Fat Fast Cookbook: 50 Easy Recipes to Jump Start Your Low Carb Weight Loss (Carbsmart Low-Carb Cookbooks) Paperback – September 12, 2013

Well, I lost 4lbs within 2 days of using this formula and I had more energy and less hunger than I have ever had on any low calorie diet. Normally for me, consuming only 1200 calories in a day would leave me starving and in a very foul mood. However, this book recommends shooting for a daily consumption of 1000 calories of some very high fat foods, and up to but not exceeding 1200 calories per day. I stayed close to the 1200 range. I was truly amazed that eating these high fat foods could actually trigger my long-stalled weight loss and keep me pretty satisfied as well as cheerful throughout the day. I'm pretty amazed by it and I am a person who always need to be eating something and is constantly wondering what my next meal will be. Interestingly, I didn't feel these impulses on this diet. You must get it to read the science behind it, I won't go into that or pretend I am now an expert. I just did what it said and it worked!The book does say not to do the fast for more than 5 days, and you must be careful to resume a low carb diet after this or the weight will rush back on you. I don't see this diet as a lifetime weight loss fix, but if you need to drop some weight fast for a special reason or if you have stalled, this should work. I used several of her recipes and I have to say that my only complaint is that the Shirataki noodles (a very low carb type of pasta she recommends to make the pasta recipes) are absolutely disgusting to me. I have tried two brands and they have a weird rubbery-ness and mouth feel I cannot tolerate. I tried the fettuccine and the macaroni and cheese and couldn't finish much of either because the Shirataki made me sick to my stomach. I did notice some of the reviewers saying that the mac and cheese recipe is delicious. Well, I just tried it and thanks to those darned noodles I would call it absolutely gross instead. The cheese sauce however would be great over some vegetables so I will substitute those in the future. You may enjoy the noodles but I certainly did not! Regardless, this little book is a Godsend for me. I have been trying to lose 10lbs for a long time and this has helped significantly. I had only started a low carb diet about 2 weeks prior to starting the fat fast. Please note that at least one reviewer said they got heart palpitations doing this or other very low carb diets so it is probably better to be on a low carb diet for a while before starting this to see how your body responds. Also, do more reading on the subject on the benefits of fat in your diet. I recommend "Eat Fat, Lose Fat: The Healthy Alternative to Trans Fats" by Mary Enig and also "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon for great nutrition/food/food industry information. Another reviewer recommended them and I bought and got a lot of valuable information too. That said, I'm keeping this book!8/15/14 update: I am trying this again, now on day 3. Unlike last time, this time I went from a standard diet (not low carb at all) directly into the fat fast. I am visibly losing weight but have been incredibly & unreasonably tired and this is with only one light workout these past few days. I have not had any heart palpitations but apparently there is a reason for not going from a standard diet straight into the fat fast. The author did give a very brief explanation of why you shouldn't do this; that it will make you feel awful because your body won't know where to get energy from (but I decided to do it anyway since there is no mention of physical/medical harm). I recommend following her instructions and not going rogue like I have. I am a healthy, active person so I can deal with it this time but I won't do it this way again! I also think the book would be much better if there was information on how to come out of the fast. I can imagine that one needs to begin consuming a lower fat and higher protein diet and very slowly re-introducing carbs, but what is the process exactly so that one doesn't experience rebound weight gain? A section in the book on transitioning into eating "normally" once the fat fast is finished is greatly needed. I could probably use Atkins information to help me, but I think the authors should make this a thorough book and provide that information rather than making one guess. I still give it 5 stars because it definitely works if you don't deviate from it. The food is really not tasty enough to keep me doing this for more than 4 days max but I have found enough acceptable recipes to last a few days, and they do keep me satiated until it's time for the next small meal. I also have not craved carbs on this diet either time I've tried it, coming from both a low carb diet to the fat fast, and a standard diet to the fat fast. Once again, don't go from a standard diet to a fat fast. You WILL feel awful.

Great book if you are wanting to learn fat fasting.

