The Mayo Clinic Diet by Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

Apr 14, 2010

Geri rated it

Sometime I think I have been on more diets than anyone in the world. Every spring...a new diet...determined to lose a few pounds for summer. Some work...some don't. Translate that into...I stick to them...I don't. One thing I have learned along my long on again,off again diet journey is that is one thing that is most important to nutrition and dieting and that is balance. A proper balance of good groups...a proper balance of nutrients. Without balance..what do we do? We fall over...we fail. The...more

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Feb 28, 2010

Haley Mathiot rated it

Shelves: 5-star-bookshelf

The Mayo Clinic Diet (and journal)
by the weight loss experts at Mayo Clinic
Genre: Health, self-help
Rating: 5

The Mayo Clinic Diet is a great book that guides you through a healthy way to loose weight. They focus on changing your eating habits, eating the right amount of the right thing, self control, self motivation, and staying healthy.

The word “Diet” has a bad reputation. People hear it and shutter. I don’t think ...more

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Feb 19, 2010

Steven Peterson rated it

“The Mayo Clinic Diet” is subtitled “Eat Well. Enjoy Life. Lose Weight.” The point of the book? The editor-in-chief observes that (Page 6): “’The Mayo Clinic Diet’ isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Using clinically tested techniques, it puts you in charge of reshaping you lifestyle by adopting healthy new habits and breaking unhealthy old ones.”

Part 1 is titled “Lose it!” Here, by following a number of rules, you would lose six to ten pounds in two weeks. What to do? Add five posi...more“The Mayo Clinic Diet” is subtitled “Eat Well. Enjoy Life. Lose Weight.” The point of the book? The editor-in-chief observes that (Page 6): “’The Mayo Clinic Diet’ isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Using clinically tested techniques, it puts you in charge of reshaping you lifestyle by adopting healthy new habits and breaking unhealthy old ones.”

Part 1 is titled “Lose it!” Here, by following a number of rules, you would lose six to ten pounds in two weeks. What to do? Add five positive habits (e.g., eat a healthy breakfast, eat four or more servings of vegetables and three or more of fruits, eat whole grains, eat healthy foods such as olive oil and nuts, exercise 30 minutes or more per day). Then, break five bad habits (e.g., no TV while eating, stay away from sugar no snacks except fruits and vegetables, have small helpings of meat [the size of a deck of cards:], no eating at restaurants,). Next hint? Adopt five bonus points (e.g., keep food records, keep activity records, exercise even more than 30 minutes per day, eat food is a natural state or only lightly processed food).

Part 2 is called “Live It!), involving setting goals, eating to the pyramid, and burning calories by being active. Some nice features include a quick guide to serving size (page 73). For instance, one 3erving of broccoli (25 calories) would be about the size of a baseball, whereas a serving of whole-wheat bread would be about the size of a hockey puck. Being active? Page 96 gives hints about enhancing activity level. At an airport, take a walk around the terminal. At work? Take the stairs and not the elevator.

Part 3 is “All the Extra Stuff.” More detail on the food pyramid, understanding plateaus that occur when trying to lose weight, and hints about cooking. There is a listing of foods to stock up on (page 159), such as whole grains, fruits and veggies, protein sources (beans, tuna, skinless white meat poultry , fish with omega-3s), and dairy (low fat products). There are also menu ideas and cooking suggestions.

All in all, a useful compendium of ideas that many of us would already have been aware of. One wish: more recipes. There are a number of these, but more would have been useful. Of course, this is not meant as a cookbook, so that comment may not be completely fair.
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Jan 11, 2010

Ellz Readz rated it

My thoughts...I am going to do this backwards and start with the cons. Actually I should say con, because I see only one problem with the book and that is the title. The Mayo Clinic Diet. I believe the word DIET carries a negative connotation that leaves a bad taste (no pun intended) in your mouth. Also, after reviewing this, I don't believe this is a DIET plan, I believe it to be a smarter way to live your life and manage your health. This is not a rule book saying you have to eat cottage ...moreMy thoughts...I am going to do this backwards and start with the cons. Actually I should say con, because I see only one problem with the book and that is the title. The Mayo Clinic Diet. I believe the word DIET carries a negative connotation that leaves a bad taste (no pun intended) in your mouth. Also, after reviewing this, I don't believe this is a DIET plan, I believe it to be a smarter way to live your life and manage your health. This is not a rule book saying you have to eat cottage cheese 3 times a day or that you can never eat birthday cake again, it is a guide to establishing and maintaining a healthy weight. Keep reading.

