It's easy to be a critic....

When I need to take a break, I spend my time surfing the 'net to see what's going on with the world. Tonight, I thought I'd check out what people were saying about the book I wrote, Women's Health Perfect Body Diet.

So far, what I've seen is that the comments are 50/50 pro/con. Some women LOVE the plan and are so happy that they finally feel full, while others feel the glucomannan is a gimmick and that the plans designed are not customizable at all. This, I find, is a pretty harsh thought, but we're all entitled to our own opinion.

However, with this all said, it's easy to be a critic instead of coming up with a better solution. When I was asked to write a diet book for Women's Health last year, I went straight to the book store and checked out all the other diet books on the shelves. From Protein Power, to Sugar Bustars, to Body for Life, I wasn't sure how the heck I could write a diet book that would be different than the zillions of other diet books out there now!

But, I had just finished a recent research project at UConn the previous year with glucomannan and had been using the fiber myself successfully for two years.So, I thought, "Hey, why not come up with a book about this? No one else has tried to write about the benefits of staying full with a calorie-free fiber!"

Also, I knew from personal and research experience that not all women were meant to follow the same type of diet plan. Some of us do better with more carbs in our diets, some do better with much less. So, that's why I gave two options and had women learn (through the diet challenge) which option was best for them.

At least I tried to give options, where other diet books preach that there's only one way, and no other, to eat right and lose weight. Too boot, some woman out there critisized the book (and me) for only having these two options. I felt like writing her and saying "If this book isn't for you, you have every right to pick up one of the thousands of other diet books out there and find one that does work. No one is making you do this diet. You have a choice and you are the one that knows your body best. So go forth and discover."

Another critique about the book is that it's too structured. Well, when I was asked to write the book, I was also asked to provide weekly diet examples, which I did. It took a lot of though and effort (knowing that most of the women out there would choose their own meals), but it was done. However, the key word in all of that is that the plans are EXAMPLES. They're just to show you what you can do with the food. They're not meant to be the end-all, be-all of what you eat everyday. That would be impossible to do for each and every person!

I'm really sorry if it sounds like I'm ranting, but I needed to convey a few of my thoughts on this issue. If it was really easy to write a diet book that worked for everyone in the world, do you think there would be so many available? This book is just one option and some people find it's a good one for them.

If anything, the book is full of great nutrition information and explains a lot of the reasons why it's hard to lose weight and why our bodies fight against us when we try to do so. When I wrote those topics, I just wanted women to be aware of what they were up against so that they could fight back with the right equipment and thoughts. This way they'd have a better chance at winning.

Since there isn't a formal place yet on the Women's Health Website for women to discuss the book, if you have any questions or need any help with the plan, please email me. I've helped many women so far and I look forward to helping more. There's also a lot of discussion about this book and a few women following it on the Oxygen mag message boards.

Overll, instead of being a critic, try putting yourself in the place of the author. In my case, I wrote a book with the best of my ability. Sure, maybe it's not South Beach or Eat Right for Your Type (some of the best selling diet books right now), but those were already written and I was asked to come up with something new. That I did.

Now, I've got to finish my PhD (and get married this year...). Yikes.