Just Eat: One Reporter's Quest for a Weight-Loss Regimen That Works by Barry Estabrook

Just Eat: One Reporter's Quest for a Weight-Loss Regimen That Works Reviews

• 
  Alicia Bayer

  This was an enjoyable read, even though it fell short for me in a few areas. The author is a journalist who had health and weight problems that led him to try a variety of popular diets and interview the "experts" in most of them. He starts with a fascinating look at the early diet books, which were sometimes comical and often cringe-worthy. Then he talks about the fact that almost all diets basically drastically lower either fat or carbs. From there he devotes a chapter each to all the dietary rabbit trails he went down, with very in depth information on most. I was very disappointed in the low carb chapter since he lumped paleo, Atkins, South Beach, keto and others all together with most of the focus on Atkins and South Beach. He didn't try paleo or keto, and just opted to do SB. He complained often about how much chopping he had to do for that one, which struck me as odd. We chop a ton of veggies for dinner every night and it's just part of the prep (hubby is usually my sous chef and I do the cooking). If you're going to cook with fresh veggies, you have to chop them or buy them pre-chopped (it's not as healthy and costs more, but it's an option if otherwise produce is a deal breaker). And as someone who's been on a healthy keto diet for several months and had remarkable health and weight results, I was really disappointed that he just wrote that off and then basically ruled that low carb diets don't work and are unhealthy. People who follow a paleo diet could bring up similar issues.
  
  He does take us on a really fascinating trip though, even traveling to one Mediterranean cook's Greek island home to eat her food and listen to her advice, along with visiting the homes and offices of many of our current gurus and experts. We go along with him as he tries everything from Whole 30 (he is not a fan) to Weight Watchers to vegan and more. He ends up taking a bit of the best advice from all of them and gets healthy by tailoring his eating to his own needs and the best bits from them all.
  
  It's a great read, though not one I'd actually read for advice on any of the diets.
  
  I read a digital ARC of this book for review.
• 
  Leith Devine

  I found this book fascinating in some places and boring in others. The author was personally motivated to lose weight. He tried just about every diet yesterday can think of, with various degrees of success.
  It was an enlightening read, but keep in mind that we all react differently to diets, and what works for one person may not work for you. 4 stars.
  
  Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
• 
  Aileen

  Lots of— pardon the pun— food for thought here. Having tried a great deal of the diets and eating plans Estabrook researches here, it is interesting to see the tidbits we pick up from each that lead to a more healthful way of life.
• 
  SheAintGotNoShoes

  What an excellent read ! I enjoyed every solitary word of it, partially because I have tried and lived many ( plus quite a few not mentioned in the book ) of the diets the author tried in his quest to drop 40 pounds.
  
  If your age begins with a 5, 6 or 7 ( mine begins with a 6 ) and have been overweight or obese for many years, then you too have more than likely done everything in this book plus a whole lot more.
  
  After trying numerous diets, the author has given up on dieting as untenable for his life and has decided to ' just eat '. He picked up a number of healthier habits from many of the plans he tried while discarding the rest. Without being on an official diet he has dropped 22 pounds and I congratulate him.
  
  
• 
  Rachel

  *thank you to Netgalley, Barry Estabrook and Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*
  
  
  4 stars.
  
  Is this yet another typical 'diet' book where the author swears that 'this' diet in particular is the cure all? No. Instead this book goes over a whole heap of different diets that are out there and it has the authors personally experience with them. The pros and cons. He goes from one to the next to the next. The end result? Well, I won't say but I can say that I'm not at all surprised. I am extremely familiar with food and the mind/body connection has.
  
  I felt that it was also written in a way that made it rather interesting to read. It wasn't boring like so many books like that can be, so I can say I was pleasantly surprised by that.
  
