Beyond Atkins : A Healthier, More Balanced Approach to a Low Carbohydrate Way of Eating

There are an ever increasing number of diet books and it would appear on first blush that selecting a truly useful book is a daunting task. Fortunately, such is not the case since a potential buyer need only consider two factors: (1) the author’s real world experience level and (2) the inherent reasonableness of the proposed diet plan.

Examining the range of authors’ real world experience, one finds that they range from psychologists with no training or experience in nutrition to scientists that can perform double blind experiments but may have no inkling of what you and I face on a daily basis. No science and too much science both lead to futile approaches to dieting.

The important criteria for the choice of an author is simple: does he or she have real world experience? To paraphrase a colloquial expression, have they "been there and done that?" Dr. Douglas Markham has that expertise, having directed and assisted literally thousands of persons to a healthier lifestyle by applying the principles of his Total Health program.

Inherent reasonableness of the diet plan is also crucial. Most published diets are inherently doomed as either intrinsically unhealthy, impossible to implement in the long run or the baseless guesswork of the unqualified. Losing weight while concomitantly destroying one’s health is of no virtue. And a diet that cannot be maintained is worthless.

Extreme diets that preclude any fat or any carbohydrates or any protein or required that you only eat fruit or otherwise load your food intake in some extreme manner that seem totally unnatural are unnatural – and we are all subject to the laws of nature. It is a reasonable, middle ground that maximizes the actual metabolic nature of humans while not placing unreasonable demands that must be taken. And that is the basis of Dr. Markham’s Total Health program.

Expanding upon his highly acclaimed first book, Total Health, Dr. Markham provides in a single volume all that is required to readily implement the Total Health program for yourself in such a manner that you achieve weight loss while significantly improving your overall physical well-being. No high priced special foods are required; everything you need is in your local grocery or supermarket. The basic principles of the protein-rich, favorable-carbohydrate diet are fully explained in easy to follow language and the application of these principles is clearly demonstrated in an array of easy to implement menu plans which are all sufficiently flexible that they can be successfully used by most anyone in any reasonable circumstances. There are no unnatural requirements. Even an occasional trip to a fast food drive thru can be accommodated.

In addition to the menus, over 60 detailed recipes are provided for easy-to-make, healthy and delicious food items from entrees to deserts. This diet system has been proven over many years and laboratory tests have verified the improvement in health, e.g., lower and more favorable cholesterol level and lower blood sugar than accommodate the more obvious weight loss. Indeed, many people have been able to significantly reduce their medication levels or even cut them out entirely.

But diet alone will not provide optimum weight control nor physical wellness. And so this book complements its dietary recommendations with a complete set of exercises that can be optimally performed at home using a remarkably inexpensive simple but elegantly designed bungee-based resistance exercise device designed and patented by Dr. Markham (the exercise plan can, of course, also be performed without Dr. Markham’s device should you so desire).

Finally, Dr. Markham touches upon the fact that overall wellness requires a state of mind that supports and reinforces proper nutrition, diet and exercise. With physical and mental wellbeing now in hand, you have achieved that which is your absolute right: health and happiness! Larry King, who gained control of his adult onset diabetes, and actor John Schneider, who, with his entire family maintain their weight and health are among the thousands that are healthier today as a result of the Total Health program.

Dr. Markham invites you to join them!

Dr. Douglas Markham is the author of Beyond Atkins: A Healthier More Balanced Approach to a Low Carbohydrate Way of Eating. He maintains a clinical practice in Thousand Oaks, California, where he specializes in nutritional counseling and weight loss.

Dr. Markham is also the founder of TotalHealthDoc.com, an online weight loss and wellness management program. The Total Health program inspires and empowers individuals to achieve optimum health and wellness by combining a protein-rich, favorable-carbohydrate way of eating with regular physical exercise, intellectual development, and spiritual growth. Thousands of individuals have participated in the Total Health program, with many of them -- according to their physicians -- no longer needing prescription medications for diseases such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and adult-onset diabetes.

Dr. Markham lectures nationwide on how to use everyday foods and exercise to achieve permanent weight loss. He is the author of many articles and columns published in consumer health magazines and professional journals, and has appeared on a number of television and radio programs. He has consulted to corporate CEOs and human resources professionals, school districts, library superintendents, community organizations, policymakers, physicians, and Hollywood celebrities.

He appeared on CNN’s Larry King Live where he announced plans to depart on his HEALTH Across America Tour, part of a national public education campaign on the prevention of obesity-related diseases. This tour will eventually take him to America’s 25 "fattest cities" as ranked by Men’s Fitness magazine. He also appeared with one of his most famous patients, veteran television actor John Schneider, who spoke publicly for the first time about his longtime struggle with childhood obesity. He attributed his recovery to an eating plan which mirrored the principles of Total Health. Today, he uses the Total Health plan to keep his weight in a healthy range.

In the months following the broadcast, Dr. Markham began working with Larry King on gaining control over his adult-onset diabetes. As a result he has lost weight, reduced his blood sugar lowering medications and is on his way to getting off of them completely. He also graciously agreed to write the foreword for Dr. Markham’s new book Beyond Atkins.

Dr. Markham received his Doctor of Chiropractic in 1984 from the Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. He currently resides in Westlake Village, California with his wife, Andrea.