Weighing the Curves diet: is the eating plan in the book Curves nutritionally sound? Does it really work for weight loss? - Weight Loss Q+A

Shape, Jan, 2004 by Suzanne Schlosberg

Q Is the diet plan in the book Curves by Gary Heavin and Carol Colman (G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2003) a sound way to lose weight? I've tried lots of other diets, but nothing ever works for me for very long.

A "The book's positive aspects are that it teaches portion sizes and emphasizes that nutrition and physical activity are equally important in managing weight and health," says Cynthia Sass, M.A., R.D., a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association and a nutrition consultant in Tampa, Fla. "How ever, it's practically a pick-It also, and the book advocates things that completely go against science-based recommendations."

Curves co-author Gary Heavin is the founder of Curves International, a chain of fitness centers for women. The book offers two eating plans: the "Carbohydrate-Sensitive Plan," a high-protein, low-carb diet, and the "Calorie-Sensitive Plan," a 1,200-calorie-a-day diet that allows for slightly more carbs. Both plans offer sample menus which, in the first few weeks, are so low in calories that anyone is bound to lose weight on them, Sass says. But once you go off any restrictive, low-calorie program, you're likely to gain the weight back.

According to Sass, there are a few misleading statements in the book:

The claim that calories don't count. "If you are carbohydrate-sensitive," Heavin writes, "you can eat unlimited amounts of protein and still lose weight if you cut back on starchy and sugary carbohydrates. As long as you are eating the right foods, your caloric intake doesn't matter." Calories always matter, Sass says. "Any excess calories above the body's needs, including protein, are stored as fat," she explains. If you eat too many calories, you will gain weight. In the maintenance phase of each diet plan, the book advocates eating 2,500-3,000 calories a day, claiming that a person's metabolism will eventually adapt to the increase in food. "Your metabolism will eventually rise to the challenge," Heavin writes. Not true, Sass says. If you don't burn 2,500-3,000 calories per day--which, for most women, would require at least two hours of exercise every day!--you will gain weight.

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The book goes against mainstream Nutrition recommendations when Heavin writes, "You should be able to go off the diet when you reach your desired weight. ... It should not become a way of life." To the contrary, Sass says, the key to long-term weight loss is adopting healthy eating and exercise habits that you can maintain over a lifetime. "Going on and off a diet can lead to rebound binge eating and to gaining back more weight than was lost," she says.

Send questions to Shape, Weight-Loss Q & A, 21100 Erwin St., Woodland Hills, CA 91367; fax: (818) 704-7620; e-mail: WeightLossQ&A@Shape.com.

Suzanne Schlosberg, a contributing editor to Shape, lives in Santa Monica, Calif.