How it Worked for Me: Bob Greene's the Best Life Diet

Bob Greene's The Best Life Diet is not a fad diet. The word "diet" here is not used to describe deprivation. It is used to describe a new, healthy way of eating that is meant to last a lifetime. Greene's plan is divided into 3 phases. Before moving from one phase to the next, you must first be successful and comfortable with the previous phase. Greene's plan is based on taking baby steps physically and emotionally, because both are essential for effective permanent weight loss.

I have spent the majority of my 50 years yo-yo dieting. I have tried everything from fasting to the grapefruit diet to using the now banned over the counter drug Ephedra. All of the diets were effective in making the numbers on the scale drop. They were also effective at screwing up my metabolism, lowering it to the point that when I began eating normally, I gained the weight back...plus some.

It is very easy to tell yourself that you are losing weight successfully when you weight 5 pounds less at the end of just 1 day. But it is a false mindset. When I would go for days fasting, ingesting nothing but water, it was easy to believe the 5 pounds lost in 1 day was fat. But it wasn't. Most of the loss was water loss. As soon as I ate 1 regular meal, the 5 pounds was back. Discouragement would set in and ultimately I would binge, feeling like a total failure.

When I saw a friend of mine lose 120 pounds taking Ephedra, I knew I must give it a try. I was a bit skeptical, but weighing 275 pounds, I was desperate to try anything. From day 1 I noticed a change in my eating habits. Not only did I never feel hungry, I never thought about food. I found myself full of energy and was walking 2 or 3 miles a day. At the end of the day, I literally had to make myself eat something, realizing I had gone the entire day with no food. The numbers on the scale plunged and I was ecstatic. In 3 to 4 months, I had lost 60 pounds and 4 sizes in what seemed an effortless attempt at weight loss. I was certain I had found my key to losing weight and keeping it off.

Around this time, the nightly news became filled with stories of how dangerous Ephedra was. There was talk of heart palpitation, risk of stroke and heart attack. Suddenly I remembered all of the times I had felt my heart racing. I got scared and stopped taking the drug, deciding that losing weight that way was not worth killing myself.

My energy level declined enormously and my food cravings returned. In a few short months, I had gained 80 pounds... 20 pounds more than I had lost.

I began to re-evaluate my life, as well as my eating and exercise habits. I slowly came to the realization that my eating was very much triggered by my emotions. I joined a support group at the local YMCA dealing with emotional overeating.. Here I began to explore my love/hate relationship with food.

One day while watching the Oprah show, I saw her interview her personal trainer, Bob Greene regarding his new book, The Best Life Diet. I felt as if he was speaking directly to me. I immediately went and purchased the book and started reading it. I also bought The Best Life Diet Journal so that I could keep track of my progress.

Phase I seemed too simple to me. There was no deprivation involved. As a matter of face, the plan was to eat 3 meals and at least 1 snack a day. I was also to drink more water, get a bit more activity, and stop eating 2 hours before bedtime.

As I began implementing these simple steps in Phase I, I was amazed at how easy it was. The hardest part for me was not eating past 8 pm. I would go to bed with a twinge of hunger, but it actually felt good. I realized for the first time that I was feeling hunger for the first time. I came to the realization that this was a good thing. We are supposed to feel our hunger. This is how our body tells us that we need fuel.

The weight began to come off. At the end of 4 weeks, I had lost 10 pounds and since it was continuing to come off the "diet" encouraged me to continue on in Phase I. 4 weeks later, I had lost 10 more pounds.

Today I am still on the journey. I have not gained back any of the weight that I have lost, and I am moving in a positive direction, taking those baby steps.

I have no doubt that The Best Life Diet is the BEST diet around. For anyone serious about losing weight and keeping it off, this book is a must.