"Lose It," "Live It," and Keep It Off

Monday, January 04, 2010

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Tired of unhealthy fad diets that ultimately backfire? Ready to throw away your calorie counter? Mayo Clinic, a leading authority on health and nutrition, announces The Mayo Clinic Diet, the first and only diet developed by Mayo Clinic. Designed to cut through the weight-loss clutter, this could be the last diet you'll ever need.

With two easy-to-follow phases, The Mayo Clinic Diet, a common-sense approach to shedding pounds and keeping them off, requires simple lifestyle adjustments. Mayo Clinic's weight-loss and nutrition experts have packed the book with meal plans, tips for overcoming challenges, help in starting an exercise plan, and overall encouragement for success. In short, The Mayo Clinic Diet gives dieters the tools they need to lose weight, and keep it off.

"Many patients I see have tried several diets in an attempt to lose weight, yet the weight keeps coming back," comments Donald Hensrud, M.D., a Mayo Clinic specialist in preventive and internal medicine, and medical editor-in-chief of the book. "With The Mayo Clinic Diet, our goal is to help people eat well, lose weight, and enjoy life."

The Mayo Clinic Diet emphasizes foods that are not only healthy, but also taste great. Part 1, the "Lose It!" phase, is The Mayo Clinic Diet's two-week quick-start plan. "Lose It" is designed to help dieters lose 6 to 10 pounds in just 14 days.

This quick-start part of the Diet includes:

• 5 specific habits to add to one's life
• 5 habits to break
• 5 "bonus" habits to adopt, for those who are especially motivated

After dieters complete the "Lose It" phase, they move on to Part 2, "Live It." This phase is designed to help dieters continue to lose 1-2 pounds each week until they reach their desired healthy weight. "Live It" offers a customized guide to using the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid.

By following the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid, "Live It" provides the tools and easy-to-follow techniques people need to reach and maintain their ideal weight. The Pyramid gives dieters a general direction for eating. It focuses on vegetables and fruits, followed by progressively lesser amounts of whole grains, lean protein and dairy foods, healthy fats and, finally, sweets.

People following "Live It" also learn healthy portions by recognizing visual cues — a baseball, a tennis ball, a deck of cards, a pair of dice — rather than needing measuring spoons or cups or scales.

The Pyramid is a basic resource for everyone because it includes:

• Recommended low energy-dense foods that increase the feeling of being satisfied while eating fewer calories
• Choices of food within each food group that promote good health
• Unlimited amounts of vegetables and fruits
• Ideas for regular physical activity

Finally, here is a diet that tosses out food scales and calculators and shows how to eat tasty, good-for-you food. In two simple phases, dieters will be on the road to a healthy weight for the rest of their lives.

To make it possible for dieters to keep track of their goals and succeed with weight loss, The Mayo Clinic Diet Journal is available as an essential companion to The Mayo Clinic Diet. Like the Diet itself, The Journal includes both a "Lose It" quick-start section to monitor habits and a "Live It" section to record daily eating and exercise.

The Mayo Clinic Diet ($25.99 U.S./hardcover) and The Mayo Clinic Diet Journal ($14.99 U.S./plastic comb binding), both published by Good Books, will be available in stores everywhere in January, 2010. More information on The Mayo Clinic Diet can be found at www.mayoclinic.com/diet. Mayo Clinic's proceeds from the book will support medical education and research at Mayo Clinic.

About Donald Hensrud, M.D.

Dr. Hensrud is the Chair of the Preventive, Occupational, and Aerospace Medicine Department at Mayo Clinic, where he is a specialist in preventive and internal medicine. He is also an Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine and Nutrition for Mayo Medical School. In addition, Dr. Hensrud served as a past President of the American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists. Dr. Hensrud received his medical degree from the University of Hawaii. In 1992, following a fellowship in clinical nutrition at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, he was appointed to the medical staff of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He was instrumental in developing the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid.

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About Mayo Clinic

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