Product Description

"Can you really lose twenty pounds in a month? Will you really keep it off this time? With The Rice Diet Solution, you will! The Rice Diet Program has been helping dieters successfully lose weight since 1939. Now in book form, this world-renowned weight-loss method can help you change the way you eat forever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #192920 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 368 pages

Customer Reviews

Great Success with Rice Diet....lost over 170 pounds
Years ago, I weighed over 310 pounds and had tried every diet program out there. I bought the original Rice Diet/Duke University diet book, since I could ill-afford to enter the actual program in Durham, N.C. I found that for me, being a vegan, this program was quite easy to follow...though I do believe that if one is not a vegan, it will take some struggle to deal with a meatless menu. I cannot say that I never cheated on the program, because I did grab an occasional piece of chocolate, a cookie, and even some pretzels...but I always erased those infrequent sins from my memory and did not let them defeat me. If you are extremely overweight as I was, of course you will lose a large amount of weight within the first month...since the larger you are, the bigger the initial weight loss will be...and yes, it is mostly fluid. Nonetheless, it is a fantastic ego boost to keep you on the right track. Did I exercise? Hell yes! One can never expect to lose weight or tone by diet alone...no matter which diet you follow. Walking is sufficient. No need to commit yourself initially to a workout plan that befits only the likes of Jennifer Aniston! Be realistic. For me, no, I did not regain any of my weight. I chose to think of the rice diet as a life plan, not a diet, tweaking a bit here and there to keep it real, once I reached my goal weight. I have weighed between 135-140 pounds since 1990. Not only did I lose weight, but my skin is radiant and youthful, and I am healthier than ever. I am 56 years old and on no medications, without any medical problems. Buy it!

Fantastic concept, but wretchedly written and poorly edited book
The Rice Diet Solution contains everything that I believe would help turn Americans around -- not only in regards to their weight problems, but also their propensities for mental and physical exhuastion.

Essentially, this book espouses an Eastern lifestyle: lots of meditation, exercise, breathing exercises, and low sodium, whole grain meals. For example, the authors quote liberally from -- and highly recommend -- Zen Buddhist author Thich Nhat Hanh.

On a philosophical level, I would rate the book five stars. But as a cookbook/lifestyle changing work, I'd give it 1 or 2 stars. Here's why:

1. The book is ponderously written, taking forever to make simple points clear. I found myself reading and reading and reading, wondering when the authors would make their point. Too much background information.

2. The recipes listed in the Rice Diet Phases One - Three Weekly Menus are impossible to find in the index -- even the so-called Recipe Index. What they're called in the Weekly Menus, they're not called in the index. Sometimes, not even close. Or at all. Someone should have cross checked to see if there was consistency in recipe names. (Example: I dare anyone to find "Penne Pasta in 'Meat' Sauce" listed on page 185 of the Wednesday Lunch menu in the index in the back of the book.)

3. As my wife pointed out, the amount of food created for just one week of this diet would be so unbelievably wasteful as to fly in the face of the Zen Buddhist way of life. For example: Hardly any recipies are repeated throughout the week. So, in effect, you're creating 2-4 new dishes for every single meal, every single day! Let that sink in a minute. Then imagine the grocery bill, as well as the level of waste involved. Even if the recipes could be cut down, you're still buying enough food to feed an army.

4. The book is exactly what it purports to be: A dieta (Greek for "way of life"). However, distilling millennia of wisdom from the East into a poorly edited diet book is a fool's errand. At best, this book could and should have been a two-volume set. One volume contains nuggets of Zen Buddhist/Eastern philosophy wisdom and examples of what living such a life looks like. The other volume contains recipies in keeping with that lifestyle. Combining the two into one book (a) cheapens everything by packaging it to look like the latest fad diet, and (b) confuses the basics of both. In the end, someone will either read this book to get the Buddhist wisdom, or use the recipes to make meals, working hard to decipher what they're called from page to page and, maybe, lucking out in finding them listed in the back of the book.

Don't get me wrong. I think this book contains powerful, even life-changing, information. But how it's packaged leaves a lot to be desired.

Bottom line: I think adhering to a lifestyle in keeping with the tenets of Zen Buddhism (which is what much of the book is about, anyway) would automatically produce the desired end result: weight loss and healthy bodies and minds. But lumping both together into a book that many will overlook because it looks like the latest fad diet is a dumb move. Maybe the publisher will sell a train load of books that way. But how many people will understand everything espoused by the book?

I can recommend the concept of The Rice Diet Solution. But I have a hard time recommending the book itself.

Losing weight is the smaller benefit
My wife and I stumbled upon this book last May and made a commitment to give it a try for one week. We were both overweight to the tune of about 40 pounds each. At first, the diet seemed a challenge because it was so different from our eating habits, but as the first few days went by we both noticed how much happier we were with everything in our life. Much to our great surprise these feelings continued AND we continued to lose weight. Having lost the weight we both marvel at how easy it seemed to be, after many attempts to lose weight via other diets and methods.
I agree with one reviewer that the book is not cross referenced very well and that it is a cumbersome read, but the benefits we got far, far outweighed such a trivial matter.
It is a lifestyle change that works very well for us, having lost most of the weight we wanted to, and are happier as an unexpected benefit. Give it a try for a week and see if you feel better. Perhaps you will experience it the way we have, and your life will be changed forever.