"I got skinny on fat," claims Suzanne Somers. It sounds too good to be true--a weight-loss program that lets you "eat incredible, rich foods in abundant portions while the unwanted pounds effortlessly melt away." Most nutritionists would cringe at the idea that people trying to lose weight don't need to restrict their dietary fat, but Suzanne Somers and her "Somercizers" insist it works. Fat (even saturated fat) isn't the enemy, she claims--it's "products loaded with sugar, white flour, hydrogenated oils, and chemicals and preservatives that replace real fats." Get Skinny on Fabulous Food follows Somers's Eat Great, Lose Weight with a recap of the Somersize program, which involves eliminating "funky foods" like sugar and starch and using a type of food combining. Also included are grateful letters from followers of the program, menu suggestions, and 150 new recipes. Recipes include such fat-filled dishes as Leslie's Mushroom Broccoli and Egg Cupcakes (with butter, oil, Swiss cheese, and nine large eggs), Beef Stroganoff (with butter, oil, and two cups of heavy cream), Ginger Creme Brûlée (with butter, heavy cream, nine large egg yolks, and even the enemy: sugar), Cappuccino Chocolate Chunk Cheesecake (with cream cheese, eggs, chocolate, sour cream, and--yup--sugar). No calorie counts or nutritional breakdowns are included. --Joan Price


From Library Journal
In this sequel to her Eat Great, Lose Weight (LJ 12/96), television actress Somers modifies her previous approach to include fats, admitting that, in moderate amounts, they are necessary for good health. She is still adamant about sugar and still posits that the proper food combinations can enhance the foods' nutritive values. She rightly points out that "fat free" does not mean that foods aren't fattening. Sugar is still a prime contributor to obesity, and Somers also blames white flour and other so-called "funky" foods. Her basic ideaAthat some fats are necessaryAis sound, and though the rest of her theory is rather shaky, half the book is devoted to fabulous recipes. Unlike most diet recipes, these include olive oil, butter, and sour cream. Skip the pseudo-science and go directly to the good stuff. Bon appetit!ASusan B. Hagloch, Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelphia, OH Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
One of the Three's Company costars has found her true metier: coming up with her own diet regimen. In the second volume of the series (the first being Eat Great, Lose Weight), the lessons on Somersizing continue, along with the testimonials. Essentially, it calls for a very specific combination of foods--fruit alone, protein and vegetables together--as well as the elimination of sugars and alcohols. Much of the text is taken up with justification; there's a comparison with other diets, with various medical facts and research, and even with ingredients in alternative foodstuffs. Tips for dining out and for menus complete the instruction--and lead into more than 130 recipes, designated either for losing (level one) or for maintaining (level two) weight. Selections range from fresh tomato juice to a 12-hour roast pork; all level one dishes follow the food-combination precepts. Barbara Jacobs


Review
Some amazing Somersize success stories!

"Over the years I have been exposed to many diets for my patients, most of which eventually failed. As I grew older, I joined my overweight patients by becoming 23 pounds overweight myself. In March 1997 I started the Somersize program and in three months I lost 23 pounds and reached my goal. Since having such great success personally I have placed many patients and friends on the Somersize program. I am thoroughly convinced it is the way to go."
--Stanley Dressler, M.D.

"The more obsessed I was about finding the right diet, the larger I became--I blossomed to 407 pounds. My self-esteem diminished to the point of wondering how I could end the vicious cycle. Suzanne, little did I know the key I had prayed for was right in front of me--I wish for others to grab ahold of your words. Now 174 pounds, I have a happier heart, mind, and, most of all, body."
--Lynn Thorpe

"My husband and I slowly kept gaining weight, and before we realized, I had ballooned up to 190 pounds and Kevin was weighing in at 275. We had twin boys (3 years old) and at the time I had absolutely no energy to keep up with them. Now, 15 months later, I am 70 pounds lighter and Kevin has lost 80 pounds. This is a way of life for us now."
--Taylor and Kevin Kibodeaux

"You and your Somersizing system have made a new woman of me! I have lost 34 pounds by just eating according to your book. During menopause I started putting on weight, which was a new thing for me as I was pretty thin when I was young. My blood pressure rose until I had to be on medication, but has improved so much that I feel like a different person."
--Joan Garton


Review
Some amazing Somersize success stories!

