The Book for Those Who Hate to Cook and Want to Lose Weight
923861
I really hated to cook. My idea of cooking was grabbing my laminated folder of takeout menus and ordering a variety of fast food and Chinese takeout. But after doing that for the past five years I am three sizes larger and my stretch pants are about to split the seams. Even worse, the money I spent on meals out I could have saved and taken a trip to Paris.

A friend suggested I find a cookbook that was easy, healthy (no missing food groups) and had single serving portions.  After sitting on the floor in my bookstore and perusing tons of diet cookbooks, I decided to give this one a try.

The recipes are for one or two servings. I can eat one and save the other to reheat or take for lunch. It's also the first book I have found that has simple recipes (not twenty hard to find ingredients) and makes healthier versions of fast food favorites.

I love that I can make my own version of an egg muffin sandwich (instead of the one at Starbucks), BBQ chicken pizza (I was always ordering that one from a local pizza joint), a grilled cheese sandwich (my favorite with tomato soup) and more.

I am a chocolate freak so the frozen hot chocolate idea was new to me, and I love the chocolate mousse parfait.

The author Devlin Alexander lost 55 pounds and has kept them off for over a decade. This book is so good and easy to use that I am going to buy all her other books and keep adding one or two recipes to my meal plan each week. Instead of planning my takeout orders each day, I now make a meal plan on Sunday, then cook up and freeze meals in single portions ahead of time.

I never thought I would use anything other than my microwave to nuke leftover takeout food. Now my stove is getting a real workout. And I am saving for a trip to Paris at the end of the year to buy me a slinky designer black dress.
2165788
This is a great book.  A great book?  Give me a break-- its a DIET book!  Exactly.  But it's not a big clunky cookbook with recipes you can't find ingredients for.  This is a book you actually want to read that includes recipes and diet tips along the way.  The phases have been easy to follow and make good sense too.  THIS diet book treats you like you're a real person by telling you the real WHYS and WHAT FORS behind the foods you should eat and the habits you should create.  It doesn't even feel like a DIET book when reading it-- how many times have you actually taken a diet book to read in bed?  Very encouraging to be able to have this reference.
2202700
I have to say that I was reluctant to pick up this book for two reasons.  First, the world is flooded with cookbooks already, and second, I am not a regular viewer of the TV show.  I think it is entertaining and I like the fact that it inspires people to make changes in their health.  I have a new appreciation for the contestants after reading&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Becoming-Fearless-My-Ongoing-Journey-of-Learning-to-Trust-God/dp/1434703274/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Becoming Fearless: My Ongoing Journey of Learning to Trust God</a>.

This book is written by Chef Devin Alexander (a guest star on the show) and It features 75 recipes with 20 minutes of prep time or less. With six chapters of unique recipes for any occasion, the book includes flavorful and filing recipes such as:
- Sausage Feta Pepper Breakfast Bake
- Blanca Arugula Pizza
- Spicy Cayenne Corn on the Cob
- Garlic & Herb Macaroni and Cheese
- Cold Dumpling Salad
- Coffee Crusted Chopped Steak
- Philly Cheese steak Pizza
- Crispy Pesto Cod

And deserts like:
- Chocolate Raspberry Dreamers
- Honey Nut Apple Butter Rice Cakes

Do I have your attention yet?  What could be better than tasty dishes with short ingredient lists that do not take all day to make?  Each dish has a colored picture to show you the finished result. The book is larger than most, making it easy to read and use.  There's also cooking and baking tips, as well as a shopping list to help you stock up with healthy supplies.

What really surprised me was that this is much more than a cook book.  The book starts with 20-minute workouts with tips on how to burn the most calories in the least amount of time.  Throughout the book, you will find tips from contestants, complete with their pictures.  I don't normally purchase cook books, but this is a fun, entertaining book that actually delivers on the promise of "Simply Delicious Low-calorie Recipes to Make in a Snap".

Bottom line:  If you are a fan of the Biggest Loser TV program, you will probably really enjoy this book.  Even if you have never seen the show, you will find the book fun and the recipes easy and tasty.

Bill Cashell - Author of "The Emotional Diet"
4852528
I've never read a diet book before, but this one makes a lot of sense. Erin explains how she developed her approach, what she means by "clean and lean," and even talks about excuses and how to overcome them. In the section on eating clean, she lays out the reasons for the 4 foods she targets and why it is important to control them. She doesn't advocate eliminating any of them, just limiting them and choosing your indulgences. Then she shares tips on kitchen tools and ingredients, and provides recipes for meals, snacks, and even desserts. In the next section she describes the tabata approach to exercise, lists equipment you will need, and gives sample workouts for beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels. The final section of the book puts it all together with a 4-week plan of menus and workouts.

