The 4 Day Diet

by Ian K. Smith

Take weight off fast with Dr. Ian Smith’s Customized 4 Day Diet Modules!You can follow The 4 Day Diet straight through for a month with stunning results. But only you know how you eat—and how you diet. Customize your own program in whatever order works best for you—or just repeat the modules you like best. Only the first two are doctor’s

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Diets

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Ian K. Smith, M.D.,Ian K. Smith, M.D. is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of SUPER SHRED, SHRED, THE 4 DAY DIET, THE FAT SMASH DIET and EXTREME FAT SMASH DIET among 7 other books including, SHRED Diet Cookbook , EAT, Happy , and The Blackbird Papers. His newest book, THE SHRED POWER CLEANSE, is available 12/29/15.

He is a former co-host of Emmy-winning “The Doctors” TV show, and a medical contributor to “The Rachael Ray Show."

He is the former medical correspondent for NBC News network and for NewsChannel 4 where he filed reports for NBC’s “Nightly News” and the “Today” show as well as WNBC’s various news broadcasts. He has appeared extensively on various broadcasts including “The Oprah Show,” “Good Morning America” “CBS This Morning” “The View,” “The Talk,” “Dr. Oz,” ‘Dr. Phil,” “Anderson Cooper 360″ and “Showbiz Tonight.”

He has written for various publications including Time, Newsweek, Men’s Health, and the New York Daily News, and has been featured in several other publications including, Publisher’s Weekly, Red Book, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, People, Essence, Ebony, University of Chicago Medicine on the Midway, Cosmopolitan, Women’s World, and Black Enterprise.

Dr. Smith is the founder of two major national health initiatives—the 50 Million Pound Challenge and the Makeover Mile—that have helped millions of people lose weight and improve their health.

A graduate of Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Dr. Smith was appointed to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition in 2010 and is serving a second term.

http://shredlife.com/about-shred/abou...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/ianksmith

Reviews

[S. Spelbring · Rating 3 out of 5]

As other reviewers of this book have said: Do I review this as to the process and how it's written or by how much weight I've lost?

Well, since I haven't had a chance to implement the diet itself yet, I'll review it based on how it's written and the process. This book starts out by meeting you were you are at and then getting really real with yourself. It shows you how to calculate your BMI and what that actually means (and a handy BMI chart). Then it shows you how to calculate approximately how much weight you can reasonably expect to lose in a given week.

Then it goes into food choices, and fiber and nutritional values, and so on and so forth. Then it finally gives you the 4 day diet modules. The modules consist of 4 days of diet choices, and 4 days of exercise choices. The idea is that you mix up the modules as you see fit. The dietary choices are things like salad greens, X cups of vegetables, X eggs, and so forth. It gives you some freedom in diet choice and even allows for substitutions in the diet.

All in all it sounds very reasonable and something that is very doable for most of us. I haven't tried it yet myself, but I can see me doing this as a lifestyle change.

[larri a mishko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Advice from the Doctor

Dr Smith breaks down the plan into very simple and attainable goals. I really like that he addresses motivational and emotional aspects in order to meet the goals. His approach to journaling is excellent. A lot of people want the results but don’t understand the internal work it takes to be successful in the long run.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book give you advice on how to deal with mental and emotional eating. It gives you advice one recipes that you can make in the end of the book along with the 4 day plan to follow. It was an easy read and gave me so good advice that I’m going to put into my weightloss journey. I have not done the plan yet but will be starting it next week after all my shopping supplies are gathered.

[Kathi]

It was ok. Not anything I haven't seen previously however

[Tamara Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr. Ian's books have worked for me in the past.. I think the title is deceiving on this one. It's not what I thought it was

[Theresa Rose-Jertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This really works if you follow it forever.

[melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am finding this book hard to review. Do I judge it on if I enjoyed the read, or if I lost weight? Well, I decided I should finish the book before I started the diet, so I have yet to lose any weight (but I did start this morning, and am so far, not struggling to follow it.) It was easy to read, easy to follow (the book itself), and educating. It was inspiring, and I think when I get stuck, if I go back and read some, it will be motivational. It was well laid out, and the ‘rules’ are clear. It is full of examples and anecdotes. It has pages of recipes, many of which look yummy, and you are allowed snacks, which there is also several pages of choices. And not all vegetables. Some of the snacks are also protein or carbs. My one big complaint would be that, the charts and diagrams seem to be stuck in randomly. Often they are paragraphs, or even pages later then the corresponding paragraph. Not unsinkable, but it did irritate me.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to read this because I am a fan of Celebrity Fit Club. I've been wanting to eat healthier for a long time-and Dr. Ian Smith seemed to have the answers. I liked the book, but thought he was targeting obesity more than general weight loss. I found his answers honest and straight forward. He focuses on the emotional state of the individual and their relationship with food. At the end, Dr. Smith provides modules for the reader to follow. I found the section on food substitution very very helpful. I am very happy I chose this Diet book.
The really neat thing about this material is that it functions as more of a work book than anything. I learned alot about myself. It was an easy read. Dr. Smith doesn't sell you on any "magical" information, which I respect. I hate it when "commerical" doctors have miracle diets-it insults my intelligence. I would reccommend this to anyone who is unhappy with the reflection in mirror.

[Cjpeffer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. It had some new viewpoints I hadn't really thought about. It was about par with all the celebrity weight loss books that have come out which basically say the same thing but with a spin. The only 4 day part of the diet is in different modules that last 4 days. But you move between seven different modules as your accomplish your goals which could take months,etc. I like the reality of that concept. We didn't gain the weight in 4 days, we should be told we can lose it that fast.

I like that he emphasized exercise too.

I like the induction module as a great detox plan. It used real food and nothing too strange or hard to find. It seemed like a nice, natural way to clear the bad stuff from your palate and get on a good start to enjoying the healthy foods again.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to rate a diet book -- rate it on how well written it is? On whether you lose weight? On the science? -- but I'm going to give this one three stars. Three stars because it's the perfect January diet: you're highly motivated to follow very restrictive rules; you lose weight right away; you have lots of energy to accomplish all those other pesky resolutions; and you eat lots of vegetables and fruit. But whether you gain it all back immediately or whether it's really a good idea to neglect the glycemic index seems to be ultimately a matter for each individual, time/trial and error, and science (but don't all diet books?).

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing really new in the first half of the book, which is the motivational section on why I should diet and how to psych myself up for a diet. The actual diet consists of 7 "modules" of 4 days each. Each module has a different diet plan and a different exercise plan. After doing the first 2 modules, you can do the rest in any order and repeat any module as you wish. I can see how this could make your diet plan more interesting and potentially keep you on the plan for a longer time. Unfortunately I am not motivated to actually do this plan.

[Adrienna · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were many great points in this book; however, I'm not quite sure who would follow his diet plans to a Tee. They were pretty brutal and hate constraints on good eating. Yet, I do suggest detox plan that works for you to get your mojo started and get the junk out of your system to get back your energy and metabolism going once more. Thanks Ian for helping clear the surface! I took some great notes from the book and substitutes for watching movies--popcorn (have changed to air-popped and not sure if raw, crunchy veggies will hit the spot).

[Trenia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really pumped about the book til I was listening to the radio and Dr. Ian tried to play everyone with a fake letter. I listened to a show in the morning and he read the letter then again in the afternoon different show at that. How could a person write the same letter and change which show she first heard about the challenge on. Come on Dr. Ian you could have changed the letters.

[Latiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have been planning to read this book for ages, but never got around to it. I think that if I had read it when it first came out, I may have benefited from it. It was not interesting at all. We have an overload of information on how to eat right and stay healthy. This book covered nothing new and the meal plan seems bland and boring.

[Rhonda M.]

Dr. Smith's diets in this book are easy to follow. He writes in a way that is neither judgmental nor preachy. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a diet that offers variety without a lot of supplements.

[Debbie]

Interesting read. I always like to read a variety of books at any one time. He has a great approach to why diets may not have worked in the past. Can't wait to check the book out again (I ran out of time to finish and could not extend it at the library)

[Laura Needels · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a 28 day program. The title is misleading. He has it broken down into seven 4 day programs. I like the variety of the foods, and the fact that you can slip a little treat in here and there. More importantly, I DID lose weight on the program and found it fairly easy to stick to.

[Aubri · Rating 1 out of 5]

so if you want to eat brown rice and tea for every meal, this book is for YOU!

[Theresa]

The book jacket says, "Be thinner by Friday." I thought this was funny.

[Beleeby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book and it really got me going in my quest to be a healthier person. I hope anyone that is looking to start the healthier life change would buy this book.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

obviously didnt work.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good info, but I like WW better.

[Penny · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just wasn't my kind of book. I can see how it might help others.

[Mellanie C]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/14510676