Although I've been on Atkins for 5 weeks, I hadn't heard about fat fasting until 3 weeks in or so. I found the book, picked it up, and learned a bit. It gave me ideas and inspiration for snacks and meals as well as fasting recipes. For instance, I was hungry last night and was able to whip up some cauliflower and cheese in five minutes. I wouldn't have thought of that. I like that it's broken down by fat percentage. Other than those god-awful glucomannan noodles, I can't think of any "unnatural" ingredients at all. (Sub cauliflower for those noodles, really. Seriously.) The book is honestly represented and fairly priced.Nevertheless, to be honest, most of the recipes...aren't. It's hard to take whipped cream with some extract or coffee with cream and sweetener as recipes. Most that I have tasted are ok, but not special -- very bland, and I'm a bland eater, so if you want something more interesting, you are out of luck. I have had the same response to others of Dana's cookbooks. Some recipes are downright unappetizing and unpleasant. There is no TOC link to recipes, so be prepared to page through and bookmark those that look interesting. There are plenty of web links, though.I do have to agree that an awful lot of the information is available on the web (con), but Dana has done the heavy lifting for you in terms of time and research (pro). So being uncertain whether to give a 3 or 4 star review, I will err on the side of inspiration and convenience and give it a 4 star.

I did have this buried in the comment section of another reviewer's review, but I felt it was important to make it more conspicuous. I totally agree with another reviewer about her calculations being off in most of the recipes I have tried. Especially, "Coconut Flax Bread." Macronutrients given for 1 slice from a 20 slice loaf is NOT 111 calories; 9g fat; or 1g usable carbs. I entered the exact amounts going by her 9.5 ounces/4 cups, according to Ms. Carpender, of unsweetened shredded coconut (all brands caluculated exactly and matched up--I checked my own packages (two different brands) plus online databases to assure that my calculations were correct), flaxseed meal--everything. My calculations came out to 120 calories; 7.5g fat; and 6.7g usable carbs! Instead of the supposed 73% fat percentage (without butter), it comes out to 56% fat!!! My Paleo Bread recipe that I developed has better ratios than this bread.Another recipe I tried that was off was the "Fat Fast Mac-and-Cheese." Nutrition Info was supposed to be 339 calories; 33g fat; 2g usable carbs, instead it was 375.5 calories and 4g usable carbs. This is totally unacceptable when you are being very precise with calories and macronutrients, as you should be when fat fasting (unlike Induction, there is a 1,000 calorie a day limit). I have spent several hours working on these calculations. I shudder to think I will need to recalculate the rest of the recipes in this collection because someone dropped the ball on this one.Update: Well, I am shuddering. I have had to recalculate EVERY recipe because ALL of them have been totally off. Just did Fettuccine with Pancetta Cream, 290 calories instead the stated 207 calories! 25.5g fat instead of the stated 19g fat! 7g protein instead of the stated 9g; 2.5g usable carbs instead of the stated 1g usable carbs. I am using ALL of the recommended ingredients that she lists (House Foods brand shirataki, Philadelphia cream cheese, etc.). I am also entering them exactly as written by the author (weights, measurements, etc.) in a recipe analysis database. I'm entering everything by hand from the packages as of today 4-22-13 (as you know, manufacturers change their nutrition facts periodically, but it's usually sodium content). This book was just released, so it's unlikely the nutrition facts have been changed since publishing. I can't believe that I would be totally off on my daily totals if I had followed the stated calories and macronutrients. The other thing that really bothers me--there is no consistency with measurements or packaging. For instance, "1 packet tofu shirataki fettuccini [sic]," well, one package contains 2 servings (8oz package). Does she mean the whole 8 ounces or 4 ounces. *Ms. Carpender has clarified this in the comments.*What is so sad is that the recipes are REALLY good (that's why I am giving the book 4 stars), but if you can't trust the nutrition facts, that blows the whole thing, IMHO. I have better things to do than have to recalculate all of these recipes. I should ask for my money back, or get paid for recalculating every recipe that I have used. At this writing, 10 recipes. Yikes, there's 50 recipes in this book.Last Update: I never heard back from Dana after she commented on my review. I have updated my rating to 5 stars. I am still getting inconsistent nutrition ratios from the sources I have been using, so I will defer to Ms. Carpender's source (MasterCook) for her calculations. Just a word of warning about following her calculations to the letter, though, if you are closely watching calorie counts and finding you are not getting the results you expect.