The Denim Diet by Kami Gray

I was skeptical. When I received a copy of Kami Gray's The Denim Diet: 16 Simple Habits to Get You Into Your Dream Pair of Jeans, I was prepared for the usual diet book, demanding unswerving allegiance to a strict regime that would ultimately lead any normal person to demoralizing failure. But after reading only a few pages, I was hooked.

The Denim Diet blends health and nutrition facts with tales of failure and triumph, along with a healthy dose of practical advice—all in the voice of a close friend. It's more like a conversation with your girlfriends than a book. And Gray herself describes her habits as more of a lifestyle switch than a strict diet. There's no calorie counting, no obsessive attention to grams of fat or carbs—it's all about simple, no-nonsense eating.

Part of the success of this book can be pinned on Gray's decision to alternate between the steps of her plan and "Food For Thought" chapters—often amusing, sometimes troublesome and always frank real-life stories. These anecdotal chapters offer up relief from the fact-heavy chapters, allowing all those facts and concepts to sink in while illustrating the importance of eating healthfully.

She writes about one friend who was able to gradually kick an addiction to Coke to illustrate that you won't always be able to cut something out of your diet automatically, but you have to try again. She also writes about a friend who was a yo-yo dieter who often resorted to starvation diets—with serious health consequences. If nothing else, Gray is an advocate of a healthy weight, not a dangerously skinny one. And while these stories are full of anecdotes and Gray's own healthy dose of frank criticism, the geek in me was also drawn to the nutritional facts.

While I was already aware of a lot of issues—like the fact that whole grains take energy to break down and therefore don't cause your blood sugar to spike like refined foods—there were several facts that I have started obsessing over. Like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). It's used in tons of products, including many juice drinks and soda, in place of sugar. Then there's The List.

The List condenses Gray's habits into an easy-to-use table of what to eat and what to avoid. It's well-organized and written in a clear, direct voice. Personally, I'd use The List as a quick reference guide because the book is written so simply that even a week after reading it, I'm thinking about the rules as I shop. There's also a fantastic chapter on how to eat healthfully when you're eating out, and tons of great recipes for eating at home.

Gray advocates keeping things simple—which is something I can certainly get behind. I mean, who wants to go to the effort of counting calories and weighing portions and restricting yourself from foods you really love? She tells you what you shouldn't eat and why, and then gives healthy alternatives. And she understands that everyone has one or two foods they love, so she makes room for those foods in her diet—in moderation, of course.

The Denim Diet: 16 Simple Habits to Get You Into Your Dream Pair of Jeans, by Kami Gray, New World Library, 287 pages, $14.95.

Hungry for more? Read our interview with author Kami Gray and an excerpt from The Denim Diet.