Rating:  Summary: I really needed that.... Review: After sifting through volume upon volume of fruitless diet books, I felt like I finally hit pay dirt when I found Hariton's. Thin, funny, concise, and incredibly well-researched, this little guide to dieting might actually be worth a read and a try. Sometimes the profoundest ideas are also the simplest. How refreshing to think I might be able to resume eating normally, stop dieting endlessly, and feel youthful again!
Rating:  Summary: Finally... Review: As a physician and a former athlete, I have been advocating much of what is presented in this book for a long time. Diet will get you nowhere. I don't have patients who seriously exercise (regardless of what they eat) with chronic health problems.
This book is snappy, smart, and (most importantly) short. In a fairly successful manner, it not only describes the steps one must take, but it explains why.
The only thing missing is the rationale for why 30 minutes is the magic number. I also believe the benefits of weight training are underrepresented here.
I will be purchasing a copy of this book for many of my friends who constantly ask me about different diets/pills/miracle weight loss. It'll be a great xmas present.
Now if I could actually get them to do it...
Rating:  Summary: Finally... Review: As a physician and a former athlete, I have been advocating much of what is presented in this book for a long time. Diet will get you nowhere. I don't have patients who seriously exercise (regardless of what they eat) with chronic health problems.
This book is snappy, smart, and (most importantly) short. In a fairly successful manner, it not only describes the steps one must take, but it explains why.
The only thing missing is the rationale for why 30 minutes is the magic number. I also believe the benefits of weight training are underrepresented here.
I will be purchasing a copy of this book for many of my friends who constantly ask me about different diets/pills/miracle weight loss. It'll be a great xmas present.
Now if I could actually get them to do it...
Rating:  Summary: Nike and the Americans Review: Having just read Hariton's book, without the personal necessity or priority to diet, but out of an impulse to further understand a layman's examination of the genetic code. To alter the words of the geneticist Dr. Crick, people think the body (Crick uses the brain) is mysterious, but not the weather? Why not?Well, Hariton offers us a clearly written and succinct guide that should be sold with every pair of athletic shoes to every American out there wearing athletic shoes who is on some sort of diet, or taking some type of supplement to enhance or alter their appearance. Perhaps they would stop thinking they have a weight problem with the realization that what they are wearing is meant to be used. It is all quite simple, form follows function. Hariton takes us back to our primitive selves, revealing the transformative capacity in getting back to the basics of using our bodies. As the ubiquitous tagline tells, just do it .
Rating:  Summary: It just makes too much sense... And it feels good too! Review: I am one week into this program, and LOVE IT. By reducing the amount I have to be at the gym, and increasing the EFFORT during that time (it is not easy), I actually accomplish goal #1, which is to leave the gym feeling BETTER than when I got there.
The author is very practical, like suggesting you work out in the morning. All of the reasons he suggests are REAL WORLD, and I have hit them all. So that is what I do.
I believe you WILL BE SUCCESSFUL if you follow this book. It does 3 things, that I can feel after 1 week:
1) It removes the OBSESSION about food/deprivation
2) It has you starting your day feeling good/energized
3) It makes this the FIRST PART of EVERY DAY, and it becomes MORE POSSIBLE with every passing day. It is only 30 minutes.
Yes, I feel I can eat what I want, because I am no longer sprinting to lose some weight. I am CONFIDENT it will come off, and I have noticed a slight decline in my appetite already.
Many of the things that are suggested in the book I have come to believe are true already... Like forcing myself to avoid eating carbs will only backfire... Any short term solution will fail. It has to by its nature.
In one year, I know I might not be at my ideal weight, but I KNOW that I will be closer, and the path I am following is actually NOT a reactive decision, but a HEALTHY decision.
Bottom line, when was the last time you started a program you believed you COULD follow for the rest of your life BEFORE you EVEN started? This is that program!!!
Rating:  Summary: This may work for the most part but... Review: I do think you will need to watch what you eat at least for health reasons. Another problem here is it seems like the same people wrote all these glorious reviews. I don't think the reviews by all these first time posters or readers are genuine. Just exercise vigorously for 30-40 minutes everyday without buying a book and see what happens.
