My integrity got called into question.
People actually got angry with me about recommending this book.
I got so many questions about the Cheat to Lose Diet (http://tinyurl.com/cheat-to-get-rockstar-lean), I was shocked.
Most of them fell into one of two categories:
Well, you're both right, and you're both wrong.
Cheat to Lose is a little different from anything I ever recommended before. You may note that there are two books I ALWAYS recommend when it comes to diet.
2.) Eating Clean, by Tosca Reno
Both are really good at outline my philosophy about food, but both suck when it comes to talking about cheat meals.
Eating for Life just says "Eat what ever you want on your free day!", which is a recipe for disaster.
Eating Clean says "You don't ever have a free day!", which is a recipe for disaster.
Cheat to Lose really breaks down Leptin's role in metabolism management, and how to use free meals specifically for that. Not like a "maybe we can help boost your metabolism with a free meal", but how exactly to structure Leptin increasing sessions of "free" eating.
I recommended Cheat to Lose because it actually outlines exactly what an effective free day looks like. What's too much. But also, what isn't enough – and how that adversely effects your metabolism.
Then the rest of the week, it breaks down how to effectively use carbohydrate cycling.
http://tinyurl.com/cheat-to-get-rockstar-lean
That's another one, where I got an email where someone said they "looked up carbohydrate cycling on the internet and put together there own plan."
Look… if you want to do carb cycling, buy the freakin plan. Making it up from what you can piece together on the internet is never a smart plan.
Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up. People got really crazy about Cheat to Lose in a way that they never have about anything I've ever recommended before. I was totally shocked.
So I just wanted you all to know where I stood, and why I recommended it. Look, I recommended it because it's awesome.
I learned stuff from Cheat to Lose.
One of the biggest things I learned is that the 10% free meals plan that most trainers are recommending now is good, but it's not the ideal. Looking at the research on Leptin and metabolism, now we know it can be optimized to produce a more powerful fat loss response than we ever knew was possible.
I learned a lot from reading Cheat to Lose. That's why I recommended it.
I didn’t react to your recommendation, but I thought about doing it, so I’m glad other people did. Part of it is that his marketing is really, really annoying.
1) You’re being told to watch a video, and when you watch it, it is 10 minutes long and contains absolutely no info besides “buy my program”. That’s a serious waste of my time. In that time, I could pretty much have done one of your workouts!
2) He’s talking to you as if you were a complete idiot. It really annoys me, and it makes me not want to buy anything from him.
Maybe he has good info, but he should really adjust his marketing to make it a little more respectful. Perhaps put some real info into written form, so you can skip all the stuff you already know.
I’m really tired of having this program shoved down my throat by everyone who’s newsletter I have subscribed to. What a marketing circle jerk! I have canceled my subscription to every newsletter that keeps pushing the product. Guess this one is next. Also, I totally agree with everything AM said. I know someone who actually purchased the product and he claims it is nothing but a repackaging of Body for Life and Joel’s hardcover book – The Cheat to Lose Diet: Cheat BIG with the Foods You Love, Lose Fat Faster Than Ever Before, and Enjoy Keeping It Off!
CJ
I get every blog etc. Josh posts and I don’t feel anything was “shoved down my throat”. Please consider those of us who not only don’t have but have never heard of Cheat to Lose or Cheat Your Way Thin. As I recall, it was mentioned once maybe twice on this blog. I have been “following” for lack of better words Josh’s blog for a couple years now and I don’t think he would push or advertise any program he hasn’t looked into and believes in. It isn’t some obnoxious marketing ploy, it probably actually WORKS! I agree Joel’s maketing is annoying at best and downright obnoxious at worst but, that has nothing to do with Josh or his programs or his blog. If you don’t like Joel or what he’s pushing, dont’ read it or subscribe to it. It’s science people. This stuff about the leptin etc is new information to a lot of us. I had no clue about any of this or carb cycling etc. until Josh thankfully brought it to my attention. Just my two cents.
I like Josh’s Blog and don’t think he’s shoveling anything. I didn’t watch the video, so I can’t really comment on Joel’s stuff.
But Josh is good guy!
I DO have some bones to pick with Cheat to Lose. The underlying premises are:
#1. That low calorie diets f-up your metabolism, and that you can use cheat days to undo the damage brought on by low-cal dieting (eat less and exercise more).
#2. Low carb works the best and fastest for weight loss, but is somehow dangerous and deprives people of carbs (because they are supposedly essential). So, you can use carb cycling to get some of the benefits of low-carb without the “dangers” or downsides of low-carb.
As to #1. Yeah, low-cal destroys metabolism. A BETTER idea is to never use it. The only reason reducing caloric intake works is that it reduces insulin levels because carbs also go down when you eat less. Just eat fewer carbs and you never have to have the side effects of a low-cal diet, and you can eat as much as you want.
For #2. There are only essential fatty acids and amino acids, but no essential sugars, and we have feeding studies of humans on all meat diets and they get healthier… so, why does anyone need carbs in the first place? (Not that I think all meat diets are realistic.) If you just did low carb every day, life would be a lot simpler and you’d have way better body composition.
The cheat to lose system is designed to fix problems that don’t need to exist.
I just want to make clear that I’m not saying anything against this blog. I keep reading it because
– It has good info, even if you don’t buy anything
– The posts that don’t contain any new info are still very motivational and entertaining.
The fact that I already had some idea what Josh is all about (from reading his blog) made me buy his products to get the full program, and I am very happy with what it has done for my body so far.
This is the problem with Joel’s marketing. I have no idea what his principles are before I buy the product (except “dieting is bad – you can cheat your way thin” – that’s not enough detail to make want to pay for it).
And then these daily emails trying to convince me to buy a product that I really don’t want.
I’m curious as to what you define as a ‘carb’. If you mean starchy food, such as breads, pasta, rice and such, I can see your points. If you have a moderate to sedentary lifestyle. If you are very active, I would disagree, as some people can never get the calories they need in a day from only meat and vegies. And by very active, I mean ‘does hard physical labor as their full time job’ very active.
One must be careful when using the term ‘carb’. Sugars in fruits, vegies, and honey are carbs. As are of course potatoes, rice, whole grains, beans and some nuts.
I think what you are driving at is that any diet pushing an unbalanced extreame, be it low-carb, low-fat or the new low-meat that seems to be getting big, is a bad diet.
Good rule of thumb, the farther it is from the ground, the worse it is for you.