Dr. Connie Guttersen - The Love Diet: A Personalized, Proven Program That Changes the Way You Feel to Transform the Way You Look

This book is dedicated to those who have decided

to be healthier and happier.

When health is absent,

Wisdom cannot reveal itself,

Art cannot become manifest,

Strength cannot fight,

Wealth becomes useless,

And intelligence cannot be applied.

HEROPHILUS, GREEK PHYSICIAN

(335280 BCE)

Contents

The Seven Stages plan found in The Love Diet has been used to treat many patients with obesity and metabolic disorders as well as other serious physical ailments. While almost anyone can engage in our plan, it is important to discuss this plan with your own doctor to confirm that it will present no risk to you personally. Your doctors medical advice regarding the Seven Stages is particularly important if youre currently taking medications for diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or any other metabolic disorders. Your doctor may need to adjust these medications as you progress through the program.

By Connie Guttersen, R.D., Ph.D.

S tanding in line at the grocery store, youre likely to come face-to-face with magazine headlines touting competing secrets to diet success:

Eat fat to lose weight.

Carbs are the answer to long-term weight loss.

Fasting is the solution to drop unwanted pounds for good.

And magazines are only the tip of the iceberg. Health-centered TV shows and websites generate alleged weight loss solutions at an even faster clip. Even gatherings with friends and family arent safe from influencethere seems to be an evangelist of the latest diet trend at every table.

Yet, despite the seemingly endless supply of information, nutritional clarity is at an all-time low. Youre not alone if your head is spinning with conflicting dietary advice, or if you find it difficult to track down the most reliable information on how to eat best for health.

The result is a full-blown crisis of confidence. Youve likely lost confidence in fad diet promises, so-called diet gurus, andworst of allyourself. Do you blame yourself for failing with diets? You shouldnt. Its not your fault.

When youre confused, you cant always figure out the right way to go. When you dont know what to eat, youre likely to head down the wrong path. When you follow a diet that doesnt work, the problems dont end when youve eaten your last bowl of cabbage soup or added butter to your morning coffee; in fact, theyre just beginning. Unsuccessful dieting drops you into a cycle that is both emotionally and physically self-defeating. Emotionally, you enter into a space where the shame and guilt you feel over failure are all consuming. Physically, your body shifts into chemical imbalance. And where does this leave you? Well, with a loss of confidence in yourself and the dieting system.

There are major problems in the system that produces diets for public use: first, as already pointed out, most diets are often in conflict with one another; second, the credentials of many so-called diet experts are questionable, as are the less-than-clinical foundations of their programs; and third, the majority of diets have not been rigorously tested on significant numbers of the general populationpeople like you. These are some major weaknesses. But what if I told you that none of these issues touch on the core problem of most diets? What if I told you that there is another fundamental element missing that prevents you from achieving sustained weight loss?

You may have trouble believing this, but what is missing from all of these diet programs youve tried is self-respect and self-love. Thats right: learning to love yourself is the key to experiencing freedom from the frustrating cycle of shame, guilt, and repeated weight gain.

This isnt just some feel-good mumbo jumbo; its a golden truth proven through work with more than eleven thousand people. Its a truth that I discovered in my work with Dr. Mark Dedomenico, a pioneer in cardiovascular surgery and the acclaimed founder of the 20/20 LifeStyles program and the coauthor of this book. Through our extensive clinical research, we have found that self-acceptance, self-respect, and self-love are essential to successful and permanent weight loss.

Its well established that people with weight issues can develop a negative self-image. They often tell themselves things like I cant stand myself, Im disgusting, Im a total failure, I dont want to be seen in public, I cant maintain a normal weight... and on and on. This type of negative thinking will not only sabotage your weight loss efforts but will actually cause you to gain weight too.

Approaching weight loss from a place of love will allow youmaybe for the first time in your lifeto emerge from the great big burden of guilt and shame you feel about your weight. Once you are free from these feelings, you can focus freely and completely on giving yourself the gift of health.

How the Love Diet Came to Be

As a registered dietitian with a doctorate degree in nutrition and twenty years experience at the Culinary Institute of America, my goal has always been to open readers eyes to the bounty of incredible, healthful foods that can be used to create flavor and promote weight loss. In The Sonoma Diet (my New York Times bestseller, first published in 2005 and updated in 2010), I present a successful weight loss protocol that teaches a new level of consciousness about food and flavor. But it wasnt until I started working on this book that I came face-to-face with the other critical factors that contribute to the overweight epidemic, factors that rest more on the medical and psychological side of the issue rather on the diet side. And this is where Dr. Dedomenico and his groundbreaking work with 20/20 LifeStyles come inhis comprehensive approach to weight loss addresses all these factors, and its proven to produce unparalleled success.

Ive worked with Dr. Dedomenico and his team of physicians, registered dietitians, certified exercise professionals, and psychologists for twenty years. Over this time, the 20/20 LifeStyles clinic has produced thousands of weight loss success stories. Many of these people were just like youthey had struggled with diet confusion and an imperfect dieting system for years, some for decades. At the clinic, they were finally able to change course. They were given the tools and guidance to change their lifestyles, behaviors, and habits. These patients not only lost weight, but they also learned to respect and love themselves, a process that has proven critical to losing weight and keeping it off. Research at 20/20 LifeStyles revealed that individuals who developed self-respect and self-love experienced lower stress hormone levels, diminished levels of whole-body inflammation, and significant weight loss; these individuals experienced both psychological and physiological benefits.

The numerous personal stories gave us insights into successful weight loss. We werent just guessing what works or testing theories in a labwe were seeing success happen in real people, in real life, right in front of us. We witnessed people like Donna who had been struggling with dieting for decades and lost sixty-four pounds, or Rage who overcame a binge-eating disorder to finally drop 108 pounds, and Renee who worked through issues with emotional eating to lose twenty-five pounds. Their weight loss only tells part of the story. Perhaps even more important is that they, along with many others whove attended the clinic, have been able to maintain their weight loss. The rate of success was astounding, especially when compared to the dismal numbers typically associated with other diets. Something was clearly going right.