Venice A. Fulton

Substance: Despite the hyperventilating title and style, the book contains solid information and useful tips. Not deep or complex, but a fair primer on dieting. No citations or footnotes, but there is a list of publications at the back (internet access at pubmed.gov).. The plan appears to be based on the author's experience as a nutrition expert (no degree??) and personal trainer. (Despite the name, Venice is a man.)
Style: The title tells you everything about how it is written. Not my bag, but some readers may enjoy the extreme informality of the author.
NOTES:
Stresses low or no carbs, including fruits; modest fat, high protein.
Contra much of the field, advises skipping breakfast (in the morning) and having 3 solid meals instead of grazing.
Exercise suggestions were useful.
The only thing new to me was the recommendation for taking cold baths.… (mehr)

Okay, I'm an overweight lady approaching 40. Did I find anything exciting in the book? No. Why not? Because there's nothing really stated that is groundbreaking, original or supported with proof. I'm unsure about the last comment as there are tons of references in the back of the book but it is a reference rather than a bibliography so I can't ascertain without reading every single one, which site or journal has provided evidence for which part of the book. What I can tell you is that I read this out loud to six other ladies ranging from my age and upwards and all sorts of shapes and sizes over the space of an evening and we laughed and we were amazed.

I work full time, I don't have time to have a cold (very cold bath), followed by exercise each morning and unfortunately I'm unable to delay eating a meal for 3 hours due to my time commitments, so therefore the book was out for me. This isn't why I've only given it three ratings. There is definitely common sense in the book, don't get me wrong but for what seems to be the target audience it will be hard to find. There is copious reminders to visit your doctor and check the routine out with him but a younger audience keen for the outcomes promised by the book, they will be overlooked.

As a book promising a big ask - to get skinnier than all my friends (one of my friends is about 5 stone lighter than me so that would be fun in six weeks) I found the ambiguity difficult to swallow. There was nothing concrete to get my teeth in to. After only two days from reading the book all I remember is have a cold bath (and how to have it) followed by black coffee. Oh, I also remember that if my parents criticise me I should show them the book - my parents are in their sixties, I hardly think they'll criticise me for the book. Ah that's right, I must be the wrong target audience by at least 20 years.… (mehr)

I have tried my share of fad diets and this one was unique, but a little too “out there” for someone of my age. Taking a 20 minute cold bath every morning just doesn’t work with my schedule AND my climate and I don’t drink coffee at all, let alone on an empty stomach. I also had to laugh at the suggestion of blowing up a balloon for tighter abs. It may work, but I don’t like creating unnecessary waste for our landfills when one can get down on the floor and do a 15 minute ab workout without having to throw anything away afterwards.

I give Fulton credit for creating groundbreaking strategies that apparently have produced results for others, however it may not be for everyone. He is a nutrition expert and personal trainer and although this diet may have been created for his A-list clients, I guess I’m not in their league. Perhaps if I had a personal trainer at my disposal….

Thank you to Mr. Fulton, Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.… (mehr)

I feel like I should state my disclaimer here: I never read self-help books, but my book club recently decided to try something different & so we read a variety of different self-helps & shared our thoughts. This was one of the more recent releases & it had a catchy title & sounded intriguing, so I gave it a shot. I have to admit that I wasn't planning to probably finish the whole thing, or if I did, it would be via skimming. And we all joked about the title & some of the catch phrases on the inside cover.

I really dragged my feet getting started with the reading, & while Venice Fulton tries to keep it lighthearted, it did get a little hokey sometimes. But not enough to make me stop reading. Once I got about halfway through, I found that I wanted to finish it. On the surface, some of the suggestions in this book sound a little farfetched. However, Fulton actually does go into the science behind a lot of these principles & yes, it does make sense. Some of it is common sense, some of it was new information to me, & some seemed like it should've been common sense but yet made me look at things from a different perspective.

Perhaps all self-help & diet books do this, but I finished the book feeling motivated & wanting to try some of this stuff. I think there are some good ideas in here, but probably my biggest complaint is that as a working mom, my schedule just doesn't allow me to be able to fit these suggestions into my typical day as is suggested. If I had a couple extra hours in the morning & my job would allow me an extra 15-30 minute break prior to each meal, it might be possible, but the constraints of daily life don't typically allow this.

So I'll do what lots of other readers seem to be doing. I'll use the guidelines in this book & tweak them to fit into my schedule, and we'll see what happens. There is really a lot of great information in this book which explains how the body works & processes the food & activity that you expose it to. Seeing as I have to return this to the library, I took lots of notes & will undoubtedly reference them in the future. Above all, this has modified the way I think about my intake of food & will hopefully allow me to make better choices based on the scientific principles presented. I don't think I will ever have an "OMG" body, but hopefully now I can start on a journey to improve the way others see me, as well as how I see myself when I look in the mirror.… (mehr)