Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Diet and Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Cookbook - Dr. Peter Gott

Well, I'm still on my quest to lose a (clears throat again) few pounds. It's all about information, making choices and finding what's right for you. Here's another great set of books to help you make some decisions on weight management.

Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Diet was on the New York Times bestseller list in 2006.
Dr. Gott is a medical columnist and practiced family medicine for over 40 years. His belief that " The seriousness of the health consequences of being overweight cannot be underestimated and adding insult to injury, obesity places enormous social and psychological stresses on individual's lives."

His diet is just what the title says -you don't eat flour or sugar of any kind. All types of flour- wheat, rice and corn, refined and concentrated sugars such as honey, syrup, molasses etc. are taboo.

"My No Flour, No Sugar Diet works because eliminating flour and added sugar from your diet, without making other changes, reduces the number of calories you consume." "Replacing those empty calories with nutrient-dense ones, you can eat enough to remain full and satisfied even while you shed unwanted pounds."

That's not to say that he doesn't advocate exercising in conjunction with this program as well. The first part of the book deals with what your body needs to thrive and his reasoning behind this diet. He includes information you've probably read in other places - keeping a food journal, portion control, reading labels, support, exercise and planning. A shopping list for foods that should be in your cupboard is included. He also includes his views on weight loss and some common diseases/ailments. I found his section on diabetes interesting.

The second half of the book gets down to business. What to eat and what not to eat lists are included. I am a bread addict, so the section on satisfying carb cravings without flour was informative. (Lettuce leaves for wraps and tacos!) Meal plans for two weeks are included, as are a selection of recipes.

Read an excerpt of Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Diet.

Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Cookbook starts off with a recap of the program. There are 175 new recipes, broken down into categories - quite a few sent in by readers. Many of them look delicious and you wouldn't even notice they are missing flour and sugar. My only problem was that many of the recipes feed 4-6 people. There aren't as many single serving recipes included.

Read an excerpt of Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Cookbook.

My main criticism of Dr. Gott's program is the use of artificial sweeteners. When I was pregnant with my son, my doctor told me not to use aspartame, as the effect on unborn children was uncertain. Dr. Gott's take on artificial sweeteners left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth.

" Some people have taken me to task for allowing the use of artificial sweeteners in my diet since, regardless of their being FDA-approved, there are some concerns about their safety. My theory is that many of the people who need to lose weight are not going to be successful without using sugar substitutes. Being obese, or even moderately overweight is an undebatable, serious heath risk that takes precedence over the possible dangers of reasonable use of artificial sweeteners. Lose the weight first , then cut out artificial sweeteners if you can."

I think both of these books contain some good information. Want a chance to read for yourself? Enter my giveaway for both books of Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar Diet.