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Cook Your Butt Off!: Lose Up to a Pound a Day with Fat-Burning Foods and Gluten-Free Recipes
Turn the kitchen into your gym! #1 New York Times bestseller and celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito helps you stay ahead of your calorie intake by cooking healthy and delicious dishes--all sugar-, gluten-, and lactose-free--designed to burn more calories than they contain!
Cardio Cooking is a uniquely engineered type of cooking formulated to help readers burn calories and lose weight while they cook. That's right--for the first time, Rocco turns dinnertime into workout time, showing how to burn calories automatically in the kitchen. These delicious, easy-to-follow recipes were tested for calorie content and calorie burn. It includes 75 all new recipes based on foods that are sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, high in prebiotics/probiotics, high in fiber, and supportive of the body's acid-alkaline balance. Whole foods grown locally and made at home equal whole body fitness. Complete with informative sidebars, tips, and tricks to help increase heart rate and physical activity during the cooking process. This book offers exactly what dieters need to cook their butts off!
Cardio Cooking is a uniquely engineered type of cooking formulated to help readers burn calories and lose weight while they cook. That's right--for the first time, Rocco turns dinnertime into workout time, showing how to burn calories automatically in the kitchen. These delicious, easy-to-follow recipes were tested for calorie content and calorie burn. It includes 75 all new recipes based on foods that are sugar-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, high in prebiotics/probiotics, high in fiber, and supportive of the body's acid-alkaline balance. Whole foods grown locally and made at home equal whole body fitness. Complete with informative sidebars, tips, and tricks to help increase heart rate and physical activity during the cooking process. This book offers exactly what dieters need to cook their butts off!
272 pages, Hardcover
First published February 17, 2015
35 people are currently reading
629 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
November 3, 2015
What the hell is this supposed to be? I saw DiSpirito on TV and thought, maybe I'll get one of his cookbooks, see what it's about. The pictures of the food are all pink, and overexposed photos. Nutrition is listed first as what it is, but right under in the amount of calories you'll burn while you prepare it. It's just kind of weird. Very off-putting.
February 10, 2016
If you can follow the plan, I'm sure you can lose a pound a day...you may also find the book is as tasty as the food.
August 14, 2015
Good ideas but ingredients way too weird for me.
May 7, 2015
What a disappointment!
I really do like it when a diet/cookbook has something unique about it that separates it from the thousands of others in the genre. If you don't have magnificent pictures, for example, you really need to have an interesting theme that will catch the attention of your readers.
On the surface, it seems that Rocco DiSpirito may have found a special little twist for his "Cook Your Butt Off" book -- while promoting a natural, organic, low-fat, gluten-free diet, he asserts that his recipes will actually burn calories in preparation. Thus, we as readers may be able to enjoy these recipes with a little less guilt, having burned off a percentage of the calories before even partaking of the food!
Now, to be honest, the whole thing just sounds sketchy. Who is going to actually burn a noticeable amount of calories smashing a rice cake? Or, as DiSpirito suggests at one point, how many readers will actually be able to walk to the grocery store and lug the bags back on foot?
Probably not enough to make this gimmick worthwhile.
As an aside, why so many artificial sweeteners? Aren't the natural ingredients -- especially the fruit -- sweet enough? And, what's the fascination with monk in the raw?
I'll still look into other books by Rocco DiSpirito in the future, I think -- but, with so many options on the market today, Cook Your Butt Off really isn't worth a second glance.
I really do like it when a diet/cookbook has something unique about it that separates it from the thousands of others in the genre. If you don't have magnificent pictures, for example, you really need to have an interesting theme that will catch the attention of your readers.
On the surface, it seems that Rocco DiSpirito may have found a special little twist for his "Cook Your Butt Off" book -- while promoting a natural, organic, low-fat, gluten-free diet, he asserts that his recipes will actually burn calories in preparation. Thus, we as readers may be able to enjoy these recipes with a little less guilt, having burned off a percentage of the calories before even partaking of the food!
Now, to be honest, the whole thing just sounds sketchy. Who is going to actually burn a noticeable amount of calories smashing a rice cake? Or, as DiSpirito suggests at one point, how many readers will actually be able to walk to the grocery store and lug the bags back on foot?
Probably not enough to make this gimmick worthwhile.
As an aside, why so many artificial sweeteners? Aren't the natural ingredients -- especially the fruit -- sweet enough? And, what's the fascination with monk in the raw?
I'll still look into other books by Rocco DiSpirito in the future, I think -- but, with so many options on the market today, Cook Your Butt Off really isn't worth a second glance.
