounts of foods if they are in the proper combination and proportion and are eaten in conjunction with an exercise program. These two books explore this concept with slightly different interpretations. In addition to recommending larger amounts of complex carbohydrates with little or no fat and sugar, actress Somers (Wednesday's Child, LJ 8/92) emphasizes that eating the right combinations (and avoiding the wrong ones) promotes efficient digestion. Vedral, the author of a number of exercise books (e.g., Top Shape, Warner, 1995), proposes a simple modification of the USDA's Food Pyramid, recommending that low-calorie/high-density foods be eaten frequently to avoid the hunger pangs that sabotage many diets. Both books include extensive menus, recipes, and basic workout plans. Either or both would be a good purchase for public libraries. [Somers's book was previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/96.] Susan B. Hagloch, Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelphia, Ohio Copyright 1998 Library Journal Reviews