The Mayo Clinic Diet Book and Journal

How many diet books lay lonely on your shelf? There are good ones and probably a couple ridiculous ones. And then there's those medically-approved Internet hoaxes, like the bogus Mayo Clinic diets that purport cabbage soup or grapefruit are keys to losing weight. But 2010 is looking brighter -- the weight-loss experts at the real Mayo Clinic have just released a diet book and companion journal worthy of your collection.

If you've ever been on a diet, you know the drill. Eat less, move more. But how you measure your daily caloric intake, choose the right foods, exercise enough and motivate yourself to actually do all three consistently for the rest of your life is another story. So many of us simply fail. The Mayo team says forget the food scales and calculators, just follow their Lose It! and Live It! step-by-step plan for 8 weeks and you'll learn how to stay lean for good.

That's Fit just cracked open The Mayo Clinic Diet and journal, here's a sneak peak at what's inside:

Lose It! This goal of this two-week, quick-start program is to capitalize on your motivation by adding and breaking a total of 10 key habits to lose the first six to 10 pounds safe and fast. Additions include habits most of us are aware of -- eating a healthy breakfast, whole grains, fruits and veggies, healthy fats and moving 30 minutes a day.

The habits you'll need to break, however, are more drastic -- no TV while eating and daily TV time must equal the total minutes you exercised that day; no sugar except fruit, no snacks except fruits and vegetables, moderate meat, low-fat dairy and no restaurants unless your order strictly fits the Lose It! habits. Then there are five optional bonus habits like a food/activity diary and daily goal-setting.

Live It! Now that you've dropped some weight, it's time to set weight-loss goals, learn to eat on the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid and burn more calories with exercise. The comprehensive diet and fitness lessons learned in Live It! will have you losing a healthy one to two pounds per week until you reach your goal, then teach you how to stay there.

Journal and the Extras. With the odd exception that Mayo didn't include dedicated space to track hydration, the journal is where you write it all down. From tracking habits and setting goals to checking off the number of pyramid food group servings, this handbook keeps your food intake and movement organized and accountable. And the final section of the book is packed with meal planners, pyramid food charts, recipes and valuable tips to keep you on course.

Beyond the wealth of Mayo expertise guiding the diet and fitness premises shared within, there are two real strengths of this book -- it's positive, caring tone keeps you reading and the high-quality visuals (especially for actual serving sizes) are a grand slam. Mayo weight-loss experts understand weight loss is not easy. They know the common slip-ups, negative self-talk and nutrition/exercise/behavior obstacles that have you fleeing a diet before you've realized success. This book increases your awareness of those roadblocks and arms you with dozens of strategies to overcome them.

Finally the real Mayo Clinic Diet is in print. Let's hope this book and journal put those decades-old Mayo diet fakes to rest.