I appreciate the detail Erin gives and the way she confronts and debunks excuses right from the start. The recipes offer various flavors and there are also variations and substitutions at the end of that section. The exercise section includes pointers for how to work around injuries and ailments, and she stresses that it is okay to move between the levels as needed. Her comment, "you don't have to put in 100 percent when you're not feeling 100 percent," is so sensible. (So if you have a cold and feel rotten, you may not be up to doing an advanced workout - but you can get up off the couch and at least go for a walk.) And I really appreciate the 4-week plan to get started. Having it all laid out so that beginners don't have to try and map out meals and workouts and worry about getting a good balance is great. It allows you to ease into the routine, working on one clean eating habit per week and gradually increasing the difficulty of the exercise so that you feel progress rather than frustration.

With the option to squeeze in these short 4-minute workouts throughout the day (if you can't do them all in one session), and plenty of recipes to choose from, as well as suggestions to make your own recipes a healthier version, there really aren't any excuses left. Guess I better get away from the computer and get moving!

I would recommend this to anyone who wants to create a healthier lifestyle for themselves and their families. Erin's writing style makes it seem you are talking with a friend whose energy and fitness you admire. The photos with the exercises show good form for the movements. And I can't wait to give some of these recipes a try.  (Once I have spent more time following the guidelines, I may have to come back and give it another star.)
769220
If you're done with food rules and beating yourself up for not being perfect on some insanely complicated diet or another, let this book be your roadmap to getting back to sanity in the kitchen.

Want to feed yourself and your family more home-cooked meals without spending a fortune on special ingredients you can only buy online, or that cost a fortune at some fancy health food store?  If youve been wanting to get back to basics in the kitchen while keeping things healthy, nutritious, and *simple,* this book is for you.  Dinner Plans offers flexible and entirely customizable mix-and-match meal plans that can fit into several different dietary approaches.  This book isn't low-carb, Paleo, keto, or WAPF by definition, so if you know you want to get back to real food, but prefer not to stick any particular label on it or become beholden to someone elses anointed food laws, Dinner Plans is a very helpful guide.

This book is a good place to start if you want to use fewer products with ingredient lists a mile long, but you feel like a deer in headlights when its time to put a meal together. The authors have created a user-friendly system that will help you make endless combinations of wholesome foods, and have also provided very simple instructions for how to cook them, the way our grandparents did before we outsourced our cooking to fast food joints and delivery.  Dont like zucchini? Use carrots. Dont eat pork? Use chicken. Need to keep the carbs low? Double up on the non-starchy vegetables.  You can do almost anything with butter, olive oil, salt & pepper. No need to keep your kitchen stocked like the pantry on Chopped.

Real food home cooking is so much simpler than were typically led to believe, and it doesnt have to cost an arm and a leg. You don't have to get all your food from grass-fed animals blessed by the gods or eat only organic vegetables. You *can* eat wholesome, delicious meals without taking out a second mortgage or spending endless hours in the kitchen. No food quality shaming here, and no need for perfection.  For the people who are totally overwhelmed by confusing and contradictory information about diet these days, Dinner Plans is a refreshing breath of fresh air in its simplicity, focus on basics, and non-threatening introduction to moving in the direction of more fat, fewer starches, and less sugar.  And the books vintage design is adorable and makes the meal combinations and basic preparations even more approachable.
1069904
When I got this book, it was clear that I would have to look at it two ways:  As the working mom of a six year old and as the woman who would love to lose a little weight.

So...

Mom's Point of View:
My daughter would starve.  The recipes in this book are not family friendly.  They are complex, unappetizing, and full of ingredients that my daughter wouldn't eat if she was starving.

I tried the most kid-friendly recipe - the apple muffins.  You need to start by making your own apple sauce.  There was a recipe for that.  I can give you the recipe in a few words.  Take some apples. Boil them in water.  Mash them.  Yummy?  Um...no.

So, 10 ingredients and roughly an hour with prep time later, we had muffins.  My daughter tasted one.  Took one more bite.  The expression on her face as she walked to the garbage can said it all.  Even my dog wouldn't eat it.

Unfortunately, there were no more recipes in the book that were kid friendly.

Now, from the weight loss cookbook point of view:

There are no photos in the book.  The recipes are in small print and the book does not stay open well when cooking.  The back of the book promises delicious recipes that simply give a skinny makeover to your favorites.  "The only thing you'll be missing are those extra pounds."

