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Bob Greene Diet

The Best Life Diet has become highly regarded among nutritionists because of its motivating tone and and honest approach to nutrition and exercise.

Bob Greene's Best Life Diet isn't your typical weight-loss plan that asks you to follow a special formula to drop pounds -- it's about slowly incorporating positive eating and exercise habits that you can maintain for the rest of your life. The plan is divided into three phases: Phase One focuses on adopting healthy habits, from drinking more water to taking a multi-vitamin to eating at least three times a day and avoiding food right before bedtime. Dieters are instructed to begin some form of aerobic exercise for a minimum of three days a week for 30 minutes a session. Those who already exercise are expected to work out for even longer amounts of time (from upwards of 40 to 60 minutes each session), as well as increase how many days per week they exercise. After four weeks, you'll weigh yourself again -- if you continue to drop a pound or more each week, you're advised to stay with Phase One for several more weeks. Otherwise, you'll move onto the next phase. In Phase Two fried foods, soft drinks, white bread, regular pasta and high-fat dairy products are eliminated in favor of whole-grain products, olive oil, skim milk, vegetables and fruits. Dieters are also encouraged to examine the psychology behind their eating behavior and identify overeating triggers. This phase continues until you're 20 pounds shy of your goal when you move onto Phase Three, which reintroduces previously banned foods and sets you up for a lifetime of healthy eating and exercise habits.

Because of Bob Greene's affiliation with Oprah (she wrote the foreword to his book and says the diet mirrors how she eats and lives now), many skeptics have dismissed the Best Life Diet as another celebrity weight loss fad. However, it's become highly regarded among nutritionists because of its motivating tone and and honest approach to nutrition and exercise. The average number of calories dieters can expect to eat is 1,700 per day, which makes it easy to create well-balanced meals compared to many restrictive diets that tend to be deficient in certain nutrients because they allow far fewer calories and a Another plus is how dieters are encouraged to exercise as a way to earn rewards. Depending on how much exercise you're doing each week, dieters are allowed to eat additional calories per day.

Is Bob Greene's diet healthy?

Yes, if you don't take advantages of the loopholes in the diet. The program recommends all the right healthy foods and limits all the bad ones. But, it also isn't as restrictive as many diets are when it comes to portion sizes. That can make it easy for some dieters to fudge the rules and eat more than they should. Another pro of this plan is that it advocates exercising at least three times a week for 30 minutes right from the start, then motivates dieters to continue to advance fron there. Most experts agree that exercising a minimum of three times a week is paramount for maintaining a healthy lifestyle, burning fat, avoiding injury and feeling younger.

What do the experts say?

"The diet is incredibly sound advice that promotes very healthy foods," says Dawn Jackson Blatner, RN, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, "It's only weak link is that it lacks portion control." A ccording to Blatner, it's not as clear to readers how much of certain foods should be eaten. "When it comes to eating healthy, there are food choices to consider but also food portions to consider," says Blatner, "Both of these must be manipulated in order to have a helpful weight loss plan. The Best Life Diet does a very good job at explaining the healthiest foods to choose, but it's a little lacking in the food portions side of the equation." However, Blatner does think that the Beter Life Diet website fills in these holes, offering additional diet advice.

Who should consider the Bob Greene Better Life diet?

Any dieter looking to improve their eating habits and incorporate an exercise plan for weight loss and overall health would benefit. Dieters looking for easy dieting or fast weight loss may be turned off by the amount of discipline the diet requires, especially when it comes to exercising regularly.

Bottom Line

Nutritionists, doctors and exercise experts all agree that the healthiest approach for losing weight is a combination of eating right and exercising often. Overall, that's exactly what the Best Life Diet delivers, offering some honest answers about nutrition and exercise that some dieters may not want to hear because there's no spin attached to them, but are the foundation of successful weight loss and maintenance.

Some dieters may think the exercise prescription is too intense. However, Greene's advice is on target. Most diet books that recommend exercising typically suggest a minimal amount to make their plans more attractive because they're much easier to do. But in order to improve your health, build lean muscle and burn fat, it's important to constantly aim at increasing the intensity of your workouts. This diet does just that, which may seem "hard for some dieters, but is spot on advice.

Checklist

Bob Greene Diet Books
The Best Life Diet Cookbook: More than 175 Delicious, Convenient, Family-Friendly Recipes	The Best Life Diet Revised and Updated	The Best Life Diet Daily Journal