The Good Mood Diet
Feel Great While you Lose Weight
by Susan M Kleiner and Bob Condor

Reviewed by Laurie Hartzell

The word “diet” makes us cringe. It connotes calorie-cutting, long lists of foods that we can’t eat and the nasty moods we get in when we’re not allowed to have that cheese pizza. Most diet books go along with this negative association, claiming that you have to refuse certain foods and cut calories in order to lose weight. Instead of being concerned with the negatives of a diet—what you can’t eat—The Good Mood Diet, by Susan Kleiner, is about foods that you can and should eat.

Kleiner, a nutritionist, claims that the typical, calorie-cutting, food-eliminating diet can cause chemical changes in the brain that make you feel depressed. She advises readers to eat more instead of less and pick foods that affect the body positively, such as eggs, fish, nuts, olive oil, coffee, hot cocoa and more. Foods like these contain proteins to keep you full, nutrients to stimulate your brain and body and healthy, monounsaturated and omega-3 fats. Although Kleiner’s tone in the book is less factual and more infomercial—complete with countless testimonials—and the book itself seems disorganized, the diet and the ideas within are quite interesting. Simple hints include eating meals and snacks that combine carbs, protein and fats in order to keep blood sugar balanced and to keep you fuller longer. The book's menus, recipes and lists of the top "Feel-Great" and "Feel-Bad" foods also seem easy to adopt. According to Kleiner, after starting The Good Mood Diet, you’ll be so focused on how good you feel that you won’t even notice that you’ve dropped a few pounds.

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