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The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure, Energy & Weight Loss

Posted May 13 08 5:32pm 1 Comment

I just finished a wonderful ‘non-diet’ book called The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure, Energy, and Weight Loss by Marc David that combines the best of The French Women Don’t Get Fat philosophy with the latest research on body biochemistry and the powerful mind-body connection. It’s complete nutrition for the body, mind and soul.

David, a nutritionist with a master’s degree in the psychology of eating, defines metabolism as the sum total of all the chemical reactions of the body, plus the sum total of all our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and experiences. He explores in detail the connection between stress and metabolism and points to the French Paradox to illustrate the positive impact of slowing down and enjoying high quality food on improved metabolism and health.

The book, written with compassion and humor, encourages us to work less to achieve more. The message resonates with my personal belief that many of our current ills are the result of trying to do too much too fast, stating that this frenetic pace is inconsistent with a happy, healthy life. We need to stop punishing ourselves and begin nourishing ourselves. As I read these pages I felt my whole body sigh with relief. Finally no more struggle, no more deprivation, no more extremism in thought or action!

The Slow Down Diet outlines an eight week plan that focuses on the metabolic powers of:

  • Relaxation
  • Quality
  • Awareness
  • Rhythm
  • Pleasure
  • Thought
  • Story
  • Sacred

Each chapter provides inspirational case studies, a list of tasks to complete, exercises to guide you and a summary of key lessons. I especially loved the chapters on relaxation and pleasure. This crucial aspect of eating is often overlooked by most of today’s nutrition and weight loss experts.

He explains that by slowing down and paying attention while we eat, our brain registers and records the experience creating a feeling of satisfaction that is usually by-passed in our grab and go, multi-tasking, eat in front of the television approach to feeding. By re-connecting with our internal needs and rhythms, working to increase the quality of our food, and taking time to enjoy eating, we can re-ignite our metabolism and energize our lives.

This book is short on the specifics; there are no suggestions for exactly what or how much to eat. The underlying premise is that each of us is unique and that by slowing down and paying attention, we will learn to nourish ourselves optimally in any given situation or circumstance.

With The Slow Down Diet Marc David has provided a solution for sane weight loss that encourages us to slow down and savor our food.

Comments (1)
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I do agree that many times we eat in a hurry or while watching television or reading. When you do that you don't even taste your food. It's much easier to feel satisfied when you eat slowly and actually enjoy your food.
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