Book Review: Leslie Sansone's Eat Smart, Walk Strong

By Sandy Amazeen Feb 16, 2006, 19:00 GMT

A bestselling fitness guru turns her expertise and experience to teaching her fans how to develop the healthy eating habits that have worked for her. Her proven six-week plan allows readers to experiment with different methods and adopt the healthy habits that are most effective for them. ...more

From the author of “Walk Away the Pounds” comes a book designed more towards identifying and changing eating habits then laying out an in-depth exercise program.
Although Sansone states in the introduction that is book is for everyone, lines like “The average woman today eats 335 more calories per day than did the average woman thirty years ago.” clearly gear this toward women. Her warm chatty approach imparts plenty of useful information without overwhelming the reader.

During the course of this six week program readers are encouraged to examine their relationship with food as they implement the “PERFECT Support System.” Starting with a questionnaire followed by an “Honesty Page” the reader is able locate diet and exercise trouble spots that require extra attention. The core of this system focuses on changing poor eating habits and adding daily exercise which is reinforced with a daily log complete with the day’s mission, food focus and room to track progress and identify trouble spots. Sansone recognizes that the stresses and demands of busy schedules often make cooking a full meal difficult so although some wonderful recipes are included to get one started on the right track, the overall emphasis is on our approach to food. Simple steps like portion control, reducing servings, adding salads or soups, snacking and restaurant strategies are added weekly, changing daily eating habits a little bit at a time.

Sansone takes s sound, long-term approach to America’s overeating love affair. Right up front she states there are no shortcuts to losing weight despite what advertisers would like you to believe. The dirty little secret remains, as long as one continues to consume more calories then they burn, they will gain weight and no diet supplement in the world can change that. It’s refreshing to read a diet plan based on solid nutritional information and tailored to today’s hectic lifestyle.