Making the Cut

I give the ax to the book, Making the Cut: The 30 Day Diet and Fitness Plan to a Stronger, Sexier You, by Jillian Michaels.  While she might be a gifted trainer and a beloved reality tv show personality on Biggest Loser, she is no author.  Besides this book being costly (at $24.95), I thought it was overly-ambitious, lacked necessary details in key areas, and inflexible.

First, I understand it is a 30 day plan, and it is supposed to be intense.  I am accustomed to working out 5 days a week and have been doing so for a number of years now.  I’m not exactly a slouch when it comes to exercise know-how or terminology, and yet I still found myself in over my head.  During the first work-out, I think I strained my hip flexor attempting to perform this multi-stepped move. 

So besides the fitness, the meals were also really hard to follow.  The idea is don’t deviate AT ALL from the meal set-up.  Again I understand it is a 30 day program.  One of the few things I did like about this book was the test inside that gauges your sensitivity to carbs and weak points in your diet.  You are then given one of three tracks based on your answers.  I did learn what meal compositions might be best for me and was an area that I have tried to incorporate in my general nutrition.  Now the meal lay-out was much more complex.  Again, a strict meal plan was provided, yet it was up to the user to determine how much of everything equated to the caloric recommendation without providing the calorie breakdown for each item in the recipe.  Also, some of the meals called for eating canned salmon.  For real, I would rather starve than consume canned salmon.  For me, I have really studied food, calories, and servings, so I have a pretty good idea of what is a comparable meat or fish that I might like, but if someone is not that well-versed, I feel like it is going to be disastrous.  On a side note, if anyone is looking for a good calorie guide, Calorie King makes a pocket book that is AWESOME.  It gives you nutritional information on basic food groups as well as popular eating establishments.

While, the book claims to be for the “intermediate exerciser” and not the beginner, I really found it to be lacking and much harder to follow.  I would have rather saved the $25.00 and put it toward a personal training session.  If you still think that this might be the book for you, I would at least recommend purchasing it used or discounted on amazon.com. 

Glucomannan in Review

A couple of weeks ago, I took on the challenge of incorporating 6 grams of glucomannan in my diet as suggested by a food plan put forth in Women’s Health (WH).  Please refer to old blog post for background information.  I failed you all!  First, I had a lot of trouble incorporating 2 grams of this super pill, let alone 6 grams.  WH touted no vicious side effects, I must admit that my stomach was not having it.  The times where I could not check my self-control at the door and gave in to sinful pleasures like Golden Oreos [the most delicious treats on earth], it didn’t seem to matter that I had consumed a substance that was supposed to expand 50 times its own water weight.  It in no way prevented me (or limited me) from scarfing down these little treats from heaven.  So I’m sorry to say that I gave this a thumbs down.  If anyone still is interested, I have a whole bottle left that I would be happy to donate.

 I think other folks have the potential of being successful with this.  In theory, it is no different than the idea of incorporating ground flaxseed in oatmeal and bowls of cereal.  For me, I think I couldn’t get over the idea that it probably wasn’t something sustainable in the long-term, kind of like SlimFast.  Are we really “designed” to drink fluids that are supposed to expand in our stomachs and therefore, prevent us from eating?  It just seems cruel, unless you are using the SlimFast as a thickening agent in a milkshake (seriously, this is highly-recommended and brilliant)!  So, my failure could have easily been contributed to my own biases rather than the lack of effectiveness of this “supplement”.  For now, I’m still of the firm belief that balanced meals and regular exercise is the key to the healthiest and fittest lifestyle.  Just one person’s opinion!