Gillian McKeith's Wedding Countdown Diet (A Review)

One of the perks of my office location is the library that is literally next door. Often, I would pop by during lunch and pick up a humourous romance novel (yes but not of the Mills and Boon variety) as well as a scientific/geeky book for my Mr. Right.

Anyway, I stumbled across the library's wedding section and lo behold, Gillian McKeith's Wedding Countdown Diet book beckoned. Now, I'm not a big fan of diets. Especially those that involves some sort of deprivation or eating only one kind of food (cabbage soup??) for goodness knows how many days. We all know these kind of diets work in the short term but may harm your body and do it good.

So, Gillian McKeith, in case you're unfamiliar with her, is a renowned nutritionist (my Fiancé has her book, You Are What You Eat (another brilliant book!) and I was curious to see what her "wedding diet" entailed. I was far from disappointed. The book has great information on how to improve your diet and it wasn't about deprivation but was more about eating healthier. If you're a bride looking for a quick fix and instant results then you're looking at the wrong book! But if you're interested in a natural way to improve your lifestyle, diet and look slim and fresh for your wedding, then you're on the right track.

Her Top 10 Rules are fantastic start:

1. It's about eating more (good stuff of course) not eating less. Unlike most diets that encourage calorie counting which honestly would drive me crazy. Who has time to count calories?!
2. Eating slowly - I'm guilty of gobbling my food like there's no tomorrow. Not sure why! It's hard to slow down sometimes.
3. Making your food look attractive - I agree, if you incorporate loads of colourful vegetables rather than just green, you're more inclined to eat healthily. I would add to this and say texture of food is important too! For e.g. crunchy celery goes deliciously well with mashy sweet potatoes.
4. Eating simply - don't overload your body with too many types of food at once. She also talks about food combos: don't combine protein and carbs, always eat fruit on its own (otherwise you end up gassy!).
5. Drink plenty of water. 
6. The timing of your food intake is important. Always have breakfast! 
7. Exercise!
8. Avoid processed and prepackaged food. Go for fresh.
9. Eat raw vegetables and fruits where possible. The nutrients are still mostly intact.
10. Have regular "me" time during the wedding preparations.

Her book has a lot of homemade recipes for facials and even advice on what to do if your nails are brittle or your hair isn't as shiny as you want it to be. I highly recommend this book to brides who are on a path to a  PERMANENT healthier and lighter woman. She has a detailed weight-loss plan plus a detox diet which seems simple enough to follow.Although I won't be following the diet closely, I will be incorporating some of the health advice in my everyday - for e.g. drinking more nettle tea, attempting to replace regular chocolate with healthy cacao nibs etc.