Antony Worrall Thompson's GI Diet (Paperback)

Already, using the recipes in this book, my wife and I are shedding pounds, and I feel that combined with the lifestyle changes you need to tailor in to your life, the weight may stay off. Usually, when on a diet, you are faced with really tedious food, however, Worrall Thompson's recipes are completely irresistible; sometimes you find it hard to believe that these recipes are part of a weight-loss diet.

The book is also quite educational. It teaches you all about the glycaemic index, GI (a measure of how fast carbohydrates are metabolised into glucose by the body and hence how fast they raise blood sugar levels), and gives you a valuable insight into which foods have which types of affects upon the GI, for instance, by categorising foods as low, medium and high GI foods, and what each terms means, e.g. low GI foods are slow to digest, and hence make you feel less hungry and help you lose weight.

I have found this book useful as it simply gives you whole ranges of recipe. You don't need to spend much time cooking, or looking for ingredients - it's all just quick, easy cooking and food preparation, and a delight to have when you have returned late from work and just want to eat something tasty and healthy and not slave over the cooker for any length of time. On a personal note, many of my family members have suffered from maturity onset diabetes and heart disease, and this book specifically deals with aspects of both of these, and teaches you how to eat to best avoid both of these.

I have already noticed changes in myself since first using this book - I already feel as though I have more energy, and several people have commented upon how they think I am looking younger. If it's because of the change in my diet, inspired by this book, then how can you complain?

Low carbohydrate and GI diets emphasise that the major problem is not counting calories but understanding how different foods are broken down and either converted into fuel for your body or stored as fat against leaner times ahead. It's a natural process - the trick is to burn fuel rather than lay down fat. Choosing a low carb diet or watching the GI of the foods you eat is far more effective and certainly far more sustainable than simply counting calories (which usually leaves you feeling hungry ... and then guilty when you succumb to temptation).

The theory, I hasten to add, seems to work: at 6'2", I'm a big, big bloke, but I've never been overly worried about dieting before (not when there's another pint of beer to be drunk), but I've been learning lessons from low carb and GI advocates, and I've lost several excess pounds ... and I feel a lot healthier and more energetic. I'm maybe twenty pounds overweight, and I appreciate that I need to change my lifestyle slightly to ease off that fat. No crash diets, no quick fix, but a sensible, healthy approach to eating.

Low carb and GI approaches emphasise just that. The real objective is to redesign your lifestyle, learn healthy eating habits, and adopt a balanced diet which provides your body with the fuel and nutrition it needs yet does not leave you feeling hungry. The excess weight in the form of stored fat begins to ease off. You feel fitter, less tired. And it's self-sustaining. It's all about learning new, good habits, and moving yourself into a healthier lifestyle.

Worrall Thompson and his co-writers are particularly good at emphasising the need to adopt a more vital lifestyle rather than see yourself as on a diet. The word 'diet' should be banned in its oh-too-familiar form. This is definitely about lifestyle and the acquisition of lifelong, good eating habits. This is not about some remedial intervention, this is a lifestyle decision.

The book talks you through which foods to eat, which ones to reduce. There is a stimulating range of recipes on offer - from main courses to sweets, soups to fish, fowl, and meat, from breakfast to evening repast. And they're beautifully illustrated with fine, coloured photographs - you can visualise the food before you taste it.

The trick, of course, is to begin visualising your changed lifestyle. Learn from the recipes - like all the best cooks, Worrall Thompson is offering up guidelines for choice. Identify your favourite foods, your favourite cooking styles and methods, then combine the two. Experiment. This is not about rigidly following instructions, it's about the liberating impact of a new lifestyle.

The value of this book is in its ability to stimulate your imagination and motivate you to think lifestyle, think choice, think experiment, think plan ahead, and learn good shopping and food preparation habits. Don't think diet and hunger! Be positive! Visualise yourself enjoying healthy eating, enjoying filling meals, enjoying the experience of pounds easing off, enjoying the feeling of being fitter and healthier, more vital, more energetic.

Lifestyle and health are about learning good habits and developing the self-confidence to take control of your life. This book offers an excellent stimulus and a good value product which should encourage you and help get you focussed.