Ultimate You: A 4-Phase Total Body Makeover

Every week, Joe Dowdell answers That's Fit's reader questions on how to properly train to see the results they want, whether it's running a personal best for a marathon or toning up for summertime.

Now Dowdell, personal trainer, strength coach and co-owner of one of Men's Health's top 10 gyms in America, is taking his wealth of knowledge to the mainstream. In his new book that comes out today, "Ultimate You," Dowdell and his co-author, naturopathic doctor and fat loss specialist Brooke Kalanick, offer an in-depth plan that uses diet and exercise to manipulate hormones to help you get the fit and healthy body you want.

That's Fit recently sat down with Dowdell and Kalanick to talk about how their first phase is different from every other diet book out there, why hormones are so important and their own weak spots when it comes to staying healthy.

That's Fit: Why another diet book?
Joe Dowdell: Most books stress weight loss, and we really stress fat loss. The book is about giving everyone all of the tools, from the strength training to the energy system training recovery and regeneration topics to hormonally-based nutrition. The plan progresses in a way that ensures success, minimizes injury potential and makes sure even though the goal is fat loss, we're strengthening and hitting areas that are typically weak or neglected.

TF: The book talks about hormones working together as a symphony. Why can't hormones be addressed individually?
Brooke Kalanick: If you're only focusing on one [hormone], it's a really delicate balance and it doesn't take much to mess up one and then mess up another one. None of these hormones work alone. No single one is the bad guy. Belly fat gets talked about with cortisol a lot, but insulin is right there to play along with it and that's one of the things that can put on fat too. Then there are other disruptions in testosterone and progesterone that play a role in how effective cortisol will be in putting on belly fat. We can't pick one and disrupt the others.

TF: Most diet books have an initial phase that's very restrictive, but "Ultimate You" doesn't. Why not?
JD: First of all, we took seven chapters to just set up the actual program. We even have a chapter on just preparing for the Ultimate You, so you're all ready to go when you start the program. In the first chapter, we don't throw a lot of different workouts at you. In the first phase, the exercises are not super difficult. We wanted it to be user-friendly for everyone, whether [the person] is an exerciser or not.

BK: Our book is almost exactly the opposite of other books. People are not going to have their greatest weight loss in the first phase. But that phase is going to set them up for so much more success to come. It's the same thing with the nutrition plan. The first phase is week-by-week (each phase is a month). It's really about troubleshooting all the ways that get in the way of losing weight.

TF: So many diet books don't even have an exercise component. Why did you decide to balance diet and exercise in this book?
JD: You have a lot of books that focus just on diet. It'll be a massive book with a tiny component that focuses on exercise. Then there are books that are really exercise-driven, but the workouts are not for the average user. They're very advanced, and then the diet and nutrition portion is very small. We tried to take both and bring them together. They're both really important, and they work together hand-in-hand.

TF: Joe, you're a big fan of getting outside to exercise. Why?
JD: I don't recommend the treadmill as my first choice; I recommend running outside, although I don't recommend running until eight weeks into this program. The difference is that running outside is very natural because we're propelling ourselves over a stationary surface, so the muscle recruitment pattern is going to be way more effective. You're going to get more glute activation, more calf engagement and more caloric expenditure when you run outside. And, being outside, you get vitamin D, fresh air and it's more visually stimulating.

BK: Spring and summer is certainly an easier time [to lose weight] because of the produce available. I would encourage people to go to their farmers market anyway. Things like grass fed beef, some grocery stores don't have that, so that's one of the places we recommend people go for protein sources.

TF: What can people expect to find online to accompany the book?
BK: There is a blog, as well as supplements we recommend. The blog will be informative and keep the ball rolling. In the future, we'll have an online forum and a cookbook, although there already a lot of recipes in the book -- but people always want more.

TF: You're both health and fitness professionals, but is there anything you struggle with to stay on track?
BK: I'm always working on drinking more water. For some reason, it's the one healthy habit of all the habits I struggle with.

JD: For me, it's about making sure I get my own workout in. I spend so much time training other people and running a gym that my day can slip away. Sometimes it would be easier to say 'screw it, I'll do it tomorrow,' but I know how good I'll feel and how much more productive I'll be after I do that workout. It may only be 20 minutes, but it will be a really good 20 minutes.

BK: Losing weight and retaining my weight is not easy for me. I'm insulin resistant, estrogen-dominant. I pretty much have all the issues we address in the book.

Check out That's Fit's weekly column, Your Personal Trainer, for advice from Joe on how to get your best body.