Amazon.com On the left is one small， fat-free， no-sugar-added muffin. On the right is a cornucopia of food--several pounds of fruit and a pair of whole-wheat rolls. The calorie counts are identical: 720. There sits Dr. Howard Shapiro's point: dieters imagine that they're saving calories by eating the "virtuous" snack on the left， whereas in reality they're depriving themselves of the mountain of food on the right. Dr. Shapiro believes that there are no bad foods， no right or wrong reasons to eat， no perfect number of meals in any given day. He doesn't believe in telling clients at his weight-loss clinic in Manhattan when they can or can't eat. Some of them are celebrities and corporate executives with such busy lives that mealtimes are often unpredictable. So Dr. Shapiro reassures them that a calorie is a calorie， whether you eat it before or after 9 p.m. He helps them lose weight by showing them different foods， set side by side， and how the seemingly healthier choice might actually be equal to or greater in calories than a bunch of foods that would seem to be off-limits to someone trying to lose weight. In Picture Perfect Weight Loss， he uses photos of foods to demonstrate these choices. Thus， a "healthy" carob bar is shown to be equal in calories to 10 scoops of Italian ices. A 10-ounce loaf of crusty bread is shown to be equal to a tiny dish of Chex Mix. Two ounces of reduced-fat cheese are shown to be equal in calories and fat grams to two ounces of salami. The photos pit all types of snacks and many meal choices against each other， and account for sugar， salt， and starch cravings. The text--easy to read even when discussing scientific principles that scientists don't fully understand yet--covers everything from exercise to nutrition labels to menus from some of the world's top restaurants， with the healthiest food choices highlighted. Regular dieters， though， might want to skip all that until they've read the appendix explaining why the most popular fad diets--from the Atkins diet to Suzanne Somers's--are unhealthy， overly restrictive， or just based on misunderstood science. That alone might be worth the price of Picture Perfect Weight Loss. --Lou Schuler From Publishers Weekly A New York-based physician specializing in weight control， Shapiro will no doubt startle many lifelong dieters and experts with his approach to eating. There are no "correct" portions and there are no bad foods. Instead， he insists that people must become aware of what they're consuming. To illustrate this principle， the book is filled with color photographs of different foods. For example， one page shows a handful of mixed nuts， potato chips and vegetable crisps: these three portions have 400 calories each， but 10 cups of popcorn has the same number of calories as the rest. A one-cup serving of Quaker Natural Cereal has 540 calories， but that same number of calories is found in 16 low-cal Fudgsicles. Shapiro uses real-life examples of people with weight problems and includes practical advice， albeit in brief chapters， on exercise and the psychological reasons why people become overweight. However， the power of this book is clearly the illustrations showing the "right" and "wrong" food choices. Shapiro walks readers through ethnic menus (Chinese， Greek， etc.)， explaining which choices make the most sense healthwise. This is a smart approach to dieting from which everyone， regardless of their weight， will benefit. $175，000 ad/promo; 10-city author tour; 20-city TV satellite tour. (Apr.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews