Since 2000, when Fat Wars was first published, thousands of North Americans have taken up Brad King's call to action and are now winning their own Fat Wars. Sammi B. of British "Mr. King, my dad has lost 70 pounds [in the last 4 months]...when he opened the door I asked where the rest of him was.... My dad is a walking advertisement for you and the Fat Wars book." Gilbert B. of "Life changing moment! I couldn't put it down. Today, most of my friends and relatives own a copy and they're livin' the life. Thanks!" Stephanie S. of "I have read your book and I loved it! It was amazing...I have seen some quick results and plan to live by your ways for the rest of my life." Why are they successful? As Brad says, "fad diets don't work." Worse, they often leave us fatter than before. Fat Wars takes the latest scientific knowledge about how our bodies use, store, and burn energy and makes that science work for us — to become leaner, healthier, and more energetic. Brad will give you knowledge you can use to craft an eating and exercise plan that will deliver results for you — in just 45 days!
What I liked best about this book, was that it wasn't a diet book. Most diet books, in my experience, tell you YOU CAN'T EAT THIS, or YOU HAVE TO DO IT THIS WAY, or THIS WAY IS THE ONLY WAY. They never explain how or why a food or action should be viewed negatively. Brad King delves into the science of how a body metabolizes everything you put into it, and explains the hormonal reactions to types of food. It's not just about calories in +/- calories out. It's the quality of the fuel that changes the way everything functions. He frequently compares the human body to a car, to make the science make more sense in layman's terms, and it works. After all, the body is just another machine--albeit an extremely complex and intricate one.
Now, when I look at a piece of bread, I know WHY my body wants it, and exactly what will happen inside when I put it in my mouth.
King discusses how evolution has provided us with a body that is excellent at processing food, but unfortunately it is not designed to metabolize refined wheat products, dairy, and sugar--especially not in the quantities we consume. Therefore, our bodies become weaker with every McMeal, as we are forcing ourselves to run (exclusively) on fuel that doesn't have the basic building blocks for survival.
I also loved how brief his fitness plan was, and how achievable. He recommends frequent walking, and exercises that can be done in a living room, in a short period of time, with whatever you have in your home. He offers instruction on how to increase the challenge, WHEN YOU NEED IT and not before.
Lastly, King's terminology is fantastic, emphasizing use of the word FAT to refer to the undesirable buildup in our body, instead of WEIGHT. Weight changes hourly, depending on activity, dehydration, temperature, etc. It is the stored FAT that is hanging on to toxins, clogging arteries, bulking out middles, and dragging down self-esteem.
A fabulous read for anybody who needs to know the WHY behind the body's reaction to food, and how to best achieve fitness results (right from ground zero,) safely and intelligently.
I liked the biochemistry discussions, interesting. The themes that were good to make transformation such as; takes dedication, cut down/out sugar, cut down/out alcohol, drink water, add exercise, keep journal of what eating and exercise, don't overdo exercise, get sleep, balance meals, right portions, more meals/snacks per day rather than starve/long periods without eating. These themes are also the basics of Weight Watchers. Also the 9 week period is about the same initial period for Weight Watchers period. So all this type of advice is excellent and in keeping with programs to change life patterns for a healthier you. This is true and takes effort! What I didn't like was the emphasis on non standard food (protein isolates) and supplements. lots of health gurus come up with "supplements" and make a lot of money from them. Brad King did start supplement line. Relying on protein isolates as a core strikes me as wrong. I know people who are allergic to them, be careful. Also many supplements can be harmful depending on how your body reacts. Green tea extracts have been responsible for liver damage in some cases. Have some green tea would be safer than buying extracts.
A concise and well-researched book regarding the methodology and science behind losing weight. Although this book was published over 2 decades ago and I haven't looked into the websites the author quoted in the book for supplement and vitamin resources, it was helpful to have a jumping off point of where to look for these items. It was also refreshing to not read a self-help diet manual - this book advised the foods to not eat while doing specific exercises for a specified time period but that, after the 45 days, you can start to gradually add in the foods that were eliminated (think, elimination diet to test for allergies/sensitivities). I look forward to starting this program and finding out if it was, in fact, beneficial or not.