Weeding through all the literally thousands of diet, health, and nutrition books that come out each year can be quite challenging. Many of them are stuck on the same low-fat, eat less, exercise more mantra that has made us fatter and fatter and sicker than we’ve ever been! But it doesn’t have to be that way as 14 new diet and health books I’m reviewing today will show you. ENJOY!
1. Refuse To Regain: 12 Tough Rules To Maintain The Body You’ve Earned! by Dr. Barbara Berkeley
There are books galore written on the subject of weight loss, but very few of them ever talk about the even more important subject when it comes to diet: WEIGHT MAINTENANCE! Yeah, you can lose weight on just about any diet out there, but can you keep it off over the long-term? That’s what Dr. Barbara Berkeley has been exploring over the past few years and she’s come up with twelve “rules to maintain the body you’ve earned.” Some of them are obvious (weigh everyday, exercise, limit your menu to healthy foods), but others aren’t so commonplace (commit to a three-month opt out period from modern foods, eat only foods our ancestors would have consumed, and make sure you have one acceptable treat per day). As someone who has lost 180 pounds in the past and put back on about 30 of those pounds, I found Dr. Berkeley’s advice to be extremely helpful. She made me become more aware of areas where I had allowed myself to slip while simultaneously making new suggestions that may point to a pathway back to the success I experienced before. Whether you are at your weight loss goal yet or not, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of this fabulous book from a bariatric physician who truly understands what it takes.
2. Fitness Rants For The Chronically Enriched: A Rogue Fitness Pro Redefines The Athletic Side Of Aging by Penny Hoff
Are you old and cranky? (Okay, wrong question!) Are you “chronically enriched” and need a gentle shove in the right direction when it comes to exercising? (Ahhhhh, that’s better!) If so, then this is DEFINITELY the book for you. The author Penny Hoff has been through the rigors of exercising like there’s no tomorrow and realizes she could never keep up that pace as her body started getting older. So she put together these mini “rants” that remind me of a series of blog posts to guide older wanna-be fitness freaks into shaking their body and making it sweat a little. Penny offers sage real-world advice that people of all ages can learn from.
3. The Science Of Perfect Weight: A New Way Of Thinking, Eating And Living To Achieve Your Perfect Weight by Bob Proctor and Melonie Dodaro
We all are searching for that undefined, yet rarely achieved “perfect weight” in our lives, aren’t we? It’s an elusive goal for many, but the man behind THE SECRET thinks he may have stumbled upon what it takes to reach it once and for all. Bob Proctor, well-known for his work on the uber-popular “The Secret,” along with Melonie Dodaro take readers through the process of growing from the inside out so they can accomplish the “weight release” (they don’t like the use of the term “loss” since it implies something that needs to be found again) they desire. This book is less about the nuts and bolts of shedding the pounds and more about getting your mind right about what it needs to be focused on in order for the “perfect weight” to happen. Now don’t get me wrong, there is some excellent nutritional and fitness advice in the program as well, but the take-home message is about beating down those monsters in your head that plagued your every effort. It’s time to overcome and beat down those demons once and for all.
4. Crack The Fat-Loss Code: Outsmart Your Metabolism and Conquer The Diet Plateau by Wendy Chant
If people would approach their weight loss like Gil Grissom on an episode of CSI, then perhaps they’d be a lot more successful at shaking the weight than they are. Finding the clues that lead to fat loss, applying those facts, and continually following the evidence can insure nothing but the best results humanly possible. That’s what author Wendy Chant has set out to do with this book. Through voracious scientific research, she has examined what it takes to burn fat and has developed a tested “code” for making it happen no matter who you are. Interestingly, the primary fuel source for energy that also brings about fat-burning is not carbohydrate–it’s fat! Chant is a big fan of what’s known as carb-cycling and suggests a series of four specific plans tailored to your particular goal. It’s an intensive eight-week program that then transforms into your permanent lifestyle choice. The best part about this new diet book is how encouraging Chant is throughout. She says to put away the negative thoughts about how you look and feel and just enjoy the life and the body you’ve been given. The changes that need to happen will happen if you commit to working the plan as best as you can. With special guidance all along the way and even some great recipes to make it work for you, this may be the clue you need that will unlock your own fat-loss code!
5. Meat: A Love Story by Susan Bourette
For people who adore low-carb living, this book sounds like a dream come true with a “love story” about one of the very staples of a low-carb diet. But investigative journalist Susan Bourette wanted to use this book to give people more of a reality check about the meat they are putting in their mouths so they can better appreciate not just the nourishment they are getting from it, but also the process it took to get it on your plate to begin with. Going undercover and making the rounds through the meat industry over the course of a year, Bourette shines the light on many of the problems associated with meat-making that are well-documented in the many news headlines about Mad Cow Disease, E. Coli, and just about everything from those animal rights wacko groups. But she also grew to have a greater appreciation for how healthy meat can be in your diet when the animals are treated well, given the proper diet of grass in the case of cows, and not tampered with artificially. In the end, she grew a deep appreciation for meat that she never thought about before and departed those lessons for all of us to enjoy. Whether you are a devout vegetarian and meat-eating maniac, you’ll find something in this book that will give you an even greater appreciation for this basic of all foods.
6. The Healthiest Meals On Earth: The Surprising Unbiased Truth About What Meals To Eat And Why by Dr. Jonny Bowden
One of the most prolific and talented low-carb writers in the post-Atkins era has got to be Dr. Jonny Bowden. Enthusiastic doesn’t even begin to describe this man who is devoted to helping people live better by making better choices about their diet, exercise routine, and life itself. His latest project is a companion book to the bestselling 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth sharing some great-tasting recipes using many of the ingredients in that robust list of “healthiest foods.” Written in typical JB-style with loads of fun-filled yet informative explanations where appropriate, this is one of the best cookbooks you’ll ever lay eyes upon! Low-carbers will especially appreciate all the attention to the healthfulness of consuming fat as part of these collection of meals.
7. Sugarettes: Sugar Addiction And Your Health by Dr. Scott Olson
What if we started treating sugar addiction like we do nicotine, heroin or crack cocaine addiction? Do you think it would change our perspective about how we view it? You bet it would which was the intention of the author and naturopathic physician Dr. Scott Olson when he wrote the book. Making the case that sugar is as harmful to public health as any drug out there today, Olson outlines all the ins and outs of this issue to help sugar addicts overcome their problem. Much of his advice focuses on cutting out not just the sugars that you consume, but also anything that would turn to sugar in the body. In other words, starchy carbohydrates are considered sugar by his definition as well. This is a perfect read for anyone who is following a controlled-carb nutritional approach and needs an extra boost of support in overcoming the need for sugar in their lives forever.
8. Toxic Fat: When Good Fat Turns Bad by Dr. Barry Sears
The most cutting-edge nutrition expert of our day has got to be Zone Diet creator Dr. Barry Sears. Long before anyone was talking about inflammation as a root cause in heart disease and other health issues, he was coming up with solutions to the problem that now is becoming more and more evident is the primary reason why people are suffering from heart attacks, cardiovascular issues, and even death. Don’t be fooled by the title, though. Dr. Sears is NOT describing dietary fat that you consume in your daily meals, but rather that fat that just sits there in your abdomen and never goes away. He believes that fat is “toxic” because it is a sign of the untreated inflammation that can and will lead to greater health problems down the road. Attacking it with an aggressive specialized fish oil treatment along with the Zone dietary approach can “reverse toxic fat syndrome in 30 days.” That’s what Dr. Sears says will happen and has the case studies of real people who have done it to prove his point. Whether you buy into the Zone diet or not, this book is well worth it just for the information on reducing inflammation to slow down the aging process, improve heart health, and restore your overall health to where it needs to be. That’s something you can trust Dr. Sears will watch out for. He always has!
9. The Sugar Fix: The High-Fructose Fallout That Is Making You Fat And Sick by Dr. Richard J. Johnson
Is it even conceivable that there is a substance in the foods we are eating that is quite literally making us fat and sick? Not only is it possible, but it’s happening with nary a fuss from the hundreds of millions of people each and every day who stuff their faces with food products containing high-fructose corn syrup. You’ve seen this in just about every processed food ever made and it’s even shown up in toothpaste and baby food of all things. HFCS has become a pandemic and Dr. Richard Johnson is trying to sound the warning alarm about it before it’s too late. He links it directly to high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and obesity, among other health calamities. The only bone of contention I have with Dr. Johnson is that I don’t think his work goes far enough. Simply blaming fructose and not recognizing the equally-damaging impact of other carbohydrate sources that can turn to sugar in the body (as Gary Taubes so aptly points out in his book Good Calories Bad Calories) is shortsighted. Nevertheless, Dr. Johnson has written quite a primer on HFCS that those people who blindly eat this stuff would be wise to study, absorb, and change their habits!
