Ted Haggard - The Jerusalem Diet: The One Day Approach to Reach Your Ideal Weight—and Stay There

Practical and simple, the Jerusalem Diet is a great prescription for my patients who need to lose weight. With the Jerusalem Diet they can keep the weight off for life. I am excited to be able to give this to my patients.

K ENT G. R OBERSON , MD, Family Health Center

Ted Haggard has effectively lent his gift of making the complicated easy to the quagmire of diet and exercise. Not only is this book practical, it is actually fun. There is no longer any reason to hold back on your health, because this approach is healthy, effective, and completely painless!

L ISA B EVERE , author, Kissed the Girls and Made Them Cry, Out of Control and Loving It! and Be Angry But Dont Blow It

This book is not another fad diet plan but a lifestyle approach that will help put you on the road to good health.

T HOMAS A. H ENDERSON , MD, Advantage Inpatient Medical Specialists

During my fifteen years of practicing medicine, I have counseled many people in nutrition and weight loss. I have been gravely disappointed in what medical and nutritional science have had to offer. I have seen diets and medicine work for a while but usually without sustained results. The Jerusalem Diet offers new hope with a practical strategy that allows people to never be more than one pound away from their goal weight. It gives great hope in weight loss and maintaining what has been lost. Thank you, Ted Haggard, for bringing freedom to an area that has caused so much bondage! This is truly a framework for success.

C HRISTOPHER R C OLE , MD, F.A.C.C., Director, Colorado Cardiac Alliance Research Institute

Foolish No More

Dog Training, Fly Fishing, and Sharing Christ in the Twenty-First Century

Letters from Home

The Life-Giving Church

Simple Prayers for a Powerful Life

Primary Purpose

Taking It to the Streets

Loving Your City into the Kingdom (with Jack Hayford)

Confident Parents, Exceptional Teens (with John Bolin)

This book is dedicated to my wife, Gayle, who has insisted that fruits and vegetables reign on our familys table, that whole-wheat bread replace white bread, that water and juices prevail against soft drinks, and that balanced real food meals carry the day over junk food. Throughout our marriage, books about nutrition, diet, exercise, and disease prevention have rested on our nightstands and coffee tables. Gayle is incredible! She weighs less and looks better today, after giving birth to five children, than she did when we married twenty-seven years ago. Because of Gayle, our family is healthy and strong. Because of Gayle, the Jerusalem Diet is a natural as a health-weight plan for me. We all thank you, Gayle.

by Larry Gee, MD

I am a family-practice doctor with a strong interest in health promotion and preventive medicine. I have had the privilege of working and teaching about health all over the world.

When I first heard that Pastor Ted Haggard was teaching about dieting, to be honest, I was a bit skeptical. He has been my pastor since 1996, and I had the privilege of watching him up close when we traveled together on a mission trip to Nepal. I enjoy his teaching on many topics, and he always has appeared healthyso he must be doing something right. But what does a pastor know about nutrition and dieting?

Unfortunately, the same question could be asked of many doctors! As a whole, physicians tend to be some of the more unhealthy people I know. We do a lot of health and diet education but may not practice it ourselves.

When Pastor Ted asked me to review The Jerusalem Diet, I thought it would be a great chance to ensure he didnt make a fool of himself by writing on a topic he doesnt know much about. As I dived into the book, however, I was surprised to find out how simple and practical the plan was. I told him later, This is so simple even a doctor can follow it!

I especially appreciated the chapter called I Love Food! So much of life is centered around food, as I was reminded again at a recent family reunion. Every decade, Americans are eating more, exercising less, and getting fatter and fatter. Many Americans carry thirty to a hundred pounds of extra weight. Because of this, they suffer from a host of obesity-related diseases and disabilities, and they cannot function as well as they would like. They cannot keep up with their kids and do all the things God has called them to do.

Every time I return to the United States after being out of the country, I am overwhelmed by our obesity. Sadly, the Chinese and other people in many parts of the world are catching up with us as the American fast-food diet and sedentary lifestyle spread.

My ideal weight is 195 pounds. Since high school, I had ballooned to a high of 235 pounds. I had worked my way back to 215 pounds but was having a really hard time getting below this. (My kids tell me I am in pretty good shape for a fat guy.) I am a lot like Pastor Ted in that I dont like to follow strict diet plans and dont have time to count calories or find special foods. I, too, am a busy father. How would I ever have time to go to diet group meetings? Like Ted and many others, I am also not very disciplined. I can make myself work out, but I have a very hard time controlling food intake.

As I read the manuscript, I realized the Jerusalem Diet was something I could follow. I decided to give it a try to see if I could get down to my ideal weight once again. In just seven weeks I have been surprised at how effective and easy it is. I have consistently lost one pound per week, and I feel better already. I am excited that I have almost achieved my New Years resolution to be under 205 in 2005.

I love how flexible this plan is. When I went to my family reunion, I decided to enjoy the time and not follow the diet. I didnt weigh myself at all. I thought when I got back I would really pay the price. But I had to do only one Fat Dayeating fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds, drinking only water, and exercising at least one hourand I was back on track. At two recent birthday dinners I ate whatever I wanted and again just had to do one Fat Day.

I actually enjoy Fat Days, because I still eat a lot of good food. As you read the book and start the diet, you will be surprised how well you feel eating good food. In time, your taste buds will desire more and more healthy food. I am reminded of the cartoon showing a doctor telling a patient what he should eat. The patient responds, That is not food. That is what food eats!

I also appreciate Teds exhortation to exercise. The bottom line with weight loss is you must burn up more calories than you take in. There are all sorts of advertised shortcuts for this, but they never work without complications. As you move your life toward more regular exercise, you will start feeling better and be able to do more, even if you are still over your ideal weight. The best exercise is the one you like doing. I personally prefer mountain biking, because it is a lot like the Jerusalem Dietyou only have to work hard and discipline yourself for a short time, and then you have a fun downhill roller-coaster ride.