Neris and India's Idiot-proof Diet: From Pig to Twig

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Editorial reviews

Synopsis
Ever wanted a diet book by and for real people - you know, people who actually have a life? Congratulations! You've just picked it up. We lost ten stone in a year - and if we can do it, then just by following our tips you can do it too. There's never been a diet book like it - for women, by women with simple advice that is not hard to follow (plus jokes).

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From the Author
I thought it might be an idea to pop up on here and explain a bit about the book, since it's an unusual one - a diet book that tells you jokes, gives you genuinely delicious recipes, and lets you into our heads as well as our stomachs. Basically, my friend Neris and I got fat. Reallyfat, like size 22. And one day we finally decided to do something about it.

So we went and found out about diets, about what worked and what didn't; we cherry-picked, we fiddled about - we wanted, for instance, to eventually be able to drink and to have the odd piece of chocolate - and, armed with our own user-friendy version of a high-protein, low-carb diet, away we went.

It worked: we lost five stone each in a year. That was just under three years ago, and we haven't put any of it back on. So we thought we'd write about how we'd done it, in blow-by-blow detail, charting the emotional ups and downs, providing recipes, and all sorts of other stuff we found useful, like trying to unravel the reasons behind our overeating. I'll bet you a roast potato they're the reasons you overeat, too. We think unravelling them is crucial if you're going to keep the weight off.

We also thought - completely insanely, in retrospect - that we should be photographed wearing leotards and tights at every stage of the diet, and leave the pictures absolutely un-retouched, so readers could see for themselves that it really works. The pictures - they're really quite grim -
are all in there. So that's something to look forward to.

The other thing we really wanted to do was to write a diet book for real people - people like us, with kids, jobs, dogs and the rest, who didn't have the time or the energy to cook themselves separate meals, or to sit miserably in the corner with a lettuce leaf. People who actually had a
life, liked going out, went to the pub - and who wanted to carry on with all of these things while dieting.

Above all, we wanted to write a diet book that started off from a place of love. We are so sick of women being made to feel terrible about the way they look. During our research, we came across a pile of diet books - many,
though not all, written by middle-aged blokes - whose basic premise was 'You're a fat freak and you're killing yourself'. That approach - see also 'your insides are like sewers,' naming no names - is appalling. We start
off with the premise that you're pretty fabulous, and that you're going to be even MORE fabulous when you slip into that tiny little dress you thought you'd never in a million years fit into. It's not about body fascism: we're
not interested in dropping from a size 12 to a size 2. But from a 22 to a 14? Yes please.

We're really, really pleased with the way the book has turned out. If you're at that stage where you think, 'You know what? Sod it. I'll just stay this size and avoid full-length mirrors,' then please buy it. We've so
been there. Plus we're busy, greedy and undisciplined. We did it none the less. You can too.

Oh - one last thing. Low carb diets have, post Atkins, got a slightly sinister reputation: there are an awful lot of otherwise intelligent people who think that eating low-carb means having red meat three times a day, with a side of butter and another of cream. But all low-carb means is dumping the stodge: it is completely possible to follow our way of eating and shun red meat altogether, eating chicken, fish, tons of vegetables and good fat in the form of olive oil. What this basically gives you is a Mediterranean diet, widely acknowledged to be the healthiest in the world. So if you're thinking hmm, I like the sound of this but I'm worried about clogging my arteries, please bear the above in mind. No one's clogging any arteries, or sitting down to devour packets of lard. I'll leave you with that attractive visual.

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From the Back Cover
`Amazingly frank...the honesty of their confessions exceed
anything previously published' Evening Standard

'A compulsive read with good advice, whether you want to lose five pounds
or five stone. It addresses the emotional issues of eating. Completely
delicious and simple to make recipes' Mail on Sunday

`You'll laugh out loud. Reading this book is like talking to a clued-up
friend who also makes you feel great about yourself' Eve

`The down-to-earth duo are brutally honest, not just about their own eating
habits, but also their recognition that food is often closely linked with
emotional problems...will certainly put you on track for better eating
habits' She

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About the Author
India Knight is the author of My Life on a Plate, Don't You Want
Me, and The Shops. She is columnist for The Sunday Times and is a mother of
three.