  I think people can learn alot from this book and if they really read it, it could hopefully, change their lives. Chronic dieters who are stuck in the cycle of losing weight and then gaining it all back, then losing it again, only to, yet again, gain it back. Once you understand the very basics as to why this happens, then you can make the right changes and be done with the neverending and very damaging cycle. Highly recommended this.
• 
  Lynne

  As a dietitian, I was very interested in reading this book. It is written by a reporter who was told by his physician to lose weight. He explored several different weight loss programs, trying them out to see if any worked for him. It was well-written with a lot of good information. Both scientific and cultural ways of eating are covered. Unfortunately, I disagree with his conclusion. Still, it’s a good book for people who are interested in learning about various ways of eating. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
• 
  Linda Atkinson

  I laughed, I cried, I commiserated. Probably my favorite book about diets ever, and I have read many.
• 
  Antonia

  If you’re interested in diets, nutrition and food, this is a great read. Fascinating, fun and liberating.
• 
  Sandi

  Who knew a book about diets could be so engaging. Barry Estabrook captured my attention with not just his subject matter, but his wit that accompanied it. Reading about any topic is always enhanced for me if it contains some humor, especially one of the drier topics like dieting.
  
  Estabrook covers many of the top diets unleashed upon us in the last several decades. He also talks about the origins of these diets which I found quite interesting. I particularly enjoyed the chapters on Whole30, Weight Watchers and the Loma Linda crowd (forget the name of that one).
  
  I love this quote at the very beginning by Samuel Beckett: "Probably nothing in the world arouses more false hopes than the first four hours of a diet." How true, how true!
  
  The book was inspiring and my biggest takeaway was this: the best diet plan for me is going to be the one that I can live with on a daily basis. For me this means I cannot live with a diet that prohibits meat or dairy. Ain't happening'!!
• 
  Ashleigh Spicy Geek

  There were some part that I found very interesting while others I just wanted to skim through because of being repetitive and boring. I did really enjoy the parts about his own health and weight loss journey and how different cultures eat.
• 
  Shelley

  Did you enjoy "Fast Food Nation?" Well, this is the other side of the coin. Intrepid - and pudgy - reporter thoroughly researches weight reduction, goes back in history for Paleo and Kellogg, travels to Greece and Loma Linda, interviews popular diet gurus, and eats his way through a top 10 of popular diets, including South Beach, WW, and more. Told by his doctor to lose weight or face debilitating disease, Estabrook, an admitted gourmand and fan of the liberal at-home cocktail pour, flits from diet to diet and, gasp, finally realizes that he needs to choose joy over comfort, eliminate sugar, processed carbs, and alcohol while he enjoys less meat, more veggies and beans, fat from olive oil (not meat as is typical for Americans), daily exercise, and smaller amounts of higher quality ingredients.
  
  I have cycled through many diets myself, although not as many as Estabrook flew through in a couple of years, and I share his hard-won wisdom. I finally got there after 25+ years at Weight Watchers (now WW) when I shifted to Noom last summer and shed 28 pounds that I'm finding pretty easy to keep off now that I've changed my habits. This book was a gift from another Noomer - she told me it underscored what we have learned from the app. She was right.
  
  A worthwhile read for all of my fellow yo-yo-ers and diet followers. There is a lot of good, actionable information to be gleaned from the author's journey.
• 
  Robin

  As one who has been on many diets outlined in this book (Weight Watchers when liver was required eating once a week, Dr. Pritiken, Dr. Ornish, South Beach, to name a few but never tried the KETO and won't after reading the author's description), I identified with the author's issues of not only sticking to the eating structure but also keeping off the weight after going off the diet. His method of giving the history of the diet and details on foods allowed and methods of preparation were helpful along with his own experiences of trying the plans.
  
  For the most part, this was interesting although I think it could have been a bit more succinct in some areas but his information is solid and an informative read for anyone considering going on any of these diets.
  
