How Many Calories Will You Burn Doing Chores This Weekend?
Dylan Armajani: Run Past Your Goals and Find Yourself
According to the book, you're not fat because you're eating too much, but because your body 'wants' you to be fat when certain chemical and hormonal changes send 'starvation signals' to your body. The book also claims that your body puts on fat to essentially protect itself from harmful things including toxins, mental and emotional threats, stresses, radiation and even 'mental starvation' (which is caused when you're starving for love, joy or a deeper spiritual connection). By thinking positively, feeling appreciated, finding your passion in life and performing a series of different visualization techniques, you'll generate fewer starvation signals, enabling your body to lose more weight.
While the book's positive message and use of meditation is definitely something that may have an uplifting effect on readers that take it seriously, there is absolutely no calorie counting, food measuring, recipes or anything that's typically associated with diets (although there are recipes on his website). That can make it more difficult for dieters that need more direction when it comes to what they should be eating. Less-holistic types may also find the book a little too spiritual, especially when it comes to some of the main tips (which include cutting out a picture of the body you want to have, then imagining you have that body, as well as sitting in a quiet room with their eyes closed every day, then imagining a beam of light circling each of the 24 vertebra in their spine ten times each.)
Is the diet healthy?
Yes and no. The book doesn't ask dieters to starve themselves like some diet books do and it also encourages eating a mixture of healthy foods, requesting that each meal should contain some form of protein, some type of Omega-3 fatty acid and live food (which is any enzyme-rich, unprocessed food) at each sitting. It also encourages certain tried-and-true dieting tips --from never skipping breakfast, tapering off how much you eat closer to bedtime, drinking more water and eating more salads and stopping eating once you feel full. Its' biggest downfall is the freedom it allows the dieter, telling them to eat what they want without judgment, hesitation or guilt to de-emphasize their relationship with food. Dieters are even told they can eat processed, refined foods like breads, cereals, pasta and sugar for as long as their body craves them (since eventually, the cravings for them will go away.) These two loopholes alone could cause many dieters looking to eat guilt-free to consume far more calories and unhealthy foods than they should.
What do the experts say?
"The non-dieting approach really isn't as ground-breaking as they make it sound, but its message is very inspirational and some people may find it motivational," says Lona Sandon MEd, RD, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "The book gets readers to think about their relationship with food and how if you don't find your life that fulfilling, people look for other ways --such as eating in excess -- to fill those voids. The book also makes people think of their food in advance, so they may become more mindful of what they're eating throughout the day."
The potential drawback to its approach, according to Sandon, is that some people may not have the time to do all of the visualization techniques involved with the program. Another big flaw is that it never discusses what you should be eating in any great depth, so readers have less direction than most plans. "There are some inappropriate combinations in terms of food paring that are not nutritional truths," says Sandon. "Some of the facts are not based on sound science. Given that the author doesn't have a nutrition degree, readers should take the book for what it is: An inspirational story that gives them a different approach to creating a new relationship with their food, but in terms of understanding what to eat, see a registered dietician."
Who should consider the diet?
Anyone looking for some fun and creative ways to reduce stress and rethink why they're overeating in the first place.
Bottom Line
Although the book can be very uplifting in how it shows readers how to meditate to reduce stress, think positively and so forth, most of its 'what to eat' advice is very basic and there's not enough direction on portion control. Being able to "eat as much as you like" is also way too much freedom to offer dieters, especially those that may feel happiest and stress-free when overeating. These flaws provide far too much wiggle room for some dieters to take advantage of, keeping them eating more food than they should.
Foods
Omega-rich foods, mackerel, salmon, organic dairy products, grass fed beef, free-range chicken, flaxseeds, whey protein, omega-3 enriched eggs, raw nuts, seeds and fruit. What you can't: Nothing is really off the menu, but dieters are tools their cravings for bad foods will eventually go away.
Fitness expert Myatt Murphy is the author of the best-selling books, The Body You Want in the Time You Have, Ultimate Dumbbell Guide and The Men's Health Gym Bible.
While the book's positive message and use of meditation is definitely something that may have an uplifting effect on readers that take it seriously, there is absolutely no calorie counting, food measuring, recipes or anything that's typically associated with diets (although there are recipes on his website). That can make it more difficult for dieters that need more direction when it comes to what they should be eating. Less-holistic types may also find the book a little too spiritual, especially when it comes to some of the main tips (which include cutting out a picture of the body you want to have, then imagining you have that body, as well as sitting in a quiet room with their eyes closed every day, then imagining a beam of light circling each of the 24 vertebra in their spine ten times each.)
Is the diet healthy?
Yes and no. The book doesn't ask dieters to starve themselves like some diet books do and it also encourages eating a mixture of healthy foods, requesting that each meal should contain some form of protein, some type of Omega-3 fatty acid and live food (which is any enzyme-rich, unprocessed food) at each sitting. It also encourages certain tried-and-true dieting tips --from never skipping breakfast, tapering off how much you eat closer to bedtime, drinking more water and eating more salads and stopping eating once you feel full. Its' biggest downfall is the freedom it allows the dieter, telling them to eat what they want without judgment, hesitation or guilt to de-emphasize their relationship with food. Dieters are even told they can eat processed, refined foods like breads, cereals, pasta and sugar for as long as their body craves them (since eventually, the cravings for them will go away.) These two loopholes alone could cause many dieters looking to eat guilt-free to consume far more calories and unhealthy foods than they should.
What do the experts say?
"The non-dieting approach really isn't as ground-breaking as they make it sound, but its message is very inspirational and some people may find it motivational," says Lona Sandon MEd, RD, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "The book gets readers to think about their relationship with food and how if you don't find your life that fulfilling, people look for other ways --such as eating in excess -- to fill those voids. The book also makes people think of their food in advance, so they may become more mindful of what they're eating throughout the day."
The potential drawback to its approach, according to Sandon, is that some people may not have the time to do all of the visualization techniques involved with the program. Another big flaw is that it never discusses what you should be eating in any great depth, so readers have less direction than most plans. "There are some inappropriate combinations in terms of food paring that are not nutritional truths," says Sandon. "Some of the facts are not based on sound science. Given that the author doesn't have a nutrition degree, readers should take the book for what it is: An inspirational story that gives them a different approach to creating a new relationship with their food, but in terms of understanding what to eat, see a registered dietician."
Who should consider the diet?
Anyone looking for some fun and creative ways to reduce stress and rethink why they're overeating in the first place.
Bottom Line
Although the book can be very uplifting in how it shows readers how to meditate to reduce stress, think positively and so forth, most of its 'what to eat' advice is very basic and there's not enough direction on portion control. Being able to "eat as much as you like" is also way too much freedom to offer dieters, especially those that may feel happiest and stress-free when overeating. These flaws provide far too much wiggle room for some dieters to take advantage of, keeping them eating more food than they should.
Foods
Omega-rich foods, mackerel, salmon, organic dairy products, grass fed beef, free-range chicken, flaxseeds, whey protein, omega-3 enriched eggs, raw nuts, seeds and fruit. What you can't: Nothing is really off the menu, but dieters are tools their cravings for bad foods will eventually go away.
Fitness expert Myatt Murphy is the author of the best-selling books, The Body You Want in the Time You Have, Ultimate Dumbbell Guide and The Men's Health Gym Bible.
