One Diet to Rule Them All: Reader Shares ‘Mayo Clinic Diet Book’ Success Story
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Clare Hendrix is 68 years old, retired, and like many Americans, locked in a back-and-forth battle with her weight. "I've never been obese, but I've always had a bit of a weight problem," she tells us. "I've always gone on diets where I'd lose weight, but then I'd gain it all back after going off them."
For Clare, this cycle of weight loss/weight gain that's familiar to many of us came to a head one day this past spring when she says she found herself "at my heaviest." Her husband offered a suggestion. "He said, 'You ought to get on the internet and read about the Mayo Clinic,'" Clare says. "And so I did, and that's when I came across and sent away for 'The Mayo Clinic Diet Book' and Journal."
After the book and journal arrived, Clare tells us she first took the time to read the book cover to cover before jumping in to the diet and daily exercise tips contained within. "The food pyramid in the book is a lot different than what I grew up with," she says. "Before reading the book, I'd never thought of dairy being categorized the same way as meat," she tells us. "But it began to make sense to me."
Another thing that began to make sense to Clare after reading the book was the reality of portion sizes and portion control. "Back when I grew up, you had your meat, potatoes and vegetables and they were all pretty much equal in size on your plate," she tells us. Clare found the book's descriptions of portion sizes especially helpful. "If you're looking at meat, for example, it says one portion should be the size of a deck of cards," she says. "My portions before reading the book were, of course, all too big."
And the results? "I started the book's diet and exercise plan in early June and so far, I've lost 19½ pounds," Clare says. "I've worked my way up to walking three miles every day, and I feel like this has all now become a new lifestyle for me," she tells us. Clare also says she now understands the kinds of foods she should be eating "so much better than I ever did," and adds "I'm hopeful that this is it — that this is the diet that finally does it for me long-term."
Clare's only regret is that she didn't find the book sooner. "I'm already 68 years old," she says. "I think people should start exercising and eating this way a lot sooner than that. That's my biggest piece of advice to others," she tells us. "If I had my family to raise over again, I'd raise them on this diet."
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