No.  That's not true.

Take all the thing that make your favorites good:  olive oil, eggs, meat, etc. and replace them with 10-15 vegetables, tofu and water.  The scrambled eggs have no eggs.  The Rueben sandwich?  Replace your meat with avocado!  (Okay, I love avocado.  I can eat it every day.  But it does not generally replace meat. Don't call this a Rueben!)

So why two stars rather than one?

I do think that this has some great recipes for vegetarians.  But if you eat things like meat and oil and butter and eggs, you will absolutely miss them and feel very much like you are depriving yourself.
2109604
I've been purchasing a lot of healthy weight loss cook books, not to just start eating healthy but wanting to lose weight. I really like this book, its very informative and the recipes are great. I will be using the recipes for my meals and will update later once I know if it help me lose weight or not. The food is tasty and plenty of recipes to try. I received this Kindle recipe book free in exchange for leaving my honest and unbiased review.
2873791
In the world of fitness, it is hard to find the time to cook all your meals. I get up I go to the gym, I go to work, then I come home and have to cook. The easy to prep 30 minute meals in this book are awesome for those of us that hate cooking and want to get it done fast and still enjoy it. I do wish the author would add pictures to this book. I received this ebook in exchange for a honest review.
4244038
This book help provide a lifestyle way of eating that allows you to eat comfortable, weigh less, and become the fittest you can be.  Processed foods have damage our health in many ways like sugar. Written in a motivating, and easy-to-understand style which nice quality picture. It has lots of chicken recipes that I am please with. For a few weeks now I have been trying to start eating healthy but it was not successful. I tried all types of online recipe but the food did not turn out great so I decided to purchase this book with good review to try it out and I truly love it. The recipes are easy, simple and delicious. It gives an explanation of the clean food option, which makes it easier to help people that want to know the answer to. Mainly website that provide diet food are recipes for vegan but this book include both vegan and meat which I love. Another great thing about this book is that its an online version so I can carry this around when I cook and can go grocery shopping for the stuff I need by looking through my phone. Overall I would recommend to all my friends and family. You can eat clean with all types of meat recipe they provide. Trimming and cutting out the fat is the best ideas to improve and lose weight faster. I have proven that with the diet this book provide. Whole grains I believe are essential, but I would be nice to have a little more detail into what they would consider whole. They believe that taking away bran from the oats or wheat or any grain would still be considered whole grain but I do not think so. The grain is made up of bran, endosperm and germ. Manufacturers separate these now and because of that, it has been leaving buyer confused about what is whole grain. This book is loosely covered on diet and to exercise even. It was a fast read before getting to the section I needed. This book needs to be in more detail of eating clean. The author believes that GMO is fine, because it isn't even mentioned. I received this item at a discounted price, which was free so in return, I give an honest and unbiased review after testing and using the product. My opinions, thoughts, and experiences are those of my families and I. Other people or sources did not influence my thoughts. This discounted free item I receive does not influence me to give it a 5 star rating. If you found this review helpful, please vote yes bellow to let others know.
3729476
This book was free for my Kindle app on my IPhone and home computer, the reason I request this book is because three years ago my legs gave out on my and I had to do hospital and nurse home for awhile, I needed a change of life so I go the bariatric surgery to help me lose weight and get back on my feet so therefore this book will help me stay on my life changing project.  It can be really difficult to find good information about how to eat. Sometimes it seems like every other person has his or her own special theory about the foods that help and the foods that hurt. If you're confused by the wealth of info out there, you're not alone! Many other people have trouble deciding which diet cookbooks are right for them and their bodies.  My First Recipe:  Scrambled Eggs: 4 large eggs 1/ 4 teaspoon of ground black pepper 1/ 4 cup of skimmed milk A pinch of salt 1 tablespoons of parsley 2 English muffins, buttered Directions: Cook bacon in a frying pan until it reaches the desired level of crispiness. Set aside, while preserving 1 tablespoon of bacon fat. Cook green onions and mushrooms in the bacon fat and set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan and slowly add flour, pepper and salt. Stir until smooth and bring the mixture to a boil. Once he mixture boils, slowly add the cheese and milk. Stir until the mixture thickens and then add crumbled bacon, mushrooms and onions. Remove from the heat and set aside. Eggs: Mix the eggs, milk, salt and pepper and add to a preheated frying pan. Cook over low-medium heat until the eggs set, stirring along the way. Slice English muffins down the middle and then cut them in half. Cover the English muffins with half of the cheese sauce and then place the eggs on top. Pour the remaining cheese sauce over the eggs and then sprinkle with parsley. Preheat the oven to 325F and cook the casserole, uncovered, for 25 minutes.
I do recommend that you buy the book or start Amazonreveiwtrader to receive it free.
2761189
This book is great! Not only does it explain why you need to steer clear of processed food and seasoning packets (in general and with the use of a slow cooker), it also has an extensive recipe list to get you started. To the naysayers (reviewers) who claim there are sugar and high calories in these dishes I say to do your research. Very few of the recipes actually call for sugar (and a little will not hurt you anyways, come on people) but sugar is contained naturally in some foods like fruit and milk. Same goes with calories, Meats can have higher calories due to higher natural fat content. SO everyone just calm down already and give a this book a read and try out the recipes too. I personally will be trying as many as I can but the top of my list will be the Korean Short Ribs and Lentil Soup with Sausage. So glad I read this book!