"Over the years I have been exposed to many diets for my patients, most of which eventually failed. As I grew older, I joined my overweight patients by becoming 23 pounds overweight myself. In March 1997 I started the Somersize program and in three months I lost 23 pounds and reached my goal. Since having such great success personally I have placed many patients and friends on the Somersize program. I am thoroughly convinced it is the way to go."
--Stanley Dressler, M.D.

"The more obsessed I was about finding the right diet, the larger I became--I blossomed to 407 pounds. My self-esteem diminished to the point of wondering how I could end the vicious cycle. Suzanne, little did I know the key I had prayed for was right in front of me--I wish for others to grab ahold of your words. Now 174 pounds, I have a happier heart, mind, and, most of all, body."
--Lynn Thorpe

"My husband and I slowly kept gaining weight, and before we realized, I had ballooned up to 190 pounds and Kevin was weighing in at 275. We had twin boys (3 years old) and at the time I had absolutely no energy to keep up with them. Now, 15 months later, I am 70 pounds lighter and Kevin has lost 80 pounds. This is a way of life for us now."
--Taylor and Kevin Kibodeaux

"You and your Somersizing system have made a new woman of me! I have lost 34 pounds by just eating according to your book. During menopause I started putting on weight, which was a new thing for me as I was pretty thin when I was young. My blood pressure rose until I had to be on medication, but has improved so much that I feel like a different person."
--Joan Garton


Book Description
Somersize your way to weight loss and good health!

Find out why Somersizing has swept the nation! In Get Skinny on Fabulous Food, the number one New York Times bestseller and sequel to Eat Great, Lose Weight, which also went to the top of the Times list, Suzanne Somers will show you how to shed pounds for good and have more energy than ever before -- without dieting. This lifestyle-altering book provides you with:

* The guilt-free way to lose weight and reprogram your metabolism -- including more than 100 delicious Somersized recipes that leave you both satisfied and indulged
* Breakthrough research on food and nutrition that changes the way you think about your body
* Moving personal testimonials guaranteed to motivate and encourage you
* An easy-to-follow weight-loss plan that teaches you how to combine foods properly so that you'll get, and stay, skinny without feeling deprived

Join the millions of people who have lost weight safely and effectively with Get Skinny on Fabulous Food and start celebrating good health and good times with Suzanne's delectable, simple, and balanced Somersized meals.


From the Inside Flap
Somersize your way to weight loss and good health!

Find out why Somersizing has swept the nation! In Get Skinny on Fabulous Food, the number one New York Times bestseller and sequel to Eat Great, Lose Weight, which also went to the top of the Times list, Suzanne Somers will show you how to shed pounds for good and have more energy than ever before -- without dieting. This lifestyle-altering book provides you with:

* The guilt-free way to lose weight and reprogram your metabolism -- including more than 100 delicious Somersized recipes that leave you both satisfied and indulged
* Breakthrough research on food and nutrition that changes the way you think about your body
* Moving personal testimonials guaranteed to motivate and encourage you
* An easy-to-follow weight-loss plan that teaches you how to combine foods properly so that you'll get, and stay, skinny without feeling deprived

Join the millions of people who have lost weight safely and effectively with Get Skinny on Fabulous Food and start celebrating good health and good times with Suzanne's delectable, simple, and balanced Somersized meals.


From the Back Cover
Some amazing Somersize success stories!

"Over the years I have been exposed to many diets for my patients, most of which eventually failed. As I grew older, I joined my overweight patients by becoming 23 pounds overweight myself. In March 1997 I started the Somersize program and in three months I lost 23 pounds and reached my goal. Since having such great success personally I have placed many patients and friends on the Somersize program. I am thoroughly convinced it is the way to go."
--Stanley Dressler, M.D.

"The more obsessed I was about finding the right diet, the larger I became--I blossomed to 407 pounds. My self-esteem diminished to the point of wondering how I could end the vicious cycle. Suzanne, little did I know the key I had prayed for was right in front of me--I wish for others to grab ahold of your words. Now 174 pounds, I have a happier heart, mind, and, most of all, body."
--Lynn Thorpe

"My husband and I slowly kept gaining weight, and before we realized, I had ballooned up to 190 pounds and Kevin was weighing in at 275. We had twin boys (3 years old) and at the time I had absolutely no energy to keep up with them. Now, 15 months later, I am 70 pounds lighter and Kevin has lost 80 pounds. This is a way of life for us now."
--Taylor and Kevin Kibodeaux

"You and your Somersizing system have made a new woman of me! I have lost 34 pounds by just eating according to your book. During menopause I started putting on weight, which was a new thing for me as I was pretty thin when I was young. My blood pressure rose until I had to be on medication, but has improved so much that I feel like a different person."
--Joan Garton


