The Slow Down Diet: Eating for Pleasure, Energy, and Weight Loss

"The Slow Down Diet provides us with the missing link about metabolism that sets us free to enjoy food more than ever while also losing weight and getting healthy. Thank you, thank you, Marc David." --Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of Mother-Daughter Wisdom: Creating a Legacy of Physical and Emotional Health "Marc David is the leading voice establishing the intimate connection between stress, digestion, metabolism, weight, and health. He reminds us that our relationship with food is as important as the food itself. In a world of 'high fad' diets he stands alone, guiding us toward nourishment, pleasure, and healing." --Mark Hyman, M.D., coauthor of Ultraprevention: The 6-Week Plan That Will Make You Healthy for Life Our modern culture revolves around fitting as much as possible into the least amount of time. As a result, most people propel themselves through life at a dizzying pace that is contrary to a healthy lifestyle. We eat fast, on the run, and often under stress, not only removing most of the pleasure we might derive from our food and creating digestive upset, but also wreaking havoc on our metabolism. Many of us come to the end of a day feeling undernourished, uninspired, and overweight. In The Slow Down Diet Marc David presents a new way to understand our relationship to food, focusing on quality and the possibilities of pleasure in eating to transform and improve metabolism. Citing cutting-edge research on body biochemistry as well as success stories from his own nutritional counseling practice, he shows that we are creatures of body, mind, and spirit and that when we attend to these levels simultaneously we can shed excess pounds, increase energy, and enhance digestion to feel rejuvenated and inspired. Marc -David presents an eight-week program that allows readers to explore their unique connection to food, assisting them in letting go of their fears, guilt, and old habits so they can learn to treat their bodies in a dignified and caring way. He reveals the shortcomings of quick-fix digestive aids and fad diets and debunks common nutrition myths, such as "the right way to lose weight is to eat less and exercise more." He shows instead how to decrease cortisol and other stress hormones and boost metabolic power through proper breathing and nutritional strategies that nourish both the body and soul, proving that fully enjoying each meal is the optimal way to a healthy body. Drawing on more than twenty years of experience in nutritional medicine, the psychology of eating, and the science of yoga, Marc David offers readers practical tools that will yield life-transforming, sustainable results. MARC DAVID, a nutritionist with a master's degree in the psychology of eating, consults with corporations and nonprofit organizations on nutrition and holistic health. He has been a leading nutrition expert at Canyon Ranch for more than ten years, a workshop leader at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, and is the author of Nourishing Wisdom. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.