cover image The Rotation Diet

The Rotation Diet

Martin Katahn. W. W. Norton & Company, $15.95 (284pp) ISBN 978-0-393-02315-2

Is there need for another diet book on your shelf? Decidedly yes in the case of Katahn's new plan. Director of the Vanderbilt University Weight Management Program, author of The 200 Calorie Solution and Beyond Diet, and a dieter himself, he provides here a simple, sensible approach to controlling weight on a long-term basis. Men and women vary the number of calories they consume during a three-week period (the rotation for women is 600/900/1200 calories; for men, 1200/1500/1800); after three weeks and presumably a hearty weight loss, the dieter takes a breather and is allowed to return to ""normal'' eating habits. The premise at work here is that diets fail because people get tired of dieting and because metabolism gradually slows after the body maintains a strict diet. To control eating during the maintenance phase, Katahn makes a number of helpful suggestions (i.e., exercise, drink plenty of water and avoid artificially sweetened drinks) and includes some not-so-exciting recipes. 100,000 first printing; first serial to Self; BOMC alternate; author tour. (May 12)