Rating:  Summary: Add stress and get hurt! Review: I started this routine in August. Within two weeks I had a condition where my eyes and eye area were so swollen that I looked like I got hit by a truck. I was not used to sweating like that and it had a very bad effect. I felt quite stressed trying to maintain a high enough heart rate. I even bought a $90 heart rate monitor watch. Please note that I have exercised at least 45 minutes per day for 20 years. Then I tried the routine a couple of weeks ago again. I felt severe stress trying to maintain the heart rate and I tried walking outside, but walking at the rate I needed to caused my shin splints to kick into overdrive. I then slowed my walking to ease the leg pain and added swinging my arms to pick up the heart rate. I pinched a nerve in my shoulder and may have compressed a disk, now causing shooting pains down my arm, numbness of two fingers, and inability to sleep in any position except on my back. Oh yeah. Great program. Line this up along with all the other fads (food and exercise) and throw it away. Yes, it is good to raise your heart rate so you get a true cardio workout. But this is just way too stressful.
Rating:  Summary: Life-changing Review: I'm a pretty thin person in his early 40s, and I've never had to worry about being seriously overweight, but I've spent most of my time since college wrestling with an extra 10 or so pounds around my waist. This meant 1) pangs of guilt when I would eat a big pile of french fries, or order dessert, or have a big breakfast instead of just cereal and skim milk, and 2) trying (and usually failing) to avoid the hunger pangs I felt when I'd try to make up for it by skipping a meal, or half-heartedly going on this or that diet... I was a little cynical when I first read this book -- I'm suspicious of sales pitches that tell you how "simple" and "easy" the product they're selling will be to use/follow/etc. -- but I'm not now: I've been doing 30 mins. of aerobic exercise a day for nearly 6 weeks, and the 10 extra pounds are gone, period. The most amazing thing is it doesn't seem to matter what I eat -- I haven't changed my dining habits at all (except for the fact that I truly enjoy a meal now without all of the attendant guilt). I feel great physically because I'm getting consistent exercise, but I also feel great psychologically, because I'm not constantly reprimanding myself for trying to ignore/repress my appetite (which takes a greater toll than many people realize). The best thing about this book is it's not just about dieting or appearance -- it's about listening to your body and taking positive steps toward a healthier, more fulfilling lifestyle. (The big plus is you also end up looking a lot better in the process...)
Rating:  Summary: So simple yet it works. Review: I've always hated exercise and never subscribed to dieting or a memberships to a gym. I now live my life the exact same, the only difference is the addition of a few minutes of exercise a week. I've been at it for 3 months now and I feel incredible. My back pain and stomach issues have also subsided. Give it a shot.
Rating:  Summary: This approach doesn't apply to everyone! Review: This book never addresses the fact that there are thin people in the world who DO NOT exercise for 30 minutes in their aerobic training zone every day. How do they stay thin?
What about physically challenged people? Sedentary people? People who can't (for whatever reason) exercise aerobically in their training zone for 30 minutes each and every day? Some are fat, some are thin. Obviously, there are other factors at work here besides activity level.
While I agree with Hariton that exercise is a good thing, I don't feel that it is the ultimate determining factor in fatness or thinness. How much food you eat plays an even greater role in the size of your body.
Hariton's premise of saying that 30 daily minutes of aerobic exercise in your training zone will somehow "trick" your body into responding like it is in caveman times is pretty flawed. How can anyone think that? Comparing modern life to life in prehistoric times is virtually impossible. Varying stresses, climates, living conditions--just to name a few differences--would all have had a MAJOR impact on shaping the prehistoric body. Not to mention that moving around for the majority of the day (not always in your "training zone") was most likely the way of life back then. There is no way we can even begin to replicate life in prehistoric times.
I highly recommend "The Overfed Head: What if everything you know about weight loss is wrong?" by Rob Stevens for the best approach to weight loss out there. It will explain a simple method to lose weight that is not dependent on a mandatory exercise regimen to get you thin. And it gives you the reasons why thin people are thin even if they don't exercise.
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