Body Trust: Undieting Your Way To Health And Happiness

BUT...before you walk into that kitchen and begin gourmet cooking in earnest, it's not a bad idea to watch Body Trust. Presented by registered dietitian Dayle Hayes, Body Trust opens with the assertion that 90-95% of all diets fail (debatable), claims a zillion times that "diets don't work" (debatable), and maintains that your best physical and emotional bet is to "eat what you want when you want" (which, let's face it, is a principle that could easily be abused). Yet, once you get past the rhetoric--which Hayes delivers in a humorless repetitive fashion that feels like a Chinese water torture--there are some sensible notions informing her approach. The basic gist of which is this: 1) trust your body (if it wants chocolate, give it chocolate--but don't make it a forbidden fruit kind of thing, or you'll eat more), 2) move your body (not through demanding exercise regimens that feel like work, but by choosing activities that you enjoy doing), and 3) love your body (recognize that the starved model look is a norm imposed from outside and isn't even physically good for you). The straight talking head format, cutting between Hayes and interviewees, is visually boring, and there's some real stretchers on the tape (like when you drop all restrictions, your body will "choose fruits, vegetables, and pastas"--right, just like it will choose Masterpiece Theatre over NYPD Blue), still diet cycling is extremely punishing on the body, and Body Trust offers a kinder, gentler way to find your true weight. Recommended. (R. Pitman)