Jonathan Bailor

Johnathan Bailor has written a diet book unlike the others. He changes the myths of dieting that include eating less, exercising more, and counting your carbs, your sugars,and your calories and changes it to eating more and exercising less. I was skeptical and couldn't wait to see what Bailor had to say.

In THE CALORIE MYTH, Bailor spends much of the first third of the book giving you study after study of both humans and rodents that prove the fact that calorie counting doesn't work, but what does work is SANE eating and changing your set point. SANE stands for Satiety, Aggression, Nutrition and Efficiency. By categorizing food and how they are digested in your body into these characteristics, you will find that foods high in protein, low in fat/sugars, and non-starchy vegetables meet the SANE eating requirements. By eating these foods, you change your set point or metabolism and only then, can you begin lose weight. You can eat these SANE foods until you are full thereby not leaving room for other fat-causing foods. He gives you study after study that shows the benefits of SANE eating and how counting calories like other diet plans have you do, just don't work.

After I began reading THE CALORIE MYTH, I found the first few studies interesting, but after that, they began to get a bit boring and I just wanted to get to the meat of the book. Since I read this on my Kindle, it was harder for me to skip ahead of all the studies. If I had read a physical copy, I would have likely jumped ahead a lot quicker. I understand that the author wanted you to see the science behind his research, but I think he could have presented it with less studies.

Once I got to the actual part of the book where Bailor shares his plan for eating more and exercising less, I was quite interested. His tips aren't new to us: eat more lean meats and protein, more leafy, green vegetables and less of the starchy, carbohydrates and sweets and you will see results. I know all this, but it is certainly difficult in our culture to turn away from pizza, fried foods, and sweets. I found his explanation of calorie counting to make a lot of sense. He stated:

More water and fiber means bigger food, more stretch and getting fuller and staying fuller longer. That is why 200 calories of wet, fibrous celery is more filling than 200 calories of dry, fiber-free gummy bears. Calorie for calorie, celery is about thirty times the size of gummy bears, stretches our stomach and other digestive organs much more, and is therefore much more satisfying. In the same way, 250 calories of Twinkies are not the same as 250 calories of broccoli.

Throughout the book, Bailor also addresses the political and financial motivation of our government, agri-business and major food corporations. Really, if we can't pronounce the name of the ingredient on the box, should we be eating that...no matter how many grams of protein or fiber it has or how low-fat or few calories it has? Bailor states, if you can grow it or hunt it, those are your best food choices.

In regards to exercise, Bailor explains how exercising less can actually increase your metabolism. By intensifying your workout, you can shorten the duration and because your muscles will be so taxed, you will need to have more rest days in between. Smarter interval training and intensity of effort will go a lot farther in your weight loss journey than daily workouts, according to Bailor.

Bailor ends his book with numerous recipes and lists of foods that he recommends. I am anxious to try his version of Cinnamon "Rice" Pudding. He also offers exercises that you can do at home or in a gym.

When you have a broken metabolism, it is going to take time to heal, just like a broken ankle. As with any diet, you won't see changes overnight, but adding these changes to your daily routine and beginning to swap your high starchy/sweet foods for vegetables or high protein foods will begin to change your metabolism. By smarter exercise, you will begin to change your body's reaction to foods, and your body will be able to burn more fat and the slimming process will happen naturally. Obviously, none of us are perfect, and we can't say no to every dessert that comes along, but by changing the majority of your eating, and focusing on getting it right most of the time, you will see a change in your body. Eating the right foods, SANE foods, are your keys to success.… (mehr)

In his book The Smarter Science of Slim Jonathan Bailor presents much more than advice on lifestyle and diet. This is a complete argument relating themes of nutrition, exercise, digestion and food to their associated consequence, weight. Unlike many works in the area of diet, The Smarter Science of Slim presents informed consideration of the subject, offers no quick fix, no formulaic or unsubstantiated, quasi-religious claims. What the book does do is argue a coherent, rationally-constructed and evidence-justified position which identifies an approach to diet and lifestyle rather than a prescription. It is to the author’s credit that the book achieves its aims in a fluent, readable style that engages and entertains as well as informs.

Jonathan Bailor begins with a criticism of current approaches, a corpus of advice that represents something of an establishment position. It’s a diet he labels INSANE. It’s not quite an acronym, but it gets the point across. The consequences of this diet are obesity. Yes, we are being officially advised into a state of obesity. In contrast, the SANE approach allows you to eat just about as much as you want. What’s more, it’s better nutritionally and your weight will stabilise at a lower level. Does this sound too good to be true?

