The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure, Energy, and Weight Loss

I've read so many diet books! This one isn't like any of them. I actually read it because I was doing Mark Hyman's 10-Day Detox Diet, and he said this was required reading. Interestingly enough, there are points in The Slow Down Diet that directly contradict Hyman's plan. The Slow Down Diet doesn't really even start talking about food for several chapters. Rather, David talks about how to approach the whole experience of eating, and how our approach affects our ability to properly digest and utilize the nutrients in whatever it is we choose to eat. He says things like (my wording here): You're going to eat what you're going to eat. So whatever it is you choose, make sure it's the best quality possible for you, whether it's salmon, peaches, ice cream or chips. He doesn't say, "Always eat organic." He says eat the best quality you can afford. He says (as do many diet gurus) to slow down the actual eating process. But his view point is a little different; he's not just saying that slowing down gives your body the time it needs to register satisfaction (which is true, and he does say that). He's saying that if you allow yourself the time and attention necessary to really, REALLY enjoy each bite, you'll stop being willing to eat stuff that isn't actually enjoyable. Guess what: he's absolutely right. This book presents an eight-week perspective-changing program. I raced through the book once, then went back to do the chapters week-by-week as its meant to be done. I'm still stuck - weeks later - on week four, which is all about pleasure (and not just as it applies to food). Obviously, that's where I've got issues. But in the meantime, since I do choose high quality and I have slowed down and I do pay attention when I eat now (at least at actual meals), I naturally eat a lot less, don't feel pissed off about it (don't ever feel like I'm missing out on life's goodies, because I'm not), and am slowly and steadily losing weight. I eat chocolate almost every day, I eat chips when I want them. I drink wine with my meals. Almost everything else I choose to eat is very high quality real food. Eating is now more enjoyable and less obsessed for me. One interesting point about doing this right off the 10-Day Detox: a frustration I had with the detox was that I ate the exact amounts I was supposed to, and I felt ridiculously stuffed and bloated the entire ten days (btw I did lose 6 pounds on the detox that I've not regained). For the first time EVER,, I was sick of feeling stuffed. Now I almost never feel stuffed, because I never want to eat that much. I actually get true hunger fairly regularly, and when I do, I eat something.

I'm 60 years old and have been looking for "the" answer to my see-sawing weight for 35 of them ... and then along came The Slow Down Diet.To put what I got out of this books in a nutshell is simply to say that I now live from life being amazing, wonderous, miraculous and magical. For the greater portion of mine, I lived my life with a lot of personal constraints, with 'guilt' being a major one. I see myself as having beaten myself up for years with dieting and punishing exercising so that I could make myself more acceptable. Of course, it never worked.The book points the way to forgiveness (I know - strange in a book about Weight loss) and honoring myself ... my soul, through honoring it's transportation method (the biological spacesuit - my body), by offering my body the best nutrition possible eaten without critique of it or self (you can't keep a car running like new with old oil), and appreciating my body for the wonderful and amazing job it does every day to keep me alive to experience life.I loved the book. It opened my eyes in so many ways.

Actually this is not even a diet book, but yet it is, but yet it's not...let me explain, this is a if you have a mouth and eat book, everyone should read this!, and I do mean everyone even if you are skinny, this book helps you to not only lose some pounds if that's what you choose to do, but it helps you to get to know your body and heal through food, he knows all the up to date studies that others are not talking about, this book will make your head spin thinking to yourself "why did I not get this earlier?", it would have saved you a lot of time and agony over your life, this book is thought provoking and I recommend it to everyone and I even buy it for people, it is one of those staples to have for life, I will continue to read my book over and over again through the years it is just that good and packed with a lot of info that one has to I believe read it twice to really soak it all in. Enjoy yours...I did.

The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure, Energy, and Weight LossBy Marc DavidISBN: 1-59477-060-3In easy-to-understand language, Marc David gives you the tools on "how" to eat, not "what." In what's referred to as an "Eight-Week Breakthrough Program," he guides you through eight stages of awareness in eating called universal metabolizers, which are:Relaxation--The slower you eat, the faster you metabolize.Quality--No matter what you eat, choose the highest-quality version of that food.Awareness--The less aware we are of the meal when we eat, the more the brain send signals for more food.Rhythm--Digestive and calorie-burning metabolism is strongest when the sun is highest (lunchtime) and weakest in the late evening.Pleasure--A pleasurable experience of a meal enhances nutrient absorption.Thought--Positive or negative thoughts directly affect digestion through nerve pathways, hormones, neuropeptides, and other biosubstances.Story--By rewriting our stories we can literally transform health, improve digestion, and enhance calorie-burning capacity.Sacred--Ritual offers access to the metachemistry of the sacred.This, along with what he calls "Vitamin O" for oxygen and "Vitamin P" for pleasure, will transform your relationship with food, which is also your relationship with life.Dhara Lemos, Lotus Guide Dhara's Active Meditation

A very unique read. An absolute vibe. In our current culture to come into this relaxed form of eating is rare. In fact I've not met anyone my age that is into the artful slow style of fine dining. The book can get a bit slow and really hard to read at times as it goes into a vast series of topics but the vibe is really awesome.

I can honestly say that I have read a lot of diet books and I've never come across a book like this. The current trends of counting calories and exercising hard have never worked for me so I had stopped reading diet books (and dieting). I knew that, in the past, when I stopped drinking alcohol and eating sugar then I lost weight (even though I still ate "too many" calories per day) and it wasn't until I read Dr Hyman's Blood Sugar Solution book that I understood why I'd lost the weight in the past (it's all to do with blood sugar levels and insulin). Hyman suggested reading this book by Marc David if you struggled with comfort eating and had a difficult relationship with food. So I bought the Slow Down Diet and have found it full of wisdom, insights and practical advice. This book is about improving your digestion and absorbtion of nutrients by taking your time, taking pleasure in the food and understanding what your body really needs. I've been doing the blood sugar solution for two months and have been applying the principles in the Slow Down Diet for the last two weeks. Not only have I lost over a stone so far but I've found it easy to do. I now enjoy my food, worry a lot less about my food intake (which is regulating itself into smaller portions because I know when I'm full) and have much more energy. Very glad I read this book and thank you to the author for making it all so easy to understand and apply to my life.

Excellent book. would recommend it highly to people who are stressed and need to lose weight.

This is the most informative and helpful book I have ever read about food and weight issues. It is full of such eye opening facts that after two read throughs I am now a completely transformed eater and feeling radically different! The book is well written, easy to follow, and yet packed with studies that prove what Marc is saying - it is time the world woke up to the evidence that now exists for mind over matter and the impact of our thoughts and feelings on our bodies( and hence digestion and metabolism) - I cannot recommend this book enough - it may well change your life.

Only just started this book and so far, it makes a lot of sense. Written for the american audience and those focussed onweight loss, which isn't why I got it. I am using it to support a different lifestyle, that is more relaxed and mindful.

Not as good as I hadhoped