The Core Balance Diet is a must-read for women who have, well...gotten off balance (which would include probably 85-95% of American women). And Marcelle (with Genevieve) include six common ways that we have lost our balance: digestive, hormonal, adrenal, neurotransmitter, inflammatory, and detoxification. Which of us has not experienced imbalance in one of those areas, let alone two or three?
Marcelle challenges the woman who thinks she would be too overwhelmed to make some dietary and lifestyle changes: "If you could help your partner to lose weight, or help protect your child's health, by changing what he or she ate for a month, wouldn't you try and do it? Now, aren't you worth that same amount of attention?" And she is only asking you to try her program for a month! After that, she assures you, you'll be free from your food addictions and hooked on your feeling great!
Balance, as you might suppose, also entails eating approximately a 30/30/40 ratio of healthy fats, protein and complex carbs (though not as strict as the Zone Diet). But it includes much, much more than that.
The book begins with an explanation of how imbalances lead to weight gain and aging and provides a layman's easy-to-read explanation of the systems.
Marcelle provides a Core Balance quiz for you to determine which of your systems are weakest. This is followed by a chapter on each system. Each chapter(which is delight to read even if they don't apply to you as much as the others) contains the following: information on the imbalance and how to correct it; sidebars and boxes with interesting tidbits of info; a list of "Marcelle's prescriptions " for that imbalance; diagnostic tests to note the progress of that imbalance; foods to include and foods to avoid; supplements to take; "a day in the life" schedule for the lifestyle changes needed (exercise, when to eat, self- nurturing, etc.); a one-week menu;and frequently asked questions.
There are also 60 pages of recipes. Except for the medical diagnostic tests, this is a complete do-it-yourself book.
True to the Hay House spirit, there is also a chapter on the mind-body connection with the cute title, "Your Issues Are in Your Tissues" which alerts you to negative thinking and self-destructive behavior patterns that can sabotage your health.
I have read hundreds of books on health and nutrition (even wrote one myself!) and I give this book a hearty two thumbs up! I learned lots of interesting tidbits, such as how the liver is taxed on a low-fat diet, how Vitamin D deficiency is linked to obesity, and how not flossing can lead to body-wide inflammation. The only thing Marcelle could do to make it more complete would be to have a chapter on the importance of eating more raw foods since a raw diet taxes the digestive system far less.
This is a diet that can be, with a bit of imagination, used by anyone who has any dietary slant (vegan, vegetarian, raw fooder, etc). For example, if one is raw vegan, substitute raw hemp protein powder in place of meat and don't cook the vegetables.
Product Description Is your weight gain making you miserable? Have you noticed that you're packing on pounds in unpleasant new places? Or is the scale-and the way you feel about yourself- just stuck, no matter how much you diet and exercise? If you've struggled without success to lose weight and keep it off, there's always a reason, and-surprise!-it probably has little to do with how hard you're trying or how many calories you're counting. Now a pioneering practitioner of women's health care shows why willpower doesn't work in the long run and, finally, gives you a solution that does.
Marcelle Pick, co-founder of Women to Women-one of the first clinics in the country devoted to providing health care for women by women-draws upon decades of experience, her patients' and her own, to solve the mystery of the stubborn weight gain. Explaining the science of the body with uncommon clarity, she describes the complex web of connections-between organs and systems, hormones and other biochemicals-that keep your physiology in balance and your metabolism functioning well. Because when it isn't, your body reacts by packing on protection in the form of pounds that won't budge, an excess that can be so harmful and intractable that Pick has named it "toxic weight." Bringing your body back into Core Balance is the only way to heal your metabolism, soothe your body, and lose the weight for good.
The Core Balance Diet is a breakthrough plan designed to restore your body's equilibrium and return you to a healthy, sustainable weight. With her engaging style, Pick explains six common biochemical imbalances-digestive, hormonal, adrenal, neurotransmitter, inflammation, and detoxification-and helps you determine which is affecting you most. In the first two weeks, she teaches the simple lifestyle changes and smart nutrition choices that will show you how to tune into your body and identify your fundamental obstacles to weight loss. Then Pick guides you through a customized two-week program geared to restoring your Core Balance and shedding those toxic pounds once and for all. Far from depriving yourself on this program, you'll eat-often and well-enjoying delicious recipes made from whole foods that give your body the support it needs to heal. At the same time, you'll start to explore underlying issues and emotional patterns that may be getting in your way, as Pick connects self-care with self-knowledge to show you the way to lasting wellness.
By picking up this book, you're about to toss out the old way of thinking about yourself and your weight. The Core Balance Diet heralds a whole new chapter in weight loss, proving how easy it is to work with your body and the right foods-not against them-to rid yourself of weight and unhealthy habits for good. Within a month, you'll be on your way to a lean, fit, and balanced body that is ready to support you-and look great-for the rest of your life.
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If you want (or need) to go deep into nutrition, this is the book. Very well organized and researched information. Covers in depth nutritional physiology and biochemistry. I used this book in an advanced undergraduate nutrition course and I consider it one of my prized possessions. If there is a better book on the subject, I would like to know about it.