The pros...This book is created by the brains at the Mayo Clinic. For those of you who are not familiar with "The Mayo Clinic, is a very large group of physicians and scientists who work together to care for patients. They treat more than 500,000 patients a year. They, if anyone, are the ones to take health advise from, which is why I decided to review this book.

Their plan is laid out in several steps:
1. add 5 healthy habits such as eat a healthy breakfast, eat fruits and veggies, eat whole grains, healthy fats and exercise. Common sense, right?
2. Break 5 habits such as no unhealthy sugars or snacks, moderate meats and eating out. Makes sense.
3. Adapt 5 bonus habits such as journaling, exercise, making better food choices.

It is all very simple and very achievable. So does it work? Well that is up to you. As the book recommends, you should take a quick quiz to be sure you are ready to make these simple changes in your life. If you cannot commit, it won't work and I don't need to be a doctor to tell you that.

The book also offers some recipes, such as the one found here, and some more health information for understanding your body. It is very thorough. It was accompanied by a really nice journal to keep track of your eating and exercising habits. The only thing I found the journal lacked was a specific column for tracking your fluids. Other than that it is very nice and very easy to use.

I had to laugh because one recommendation said "NO TV while eating and only as much TV time as you spend exercising." I don't watch much TV, but if I changed TV to BLOGGING in that sentence, I would probably look like a swimsuit model by Summer.

Overall I thought this book provided a great plan to optimize your health and maintain a healthy lifestyle. (less)

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Mar 22, 2010

Diane rated it

The Mayo Clinic Diet

Each new year it seems I am always looking for a quick and easy way to lose weight. I haven't found one, have you? It seems most of my life I've carried some extra weight. I realize portion control is my issue, and the fact I swear I have extra sensitive taste buds :) Everything tastes so very good.

For 2010 The Mayo Clinic Diet struck my fancy when I saw it at the library. I especially liked this book because it is written by a team of May...more
The Mayo Clinic Diet

Each new year it seems I am always looking for a quick and easy way to lose weight. I haven't found one, have you? It seems most of my life I've carried some extra weight. I realize portion control is my issue, and the fact I swear I have extra sensitive taste buds :) Everything tastes so very good.

For 2010 The Mayo Clinic Diet struck my fancy when I saw it at the library. I especially liked this book because it is written by a team of Mayo Clinic Foundation experts. The organization, at least in my opinion, is well known and well respected.

So what is this book all about? The weight loss plan is not a fad diet. It is a realistic, long term plan that for most people would seem easy to follow.

Part 1 - The diet includes a first 2-week Quick Start plan that helps to get you motivated to lose somewhere between 6-10lbs during the first two weeks in a safe and healthy manner. There is even an easy quiz to take to see if this is the right time for you to try and lose weight (are you motivated enough). It asks you to find what it is that motivates you to lose weight (better health, more energy, look better etc); adding 5 habits; breaking 5 habits, and adopting 5 bonus habits.

Part 2 - This section discusses setting weight loss goals, calorie goals, burning calories and more.

Part 3 - All the extra Stuff encompasses - Your BMI, why you are overweight, health risks, nutrition, the healthy weight pyramid, changing behaviors, menus, dealing with challenges, eating out and burning more calories.

MY THOUGHTS - What I liked about this book was that it was well organized, beautifully illustrated with color photos, charts, graphs, menus, and exercise plans (yes, I thought I could somehow avoid the exercise, but no it is not an option if you are serious about your weight loss success). I liked the book a lot, but I do have to admit that I did not learn much that I did not already know, EXCEPT that I was not motivated enough, at least right now, to begin this diet plan. The quiz suggested that I reassess myself in the near future, which to me sounds like a plan. To me that makes a lot of sense considering I will be beginning a new job in a week.

If you are looking for a sensible diet plan, especially one with a quick start option, and you feel emotionally ready to take the plunge, then give The Mayo Clinic Diet a try.

RECOMMENDED (4/5 stars) (less)

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Feb 22, 2010

GiGi rated it

The book is very cool, it is extremely visual and easy to read, and it includes everything from recipes to visual clues on serving sizes (page 88, you were my favorite, as you were filled with beautiful images of steak) to many strategies for all of the behavior obstacles every emotional eater and junk food junkie faces. If you are nutritionally challenged like I am, you will find a solution to every challenge you face, especially important ones, such as “I can’t afford healthy foods,” “I don’t...more

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Mar 05, 2011

Deb rated it

Shelves: healthy-eating-diet

I bought this book at Costco for one of my health coaching clients looking to lose weight (and bought a copy for me too). This is a great basic book with sound medical advice. I especially like the "Action Guide to Weight Loss Barriers" which lists common obstacles or rather excuses we all give for weight loss in nutrition, physical activity and behaviors and strategies for overcoming them. Very helpful when working with someone who has many obstacles. The visual portion sizes section ...more

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Sep 25, 2010

Christopher Sears rated it

Recommended to Christopher by: frustrated dieters

Shelves: nonfiction, borrowed-from-mc-public-library

I admit that I didn't read all of the The Mayo Clinic Diet. However, I did read part one, and enough of the remainder of the book to get what I needed out of it.

The first part of the book has a quick-start plan the authors call "Lose It!". Here, the authors lay out a two week program to start losing weight. The plan focuses on changing basic habits, and does not give much focus on the particulars of your eating. This means that you do not have to obsess about every calori...more

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Feb 19, 2010

Michelle rated it

I actually finished this book several weeks ago, but since it is a diet book, how could I rightfully review it without testing out its advice? I need to lose at least fifteen pounds anyway, so what better way to start the process than by doing the Lose It! portion of the book to see just how easy or difficult it is to follow. I have had great success with Weight Watchers in the past, but once I figured out how to fool the system, it stopped working for me. I have tried the Spark diet; I have ...moreI actually finished this book several weeks ago, but since it is a diet book, how could I rightfully review it without testing out its advice? I need to lose at least fifteen pounds anyway, so what better way to start the process than by doing the Lose It! portion of the book to see just how easy or difficult it is to follow. I have had great success with Weight Watchers in the past, but once I figured out how to fool the system, it stopped working for me. I have tried the Spark diet; I have tried just cutting back on portions myself. I do a lot of reading about substitutions and ways to lighten up foods. I work in the food industry. I am a self-professed foodie. In other words, I feel very confident in my ability to determine whether a diet plan is worthwhile or not.

In general, what I found is that The Mayo Clinic Diet is really not a diet. It is a common sense approach to weight loss and weight management. There is nothing earth-shattering in the advice it gives. As one would expect, eating lots of fruits and vegetables and exercising are two of its strongest keys to weight loss. Also at the top of their list is writing down everything one eats and drinks, as well as overall portion control. The authors address every objection, excuse and myth about dieting and exercise, ensuring that readers literally have no excuses left to avoid getting healthy.

While it might not be rocket science, the beauty of The Mayo Clinic Diet is the fact that it does not rely on food scales or calorie counters. Everything is an estimate based on guidelines that the authors continually stress throughout the book. As one who could tell you just how much pasta is in a serving, being able to eyeball is a wonderful piece of advice and definitely makes this plan easier to use. In my opinion, it is not only easier to follow than other weight loss plans, due to the lack of measuring or calorie counting, there is a lot less guilt associated with the plan. If one slips up and over-eats one day, you write down what you ate and cut back another day. The guilt of overeating is typically what stresses me out and causes me to fail in a diet plan, so this lack of guilt was very refreshing.

Let's face it - there is no such thing as a quick-fix diet that is sustainable long-term. If one truly wants to lose weight and keep it off, it requires a life-long commitment to balanced eating and exercise. I found The Mayo Clinic Diet to be a well-researched, more palatable approach to making that life-long commitment.

As for my personal test, I did follow the two-week Lose It! program. It requires forgoing sugar, eating a lot of fruits and vegetables and promotes healthy habits to help you get used to them for the long term. The first week, I went through major sugar withdrawal and felt horrible. Not only that, but I was pretty awful in regards to my attitude towards others. It was ugly. I started feeling more like myself around day five and felt much better after the first full week. That first week, without exercising at all, I managed to lose 2.5 pounds. The second week, I did not do as good a job of following the plan because I did not eat as many vegetables as I should have. I still tried to avoid sugar as much as possible, but I would say I followed the Live It! plan more than the Lose It! plan the second week. Even then (and again without exercising), I was able to lose an additional 0.5 pounds, which is a completely healthy weight loss for a female.

