 "Nice exercise book, but a middling diet" | 2008-09-14 |
| - Reviewed By User: A229VYYCMD9MEO |
I got this book after having great success losing weight with Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program for Permanent Weight Loss, but finding I wasn't doing much on the exercise front and had lost a lot of muscle as well as fat. I had also picked up David Zinczenko's Eat This Not That!: Thousands of Simple Food Swaps That Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds-or More!, which I felt had a practical approach similar to Dr. Shapiro's.
One thing that really bothers me about a diet book is when I see something in it that's just an oft-repeated myth, without vetting it. For example, the Abs Diet recommends that we drink at least eight cups of water a day. Google "eight cups water myth" and you'll see that that's pretty much a myth - check the link from [...]. That makes me even more concerned about downing whey powder, which the Abs Diet recommends, along with a recommendation to take in a gram of protein per pound of bodyweight a day - a really large amount of protein. I haven't seen good medical evidence on this one, but I do know that it's heavily promoted by every whey powder manufacturer in existence, and I bet you the original science is lost in the shuffle. Finally, we're told that a pound of muscle burns "up to" 50 additional calories per day. Even bodybuilding sites question this (maybe it depends on what is meant by "up to"), and there are studies that say the additional metabolic effect of muscle is very minimal. Those last two points throw the entire diet into question in my mind, since the diet is all about eating more protein to build more muscle to burn off more calories.
As a recommendation - just because one scientific study or a thousand different websites say something about diet or exercise doesn't mean it's true. Scientific studies about diet and exercise are often contradictory and confusing, and there are often tens or hundreds for one particular area, making it easy for someone wanting to make an argument to cherry-pick. Websites (and people) often repeat misinformation. David Zinczenko's problem is that he repeats a lot of what he has heard without doing much vetting.
With that said I did start following the exercise plan - which I like a lot - and got a few decent diet ideas out of the book. The exercise plan is written so you can do it with dumbbells or in a gym. You're put through a total-body circuit very quickly. The net effect is that you get cardio and strength training in a single workout.
And the diet as a whole doesn't seem horrible depending on how you interpret it - but I think there are better diet ideas out there, including the Dr. Shapiro one above. |
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 "The Ab's diet works" | 2008-09-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: A217OTO7QY7ZZL |
| This book is I believe the most common sense eating plan I have ever read. It's informative, and obviously backed up by good research. In Three month's with a moderate workout, I am down almost a total of 20 pounds, from 210 getting close to 190. It's great reading and fun reading which is rare in a book like this. Anyone who gives less than a 5 star review needs to get off their Butt and get to work. Sorry, can't stand the complainers. |
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 "Abs Diet" | 2008-08-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: A14NAFIUT6DLAO |
| The word "diet" shouldn't even be in the title of this book because it's not really a diet. The book explains what you should be eating the most of and what you should stay away from, but not in a 'diet' sort of way by limiting your daily intake. He basically says to eat all you want of the healthy foods nature has to offer! Great book for those who are frustrated with yo-yo dieting and other eating plans that you cannot keep up with for a lifetime. This one can!! |
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| "Decent health book" | 2008-07-30 |
| - Reviewed By smeissner2 |
| The book has helped me to clean up my diet, however I haven't really lost much weight on the program so I've also started counting calories a bit. I'm impressed however by the exercise regime set out in the book. |
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| "Good ideas need to be organized" | 2008-07-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: A35QQIE1DYXZMD |
| The author has good overall ideas on weight loss, but needs to organize his program into a step by step method. The book is too hodge podge considering the fact that what he says is not overwhelming. |
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| "Excellent Book!!!" | 2008-07-18 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3J6V28EGNRIWI |
| I got the hard copy and the book is excellent. The book illustrates why people do not lose weight or perhaps show definition even if they work out frequently. The book also has schedules and foods that you should eat to improve your health. Well worth every penny in my opinion. |
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| "Easy to read & an eyeopener!" | 2008-07-06 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3MCDU7ZEE0W1E |
| This book was recommended to me when I started on my weight loss journey. I had been a yo-yo dieter for years but this book really opened my eyes. It was easy to read and just a revelation. I truly feel it helped me to be successful... in understanding food and making better choices. I've now lost 70 lbs and I think reading this book really helped get me started. |
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| "Awsome -- highly reccomend it" | 2008-06-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: AM0HZXR1CXBDO |
easy to learn nutrition techniques. Personally I lost only a few pounds but I am turning fat into muscle. I would recommend some sort of fat burner to help curve hunger. I used 2 boxes of astrophex
Portion control and buying the healthier foods is the way to go - This is a life style long term dealio. |
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| "Very Good" | 2008-06-14 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2120R0TMKXFCY |
I would really recommend it for eveybody.
it is not a diet, it is more of a lifestyle. So it is not about eating less like any other regular diet, it is about eating what's right.
I think the book looks too big! the concepts are easy and the author didn't need to repetitive!
buy only this book and one of its workout dvds, and do not bother buying the other abs diet books (same info over and over again!) |
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| "Changed My Life" | 2008-06-13 |
| - Reviewed By duke_vega |
My weight (& waistline) had always been a struggle for me. I had read other books about getting in shape, but I could never stick with them. Then I read this book, recommended to me by a co-worker, and it has changed my life forever.
What blew me away was the importance of what you eat. Sure, exercise is important, but think about it: you eat more times a day than you work out, so shouldn't you be paying just as much attention (if not more) to what you eat than going to the gym?
Other books I read stressed diet as well, but this book gave the WHY, not just the WHAT. And now, I do not look at food the way I used to. Foods I used to love, like pizza and fries, I now limit myself to them just once a week--if that.
I cannot recommend this book enough. I just hope it works you like it has for me. For me, it took three weeks before I began noticing the changes, so this is something you will need to be patient with; this is a marathon, not a sprint. |
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