What About My Weight?: An Endocrinologist's Unorthodox, Irreverent, Politically Incorrect, Practical Guide to Losing Weight and Combating Obesity

WHAT ABOUT MY WEIGHT? is one physician's answer to the near-universal frustration he hears from patients about their weight-management efforts. Not just another weight-loss program, no simple, easy solutions are promised. The notion is banished that "I'm eating right" matters one iota, if the pounds aren't coming off, or worse, are still piling on. WHAT ABOUT MY WEIGHT? is an "anti-program," if you will, starting from the premise that weight control is far more complex than simply eating less and exercising more, however important those interventions might be-and just as humans are widely diverse in general, so are the causes of and solutions for obesity. Hence, when a diet or fitness program or magic pill works for one, there is an excellent chance the same will not work as well, if at all for the next.

Rather than presenting the latest and greatest plan, WHAT ABOUT MY WEIGHT? instead takes readers on an educational tour through the mechanisms of human energy balance and what varied factors, touching virtually all aspects of modern society, impact the successes or failures of one's weight-control efforts. It aims to give the individual the necessary tools, and a strategy for figuring out what combination of changes in the areas of nutrition and physical activity and health care and more will work best for him or her to achieve a healthier body weight, preventing or improving diabetes, cholesterol problems, and cardiovascular diseases. It is chockfull of practical advice, ranging from not comparing yourself to others, especially your husband; to how to read and use food labels; to how often to weigh yourself (daily!); to ignoring marketing traps and hype; to throwing away hackneyed assumptions regarding the benefits of exercise and diet drinks and juicing, and the dangers of dietary fat, coffee and alcohol. And while not by any stretch solely responsible for the obesity epidemic, sweet beverages-whether flavored with artificial no-calorie sweeteners, or high-fructose corn syrup-are a particular target in the crosshairs of WHAT ABOUT MY WEIGHT?

Everybody struggling to lose or maintain weight owes it to themselves to give this book a read.