The F-Factor Diet: Discover the Secret to Permanent Weight Loss Paperback – December 4, 2007

I'm starting on Week Four, after having read this book, and can only say: it's simple, it works and I'm loving it. The book is easy to understand, it's clear and helpful. The lifestyle diet, most importantly, is simple to adhere to and I'm losing weight. I even stuck to it in Florida on a vacation! In fact, my mother watched me eating on this diet and said "I can't believe you can actually lose weight eating that much food." But I did and I am! I find the book to be encouraging and realistic and it certainly does help to understand WHY certain things will assist in the weight loss process. The author treats the reader like an adult and assumes one can understand the ins and outs of nutrition and explains it in-depth but with humor, clarity and encouragement. I don't love the crackers but then again, there is so much food containing fiber that it's not entirely necessary to eat them in order to remain on the diet. I think the reviewer who said that there are a lot of product endorsements is being ridiculous. Readers need and want clear ideas as to how to stay on this healthy lifestyle plan and the author gives them. Try this. You won't be sorry and you'll feel great doing it. I promise.

I've held off posting a review of this book because I wanted to try increasing my fiber first and see if I would notice beneficial results.Let's start but saying that I have dealt with a slow digest transit for YEARS. I wouldn't call it constipation but it is not unusual for me to only have a bowel movement every 2-3 days. Because of this, I didn't have high expectations in this regard and honestly I didn't notice a significant change. However, again, I wasn't surprised by this result for me.Now as far as the other health benefits, I have noticed a huge change. I have been adding fiber in the form of Fiber One cereal in full fat plain yogurt, a handful of raw oatmeal and Wasa crackers for about 4 months. This adds up to about an extra 16-20 grams of fiber a day. Nothing else about my diet has changed in that time. Now the results: my cholesterol dropped an incredible 80 points in a year without any statins or other drugs! Note as well that this was with only incorporating the diet for the last 4 months too, so I'm hoping for even better results as I continue eating this extra fiber.I highly recommend this book and increasing your fiber intake. I truly believe that you will see a difference in your health.

"The absence of fiber in American's diets is a major risk factor for weight gain." ~ pg. 5Tanya Zuckerbrot is a board-certified dietitian with a master's degree in nutrition and food studies. She has an answer for everything and that answer is FIBER. This book is not just about losing weight it is also good for anyone struggling with diabetes or high blood pressure.If you love to eat out, then there is a special section on making the best food choices while at a Greek, Indian, Italian and Mexican restaurant. If you love to cook, one third of the book is recipes. You may want to try:Strawberry Yogurt ShakeTandoori ChickenClassic Steak House Filet MignonGrilled Fruit KebabsMoroccan Lentil SoupTurkey ChiliFor recipes with pasta, the author uses multigrain versions. When making Macaroni and Cheese you get five grams of fiber per serving. Raspberries, dried figs, dried apricots, blueberries and pears also have a lot of fiber. So when you think "fiber" don't automatically think "dry hard to swallow cereal." This book is filled with delicious ideas.Through reading this book you can find out how many calories you should be consuming in a day to lose weight or to maintain weight. You may also start thinking differently about salads as they don't have as much fiber as I originally thought they did. It is more what you add to the lettuce that counts, for example adding beans and red bell peppers helps with the fiber content. It was surprising to learn that you'd need to eat eight apples to get the recommended amount of fiber in one day. Of course that is not something you want to do but shows how much fiber is lacking in the daily diet of most Americans. This book also explains why it is a bad idea to skip meals.The best way to use this book is to type up a basic menu for one day in one of three columns. I'd suggest the one recommended in Make the Connection: Ten Steps to a Better Body and a Better Life. Put his suggestions in the second column and then put in all the variations for the diet in the third column. This way you can see what you are eating for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks (put those words in the first column so every item has a row of its own). For instance if you look at the breakfast section you will see fruit as an option. Type out all the fruit options that are high in fiber in the third column. As you read through the book make a note of anything that looks good and is high in fiber. This really helped me to figure out what I wanted to eat for a day and makes shopping much easier.~The Rebecca Review

The author is either flat out lying about the Atkins diet or didn't really read it. She says it eliminates fruits and vegetables, but it only limit high starch verges in the first two weeks (induction phase) which, btw, sounds exactly like the first two weeks on her diet (no more than 30 net carbs per day, 20-25 for Atkins induction phase). You eat a lot of veges on Atkins and you can have REAL eggs, not just egg whites or yucky, fake egg beaters. There are also many fruits you can have on Atkins, mostly berries, just like she says. She's continually bashing the Atkins diet but uses a lot of the same science. The only thing Atkins eliminates is REFINED carbs, which is exactly what she says to strictly limit! I agree with a lot of the reviewers who say she just wants to sell her own stuff, that apparently you can't even get anymore. This book was a big waste of money, you can get the same results with Atkins online for free. They do promote their bars and shakes but DO NOT require them. Plus they taste good.