About the Author
Suzanne Somers is the author of seven books, including the New York Times bestsellers Eat Great, Lose Weight and Keeping Secrets, and the former star of the hit television programs Three's Company and Step by Step. Suzanne is also responsible for the wildly successful line of Thighmaster fitness products and her own line of jewelry on the Home Shopping Network.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Part One
A NEW WAY OF LIFE

Diets--The Ultimate Empty Promise
If you've ever had a problem with your weight, you've probably tried one diet after the next. At first you stick to it diligently. You're excited because you really think this is going to be the one to solve all your problems. You count and measure and deprive yourself of eating the foods you love, all in the quest to become thin. The pounds drop slowly . . . too slowly. Irritability increases because you're hungry and cranky. As the days pass you're upset because you feel surrounded by thin people who seem to be able to eat whatever they want while you hold the dressing on the salad and eat a boring chicken breast with no sauce. You watch those fat grams, keep those calories down. You're miserable because your whole life seems to revolve around what you can eat or, rather, what you can't eat. But you stick to it, because nothing would make you feel more attractive and healthier than a new slim figure.

After two solid weeks of dieting, you pass by the open cupboard and notice a bag of Pepperidge Farm cookies that has been left opened. You go to roll down the top of the bag to keep them fresh, but first you peek inside. Oh, the smell. There is one broken cookie left on the top row. You can't eat it. Well, you could, but you shouldn't. But it just looks so messy having that one broken cookie resting on the white ruffled piece of paper. You decide you really should clean up that bag and remove that top piece of paper. You bite your fingernail and rationalize that since you've been so good, it would be okay to treat yourself to one minuscule crumb. You go for it, and your mouth explodes. Oh, what you've been missing! One little cookie crumb instantly makes your willpower crumble. It's okay, you convince yourself. It's not gonna kill you to eat the rest of that one measly little broken cookie. You look to see if any family members are nearby. The coast is clear, so you pop the delectable treat into your mouth. It's crunchy and sweet. The chocolate is rich and delicious.

Since you've already blown your diet, before you know it you've removed the white paper and are digging into the second row for another cookie. After one and a half cookies you decide you might as well have another to completely satisfy your craving so you can get back on track tomorrow. You inhale cookie number two, licking your fingers to get every morsel. You go to close the bag and realize there's just one cookie left in the row, and it looks entirely too lonely sitting there by itself. You down it and remove the second piece of white paper. Now you're full, but there is only one row left in the entire bag--and having them around may tempt you to cheat again--so you polish off the rest of the bag and hide the evidence in the trash can.

Then comes the guilt. "I shouldn't have done it." Then comes the bloating. "I feel sick to my stomach." Then comes the despair. "I'll never lose this weight." Then comes the depression. "What difference does it make. I'm gonna be fat forever." So much for the diet. In a short time you gain back all the weight you lost and a few extra pounds on top of that. Then it's time to scour the fashion magazines and find the new diet that promises to help you lose the weight and keep it off for good.

Diets--the ultimate empty promise perpetuating the same cycle over and over again. We've all been victims of yo-yo dieting. We stick to some diets longer than others, but c'mon, just how much cabbage soup can a person eat? Let's face it . . . most diets fail because they are based on deprivation, and after depriving yourself for a period of time, you will eventually want to reward yourself. During the reward time, you will probably gain back all the weight, plus more. Staggering statistics show that 95 percent of us who go on diets gain back all the weight. Something is terribly wrong!

So how do we beat the statistics? I'm happy to say I have finally figured it out. If you read my first book, you heard about my battle with dieting and how a trip to France in 1992 and an introduction to food combining changed everything for me. I stopped dieting on plain, boring, unsatisfying food and started eating rich, delicious meals full of flavor and, yes . . . fat. I got skinny on fat and realized I would never have to diet again. By eating a balanced diet including fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, butter, cheese, eggs, meat, and even cream, I went from 130 pounds down to 116, the amount I weighed as a teenager. And because I give my body real foods, my hunger is satisfied and I am meeting my body's nutritional needs. In the last six years my weight has not fluctuated by more than five pounds. This is not another diet full of empty promises . . . it's a remarkable program that has helped over a million people to lose weight and gain energy--Somersizing.

