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126 of 130 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Little Miss Cyncial!, 11 May 2004
Right, firstly, I'm a 5'8" UK size 8/10 (size 4/6 USA I think), never been on a diet before, am quite happy with my physique (apart from the 'English' slight pot belly) and I drink coca-cola like it's going out of fashion! I don't know what possessed me to buy the summer detox book, but most likely the growing sense of panic knowing that in a months time I'll be parading my belly in a bikini on the beach!There is a hefty introduction, which explains the basics of detoxing and gives a detailed summary of what you should be eating and why (to understand the why's and wherefores is always helpful). There is also a list of what to avoid. And rather than being all "holier-than-thou", it's commonsensical. Being a vegetarian, I was relieved and pleasantly surprised that the book omits meat and fish from its recipes, although you can add them if you want. The recipes (there’s about 50 of them) are quite diverse, but easy to make and there’s even some suggested mix and match menu’s for meal planning. So, one shopping list and a trip to a health food shop later, I launched into the diet. Not being a fruit or salad fan, it was quite daunting (vegetarians don't all live on lettuce leaves y'know!) but daily I forced down fruit, and begrudgingly chucked a handful of salad onto my dinner plate. To be honest, I found it hard going. A lot of the food in the book is the kind of thing I normally love to eat, but the psychological effect of "having" to eat it sort of put me off. It really did feel like effort. I missed my cups of tea, pasta and cheese, but did develop a liking for Quinoa (sort of a cross between pasta and couscous) and cranberry juice. I imagine for the more focussed and diet-minded this is probably a doddle - the food is great, minimum-effort cooking, fast results. I gave up on Day 10, but (…here's the excuse…!) my best friend happened to be in London for the night, so we went out for dinner... I forgot about the diet so a good italian meal and a bottle of wine later, well… duh! It was only after dinner, my friend then proceeded to tell me how great I was looking - flat tummy, shiny hair, bright eyes... she said I looked healthier than I'd done in years! I suppose you don't actually notice the change, it's not a drastic transformation from Pat Butcher to Jordan. It's subtle. It's two weeks later... The nutritional information has had a practical impact on my every day eating habits. I have fruit at snacktime, rather than crisps and biccys. I have unsalted nuts rather than salted. I allow myself one decent cup of tea a day, and drink herbal tea at other times. I avoid fizzy drinks. I have decided that I am going to do this diet again and do it properly - no drinking, no smoking. If 10-day detox can make a 10-year tummy disappear it's got to be doing something right! I would heartily recommend this book to anyone. Be it for the recipes, the nutritional information, or if only for the fact that if it can make a cellulite-free 30 yr old's tummy as flat as it was 10 years ago, if you're sat there with a bit more weight than you want think what it could do for you!...
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by Carol Vorderman
by Carol Vorderman
by Carol Vorderman
