Jason Earl wrote:
[...]
> OK, that's like the 10th time I have seen you suggest "The Abs Diet"
> (and no, I didn't google to see how many times you have actually
> mentioned this book).
Hmm...
(Googles)
"26 results for curt , abs diet"
....
I was curious.
> I honestly thought you were kidding.
No joke.
)
> So what's the deal. I checked out the website and this is
> representative of the sort of claims made.
>
> Simply put, The Abs Diet is a scientifically proven food plan that
> turns on your metabolic fat furnaces and puts the resulting energy
> to work building muscle. Within 2 weeks, you'll lose up to 12
> pounds of fat--from your belly first! From there, you'll convert
> fat to muscle with a sensible exercise (30 minutes three times a
> week) and eating (six meals a day!) plan that will give you your
> best physique and keep you at optimal health for life. This is a
> diet plan anyone can stick to: The portions are man-size, the
> instructions are simple, and the results will be food that even
> Archie Bunker would love!
>
> This sort of ad copy rings my alarm bells, and it is not the worst of
> it either. Heck, there are several places on the website where the
> diet promises to "turn fat into muscle."
Some I'm sure would say it smacks of hucksterism, but I see it as an
entertaining style of writing. References to pop culture in Archie
Bunker, enthusiasm-building visual imagery in "fat furnaces" and, yes,
a BUY NOW! TODAY! directive in "you'll lose up to 12 pounds of
fat--from your belly first!" But the information is rock solid.
I know I'm a cheerleader for this book and, yes, biased, so check out
what Publishers Weekly has to say:
Eat everything. Concentrate on whole grains. Drink milk. Balance
protein with carbohydrates. Avoid processed sugars. Do some exercise.
The idea that a diet book making such proposals comes as a pleasant
surprise shows just how far afield we've gone in the search for new
ways to be fit. The only thing new about this diet by the
editor-in-chief of Men's Health is its name, and this, one can presume,
is because nowadays, a book simply called "Sensible Eating" wouldn't
sell. The book's title is indeed misleading; only the final chapter
deals solely with abs. The rest is full of rational recommendations for
a realistic diet plan: eat more and smaller meals; have oatmeal in the
morning for a nourishing breakfast; don't starve yourself; drink plenty
of water; and stay away from sodas and foods that contain high-fructose
corn syrup. Whether readers will, in the end, walk away with abs of
steel is not really the point. They'll control their weight in a
healthy way, without counting calories, cutting out whole food groups
or supporting the beef futures market. Best of all, this book tells
readers why it works: increase your body's metabolism, gain some muscle
and fat burns away. The authors make this seem like a fresh and very
attainable ideal.
/quote from
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579549985/104-4021844-4537547?v=glan...n=28315
aka
http://tinyurl.com/pmykv
The Amazon link or TinyURL link will take you to Amazon's Abs Diet page
which, along with book specifics, offers 146 customer reviews not all
of which are especially glowing, but that might dull your alarm bells a
bit.
> So what's the deal with this book?
It's Harley orange! What can I say?
Seriously, I was first introduced to the book courtesy of Amazing Abs,
a just-less-than-magazine-size book from Men's Health and the good
people at Rodale Inc.
Amazing Abs has much the same info as The Abs Diet but with a lot more
pictures. The cover screams "LOSE YOUR GUT! Exclusive! Abs Diet
Excerpt" and has a pic of a guy displaying a cover model six-pack.
I liked the humor and no-nonsense approach used in that book. Diet and
exercise plans, visually appealing with tons of pics of male and female
models demonstrating correct exercise performance. Amazing Abs is a
collection of bits and pieces of other Rodale books edited together in
a truly artful way, imo. Informative, attractive, accessible.
Enjoying that book piqued my interest in The Abs Diet. Fwiw, it's a New
York Times bestseller. It's written in an engaging manner,
straightforward, intelligent, and, yes, again, with humor. Early in the
book, the message "Changing the Way You Think About the Word Diet" is
offered as a headline. The book does just that. The writers say it
better than I ever could:
"For years - or maybe for all your life - you've probably had one
notion about what dieting needs to be. Restrict your foods, eat like a
supermodel, sweat on the treadmill, and you'll lose fat. In reality,
those could be the very reasons why you couldn't lose weight. It's why
you gained back what you lost. It's the reason why your steamboat
metabolism may have geared down to that of an anchored barge. It's why
you don't see much progress when you try new weight-loss programs. And
it's why the only real recipe many diet plans offer is a recipe for
pecan-encrusted failure."
That's some visual imagery. I like it. A lot. Yeah, it could probably
be boiled down to five or ten pages of text, but for ten bucks, this
book and its philosophy, imo, can't be beat.
And, yes, David Zinczenko (with Ted Spiker) has a good bit of P.T.
Barnum or carnival barker in him, but, imo, this book is not for
suckers*. Zinczenko's enthusiasm leaps from the page. Good information,
visually appealing, right price, and a motivational writing style all
equal a book I'm glad I purchased. Ymmv. ;o)
AGAIN, YMMV! HOWEVER ~*I*~ FOUND IT INTERESTING!
)
I also picked up The Abs Diet Eat Right Every Time Guide which includes
789 of what the authors call the best on-the-go food choices. It's
offered as a complete supermarket survival guide and contains 60
six-minute meals for a six-pack.
> Jason
*bonus trivia wrt the suckers quote:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There's_a_sucker_born_every_minute
9 out of 10 small coteries of sycophants approve of this post.
--
Curt
http://curtjames.com/ >> Stay informed about: Lifting for fat loss - high reps/low weight? low reps/high.. 
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