Let s face it. Obesity is no joke. It s a disease， a common and serious disease<br > from which too many suffer. At one time we used to laugh about jolly fat<br > people. Today， we know that the overweight are vulnerable to numerous ills<br > which can predictably shorten their lives.<br > It is never easy to lose weight. Genuine motivation must be sustained，<br > and a determined course of self-discipline followed. Despite the many books<br > offered on this subject， often based more on gimmicks than sound nutrition-<br > al principles， most people just don t stick with a diet. They start out full of<br > resolve and then weaken before reaching their goal. I am confronted with<br > this frequently among my patients. One of the things I like about this book<br > is that it takes a no-nonsense approach. It promises no magical shortcuts. It<br > doesn t pretend that successful dieting can be easy.<br > What it does do is prescribe a 33-day regimen of reduced caloric intake~<br > offering--at the same time--important suggestions for maintaining your<br > psychological determination to slim down. It commits you by putting the<br > job in its proper， serious proportions. Primarily， this is presented as a diet<br > plan for women. But by skipping the beauty hints， the same menus could<br > work as effectively for men.<br > Most importantly， the imaginative recipes in this book prove that you can<br > eat enjoyably while losing pounds. I find many of them unusually appealing.<br > (Doctors eat too， you know.) Although low calorie， they are also balanced<br > and varied enough to give you the nutritional values your body needs.<br > As a physician， I would add two suggestions. One， that it is important to<br > take vitamins daily while dieting--one of the common all-inclusive com-<br >pound vitamin supplements if you are 24 years of age or younger and a<br >good B complex and C vitamin supplement if you are over that age. The<br >other suggestion is a common-sense check with your doctor before under-<br >taking the physical exercises recommended. For people in good shape， they<br >should present no problems. But if you have (or have had) some type of ail-<br >ment， your personal physician is best able to counsel you on what exercises<br >are permissible for you.<br > In dealing with my own overweight patients， I always try to point out<br >that there is more to eating than just eating. Diets go better when you make<br >an event out of meals. To begin with， many of the recipes in this book in-<br >volve more culinary effort than， say， just making a sandwich. You can antic-<br >ipate how they will taste while going through the preparation. Then， try to<br >arrange an attractive table because eye appeal is a big part of food enjoy-<br >ment. Don t eat on the run or while standing in the kitchen. Eat slowly，<br >savor each bite， and you ll be surprised how little it takes to abate hunger<br >pangs.<br > Even though the author suggests you tear out each page and throw it<br >away as the days progress， I think I d keep some of the recipes on hand for<br >future reference. They re that tasty， and the combination of dishes being<br >both appetizing and low calorie at the same time is rather unusual in the<br >tough world of weight losing.<br > In short， THE NO CHOICE DIET impresses me as a practical and psychologi-<br >cally oriented way to slim off a realistic amount of pounds. It doesn t prom-<br >