The Thin Commandments

by Stephen Gullo

Ten diet strategies that work for every person and every diet President of the Institute for Health and Weight Sciences in New York, Dr Stephen Gullo has more than 25 years' experience of helping people to lose weight and to maintain their new weight for life. At his clinic patients wait up to 6 months for an appointment and pay over $1000 an hour for his advice - advice he details in this groundbreaking diet book. In Part 1, The Thin Commandments offers you a series of strategies that are simple to learn and easy to apply. You decide what you'll eat, how to keep your eating under control and what you want to avoid at all costs. In Part 2, you get a 3-step programme, which begins with a 10-day turbocharged diet and includes menu plans, shopping lists and recipes. Together, they give you all the information you need to stay free from cravings, free from guilt, free from obsessing about food and free at last from the destructive patterns of yo-yo dieting.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Diets, Cooking

Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Shannon]

Some interesting tips but he pushes mostly no-fat, diet crap food.
p.s. Dick P. lost 47lbs following this book:)

[Infrastructure Logistics]

"The most effective Prozac in the world is to take charge of your weight." -- Dr. Stephen Gullo

"...the process is the goal..."

Why do we eat so much? Technology has made food more abundant, as well better looking, smelling, tasting, feeling, and even sounding. It is packaged in a special way. It is advertised everywhere. You see people eating everywhere. You have a house filled with it.

We are also stressed out, fearful, anxious, depressed, angry, lonely, and bored. We are deeply alienated in the modern world, so that the same technology that makes food more attractive is also helping us become psychologically warped to want to fall for it more.

Secularization has also made us feel like there is no life beyond the grave -- where we would not be eating. We define ourselves completely by a temporary existence that runs on physical fuel. As a result, we fill the void spirituality used to meet with material things. Our spiritual longings are now met by food, food, and food. Foodie = druggie.

1. Packaging
2. Advertisements
3. Gluttons you know.
4. Gluttons you don't know.
5. Extreme portions
6. Extreme plates
7. Eating; the more we eat, the more we want to eat.
8. Aroma: if food is not behind closed cupboards, you'll want it.
9. Sight: if food is not behind closed cupboards, you'll want it.
10. Texture (psychophysics)
11. Sound (psychophysics)
12. Stress: almost nobody responds by eating healthy.
13. Lonely
14. Angry / Resentment
15. Anxious
16. Depressed
17. Boredom
18. Curiosity: want to try everything from around the world... or the latest, newest things in the grocery store.


"trigger foods": ramen, cheese,
"trigger behaviors": skipping a meal then eating triple
"trigger situations": sporting events, TV time, etc.
"trigger times": mid to late afternoon

[Dr Ariel Rainey]

I don't care a fig about the diet and recipes at the end, but the ten commandments are pretty much the most accurate and brilliant commentary on dieting I've ever read. I've already recommended this a lot.

[Shirin Abdel Rahman]

عشر نصائح للحفاظ على الوزن و تغير النمط الغذائي المسبب للسمنة.

[Amarish Tripathi]

This book provides strategies that help in changing your food habits to achieve a fulfilling and rich experience. Eating habits are a lifelong process so enjoy cultivating healthy habits and sticking to them.

[Kewannah "Health Kick Chick"]

This book is great. I love Dr. Gullo's approach to weight loss as it's a no-nonsense scientific approach. It's all mental so focus on your strategy and less about building will power. The first few lines of the book are key "dieting is about losing weight. Food strategy is about ending the problem." Gullo says your struggle with weight is less about your calories but your history with certain foods. Do you polish off every spoonful of ice cream? Then don't assume that you can live with it in your house. Yes, you may go months without a taste but the day *will* come when you can't resist it.

Of course, like every "diet" book he has an eating plan that he ascribes to. I'm not a fan of it and would've given more stars if he'd focused more on nutrition and less on lowering calories by eating Frankenfoods. Honestly, a doctor telling you to choose sucralose over honey or high fiber white bread over whole wheat to cut calories is counterintuitive.

What Gullo lost in his eating plan, he gained in his stellar section on maintenance, an area of weight control I struggled with. Anyone who's lost a significant amount of weight can share the frustration in not having enough resources dedicated to maintenance. I loved this section so much I actually bought the book (I had borrowed it from the library) just so I could refer to it. I've printed out several quotes for my vision board. My favorite is "being thin will not make you happy but being fat will make you unhappy."

[Kay]

Meh. It was just okay. The author had nothing really that new to tell me, though he kept insisting that his approach was novel. I already keep a food diary and am familiar with my trigger foods. And I think he overstates the claims for dairy and other foods that are helpful while dieting.

While it was useful to hear Gullo's advice in audio form, as it can never hurt having to focus on what we all need to do, he made a big mistake reading this book himself. A motivational book needs a motivating reader, and he isn't one. His delivery was almost comically stilted and labored, with pauses in the strangest places. All in all, I'm not sure if it's worth the time to listen to this book.

[Jenna]

The strength of the Thin Commandments is in strategies for handling difficult situations. I think the meal plan was kind of funky & could never really get into it. However, the concept of making a plan to deal with foods that you have a history of abusing is smart. One of the ideas that I especially liked was "box it in, box it out" - set occasions or locations for eating certain foods - apple pie only at Thanksgiving dinner would be an example. Read this years ago & skimmed it last week.

[Patti Dunegan]

Very good psychological strategies to keep you armed with what you need to do to stay on track. Don't agree with his suggestions to consume anything labeled "lite" or "non fat" because I've read the science that supports good healthy fats. Other than that, it's right in the mark!!

[Susan Bybee]

A little repetitious, but I appreciated how Gullo deals with the mindsets that go along with dieting. Instead of willpower, he recommends having strategies to avoid temptations. He details when the trouble times are most likely to occur, and offers strategies to help.

[Terri Richardson]

Some excellent suggestions for those wanting to lose weight. the book sheds new light on why we fail at dieting and gives a host of strategies to combat the difficulties often experienced by those who try to lose weight.

[Abby Mountain]

Everything in this book should be common sense, but somehow I didn't really understand it. I have passed it on to several people and they also felt that it had valuable knowledge.

[Sofi]

This is one of the most sensible diet strategies I have read.

[Erin]

Cheesy clever way to present the idea of: eat less, exercise more...lose weight.

[Marie]

Interesting ideas about changing the way you look at food and dieting

[Susan]

Deals with more of the psychology of why we choose to overeat than most "diet" books. It's a manual for lifestyle change. Heads and shoulders above fad diet books.

[Margaret Dee]

Could not get into this.

[Jamesia]

Very good with success tips I use everyday!

[Teri Pre]

Not a diet but some interesting strategies and ways to think about what you eat.

[Tia]

good book to read to lose the weight