Read
April 9, 2015Worst cookbook that I have looked at in a very long time. I am not a fan of Rocco for a variety of reasons. His cookbook is definitely a reflection of all the things I don't care for about him and his cooking. I couldn't find a recipe that I wanted to read in its entirety much less prepare. I read cookbooks like best selling novels and spend an enormous amount of time cooking.
Don't waste your money on this book. There are far too many excellent cookbooks out there.
Don't waste your money on this book. There are far too many excellent cookbooks out there.
March 19, 2015
No, can't do it. Half the ingredients aren't even food. And the pictures are all pink, wtf
August 15, 2017
Surprised to see no one mentioned psyllium husks (nature's laxative) as a grain stand-in for many of these recipes. You aren't necessarily cooking your butt off here, you're pooping your guts out instead. Another definitive but unsavory (and unsafe) way to lose weight.
October 1, 2017
Great book.
May 12, 2022
Recipes were a little weird but it was the photos of the recipes that I didn’t like. They are all in a reddish pink color and it’s almost impossible to tell what they are.
February 26, 2023
This book really made me enjoy cooking. And motivated me to start moving.
July 18, 2015
This book was OK For me. I cook at home anyway and that is half the battle won. However, i think making things easy such as using 'normal'fresh produce and generally staying away from the whites; sugar, flour and rice would be more accessible to many people watching the scale. Reading labels should also be a habit.
In summary:
CONS
1) Mostly caters to western diets
2) Images in pink? why? - cost saving?
3) Pretty high carb count mostly more than 150g of carbs a day
PROS
1) Brings awareness to how processed food are simply bad
2) Suggested alternatives, even if those seems to be like a pie in the sky (low calories)
3) Easy to read
4) reminds me of my digital scale
Finished reading in one sitting. Dog eared a few recipes that do not read too fantastic. Minding tha alkaline versus acidic list.
First time reading Rocco and might read another before passing judgement.
My take away/ new things i learn and will put to use immediately:
To include the following into my grocery cart the next time i shop.
1) Mushrooms
2) lean turkey
3) palm sugar
4) low GI products
5) yogurt
..basically more of the alkaline stuff.
In summary:
CONS
1) Mostly caters to western diets
2) Images in pink? why? - cost saving?
3) Pretty high carb count mostly more than 150g of carbs a day
PROS
1) Brings awareness to how processed food are simply bad
2) Suggested alternatives, even if those seems to be like a pie in the sky (low calories)
3) Easy to read
4) reminds me of my digital scale
Finished reading in one sitting. Dog eared a few recipes that do not read too fantastic. Minding tha alkaline versus acidic list.
First time reading Rocco and might read another before passing judgement.
My take away/ new things i learn and will put to use immediately:
To include the following into my grocery cart the next time i shop.
1) Mushrooms
2) lean turkey
3) palm sugar
4) low GI products
5) yogurt
..basically more of the alkaline stuff.
March 6, 2015
I was expecting an every-day, healthy cookbook and was disappointed to find an extreme 14-day-weight-loss guide.
Rocco's plan is to:
#1--Turn your kitchen into a gym. Prepare your own food and burn calories in its preparation.
#2--Choose foods that burn fat naturally. This means easing off or eliminating meat, dairy, gluten and other foods from your diet.
#3--Avoid impure, fat-promoting foods. In other words, buy organic and local.
I believe in moderation. Eliminating gluten and dairy and sugar is not something I'm willing to do, even for just 14 days.
Adding to my disappointment, I was unable to find one appealing recipe and not just because all the food photos are in pink.
This cookbook will appeal to some crazy food strict-tarians or those with actual dietary limitations--but unfortunately, it will be avoiding my recipe shelf and finding a new home.
I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads. Thank you very much!
Rocco's plan is to:
#1--Turn your kitchen into a gym. Prepare your own food and burn calories in its preparation.
#2--Choose foods that burn fat naturally. This means easing off or eliminating meat, dairy, gluten and other foods from your diet.
#3--Avoid impure, fat-promoting foods. In other words, buy organic and local.
I believe in moderation. Eliminating gluten and dairy and sugar is not something I'm willing to do, even for just 14 days.
Adding to my disappointment, I was unable to find one appealing recipe and not just because all the food photos are in pink.
This cookbook will appeal to some crazy food strict-tarians or those with actual dietary limitations--but unfortunately, it will be avoiding my recipe shelf and finding a new home.
I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads. Thank you very much!
May 3, 2016
This book has two shaky diet premises that are among the current diet fads; gluten free and acid/alkaline balance. Since he also still recommends calorie counting I can give a pass on this. He has several ingredients that are a bit shady, for example, the new monk fruit sugar which is heavily processed and xanthan gum which may be unsafe for kids. Some of the other novel ingredients may be worth a look.
