A Burbank doctor has developed a weight-loss program that he said is as simple as it is effective.
Alwin C. Lewis, who specializes in internal medicine, is spreading his philosophy in his new book, “Why Weight Around? Changing the Weight Loss Strategy.”
While attending Burbank High School, Lewis said he was 6-foot and 150 pounds. But during college and as he started his practice, his weight went up to 190.
Now at 135, he said this new way of eating helped him shed the excess 50-plus pounds in one month.
“As I was losing the weight, I thought to myself, I’ve been able to do this so easily and effortlessly, and I thought the whole world should know about this,” he said.
He started to write the book in 2006 and finished it about a year later. He wanted to keep it simple, and the book is short, only 100 pages.
For his Five Bite Diet plan, he recommends skipping breakfast and eating only five bites of something for lunch and five bites for dinner, without snacking. He suggests that one bite a day should be of a high-value protein food and that dieters should also take a multivitamin.
Once his patients hit their goal, he said it’s up to them to find the volume of food that’s right for them to maintain that weight.
“There is a right amount for each of us,” he said
“You need to find out what amount is right for you. I don’t try to guess what that is. I leave it up to the individual. I give people the ability or tools to get to that magical weight quickly, safely and efficiently.”
Julie Christoni, 34, of Burbank, started the diet a year ago.
She thought she would starve, she said, so she ate five bites of a Big Mac for lunch and five bites of another one for dinner.
“The second day, I realized I wasn’t going to starve to death, so I ate a taco for one meal and a half a sandwich for dinner,” she said.
“The first three days were definitely tough, but it is amazing how quickly your body remembers what you are eating and your stomach starts to shrink, and you need less and less food.”
It took her five to six months to lose 50 pounds, she said.
“The weight just melted away,” she said.
Cathleen Bowley, of Burbank, went on the diet to prove Dr. Lewis wrong, she said. She was surprised to lose 80 pounds, she said.
“It’s so easy, it was shocking,” she said.
“It’s not hard at all.”
