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THE LAST BEST DIET BOOK by

THE LAST BEST DIET BOOK

By

Pub Date: June 6th, 1980
Publisher: Stein & Day

Not a diet book so much as a plausible way to stay on any diet by examining the psychological causes of overeating. Dr. Bockar is a practicing psychiatrist who lost 72 pounds by psychoanalyzing herself--and by going on planned binges, mid-diet, that prevented her from permanently abandoning her regimen. Her suggestions for self-analysis may oversimplify the process; but most fat people will probably endorse her list of conscious and unconscious reasons for eating too much--unexpressed anger, depression, feeling out of control of one's life, anxiety about wasting food, fear of being sexually attractive, feelings of dependency. Once you know what drives you to eat (if you're fat, the drive isn't hunger), you can expect to succeed on a diet. Weighing the choices, Bockar criticizes plans like Atkins or Scarsdale that allow unlimited quantities of protein on the menu; in many overeaters, she points out, the chemical imbalance produced in the body by the protein fails to turn off the dieter's appetite when the calorie count is still low enough for weight loss. A safer bet are diets that specify portions--like Weight Watchers, Cooper's Fructose Diet, or her own high-protein low-calorie plan. Since breaking a diet often spells the end of dieting for the guilt-prone, Bockar urges dieters to plan to go on a binge--about 3000 calories of any craved food--every time 10 pounds are shed; a pound or two may be gained back, but destructive guilt feelings are avoided. A convincing, pep talk that may make the difference for previously unsuccessful dieters.