Overall, I am satisfied with my results and plan to continue to follow the diet in an effort to get down to where I want by spring. The Lose It! section is specifically designed to shock your body into losing weight, which it does with great success. Your body's reaction to that plan shows you just how much of an impact one ingredient can have on your overall well-being. The Live It! section focuses on advice for life, again taking the long-term approach to health and wellness that I personally find very refreshing in a diet plan. I am definitely keeping this particular book on hand for reference and will be going back to it to refresh my memory and try out a few of the recipes they include. To me, The Mayo Clinic Diet is definitely worthwhile.
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Feb 15, 2010

Janet rated it

Brought to me to read after knee surgery. Written by dietitians and doctors I know at Mayo clinic. Healthy way to lose weight. Gives lots of tips to overcome issues that may prevent you from being successful at losing weight. May be a bit difficult diet to follow if you drink lots of milk and eat lots of meat; also, if you don't like fruits and vegetables. However, I know several people who are currently losing lots of weight on this diet. The book contains info about behavior change and ex...more

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Jan 19, 2010

Gloria rated it

Shelves: diet-fitness-health

I confess I have read a lot diet/weight loss books over the years and while most have some value, I really liked this approach. Once you have tried every diet "under the sun" you come to realize, if you admit it, that you simply need to exercise more and eat less and/or smarter. That's pretty much this approach. There is of course practical advice, but the intention is to steer the reader to a new lifestyle for life. The advice boils down to ADD 5 habits, LOSE 5 habits, and APOPT 5 new...more

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Jan 20, 2012

Shirley rated it

Their approach to healthy eating is habits based for the first two weeks and then transitions to eating from the Mayo Clinic food pyramid. The base of the pyramid is fruits and vegetables and how everything is structured drives you to build your meals around these food groups. I think it's a great and healthy approach to eating abd to a balanced and healthy lifestyle (including what they call "movement.") The book would be good for someone, also, who has very little awareness about hea...more

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Aug 23, 2010

C rated it

Picking through for good information. I like the section on excuses people make for not exercising/overhauling their diets and rebuttels to tell yourself in the moment.
I also like the section showing serving sizes. Yegads, I thought my husband and I were pretty good splitting a Rib-eye steak once and a while, and by the deck of cards measurement, we could have steak 2 nights in a row...maybe 3! o0

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Jan 30, 2010

Allison rated it

I found this to be an excellent diet plan for anyone who needs to lose or maintain their weight. Within the book are simple guides, lists and strategies which make shopping for food, planning meals, and overcoming obstacles very straight forward. I also have been enjoying using the companion journal, which tracks diet, activity and habits.
Highly recommend!

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Mar 29, 2011

Kristi rated it

The Mayo Clinic Diet is broken down into three sections, get rid of five bad habits, add five good habits, and as a bonus add another five habits. These basic principles will help with weight loss.

I enjoyed the simplicity of this book and has sound advice.

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Jan 28, 2010

Misty Dawn rated it

Shelves: non-fiction

pretty straight forward. many things people know, and just ignore, laid out in simple language.

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Jan 20, 2011

Mary Kay rated it

Sensible diet plan where you toss 5 bad eating habits & add 5 good eating habits

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Dec 04, 2010

Dana M. rated it

Shelves: read-library-books

I'm desperate to lose the bit of weight I've packed on since having my children (and eating way too much chocolate every day). I've started reading this already, and I like the accessible tone. Looking forward to trying the diet. (I'm not sure I'll read the entire book, however, as I would fiction.)

I ended up skimming most of this book, but it's not a novel! It has some good tips and recipes, both of which I've incorporated into our lives.

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Jan 07, 2011

Jennifer rated it

VERY basic and needs more recipes, but nice layout and simple instructions.

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Nov 22, 2010

Susan added it

Shelves: adult-nonfiction, cooking-and-food

would take this book out from library again, comprehensive and appealing.

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Feb 13, 2011

Sarah rated it

Sometimes I just need a little reminder. This fit the bill.

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Mar 09, 2011

Elisabeth W. rated it

User friendly and makes sense! Bought it after continuing to renew from the library.

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May 03, 2010

Bonnie added it

Skimmed.

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Aug 09, 2011

Jillian rated it

Shelves: adult-non-fiction

Practical and doable guidelines. Seems like a rational and healthy alternative to fad diets. Although not an easy fix, this weight loss program does not seem too complex or difficult to follow.

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Apr 04, 2010

Valerie Sherman rated it

I think I would have benefited from this one more if I had read it at the beginning of my diet change. Still had a lot of good portion tips.

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Oct 24, 2011

Bridget rated it

It makes sense, was easy to read, was helpful, and didn't make me feel dumb or that it was impossible.

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Feb 05, 2012

Sue is currently reading it

Feb 04, 2012

Anna Maria added it

Feb 02, 2012

Joy Weese Moll marked it as to-read

Jan 08, 2012

Christina marked it as to-read

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