You on a Diet – The Owner’s Manual for Waist Management by Mehmet C. Oz and Michael F. Roizen is one of the “You” manuals that aim to educate people on the inner workings of the human body. I have a little crush on Dr. Oz, so that may be a small factor in why I like this book. What can I say? He's cute and smart! You might have seen him on one of his many Oprah appearances, or on various shows on the Discovery channel.

I'm not a fan of diet books usually, because they all seem to be "here's the next best thing". However, this book has a lot of no-nonsense info in it and is meant to help you change your habits so that you can find a way to eat and exercise for the rest of your life. That's truly the key. I doubt you'll find anyone anywhere who went on a "diet", lost weight, went back to their old eating habits and kept the weight off.

It’s all in the Waist

The “waist management” part of this book is that according to Drs. Oz and Roizen, studies indicate that waist circumference is more important than how much you weigh when it comes to weight-related mortality. So, instead of measuring your weight all the time, you measure your waist. The ideal waist measurement for women is 32 ½ inches. If your waist is over 37 inches, you are at risk for obesity-related diseases. For men, the ideal is 35, and over 40 is dangerous. So, measure you waist. How are you doing?

They also cover weight loss tips such as getting enough sleep, playing video games to keep your hands occupied so you can’t eat, how to evaluate your hunger, and how things like cinnamon or caffeine can help. Plus, you’ll find appendices on the medical options to help you lose weight, like various prescription drugs or weight loss surgeries.

The Eating Part

Both the food and exercise recommendations in the book are geared to managing your waist size. They include many recommendations for eating, including how to stock your pantry and fridge, what to choose at restaurants, and many decent recipes. The sample foods include egg white omelets, lots of veggies, breakfast smoothies, low-fat protein choices, and several soups.

I love their idea of having the same breakfasts and lunches. Since first reading it, I have tried to develop a menu of healthy core foods, especially for those two meals. We do have too many choices and eating is an exciting adventure these days with so many different restaurants and cuisines. Maybe eating should be a little more boring, routine, predictable, and overall, less fun.

The 30-Minute Daily Walk

One thing I really liked about this diet book is the exercise recommendations. That’s the main reason I recommend it to you. You’ll find great explanations of why and how to exercise, again targeted to losing belly fat and reducing your waist size. The basis of their program is a daily 30-minute walk. Yippee!

They also have some fairly simple exercises (some yoga moves and other stretches, some strength-building exercises, and some info on real-life activities that “count” as exercise. You just have to move your body to stay healthy because most of us have sedentary jobs and lifestyles. Our bodies were made for movement!

Should you Buy the book

As with most “diet” books, this one will work very well for some people and not for others. If you would like to know how your body works without studying college-level anatomy, they do a great job of breaking the info down in an easy-to-understand style, with plenty of graphics and analogies.

Plus, the authors are straight-forward about the dangers of being obese. If you know you are at risk for or have a family history of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, high cholesterol, or other related diseases, you will find specific information on how being fat affects your body and increases those risks.

The good news is you don’t have to settle for staying on the road to ill health. You can make changes in your lifestyle and start enjoying better health and looking forward to living longer, and being healthy and active.

You can buy the book and the companion workout dvd at amazon.com: