This book challenges the 'hype' that carbs are bad for you and you won't lose weight if you eat them.
It explains how to eat well by incorporating carbohydrates into your diet. This is not a diet plan on its own and its not a recipe book alone its a combination of both.
The book comprises of:-
case studies of people who have lost weight following the suggested meal plans;
the meal plans and a diet to follow over a number of weeks;
recipes that tie in with each diet plan;
some suggested exercises, called 'the carb lovers workout'.
The diet plan starts with week one, the 7 day carb lovers kick start plan and goes on to the 21 day carb lovers immersion plan. The meal plans look straightforward enough and were interesting, the plan includes snacks (one each day) as well as breakfast, lunch and an evening meal.
I liked the recipes, they were healthy (obviously), relatively easy, did not need expensive ingredients or great cooking skills. Some of the recipes were so simple, like a chopped salad or a filled pita, you'd wonder if that really was a recipe at all, but if you were following the meal plan it was a dish you could easily incorporate. Each recipe has really good information of calorific content, fat content, protein, carbohydrate etc. and resistance starch. Preparation and cooking and portion sizes are also included.
The carbs featured tend to be what are commonly referred to as 'good carbs' like fruits, vegetables, lentils, barley, oats and the use of wholemeal flour in some of the baking recipes. I tried the Greek Lentil soup with toasted pita, and it was really nice, very easy to make, wholesome and filling.
I suspect the book was originally written for an American market but it has been adapted to suit the British reader. Its an easy book to read and follow.
The book didn't 'change my life' but it made me think about what I think I should or should not eat now to lose weight It made me reconsider the balance in my diet, and made it easy for me to come up with meal plans of foods I would tend to eat and enjoy.