  I wasn't sure how I felt about how he resolved his weight issues as it seems all he needed to do was stop drinking alcohol and eat a little less, and the weight started falling off. For most of us who rarely drink anything except water and eat a fairly balanced diet yet still can't lose weight, this isn't very helpful, nor is it very fair. :-)
  
  Also, those who can't read books with small print may want to get this in an e-book format as the book uses a horrible font that was difficult for these aging eyes to read.
• 
  Kai Van

  CW: fatphobia, body shaming, casual ableism
  
  1.5/5☆~ the information regarding the history of diets & the founders of them is extremely interesting. unfortunately, this book continues to feed into diet culture and fatphobia and I would completely recommend that if you have a history of disordered eating or struggle with body shaming and self image to avoid this book.
  
  this may not exactly be a diet book specifically, but it does continue to perpetuate the idea that you have to lose weight/be skinny/not be fat to be healthy. no thank you.
• 
  Cari

  I read the article in Eating Well magazine that basically encapsulates this book. Depending on what you want to get from it, you may not need to read it - the article gives all the salient points. But the history of dieting and where the many diets come from was very interesting here. I didn't put this in my update feed because I don't want to trigger anyone, and I wouldn't recommend this book if diets and eating trigger you. I definitely have some disordered eating in my past, but for me, this book helped sort out the facts about the different diets and gave me some ideas to prioritize. It doesn't cover the emotional trauma brought by the many diets or by dieting in general, but it sticks to the facts and brings back some good data about what to eat and how to enjoy eating.
• 
  Homerun2

  3.5 stars
  
  This book is mostly just common sense about healthy eating. But it is nicely researched and gives a lot of factual information on the main types of diet, which would be low carb, low fat, and reduced calorie. And the valuable part is the author's personal experience of the different weight loss systems. He lists pitfalls, problems, and effectiveness. Many of us have gone through this, but he synthesizes and summarizes it all and ends up listing the common sense eating philosophy that guides him and led to a significant weight loss.
  
  Thanks to Net Galley and to the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
• 
  Laura

  This is a really engaging book. Driven by his own health concerns, Estabrook researches and tries several major diets. He has incredible access, meeting with Dean Ornish and several other luminaries. The book is well-researched, and I think he tries to be fair - diet is very personal, and some things he can't tolerate, you might be able to. And the conclusion that he comes to is kind of obvious, but at least educated.
  
  As someone who has looked into several of these diets herself, I found this book to be entertaining and informative. If you're interested in nutrition, or the weight loss process, this is a good book to check out.
• 
  Leslie Kay

  While wordy, this "not diet" book takes a good look at the diet world and how to lose weight without dieting. I particularly liked that he whittled the myriad of diets down to three basic ones and then described how you'd lose weight on all of them but are most likely to gain the weight back when you go off the diet. Instead, be mindful about what you eat and how you treat your body. I'm glad that I read this book.
• 
  Beth Allen

  I do not often read non-fiction, and, especially not diet books. However, I very much enjoyed this quick, engaging, tour of the history and evolution of popular and fad diets. I learned quite a few interesting tidbits on both absurd diets as well as differing cultural attitudes on food and how to eat for wellness.
  
  This is not a diet book or a how-to book for weight loss. It was an interesting foray into the competing ideas around eating and health.
• 
  Beth

  Barry Estabrook is a writer with the rare talent of making whatever subject he addresses more interesting than you’d ever thought possible, and this book is no exception. This clear-eyed, thoughtful, and very personal reportage about the history of the diet industrial complex in the US, and its impact on anyone who has considered following a specific plan for weight loss, is fascinating.
• 
  Jimbritt75

  I diet-skeptic’s breakdown of why basically every diet fails. The biggest takeaways for me are to target and eliminate my usual suspects, the bad actors (like sugar) that ruin my ability to lose weight; and I need to learn to take *joy* from eating, instead of *comfort.* Opt for the best ingredients, enjoy and savor mindfully. Don’t just consume food.
• 
  James Person

  Thanks for an unbiased view
  
  Estabrook has done what I only wish I could do, try firsthand a number of different diets guided by the people that developed them. His conclusion confirms what I have thought for a long time, yet I still get caught up in the smorgasbord of diets that are constantly being served. Thanks, Barry, for giving me permission to go ala carte.
• 
  Lori Cox

  Good review of all the diets that have hit the media, both recently and back in Kellogg’s day. Unsurprising, the author concluded with a moderation diet, slowly losing weight that took a long time to put on. Changing habits one at a time is not glamorous or quick, but it is effective and sustaining.