The goal of losing weight and getting healthy is something that many men, women and even teenagers strive to attain. With so many different diet plans available, it is often hard to find one that is right for personal goals and ability to maintain the particular plan. The book by Cynthia Sass, calls S.A.S.S! Yourself Slim seems like it should help reach those weight loss and health goals because the author is a nutritionist. Unfortunately, it does not provide what consumers expect.
The Jump-Start:
A key problem with the diet plan is the extreme amount of restriction that the author suggests. The jump-start, or detox, part of the diet only allows five foods for the first five days. While that might not seem difficult, being able to only eat raspberries, eggs, yogurt, spinach and almonds results in a tiresome palette that also leaves the body with more cravings and an unbalanced plan.
While the jump-start does seem to have a sudden reduction in weight for some individuals, many have noted that it comes back immediately after moving beyond the first five days. This suggests that the only weight lost is water weight, resulting in a yo-yo diet effect.
Beyond simply having strict guidelines and restrictions on the initial phase of the diet, the actual calorie count is too low for good health. As a diet that limits exact portion sizes as well as the type of food, the caloric intake of the original plan is below that 1,000 calorie mark that many doctors would suggest as the bare minimum a human needs for good health on any diet plan.
Later Meals:
After the five day jump-start into the diet, the meal plans do include more calories and food groups. Despite the increase in food options, consumers have pointed out that the foods are often bland and have a limited number of factors for personal taste. Vinegar is one of the main condiments and those who do not like vinegar will find that the meals are often too bland to enjoy.
The extreme restriction of the diet plan remains in full force, making it less appealing to many individuals. The diet does not allow any alcohol, red meat, pork and a wide range of other foods. The high level of restriction can result in boring food choices that do not appeal to most individuals who are striving for a lifestyle change that is possible to maintain.
Another problem with the meals later in the diet plan is the extreme lack of recipes. The author does not provide many recipe ideas, so dieters must try to remember all of the rules for meal plans without having much guidance in how to manage meals within the strict limitations. That will ultimately lead to very boring meals that constantly repeat or accidentally going off the diet plan to try making meals personally.
Sample Weekly Menu:
Sample Weekly Menu:Breakfasts:
The breakfasts are similar for the whole week. The menu suggests basic meal options like French toast made with egg whites, a little cinnamon and a touch of nutmeg. The toast is then topped with fruit like peaches or cherries as well as pecans.
Other meal options include plain toast topped with an egg and fruit on the side, a breakfast smoothie that replaces the toast with rolled oats, and toast topped with cheese and peaches.
Lunches:
Like the breakfasts, the lunches use a similar base and then build off the same features. The basic meal is a lettuce wrap that mixes chicken with quinoa, olives, lemon juice and tomatoes before putting the mixture in a leaf of lettuce as a wrap.
Lunches that use the same base include mixing in fish instead of chicken, rice instead of quinoa or simply making the mixture into a salad instead of wrapping it up within a leaf of lettuce.
Snacks:
Snacks have a similar method of allowing little variation in meals. It starts with base ingredients like apples and walnuts and then puts them together in a few different ways with the idea that it will make the snack different.
Most of the snacks include fruit mixed with nuts and rolled oats. The variation in cooking depends on whether it is a smoothie, parfait or a topping on toast. The main part of the snack is getting the fruit and nuts into the diet plan.
Dinner:
The dinner plans are primarily based on fish, chicken and vegetarian options. The meals include options like chicken pilaf, grilled salmon with rice, stir fry and basic salads topped with chicken or salmon.
The dinners are likely to get boring due to the minimal use of condiments and the consistency of using only chicken and fish.
Finding a good diet plan is never simple, but it is certainly not the diet suggested by Cynthia Sass. The Mediterranean Diet has more to offer dieters who are looking for a lifetime change. The diet has several recipes and meal plans that contain well-balanced foods for a healthy body that is possible to maintain for life.