Neris Thomas is a film producer and artist; she has one daughter. For years
Neris and India used to bump into each other at parties; invariably wearing
the same dress, because they were both on the porky side, but with a taste
for clothes. However, this year they are buying each other tiny little
designer jeans.

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2008-08-27 rating:
It worked for me !
I am not a diet-book person or one for "faddy diets". I saw this quite by chance at the top of the bestsellers list on Amazon at the end of Jan 08. I bought it on impulse as the time was right for me to do something about being overweight.
Once I committed myself to it (with the company of a friend - which was invaluable), it took me 6 months to lose 5 stone. I have remained stable at the weight I want to be now for a month. It's early days but I feel confident that I can keep to it, and all I can say is that it worked for me !
The basis of the initial diet is very low-carb - i.e. no potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, fruit whilst the majority of the weight is lost. You can eat any meat or fish, eggs, green veg and supplement it with "good fats" on the side - olive oil, butter, cheese, double cream etc. Once you have shifted all but about a stone you then gradually re-introduce low-carb foods to adjust back. It is a sociable diet and easy to adapt to eating out and around friends' houses - think roast dinner without potatoes but butter on veg / caesar salad with dressing but no croutons / cheese (and pate !) for dessert instead of puds !
A few of my friends have done the Lighter Life diet. It was never one for me because i knew that being off food completely for a quick weight loss would then make me panic when I was supposed to re-introduce them. I believe this is sustainable and has made a fantastic difference for me.
I would recommend buying the cookbook for some simple but effective recipes that both my husband and children ate quite happily.
Good luck !

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review by: date: 2008-08-18 rating:
This book needs to come with a health warning!
While I have to admire this book for attempting to address the issues that underlay a person's overeating, there's not much else to like about it. The "diet" has been put together by two amatuers with no experience in diets or nutrition other than having been on lots of diets in the past. Not a great place to start from...

It's interesting to read that the author claims this book presents a mediterranean diet when that clearly isn't the case. What they actually advocate is cutting out an entire foodgroup (carbohydrates). For the rest of your life. Which frankly, is just plain stupid.

Carbohydrates have received a bad rap in recent years but there's many different types and the authors show their naiveity by excluding the entire group. Put very simply, highly processed, simple carbohydrates are something we should exclude from our diet as much as possible. Complex carbs (whole grains) provide much-needed energy.

The diet advocated by these two woman is quite dangerous. Losing weight safely is easy - you need to burn more calories than you consume. Eat healthily (and most of us know what that means by now) and do regular exercise. It's the only sustainable way to lose weight and keep it off long-term.

Add this book to the enormous pile of faddy, dangerous diet books.

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review by: date: 2008-08-12 rating:
Another Atkins spinoff!
Hi, I really wanted to give this a go but after buying both the book and the diet book I have decided to send them back. I work full-time and did not find this book at all practical for people working full-time. I don't agree with a diet book that tells you that you cannot eat fruit to begin with as it contains too much sugar but you can eat onion bhajis for breakfast! I also don't agree with a diet book where you are told to take so many, expensive, supplements. Why can't you just get the nutrition from food?? The menus looked good but the ingredients are expensive and I just don't have the time. I am sure lots of people have lost loads of weight on it and great for them. I would much rather stick to healthy eating, drinking lots of water and some exercise. Sorry but not for me.

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review by: date: 2008-08-11 rating:
Great for the mind games, not so sure about the diet
Fun and friendly read, which is really good for helping you sort out why you need to diet in the first place, and what you want to get out of it. A lot of diet books take this stage for granted, when it can be the most difficult bit to get right. Without getting the mental attitude right, no diet is going to work long-term - I speak from experience.

As noted by other reviewers, this is an amalgamation of low-carb diets, mostly Atkins. However the authors are not qualified dietitians (nor do they pretend to be), although they are good on practicalities (the section on wardrobe-sorting is great advice). Personally I'm not convinced by any diet that relies heavily on supplements and laxatives, even if mostly in the first stage. I'd still say that at paperback price it's a good investment for helping you get your mind and behaviour patterns under control.


review by: date: 2008-07-13 rating:
Not good for Vegetarians
I only wish I knew that this book was a book about an Atkins type diet. I am vegetarian and nowhere on the cover does it say not suitable for vegetarians. I tried Atkins and ended up in hospital with a bowel blockage. I was disappointed that I had spent money on this book which did not go with my vegetarian lifestyle.

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