Cinch! by Cynthia Sass - A review and giveaway

I don't believe in "diets".
That's important, so I just wanted to throw that out there.
Also-giveaway!!
Read on......

It's that time again, time to make plans and resolutions.  First Monday of the new year!  Clean slate!
So.....how many of you have that number one resolution on your list?  That daunting, yet encouraging, ever popular "lose weight!"?
Or maybe yours is in the form of "get fit", or "wear skinny jeans again" or whatever variation suits your fancy.  Mine is a combination of all three.  Another one of mine is to get the house painted so it is no longer signed with Sharpie.  Everywhere.  but that's it's own post.

If you are there with me in wanting to drop a few pounds and clean up eating habits, I have something for you.
I was sent a copy of the new book Cinch!  to review, and I have to tell you, I am impressed!  Have you seen this book yet?  If you watch any of the morning shows or daily talk shows, you'll likely get a chance to hear about this one, and with good reason.

As most people, I am always intrigued by big promises.  Lose up to 8lbs in less than a week?  *snicker* Sure you will.  Statements like these conjure up images of the dreaded cabbage soup diet, or that lemonade/cayenne cleanse thing.  Ack!

Well, people, I just may be sold on this one.  And that says a lot, because you know how much I love food!  Like I said, I don't believe in "diets".  I believe that your daily diet is important, but "diets" are usually just a recipe for disaster.

Cynthia Sass, the author of Cinch! has laid out a fabulous plan in this book.  The best part is that it is not a diet.  That's right, no calorie counting!  No freakish restrictions!  And chocolate EVERY day.  Yes, you read that right-an entire chapter is devoted to your daily dose of chocolate.  An eating plan that promises results and includes chocolate every day.  Hello!
One of the other things that really appealed to me about this book is the author herself.  Over the past couple of years I have become acutely aware of how I eat.  Despite my sweet tooth and my stash, I really do try to eat well 99% of the time (which is why the stash is ok!).  Once I decided to jump in to the triathlon scene and really get into running, I realized I needed to make some changes and not only feed my body, but really fuel my body.  The fact that Cynthia is a nutritional expert for professional athletes signaled to me that this wouldn't be just another one of those fad diet books, but that this would be a well thought out plan that helps one reach optimum health, not just drop pounds in a way that won't be helpful-or healthful-in the long run.

Cinch!  details a plan that makes it simple and convenient to piece together healthy and enjoyable meals using a formula that will help you achieve greater overall health in addition to losing weight.  Not to mention she includes over 100 recipes, as well as lists of foods that fit each piece of the puzzle making it ridiculously simple to customize each of the suggested 4 daily meals to your own personal tastes.

So what about that "up to 8lbs in the first five days"?  It's bold, but it's there, and accompanied in the book by stories and before/after photos of those who have tried to this plan.  5 super foods for 5 days to get your body on track, for those interested in a jump start to the Cinch! plan.  You had better believe this one is being tried!  Starting today for five days, my husband, myself, and three friends will be putting this plan to the test.  Since I am breastfeeding Sam, I will be tweaking this 5 day Fast Forward plan just a tad (which I fully realized may tweak my results), but the others will be following it exactly.  Oooo....my own little experiment....bwahahaha!  I will have results on that for you next week when the giveaway winner is announced.  I really am excited to see how this works for everyone.

Another thing I loved about this book is that it hits things like cravings and emotional eating.  I definitely fall into the category of emotional eating, so I enjoyed the suggestions and thoughts on that subject.
The one thing that I didn't love, and struck me as odd, is that a maximum of 10c water per day during the 5 day Fast Forward is suggested.  I can only assume that it is because there are other beverages suggested as well during this plan (teas, flavored water or seltzer-both calorie free), but as one who is pretty much only a water drinker, a maximum doesn't strike me as great.  I normally drink more than 10c/day anyway, so I certainly wouldn't plan to cut back on my water intake.  The "whys" are addressed with every other component of this book, so I was surprised that there was no reason listed for a maximum amount of water intake.  Aside from that one thing though, two thumbs up!

Cynthia Sass takes her experience and expertise (and she really does have quite a resume!) and makes it simple for anyone wanting to clean up their eating-and their waistline.  I have actually read through this book 3 times already in the past week to make sure I am very familiar with the principles behind this plan, so that I can pass my book on to one of my friends.

And speaking of passing on, I enjoyed this book so much that I want to pass one on to one of you!
The deal with this review was that I was sent a copy of the book for myself.  With it being too good not to share, I went and bought another copy to giveaway.  You know I only give away things that I love, because I hope you'll love them too!

So now it's time people-kick that resolution in to high gear!

To enter to win one hardback copy of the recently released book Cinch!  by Cynthia Sass, leave a comment here on this post.

Additional entry for being a follower of this blog, and for sharing the news about this giveaway on FB, Twitter or on your own blog (with a link to this post).  That gives you a chance for 5 entries!  Please leave a *separate* comment for each entry.

Winner will be chosen using random.org and announced on January 11th, because I love that there are so many dates with ones this year.  1/11/11.  Love it!



*disclaimer*
I will be entered to win a $50 gift card for doing this review.  
I was sent a copy of this book to review as a member of the One2One network.  
That said, there is no bonus for giving it a good review-the opinions are completely my own.  And I really did like the book that much.  Giveaway copy was purchased by me because I liked it that much.  Really.  Also, I'd like to thank my husband for being a willing guinea pig.   He's packed on a few pounds in the past year and I am counting on this plan to get him back in gear.  He has been very gracious about putting himself completely in my hands to work some magic.  And he didn't get upset when I laughed at the fact that he put raspberries in his Scramble this morning.  And now you know two of the 5 day foods-eggs and raspberries.  The others are almonds, spinach and yogurt.  The recipes puts these together in great combinations that make being limited to 5 foods for 5 days a pleasant thing.  But no, you aren't supposed to put raspberries in the scrambled egg/spinach thing.......unless you like that I guess.