The Baby Fat Diet: Book Review

the baby fat diet

reviews & resources

A few weeks ago, I was asked to read and review the postpartum weight-loss manual, The Baby Fat Diet.  So…

It’s pretty good!

The book is written by two dietitians, Monica Bearden, RD. and Shara Aaron, MS, RD, both moms themselves who have battled the baby bulge we all dread. What really makes this book worth reading is not the letters after the authors’ names.  It’s the letters that are absent: EM.  These two ladies are Experienced Mommies and the greatest value of the Baby Fat Diet comes not from scientific studies, extensive meal plans or detailed nutritional information but from the two authors’ firsthand experience as mothers.  Interviews with other mothers at various points of the postpartum timeline helped the authors to fill in the gaps and create a survival guide of weight-loss strategies that is realistic and useful.

Now, there are a lot of maternal, prenatal and postpartum nutrition manuals out there.  There are also a fair number of weight loss and fitness books geared toward expectant and new moms.  So why this one?

The Baby Fat Diet is humourous, simply written and broken into 35 tiny chapters meant to be consumed (pardon the pun) a bit at a time and not necessarily in order, to accomodate the busy pace of motherhood.  This format does make for some repetition and simplification which might not hold the attention of a reader who intends to finish the book, cover-to-cover, in a few sittings or a reader with any significant prior knowledge of nutrition.  Depending on your level of knowledge and your attention span, the book’s format might be a pro or a con.

One great feature are the sections at the end of each chapter in which the reader can record her thoughts and plans based on the preceding chapter’s theme.  You might be asked to write down three things you will do to improve the whole family’s eating habits this week.  Or you might simply need to decide on two organic fruits or vegetables which you will substitute for traditionally farmed and chemically ridden produce.  If you’re like me, you’ll love interacting with the book by filling in these sections and taking the authors’ advice from theory to reality by planning to implement their strategies in your own daily life.  For the woman who needs more specific guidance, the Baby Fat Diet includes shopping lists and meal plans based on the authors’ principles.

I wholeheartedly endorse this book for any mom, expectant or in the throes of parenting, who desires a basic nutrition primer with realistic advice and a sensible, healthy approach.  You won’t find many rigid rules in the Baby Fat Diet – and when you do, such as when the authors recommend you not eat at all after dinner, you’ll find along with the rule some sensible methods by which to break the rule, such as sticking with fruits and vegetables or gradually weaning yourself off your nighttime snacks.

I like rules, but the teenager in me loves knowing I can get around them when I need to.

The Baby Fat Diet is available on Amazon.com.

Check out The Baby Fat Diet on the web for more information about the authors, the book or to read the Baby Fat Diet blog.