The Mayo Clinic Diet Debuts at #1 on The New York Times Bestseller List

LANCASTER, Pa., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mayo Clinic Diet, which published this month, is #1 on The New York Times Bestseller list.

In other words, The Mayo Clinic Diet, the first-ever diet published by Mayo Clinic in the institution's 120-year history, is resonating with Americans coast-to-coast.

With two easy-to-follow phases — "Lose It" and "Live It" — The Mayo Clinic Diet, a common-sense approach to shedding pounds and keeping them off, requires simple lifestyle adjustments.  

"Many patients I see have tried several diets in an attempt to lose weight, yet the weight keeps coming back," comments Donald Hensrud, M.D., a Mayo Clinic specialist in preventive and internal medicine, and medical editor-in-chief of the book.  "With The Mayo Clinic Diet, our goal is to help people eat well, lose weight, and enjoy life."

Part 1, the "Lose It!" phase, is The Mayo Clinic Diet's two-week quick-start plan.  "Lose It" is designed to help dieters lose 6 to 10 pounds in just 14 days.

This quick-start part of the Diet includes:

• 5 specific habits to add to one's life
• 5 habits to break, and
• 5 "bonus" habits to adopt, for those who are especially motivated

After dieters complete the "Lose It" phase, they move on to Part 2, "Live It."  This phase is designed to help dieters continue to lose 1-2 pounds each week until they reach their desired healthy weight.  "Live It" offers a customized guide to using the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid.

By following the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid, "Live It" provides the tools and easy-to-follow techniques people need to reach and maintain their ideal weight.  The Pyramid gives dieters a general direction for eating.  It focuses on vegetables and fruits, followed by progressively lesser amounts of whole grains, lean protein and dairy foods, healthy fats and, finally, sweets.

People following "Live It" also learn healthy portions by recognizing visual cues — a baseball, a tennis ball, a deck of cards, a pair of dice — rather than needing measuring spoons or cups or scales.

Finally, here is a diet that tosses out food scales and calculators and shows how to eat tasty, good-for-you food.  In two simple phases, dieters will be on the road to a healthy weight for the rest of their lives.

Mayo Clinic's weight-loss and nutrition experts have packed the book with meal plans, tips for overcoming challenges, help in starting an exercise plan, and overall encouragement for success.  In short, The Mayo Clinic Diet gives dieters the tools they need to lose weight, and keep it off.

To make it possible for dieters to keep track of their goals and succeed with weight loss, The Mayo Clinic Diet Journal is available as an essential companion to The Mayo Clinic Diet.  Like the Diet itself, The Journal includes both a "Lose It" quick-start section to monitor habits and a "Live It" section to record daily eating and exercise.

The Mayo Clinic Diet ($25.99 U.S./hardcover) and The Mayo Clinic Diet Journal ($14.99 U.S./plastic comb binding), both published by Good Books, are available in stores everywhere since January, 2010.  Mayo Clinic's proceeds from the book will support medical education and research at Mayo Clinic.  More information on The Mayo Clinic Diet can be found at www.GoodBooks.com/MayoClinicDiet/.

On behalf of The Mayo Clinic Diet, Dr. Hensrud appeared this month on The Martha Stewart Show (www.marthastewart.com/article/the-real-mayo-clinic-diet?xsc=mayo_clinic-01-06-10) and the 700 Club (www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/vod/LJO102v1_WS), among other national programs.

For a review copy of The Mayo Clinic Diet, or to arrange an interview with Dr. Hensrud, please contact Jodi Bannerman, 212/871-3020, Ext. 107; [email protected].  

About Donald Hensrud, M.D.

Dr. Hensrud is the Chair of the Preventive, Occupational, and Aerospace Medicine Department at Mayo Clinic, where he is a specialist in preventive and internal medicine.  He is also an Associate Professor of Preventive Medicine and Nutrition for Mayo Medical School.  In addition, Dr. Hensrud served as a past President of the American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists.  

Dr. Hensrud received his medical degree from the University of Hawaii. In 1992, following a fellowship in clinical nutrition at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, he was appointed to the medical staff of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  He was instrumental in developing the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid.

About Mayo Clinic

For more than 100 years, millions of people from all walks of life have found answers at Mayo Clinic. At Mayo Clinic, doctors from every medical specialty work together to care for patients, joined by common systems and a philosophy of "the needs of the patient come first."  More than 3,300 physicians, scientists, and researchers and 46,000 allied health staff work at Mayo Clinic, which has sites in Rochester, Minnesota; Jacksonville, Florida; and Scottsdale/Phoenix, Arizona.  Collectively, the three locations treat more than a half million people each year.  For the past 20 consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, on its honor roll of "Best Hospitals."

SOURCE Good Books Publishing