MESSING WITH YOUR METABOLISM
Why do diets fail time and time again? First of all, diets are about deprivation. We simply don't get to eat enough food, or enough of the right kinds of food, to satisfy our bodies' needs. Let's look at what happens when you restrict your calories from, for example, 1,500 to 1,000 calories a day. Since your body is used to running on 1,500 calories, it must make up for the missing fuel source by burning off first your glycogen and protein stores and then your fat reserves to provide you with enough energy to get through the day. This initial burning of fuel is why you will lose weight when you cut your calories. (Glycogen is stored with water, and therefore weighs more than fat. The scale may reflect a substantial weight loss due mostly to the loss of water, not fat. That's what the term "water weight" means.) But the human body is a remarkably complicated and adaptable machine. As your glycogen and protein stores are being depleted, your metabolism will actually slow down to keep you from starving to death. It's a survival instinct. Your body adapts to survive on 1,000 calories, or less fuel than it needed before.

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
An enthusiastic, realistic approach to eating well while staying slim, this paperback edition of Somers' bestseller is filled to the brim with stories of weight loss success from followers of the Somersize plan. Also included are more of the enticing recipes that make it so easy to stay faithful to this breakthrough dieting plan.

Somers devotes a third of the book to explaining in detail why and how the program works. Veterans of this eating method will no doubt have the Funky Foods memorized and the "combining" instructions down cold. But readers new to the idea of losing weight by eating fat and staying away from traditional dieting staples like rice cakes, baked potatoes, and pretzels will need to hear the author's frequent reminders that "sugar is more fattening than fat." It may also take a chapter or two to fully understand the logic behind this strategy of dieting, because, as Somers points out, we have been so conditioned to believe that fat is the ultimate enemy in all weight struggles. With the book's clear, commonsense explanations, readers will quickly attain a solid grasp of the Somersize plan, which, in brief, consists of eliminating any foods that are high in starch or contain refined carbohydrates and then eating metabolically beneficial combinations of foods from the remaining groups (Pro/Fats, Carbos, Veggies, and Fruits).

While Somers acknowledges that the medical establishment has yet to embrace her eating plan, she offers enough persuasive facts about the body's digestive process to make even the most jaded dieter take heart.

The rest of the book is a treasure trove of delicious recipes, classified as either Level One or Level Two on the Somersize program. A glance at the recipes reveals why so many people turn to Somersizing after years of deprivation-based dieting. Rosemary London Broil and Almond Chocolate Torte are just some of the goodies offered here. The emphasis is always on eating fresh vegetables and fruits, lean meats, and natural whole grains; and with so many delicious options, greasy processed foods will be the last thing on readers' minds.

Get Skinny on Fabulous Food is peppered with photos of Somers and her family, often gathered around a meal or preparing one in the kitchen. The genuine pleasure the author derives from spending time with her family and nourishing them with healthy meals is conveyed throughout the book, and this enthusiasm is contagious. If the tantalizing recipes don't woo readers to the Somersize program, the book's refreshingly positive attitude about food and nutrition certainly will. (Karen Burns)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Somersize your way to weight loss and good health!

Find out why Somersizing has swept the nation! In Get Skinny on Fabulous Food, the number one New York Times bestseller and sequel to Eat Great, Lose Weight, which also went to the top of the Times list, Suzanne Somers will show you how to shed pounds for good and have more energy than ever before — without dieting. This lifestyle-altering book provides you with:

* The guilt-free way to lose weight and reprogram your metabolism — including more than 100 delicious Somersized recipes that leave you both satisfied and indulged
* Breakthrough research on food and nutrition that changes the way you think about your body
* Moving personal testimonials guaranteed to motivate and encourage you
* An easy-to-follow weight-loss plan that teaches you how to combine foods properly so that you'll get, and stay, skinny without feeling deprived

Join the millions of people who have lost weight safely and effectively with Get Skinny on Fabulous Food and start celebrating good health and good times with Suzanne's delectable, simple, and balanced Somersized meals.

SYNOPSIS

Suzanne Somers says that after she published Eat Great, Lose Weight , the letters from former despairing dieters who had finally found success began pouring in. Their encouragement, she writes, inspired her to share more of her advice and recipes in a follow-up to that bestselling book. In Suzanne Somers' Get Skinny on Fabulous Food , Somers explains why restrictive dieting leads to a lower metabolism that makes keeping weight off impossible and debunks the myth that fat is the enemy. She offers information on nutrition, motivational tactics, success stories, personal anecdotes, and photos, and more than 130 recipes for delicious food designed to help readers lose weight without ever feeling deprived.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal