The Hungry Girl Diet: Big Portions. Big Results. Drop 10 Pounds in 4 Weeks

The diet portion of this book is closer to 5 stars, but the book is a bit... cheesy and cliched for my preferences, so overall it lands at a solid 4 stars.Lillien's book persona is over-the-top cheerleader "DO IT!" "Try It!" "I'm obsessed!" "Amazing!" about a lot of things. Also, she likes fake sugar a lot... more than I'm personally comfortable with (i.e., a lot of her recipes include 1 to 2 packets of no-calorie sweetener, like Stevia or Splenda), BUT a lot of her recipes are sans-fake sugar and/or can just be made w/o the added sugar (e.g., the oatmeal may taste sweeter w/ the packet, but it's just fine w/o it!)..<u>Overall, I was impressed with: </u>- Her thorough guide to eating better in the real world.- Her variety of options. She includes a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables (as expected), with enough of the "other stuff" to make you feel like you don't hate yourself for dieting. She does have some processed options in there (e.g., Fiber One brownie bars), but you could totally do the diet w/o ever using those options.- The size of portions, as promised. You do get a lot of food. Real food. My breakfast actually fills up a full normal size (i.e., not appetizer sized) plate. The oatmeal is a big serving that is actually filling. You get to eat fruits in nice big quantities.- My success so far! (it's only been 3 days of being ON the plan, but I have already lost 2 pounds :))- Ohmygosh the App. The App is brilliant. Not because it's a great app (see below), but because of what it DOES do. So there are 3 sections -- 2 of which you'll use. My Meal Calendar, you can add your meals a day at a time... you pick from a list of the options WITH pictures and create your day. When you're done you can go to the Shopping List and the app will CREATE the shopping list that you need for the meals you picked on the days you've selected. BRILLIANT. Additionally, your shopping list will have extra notes and comments where relevant (e.g., if you need to put 1 cup of strawberries, she tells you that 8 large strawberries is usually 1 cup; or, if you need to buy 2 cups of big-fiber vegetables, she lists your options! but this is all in "notes" so that it doesn't muddy the list itself). AND the list is organized by section of the grocery. But..... (see 3rd "complaint" below)<u>Overall, I was not as impressed with:</u>- as mentioned above, she's a bit over-the-top with some things, though I imagine this sort of cheerleader attitude does over very WELL with many people :)- I'd have appreciated a "if you don't eat fake sugar, try ____" options. Like, in her oatmeal, could I add a packet of real sugar? would the 20 extra calories really be problematic? or would the fact that I'm eating "sugar" be problematic? As I said above, it's fine w/o the sugar at all, but a little sweeter might also be nice ;) I *am* going to try a packet of stevia this weekend and I'll see how I like that...- The only thing I'd change w/ the App is adding the recipes for the options... THAT would be perfect. Then I wouldn't have to lug around my phone AND the book whenever I want to make something (including at work). I understand that perhaps she needs to make money, so maybe the FREE app would include what it currently has, and you'd PAY for the app w/ the recipes, <i>except for people who have bought the book, who should get a code to buy the pay-app, so they can have it for free</i><u>Overall, I was neutral about:</u>Her organization. On one hand, I liked the color-coordinated pages (helps you find your section quickly!) and that the recipes were all in one section, etc. But it was weird having more discussion at the end of the book, the color pictures should have come all before or all after the recipes, and some of the interspersed discussion I feel could have been better placed. In particular, if you read the book AS you were doing the plan (as most people would), you might not realize there are some really good tips and discussion points interspersed throughout weeks 2-4, when you are only in week 1. So. I guess maybe that's a publisher issue, but it was noticeable to me.So, overall 4 very solid stars.And I'm excited about this whole plan.

I've read through the new Hungry Girl Diet book and here’s a recap of what I've seen:If you need someone to hold your hand and walk you through step-by-step, this book does exactly that!The book is a 4-week program. There is a separate chapter for each of the 4 weeks, and within each week there is a separate page for every day of the week (i.e., Week 1 - Day 1, Week 1 - Day 2, Week 1 – Day 3, etc.).Every single day has its own menu plan broken down into Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks. It is very structured, but there is also a lot of flexibility within that structure.For each meal, you can choose from 3 different menu choices (breakfast on Week 1, Day 1, for example, offers your choice of Mega Fruit ‘n Yogurt Bowl, Egg Scramble & Bun, or Growing Oatmeal B-fast). For every menu item, there is a reference to the page number in the book where you can find the recipe for that item. There are over 60 recipes in this book.There are also little reminders throughout about when to drink your water.When the book is opened to a menu plan for a given day, the menu plan is on the right-hand page, and the left-hand page has helpful hints, time-saving shortcuts, money-saving tips, ideas for food swaps, etc.There are chapters, amongst others, on how to maintain your weight loss after you’ve completed the 4 week program, on how to handle dining out at restaurants, etc., and on helpful hints about exercise (although this book is geared almost exclusively around food, the subject of exercise is touched upon).OK, and now some notes about the Hungry Girl Diet...It can be used on its own, or in conjunction with other weight-loss programs (i.e., Weight Watchers, counting calories, etc.).It will work with vegetarian diets and there are a number of sample vegetarian recipes included in the book. It is not, however, vegan-friendly because she says there are A LOT of recipes with Greek yogurts and egg whites.If you’ve got other Hungry Girl cookbooks that you’d like to use during this diet, no you don’t! COMPLETELY forget about those books for now. While you’re on this diet, the book instructs you to ONLY eat from the recipes in this book. There are some recipes in her other cookbooks that use processed foods for simplicity’s sake.Written under the direction and supervision of a registered dietitian, this book, on the other hand, concentrates on recipes using natural foods and avoids processed foods.You’ll not be buying microwavable quick meals with this diet; you’ll be doing a lot of cooking from scratch. The recipes, however, are all very simple to prepare, even if you’re not talented, so to speak, in the kitchen.A number of people have already gone through this diet as the book was being developed, many of which are staffers at Hungryland (the Hungry Girl headquarters). Weight losses of 10 to 20+ pounds have been quoted during the 4 week period. She says you WILL lose weight on this diet if you follow it to the letter.Given the flexibility it offers in the day-by-day meal plans, it should be an easy diet to follow.My review originally posted on Facebook:[...]

Super recipes, no starving, healthy and tasty food. Excellent! *****

I was stuck and could not move the last few pounds. So this book was just what i needed to lose those few pounds and to get to my target weight. Thank you very much.

Some diets have recipes that are tasty but time consuming and/or difficult to make. Some have recipes that are quick to make but not so great tasting. The recipes in this book are easy and quick to make and are absolutely delicious! And most are for just one person - I live alone - so it's just perfect for me. A lot of the recipes also include hints to vary the original one so you're never bored with your meal.And the bonus for me is that in just one week, I have lost just over half the promised 10 lbs. In four weeks - a real incentive to keep me going!

I have been debating for a long time on what to give this. I give it 3 stars.Pros - it worked. Both my husband and I lost 10 lbs in a month (maybe even more) as it said we would. And we actually have adapted some of the recipes and have continued to use them ever since - such as the Greek yoghurt and fruit breakfast, and some of the salad recipes for lunch.Cons - quite frankly this diet made us angry and bitter. 1st of all it just seemed I was spending hours preparing food all the time (not sure where the processed food remark I saw in a previous review came from, because I think the most processed food we used was the Fiber 1). I honestly felt that I was spending 2 hours every evening preparing lunch for the next day, preparing dinner. 2nd we felt totally deprived. There was no give for the 80/20 rule and as there was more and more we couldn't have, it made it angrier. 3rd it cost us a lot. As both of us were following this, and where we live fresh food is more expensive than in the US, our grocery bill was quite high, making us even more bitter. Oh, and we were hungry. At 9 PM about an hour before bed we had eaten our allotted food for the day and stomachs were grumbling. And not because we just had to drink some water.Look, it does work. A 1300 cal diet is effective, and we took away some good ideas from here. It is not meant to be a forever diet, just a kick start, which is exactly what it did. I have kept off the weight too, so it was not a total fail. I love a lot of the Hungry Girl ideas and recipes, but this required a lot of dedication. I now have a package of tofu in the freezer we never touched, and while they are still good, I just cannot bring myself to eat another package of the slimy tofu shiritaki noodles. Thanks for the kick start Lisa and team!

I actually really loved this book and it did In fact help me lose a good amount of weightI think this is a good purchaseIt’s easy to follow and is not confusing