March 30, 2015
Corsican-born healthy living coach Orsoni (Le Personal Coach) says she tried 40 diets before teaming up with her then-overweight dad, a chef, to create this uniquely French approach to lasting weight loss. Her gourmet plan includes Detox (the program's âcornerstone"), Attack, Booster, and Maintenance phases. Orsoni eschews deprivation; a central principle of hers is that there are no forbidden food groups, though there are specific guidelines to accompany the four phases (during the seven-day detox, for example, she forbids meat, dairy, yeast, gluten, and alcohol). Orsoni's overriding principles include body cleansing, alkaline balancing, and sugar management. The plan also incorporates exercise (including a daily 30-minute walk on an empty stomach), a morning drink of lemon juice with water, buckwheat tea, and motivational strategies and breathing techniques to relieve stress. Each section is accompanied by appealing, relatively uncomplicated recipes selected to satisfy varied culinary preferences. A French creamy carrot soup contains vegan sour cream; other pages describebacon-roasted brussels sprouts, or a colorful Basque piperade. True to her word, Orsoni proves that diets need not be boring or unpalatable, appealing to those who are eager to infuse their diet plans with a plentiful helping of joie de vivre.