BOOK REVIEW - MY BIG FAT GREEK DIET

I finished this book and loaned it to a friend. This is a most engaging read. It’s not just another diet book. The story is written journal style, very personally (and with the aid of a ghost writer, Mike Yorkey.) In our increasingly obese American culture, Dr. Nick does the near-impossible - loses weight and keeps it off. Very seldom do dieters keep the weight off for very long. Dr. Nick is not trying to sell another diet system. In fact he has tried them all and realizes that diets don’t work. He recommends people to “choose a diet and stick to it.” However, diets generally don’t work! The book is divided into two parts. 1) Dr. Nick tells his story, and 2) he discusses his “Seven Pillars of Weight Loss,” which are principals that, if followed, will greatly increase one’s chances of success. First, one must change the way one sees before changing the way one looks: eating as nutrition, not recreation - that sort of thing. Another pillar is that one must be accountable to one or more other people. Maybe you get the idea - very common sense stuff, put together in a powerful way to facilitate losing and keeping weight off.

The author, Dr. Nick Yphantides (pronounced ee-fahn-tee-dees,) is a Greek-American physician in Escondido, CA. Having had a bout with cancer in his early 30’s and having come through it successfully, he realized that though he had dodged a bullet, he was still on track for early demise because of his weight. He had let himself get fatter and fatter through high school, medical school and a busy career in the public health system. In his mid-30’s he weighed 467 lbs. However he didn’t know exactly how much he actually weighed because the scale only goes to 350 lbs. He thought he was a little over 350... He spent a year making plans to go on an 8-month weight-loss odyssey. He was head of a public health facility and gave notice one year in advance of quitting his job. On April 1, 2001, Dr. Nick began his war on fat. The night before, he went to a favorite steak house to have his Last Supper, celebration style with family and friends joining him. Then for eight months he lived exclusively on protein shakes. He felt he needed a most radical program since he had so much weight to lose and didn‘t want to do it too gradually. He bought a YMCA pass and began to exercise faithfully. He was supervised by his brother, also a physician. At the first weigh-in on April 1, 2001, he had bought a second scale, so he had two professional quality doctor’s office type scales. He stood with one foot on each scale. That was the first time he knew his actual weight - about 100 lbs more than he expected. His brother photographed him from all angles. Dr. Nick bought a used camper-van and spent the next eight months indulging his passion for baseball while losing weight and exercising. He criss-crossed the USA, attending major league baseball games. After 3 months, by July 4, he had lost 103 lbs. But he could not tell any difference in his appearance - depressing! Over July 4, he and his brother and a couple friends were on a fishing trip in Canada. Nick could not partake of the buffets and special food that was part of the package. His mood was at its lowest ebb. Out on the charter boat, he was mean and surly to his buddies, but then in the deep water he caught something enormous! It took 45 minutes of fighting to haul it in - a halibut weighing 103 lbs, the exact weight he had lost to that point! It was a sign from God and a turning point. He could see and feel the weight of that fish, a tangible way to grasp the extent of his progress in losing that same amount of weight. Then he knew that he could finish the course to attain his goal!

The trip was documented with lots of photos, which appear in the book, and with a website which was updated weekly. There was mushrooming interest in Dr. Nick’s project in the local and national media. He was accountable not only to his family and friends but to his whole community and fans throughout the nation. He had to succeed or return home in shame and humiliation. In the end his lowest weight was 197. He had lost 270 lbs. Then he gained back 15 lbs of muscle as he worked out at the ’Y.’ As he was working on his book, he was introduced to Despina - a friend of a friend, who became his wife. He refers to his marriage as ’gaining 120 lbs.’ HA! He has maintained his ideal weight ever since 2001 and seems to be an entirely new person, exercising 7 days a week and working a lot less than before.

So this is a practical book for people like me who need to lose weight. But even for skinny folks, it is fun to read because of the baseball angle and events of the journey. Here is an intelligent man - a pillar of his community, who has gained control of the one most out-of-control area of his life. Dr. Nick is on a mission to help guide and encourage overweight and obese Americans to lose weight and keep it off. You may see a series of photos of Dr. Nick from fattest to skinniest on his website “www.healthsteward.com.”