10. Strong Kids Healthy Kids: The Revolutionary Program For Increasing Your Child’s Fitness In 30 Minutes A Week by Fred Hahn
Everybody at some point or another gets on a fitness kick and tries to incorporate exercise into their family life for the sake of their health. It’s a noble task that oftentimes ends in quick failure because you didn’t have a clear-cut plan of action to make this new discipline become a permanent part of your regular routine. Fitness expert Fred Hahn understands this and wanted to equip parents and children alike with exercise that will be efficient, effective, and effortless compared to any activity you’ve ever done before to improve your strength and health. This book could easily have been called “Slow Burn For Kids” because many of the principles are taken directly from Hahn’s bestselling Slow Burn Fitness Revolution book co-written with Drs. Mike and Mary Dan Eades. The playful language that Hahn uses definitely reveals he’s a daddy who knows how to talk to his child. And that “voice” comes through loud and clear throughout the book. Combine “slow burn” fitness with a healthy low-carbohydrate nutritional approach and you have a perfect way to make your kids stronger and healthier than you ever thought possible!
11. Fat: An Appreciation Of A Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes by Jennifer McLagan
You’ve just gotta love a book that has a big fatty slab of meat on it! And while fat has gotten an unfair bad rap over the past few decades from the low-fat diet apologists, the fact is that fat consumption is an important part of living as healthy a lifestyle as you can. This is something Jennifer McLagan wanted to convey with her book to give people a greater “appreciation” for what is arguably the most flavorful ingredient you could put into a recipe (nope, not salt, not sugar, and not spices of any kind can compete with good old-fashioned FAT!). From butter to meat fats, McLagan gives you quite a history lesson on the subject of fat (and you can’t miss the section on where the ghastly margarine came from!) to whet your appetite for some truly incredible fat-based dishes to make. Not all of them are low in carbohydrates, but they can easily be adapted to just about any diet. Except for a low-fat one. Sorry low-fatties!
12. Trick And Treat: How ‘Healthy Eating’ Is Making Us Ill by Dr. Barry Groves
One of the world’s most outspoken proponents of a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet in modern-day society is UK-based researcher Dr. Barry Groves. This man is a walking, talking encyclopedia of all the information you could ever want to know about livin’ la vida low-carb and imparts that knowledge on all of us with this new book–a play on words with the popular slogan used at Halloween in the United States, but an apt title for what is happening with healthcare in the 21st century. Railing against the “healthy” low-fat diet that has been recommended for so long with no evidence to back it up, Groves runs through a long laundry list of various health myths where he sets the record straight. Medical school students and long-term doctors would probably learn more about diet and its relationship to health just from reading this book than in all the years they spent in medical school and in practice combined! Want an inexpensive education in health–READ THIS BOOK!
13. Fiber Menace: The Truth About the Leading Role of Fiber in Diet Failure, Constipation, Hemorrhoids, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease, and Colon Cancer by Konstantin Monastyrsky
Eat your fiber, get your whole grains, you need to make sure you eat your fruits and veggies to promote good digestive health. Has anyone ever bothered to ask if all that advice is prudent or not? Well, Konstantin Monastyrsky has done the research on fiber and it’s not as essential as we have been led to believe. In fact, he contends that fiber is not only NOT good for you, but it can wreak havoc as a “menace” on your health. The book goes on to talk about all the horrific conditions that consuming high amounts of fiber can lead to and it’s quite graphic for those of you who have queasy stomachs. But what made my stomach turn the most was how incredibly ignorant Monastyrsky was about the low-carb diets such as Atkins and South Beach. An avid zero-carb diet supporter, he describes these more traditional low-carb diets as a “passing fad” and dismisses them completely. Since I lost 180 pounds consuming that Atkins “fad,” I think it is quite arrogant of him to come down so hard on a way of eating that is very clearly helping a lot more people than he thinks. It looks like fiber isn’t the only “menace” we learn about in this book!
14. The Complete Beck Diet For Life: Featuring The Think Thin Eating Plan by Dr. Judith S. Beck
Can you just “think” yourself thin? Dr. Judith Beck certainly seems to think so and shows you how you can do it in this new book that follows up on her bestselling Beck Diet Solutions program. Her “cognitive therapy” approach for helping people lose weight zeroes in on the mind’s role in the dieting process. While most diet books tell you what to eat and when (and this one offers some of that, too!), the primary purpose is to train your mind to start playing a more active role in your life, consciously making choices with a reason behind them and being confident about those choices. While the book is tailored for people desiring weight loss, what you’ll soon realize is the principles Dr. Beck teaches can and will apply in just about every area of your life, too. And that’s one of the things that makes this book “complete” as it pertains to managing your diet and health in a way you’ve never thought about before.
Seen a book that you think might be of interest to people who are livin’ la vida low-carb? E-mail the name of the author and title of the book to livinlowcarbman@charter.net. I see most of them as they come in, but sometimes a few good ones may slip through without me seeing them. THANKS!
