BALANCED DAYS, BALANCED LIVES

A guide for dieters who like to keep food journals, measure portions and count calories.

In line with the mantra “if you cannot measure it, you cannot control it,” the work’s “eight guiding truths” are a familiar combination of portion control, nutritional balance and daily exercise. After a brief introduction the book launches into the food diaries of 42 people who have lost weight using the system and whose “before” and “after” photographs have been renamed “then” and “now” to inspire a lifestyle change rather than a fixed goal. Along with personal anecdotes from the dieters comes a day’s worth of recipes for healthy breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks paired with calorie content. The recipes are appealing and artfully photographed, with a good balance of leafy greens and indulgences like ice cream and red wine. Commentary from the dieters adds a personal flavor to the recipes, like this description of a protein shake: “Great after a strenuous workout. Tastes like liquid gingerbread.” Each journal entry includes a Health Reflection™ Nutrition Facts Report, a personalized Food and Drug Administration-style food label that calculates the calories and nutrients the dieter consumed that day and color-codes the daily value percentages either red or green depending on whether or not the daily recommendations have been met. All the entries represent a “green day” in which the meals have worked together to create a healthy nutritional balance. The book is a companion to the NutriMirror website, where readers can use the online version of the Nutrition Facts Report to record their own food intake and calculate the results. Online weight loss calculator tools are inherently fun to use and this one is especially clever. But even without the website, the book offers enough nutritious, low-calorie recipes for readers to get an idea of which foods to eat in order to maintain a healthy weight.

Full of visual aids and a lead-by-example attitude, this refreshing book of recipes is a useful tool in promoting a healthy lifestyle and gradual weight loss.