Another aspect to this book that's a bit weird is the fitbit stuff and the calorie counting on the food prep work, since you should be making your own meals anyway, you can safely ignore it unless you're a gadget addict.
There are some interesting Asian fusion recipes which I may try. In the past, any recipes of his I have used worked out but they were American or Italian. I will hold off rating the book until then.
After a closer look I didn't see any recipes that I didn't already have or wasn't interested in them. Between the so-so recipes and the skatey diet advice this book leaves a bad taste for me.
Another aspect to this book that's a bit weird is the fitbit stuff and the calorie counting on the food prep work, since you should be making your own meals anyway, you can safely ignore it unless you're a gadget addict.
There are some interesting Asian fusion recipes which I may try. In the past, any recipes of his I have used worked out but they were American or Italian. I will hold off rating the book until then.
After a closer look I didn't see any recipes that I didn't already have or wasn't interested in them. Between the so-so recipes and the skatey diet advice this book leaves a bad taste for me.
April 6, 2015
The book has great tips for a healthier lifestyle, but the pics of the food pages just didn't do it for me. Everything was an odd shade of pepto pink which was not appetizing. The book is broken into well informed sections and led you to the recipes in a cohesive manner. When you get to the recipes it starts with drinks and moves through breakfast, snack, lunch, dinner, salads and desserts. Fortunately, I stuck with the recipes as I read through them as I thought that all the drinks were a hideous pink color then I realized all the food pictures were in the same awful color scheme. So does that mean that the food is so unappetizing looking that they had to hide it behind a pink colorblock? I'm going to give a few recipes a whirl, but in general I just don't think this is the healthy cookbook for me. Good luck to you and maybe you'll find more inspiration than I did.
April 2, 2015
I won this book in one of the give aways on Goodreads. I think the idea is great and it is written so it's easy to read. I haven't tried any of the recipes. Most of them require special ingredients or ingredients that cost more than my budget can allow. If you have the resources, I would imagine this book would have many great recipes and give you great results. I have a family of five to feed on a limited budget so it didn't work so great for me. I love this chef however and hope it does well.
April 27, 2016
WTF!!!!! I guess that I should have read reviews for this book before I got it. I got partially through it and quit. My biggest problem with this book was the pictures. I am big on a cook book having pictures but HELLO!!!! Real color!!! What is with the pink and red pictures? You could not tell what they were. For all I know it could have been brains. That's what it looked like. It overshadowed everything else.
March 27, 2015
Rocco DiSpirito is amazing! His latest book, Cook Your Butt Off! is just another testament of his brilliance. He is smart, sexy and funny.....and he can cook. Not only can he cook, he can cook foods that are actually good for you. I have recently gone gluten free/partial paleo. I found this book was full of fantastic recipes and tips and I have suggested it to others who are trying to go gluten free.
April 9, 2015
First let me say, I love Rocco! I have several of his books and love them all!. That being said, his new book is a total miss! I just don't really care for it. All the suggestions about how many calories you can burn just by cooking seems a little disjointed and quite frankly quite hokey. I also found that most of recipes just do not seem all that appealing. And the pictures drove me crazy, different shades of pink, very harsh on the eyes.
February 23, 2015
Rocco is a delight to read, you can almost see him dancing in the kitchen while whisking cream. My mother, who is trying to lose weight, and I tried a number of recipes and they are great. This approach makes sense and will be added to the shelves of Kitchigami Regional Libraries. Read through NetGalley.
May 24, 2015
I wouldn't call this a cookbook not a diet book...it's just bad. All of the pictures and much of the text is in red and difficult to read or see. Rocco claims that he wants you to eat local and naturally but many of the recipes include extracts and other non-good items. So glad I checked this book out from my local library. Rocco must have one high dollar publicist to sell so many books.
March 23, 2015
Why oh why oh why would you publish a cookbook with every photo of food a pale out of focus pink? Distracted me from the recipes and overall message of the book. Many recipes also contain monk fruit extract, the "newest sweetener on the block." No thanks.
April 1, 2015
Easy to read and well organized on how to lose weight in 2 weeks. Some great recipes and charts to help you stay organized. Gives some good alternatives to your favorite fatty foods. I think it should be easy to incorporate into your daily routine.
March 7, 2016
Not quite what I was expecting. Some great ideas on how to eliminate certain foods in your diet with options to replace.
Could be difficult implementing this plan in a family if not everyone is on board with it.
Could be difficult implementing this plan in a family if not everyone is on board with it.
April 14, 2015
I have checked out a couple of RD's books and found that I enjoyed them. This one had a gimmicky, dime a dozen, just another diet book feel to it
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews