Book Review from Journal of Nutrition Education, Volume 26, Number 3, May/ June 1994

You Count, Calories Don’t
Ellen Parham, PhD, Professor, Department of Human and Family Resources, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Il 60115

This 14-chapter self-help book is a presentation of HUGS, a non-diet program developed by the author and licensed in several locations. The program is based on the philosophy that health is best achieved by abandoning diets and exercise programs that focus mainly on weight loss. These approaches are said to work against the body’s natural control systems and eventually lead to weight gain, guilt, and low self-acceptance. Rather, HUGS emphasizes self-acceptance and self-nurturing as the beginnings of a lifestyle shift that includes enjoyment of healthful foods and active living.

The program is presented as a unified approach and is appropriate for everyone. It is, however, especially targeted at inividuals with special eating concerns, high cholesterol, diabetes, and/or premenstrual syndrome) and adults interested in promoting a healthier lifestyle for their children. The introduction describes the long-range benefits of the HUGS approach for each situation but stops short of the unrealistic promises often found in popular nutrition books. In each situation the reader is led through a process of re-examination of priorities. Slenderness for its own sake is deemphasized.

The author promotes a gradual shift to an eating style that reduces fat intake and emphasizes complex carbohydrates as the major sources of energy. One strives to tune into natural hunger signals, using them to guide when and how much to eat. Activity levels are increased by discovering forms of exercise that one can enjoy.

The book is easy to read and is abundantly illustrated with clever drawings by Sandra Storen. The program is a welcome alternative to the various diet approaches currently offered to the public. Unfortunately, there are some instances of oversimplification: All foods are broken down to glucose; all fats are the same. Nevertheless, the honesty about the failures of dieting are so important and the suggested alternatives so valuable that the book should be read by nutrition educators and recommended to their clients and students.