Most diets out their focus on quick weight loss. The best selling diets are ones that can help take the weigh off quickly and most try to show that they can fulfill this promise. However, some diets take a different route. Some diets promise weight loss without speed.

Enter The Tortoise Diet. The Tortoise Diet is a diet book from the successful loser Patricia Church. A registered nurse, Church dieted for years and after the many cycles of on-and-off dieting she finally found the right way and lost 120 pounds.

The Tortoise Diet is a book about long-lasting fat loss instead of quick fix weight solutions. The slow and steady weight loss is the kind that reminds you of the Tortoise route in the Tortoise and the Hare. The book covers all the basics of healthy weight loss. It goes into elaborate detail on each tenet and explains the tried and true basics instead of new, unproven ideas.

The Tortoise Diet focuses on these basic principles: eating a balanced diet, choosing the right kinds of foods, getting regular amounts of cardio exercise and strength training, and charting progress. The balanced diet is based on the Basal Metabolic Rate and is comprised of 55% carbs, 25% protein, and 20% fat. Following the plan dieters choose lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, whole-grain high-fiber carbs, and fats from whole foods.

Church spends time explaining the formulas used for calculating the right weights and daily calories levels that will help you follow the plan. The book also has a large section devoted entirely to meal ideas. It includes a very useful list of snack and meal ideas separated by calorie level.

Sounds pretty simple, doesn’t it?

The book doesn’t break any new ground, but the ideas are sound and when applied can create sustainable weight loss. The author’s own story is proof that the ideas will work when applied.

The book is great for a beginner who doesn’t know the basics or how to choose good foods. Many people are confused by the mix of diet and food companies that have pitched various and conflicting ideas to us. Many people have no idea what a healthy, balanced diet is. The Tortoise Diet covers the basics of a balanced diet for those people.

While The Tortoise Diet correctly lays out a path of healthy weight loss it does not address the reasons why normal dieting is flawed or the behavioral and mental aspects involved in making lifestyle changes. However the overall principles for weight loss are excellent.