*I received this eBook free for exchange of my honest opinion of the book

cpoof04
487192
I have noticed many people have said stuff like, "I wouldn't even want to try the recipies", and that they are "unconventional".  Well, lets face it - the reason you (and I) are fat is that we don't eat healthy foods.  If we liked eating all of the vegtables and spices (instead of salt) in this book, then we really wouldn't need it would we?

So I say, if you are serious about eating healthier, give it a try. I have found some of the dishes that sounded the least appealing actually tasted great.  The only reason I gave the book a four instead of a five is that I have had to tone down the seasonings and experiment with flavors I am more used to, but other than that most of the recipies are great.  I have been using it 3 weeks now and have lost 12lbs.

So, don't knock it till you've tried it.
531713
The first time I went on this way of eating (it is NOT a diet) I lost 44 pounds. I felt SO much better! It is a way of eating for the rest of your life. You must be very dedicated and diligent in keeping on this way of eating as you make everything. Fresh vegetables, fruits, homemade breads with flours from the health food stores, that are buckwheat, rice, etc. that have no wheat gluten or yeast in them. It is so worth it, though. Illnesses that you have just disappear! I would recommend this book to anyone that has been sick for a long time, and doctors tell them that it is in their "head", which is what I was told. Or, people with high colesterol, high blood pressure, and many other ailments. I HIGHLY recommend this book! I also strongly suggest that you get the cookbook along with this one, as it has a lot of great different receipes to cook from!
2073976
I got this book for my sister in law and some friends who wanted to know how I lost so much weight in 4 months(30 lbs). I originally read the book Good calories, Bad calories by the same author which is pretty long and very detailed and this is the slimmed down version. All you have to do is cut down on carbs and this explains why and also explains all the dieting mythos that don't work even though they are pushed by the govt and medical"professionals". you don't have to count calories and exercise your butt off to lose weight. All I did was limit myself to around 50 grams of carbs a day and eat all the protein and fat I want. I have not changed anything else. I do not exercise more or starve myself, just no carbs and I lost 30 lbs in 4 months. I have tried all that calorie counting stuff in the past and if you think about it all those diet meals have pasta, pasta and more pasta and you exercise like crazy just to lose like 10 lbs and then it stops. This works and besides what have you got to lose besides some extra weight.
2173580
Oh please! I am an ( so I am told) a pretty decent and experienced cook. Spending whole days- and I mean whole days in the kitchen preparing odd recipes was a huge waste of time. There are charts and times to go walking etc. I cannot see the average person, without household help surviving this ridiculous non-diet if they work. That being said, I did not lose a gram, ounce or pound. I needed only to lose about 10 lbs and I followed it to the T.

Join weigh-watchers instead.
1534803
Loved the book, the recipes are perfectly explained, they don't require tons of time in the kitchen, and best of all, it has made me want to change my eating habits to be healthier. Its not difficult following all these gorgeous recipes!
3845799
This book is a quick, easy read and makes everything easy for you.  The only negative is that a grocery shopping list would be great, but it's not that hard to go through the menus for the week and create your own list.  I found that I ended up liking some recipes better than others and just made them instead of the suggested meals.  I am a horrible cook and these meals were easy for me to make and actually tasted great!  I was really surprised.  You will definitely drop weight on this plan if you follow the rules.  It is HARD - by week two, I was really craving a cheat day.  This book is definitely for someone who has a special event coming up and wants to lose some weight quickly.  Bob's 'Skinny Rules' is a great book to transition to once you're finished with this plan.  The rules are not quite as strict and more realistic for real life.