And so we begin….

I know a few of you are still waiting to receive your books but I figured we might as well get started!  I don’t know about you but I’m not getting any thinner and my jiggly parts aren’t getting any less jiggly!

First you should know I’m not a doctor, I don’t play one on TV and in fact I rarely even go to the doctor.  Well, at least not as often as I should.  I have been on the 17 Day Diet because I was selected, with a small group of others, to participate in the diet through a television show called “The Doctors”.  We were given an unpublished copy of the diet and some instructions a couple of months ago.  In fact like many of you I just received my official “published” copy of the book earlier this week and ….

I LOVE IT.

I must have 100 or more diet books on my book shelves.  Okay, probably more. Probably much, much more.

They include:

1. The Weight Loss Bible
2. The Low Carb Bible (Hey, come on, they had the word “Bible” in them so I figured if God was involved I’d HAVE to lose weight, right?  Nope. Not right)
3. Healthy Life (I mean who doesn’t want one of those)
4. Eat Great and Lose Weight (Eating “Great” should naturally include ice cream and pie, right?  It didn’t)
5. Atkins – Various editions (The day after an Atkins meal my husband and I had our blood work done and I was almost hospitalized until I explained to my Dr. what we’d been eating!)
6. The Zone
7. Entering the Zone
8. Mastering the Zone
9. Leaving the Zone and Living on the Curb (okay, I made that one up but that’s pretty much where I ended up after traveling in The Zone)
10. Jenny Craig (She had a TV show and she looked really good)
11. Weight Watchers (Various editions, and support books, too many to name)
12. Suzanne Somers (I seem especially attracted to books written by thin woman with chefs and plastic surgeons)
13. I WILL Lose Weight This Time (THIS is by far a favorite!  I mean who could resist that title in the bookstore, right?)

And on and on and on and so on and so on.  You get the picture I’m sure.

 What’s really amazing is I keep buying them, putting them on the shelf and I’m not a single pound thinner!  What’s up with that!?  I paid good money for those gosh darn books! 

You might ask, “Well, you read them right?”  Huh?  Read them?  Are you nuts?  Of course I never really read them. 

Usually I’d buy the book, run home as fast as possible and flip to the “good part.”  You know the “just tell me what to eat, when to eat it part” and then skip to the “how thin will I be and how fast” part.  I mean that’s all I was ever really interested in.  I didn’t care how it worked or if my liver was quivering.

The only upside of owning these books is I must have burned off a few calories carrying the darn things home and maybe one of these days if I ever get around to organizing the bookshelves I’ll lose a pound or two carrying them all to Salvation Army.

BUT, here’s what I think about The 17-Day Diet Book that I just received:

It’s easy to read.  It’s a perfect size (fits in my purse) and doesn’t’ feel overwhelming.  I think out of the 100’s of diet books I own it’s the only one I’ve actually sat down to read at chapter one and read through…oh, and I can understand it without a chemistry degree!  No fancy lingo or mumbo jumbo!  No “Dr. Speak.”  It’s written in plain English.  Simple.  No unusual foods to buy. No points to count.  No exchanges to make.

I know some of you have just received or are still waiting for your books.  For those waiting most likely your book will arrive this week and when it does TAKE MY ADVICE:  READ IT.  I know this may sound logical and you’re thinking “Well shoot Terri, I know that” but trust me, I know a few of you out there, just like me buy the book and think carrying it around with you will somehow cause weight loss.  Sure, you might burn up 4 to 5 calories a day. Let’s see, 4 to 5 calories a day and 3,000 plus calories in a pound that means you’d lose a pound every 750 days if you carry the book with you everywhere, never put it down and don’t eat too much.  I have a better way.  READ THE BOOK.  You won’t need a calculator or have to take notes.  It’s actually enjoyable.

One other thing I’d recommend if you are waiting for your book or have just received it.  Take a “before” photo. I know I know.  (I just heard you all collectively scream and pass out)  I had to do it too for The Doctors and I hated it.  In fact I had to do a follow up photo last night and still having 30-40 lbs to lose it was not a pleasant experience especially when with my back turned to my husband I hear him mumble, “God, I’d NEVER do this.”  I am assuming the view from the rear is as bad as I imagined.  Anyway as much as I hated it and I haven’t lost as much as I want to lose I could see a difference and it was motivating.  And believe me after you lose the weight you will want that “before” photo. You can carry it in your wallet, post it on the bathroom mirror or the refrigerator – it may just become “the” tool you need to keep that weight off!