To prove the case the author cites research findings and extensive data to identify a diet that is roughly equally shared between protein, carbohydrate and fat. On the face of it, this may not seem to be such a radical departure from the current received position, except in relation to fats. But The Smarter Science of Slim approach differs markedly in the foodstuffs identified in each category. Jonathan Bailor thus declares war on starch! Out go grains, flour, potatoes, rice and pasta, for example. In comes as much water-rich vegetable as you want to eat. Crucial to Jonathan Bailor’s argument is that these fill you up and thus satiate, while simultaneously providing all essential nutrients alongside low calorific values. He is also confident that eating more proteins will restrict the appetite that currently craves more starch because it is fat and protein deficient.

The argument then moves on to the concept of a person’s natural body weight. The norm can change and can be changed, but the human body always tries to maintain what the brain perceives an optimal or normal weight. The problem is that this norm is influenced by the digestive load that the diet presents. When this is changed, then the perceived norm can be changed. INSANE diets raise the norm and hence promote obesity, while SANE approaches encourage stabilisation at lower weights.

But The Smarter Science of Slim goes beyond this. It also suggests exercise routines that don’t take all day, are efficient at burning energy and keep the body fit and trim. And all of this can be accomplished in just twenty minutes a couple of times a week.

Cooks will be disappointed with Jonathan Bailor’s approach to meals that adhere to his SANE principles. But the ingredient list is extremely long and even five minutes in the kitchen would produce something palatable, tasty and also SANE, certainly something a tad more appetising than a veggie smoothie. The Smarter Science of Slim allows, even encourages consumption of almost anything you want in the line of meat or fish. Since fats are not outlawed, you can even take a slab of cheese. But you will have to make your sandwich with cabbage leaves, rather than bread.

Anyone who has feelings of guilt or even mere concerns about weight, diet or lifestyle could profit greatly from reading The Smarter Science of Slim. The book illustrates that there is nothing to be afraid of, that there are multitudes of wholesome and tasty foods that can be eaten with abandon without fear of obesity or ill health. As a consequence of The Smarter Science of Slim’s SANE approach, these things will look after themselves, leaving you to get on with living life rather than worrying about it. Then you can read The Smarter Science of Slim again to admire the book’s style, scholarship and coherence.… (mehr)

This book debunks the myths, lies, and hype about diets put out by many writers who offer miraculous, cure-all diets and the often contradictory messages by the food industry interested in their bottom line. It is based on numerous scientific studies, more than 10,000 pages of academic research, and has the endorsement of dozens of physicians. And it makes sense. Bailor writes in an easy to read manner and fills his book with very informative, to the point, and clear charts. He tells what experts have proven about weight loss, health, and fitness. He shows that with modest lifestyle changes people can eat more food if it is quality food, and do less but proper exercise, as small as a tenth advocated by others.

Bailor writes, among many other things, that certain foods “cripple our ability to burn fat.” The diet advocated by many nutritionists of eating less actually sets up people to gain fat after they start eating again. Remarkably, eating “more high-quality food has been clinically shown to cause body fat to be burned.” It doesn’t cause fat gain. And, surprisingly, he reveals why the government’s Dietary Guidelines is not only wrong, but adds pounds of fat.

Bailor advises eating a diet of “high quality foods,” such as non-starchy vegetables, seafood, lean meat, fat-free or low-fat cottage cheese, fat-free or low-fat plain Greek yogurt, fruits, eggs, nuts, and seeds. He recommends vegetables that grow above ground, except corn because it is a starch. These foods will satisfy hunger so that people can avoid starches, which scientists have shown the body doesn’t need, and sweets. They will lower a person’s “set-point” and keep the person slim.

Every body has a “set-point.” This is the weight that the body tries to maintain. Different people have different set-points. Eating the wrong foods moves the body to a higher set-point. This is why people on most diets don’t lose weight or gain it back after they stop their diet. Eating the proper foods lowers the set-point and satisfies.

The notion that “calories are calories” and a proper diet requires the reduction of calories is clearly untrue. A six-pack of beer makes people eat more pizza while five cans of tuna and thirty cups of broccoli have the same number of calories, but people are satisfied long before they eat the five cans or thirty cups. Additionally, and more importantly, as previously mentioned, many foods not on Bailor’s list raise the set-point and cause the body to require extra pounds.

In summary, as can be seen in these few examples, Bailor’s revelations of the studies by scientists make sense and can lead to a healthier body and a more enjoyable and lengthier life.… (mehr)