Books

At the beginning of the year I went through an orgy of requesting diet books from the library. I have a bit of a thing about reading different diet books, absorbing tiny bits and pieces from each while discarding the stuff which I deem (rightly or wrongly) to be stupid. One of them, recommended on DietGirl's Amazon page, was The Beck Diet Solution. It has been a revelation to me. It isn't a diet book in the sense that it tells you what to eat (although the author has produced a subsequent book which does have a diet plan). Instead it focuses on how you think, and employs cognitive behavioural therapy techniques to help you manage your thoughts and behaviours to aid weight loss. I've had great results from CBT before, in other areas of my life; I appreciate that it doesn't work for everybody. But for those who are open to it, I thoroughly recommend a read through this book.

None of the other books I've read has made such an impression, although Anne Diamond's A New You was pretty good, I thought.