Bob Greene's book Make the Connection
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joowelz
Posts: 172 Member
Has anyone read it? Wondering what people think of his approach to weight loss. His focus is on changing a person's metabolism through aerobic exercise most days of the week, and eating only when hungry (and following the traditional food pyramid guide). He was Oprah's trainer when he wrote the book.
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Has anyone read it? Wondering what people think of his approach to weight loss. His focus is on changing a person's metabolism through aerobic exercise most days of the week, and eating only when hungry (and following the traditional food pyramid guide). He was Oprah's trainer when he wrote the book.
You can't really change your metabolism, any increased movement will cause you to burn more calories.
I don't trust anyone connected to Oprah. Hell I don't trust Oprah herself either.11 -
MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »Has anyone read it? Wondering what people think of his approach to weight loss. His focus is on changing a person's metabolism through aerobic exercise most days of the week, and eating only when hungry (and following the traditional food pyramid guide). He was Oprah's trainer when he wrote the book.
You can't really change your metabolism, any increased movement will cause you to burn more calories.
I don't trust anyone connected to Oprah. Hell I don't trust Oprah herself either.
Greene didn't do very well coaching Oprah to maintain her weight loss.
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Theoldguy1 wrote: »MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »Has anyone read it? Wondering what people think of his approach to weight loss. His focus is on changing a person's metabolism through aerobic exercise most days of the week, and eating only when hungry (and following the traditional food pyramid guide). He was Oprah's trainer when he wrote the book.
You can't really change your metabolism, any increased movement will cause you to burn more calories.
I don't trust anyone connected to Oprah. Hell I don't trust Oprah herself either.
Greene didn't do very well coaching Oprah to maintain her weight loss.
Or Oprah didn't listen. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink and all that jazz. That being said, I believe Oprah has lost and gained all while advertising for WW, so I just kind of take her as another of the many people out there stuck in yo-yo dieting routines. Except she has a giant platform.7 -
MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »Has anyone read it? Wondering what people think of his approach to weight loss. His focus is on changing a person's metabolism through aerobic exercise most days of the week, and eating only when hungry (and following the traditional food pyramid guide). He was Oprah's trainer when he wrote the book.
You can't really change your metabolism, any increased movement will cause you to burn more calories.
I don't trust anyone connected to Oprah. Hell I don't trust Oprah herself either.
I am not an Oprah fan either but I wouldn't dismiss Greene's book because of their association.
He was her trainer around 15-20 years ago. She got incredibly fit because of him. She is in her 60s now and I'm sure it's not easy maintaining that kind of a strict exercise/eating lifestyle for 20 years consistently without fail. Life happens. Gaining weight is easy. Losing it is hard. Keeping it off is also hard work.
I read and followed his book in 2005 and also lost 36 lbs, going from 183 to 147 lbs. My body was fit. I kept it off for around four years and then, as my aerobic workouts lessened and I continued to have many cheat eating days, the pounds creeped up - at a rate of 5-6 lbs per year. It's now 2019 and my weight has tapered off at around 170 lbs with jogging only three times a week.
According to the book, you need to work out aerobically five to seven times a week to make significant changes to your weight.9 -
MichelleSilverleaf wrote: »Has anyone read it? Wondering what people think of his approach to weight loss. His focus is on changing a person's metabolism through aerobic exercise most days of the week, and eating only when hungry (and following the traditional food pyramid guide). He was Oprah's trainer when he wrote the book.
You can't really change your metabolism, any increased movement will cause you to burn more calories.
I don't trust anyone connected to Oprah. Hell I don't trust Oprah herself either.
I am not an Oprah fan either but I wouldn't dismiss Greene's book because of their association.
He was her trainer around 15-20 years ago. She got incredibly fit because of him. She is in her 60s now and I'm sure it's not easy maintaining that kind of a strict exercise/eating lifestyle for 20 years consistently without fail. Life happens. Gaining weight is easy. Losing it is hard. Keeping it off is also hard work.
I read and followed his book in 2005 and also lost 36 lbs, going from 183 to 147 lbs. My body was fit. I kept it off for around four years and then, as my aerobic workouts lessened and I continued to have many cheat eating days, the pounds creeped up - at a rate of 5-6 lbs per year. It's now 2019 and my weight has tapered off at around 170 lbs with jogging only three times a week.
According to the book, you need to work out aerobically five to seven times a week to make significant changes to your weight.
To lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume in a day. Exercise is only one small part of the scenario that can help contribute to calorie burn, but isn't even a requirement for weight loss.12 -
He acknowledges that in the book. It looks like my synopsis didnt do his book justice. The point he is making is that aerobic exercise 5-7 days a week revs up your metabolism so that you burn more calories throughout the day than you normally would. This, coupled with eating only when hungry and stopping when you are full, is the right way to lose fat in the long run.
If your approach to weight loss consists of only restricting calories, your body will lose muscle along with fat, and you are doing yourself a disservice by slowing down your metabolism.
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He acknowledges that in the book. It looks like my synopsis didnt do his book justice. The point he is making is that aerobic exercise 5-7 days a week revs up your metabolism so that you burn more calories throughout the day than you normally would. This, coupled with eating only when hungry and stopping when you are full, is the right way to lose fat in the long run.
If your approach to weight loss consists of only restricting calories, your body will lose muscle along with fat, and you are doing yourself a disservice by slowing down your metabolism.
Any metabolism increase would be minimal and unnoticeable at best. Few things can severely affect your metabolism; exercise isn't one of them. As for losing muscle by only restricting calories, generally only happens if you're not getting enough protein and especially if you run a severe deficit.
With regards for Oprah, I don't know if you ever noticed but she has lost and regained weight many times over the years. I doubt very much she was strict or consistent for 20 years straight.7 -
He acknowledges that in the book. It looks like my synopsis didnt do his book justice. The point he is making is that aerobic exercise 5-7 days a week revs up your metabolism so that you burn more calories throughout the day than you normally would. This, coupled with eating only when hungry and stopping when you are full, is the right way to lose fat in the long run.
If your approach to weight loss consists of only restricting calories, your body will lose muscle along with fat, and you are doing yourself a disservice by slowing down your metabolism.
Weight training preserves muscle, but doesn't necessarily burn a lot of calories. Aerobic exercise burns more calories but is not muscle-preserving. Both are recommended for fitness and health, and can contribute to the total calories expended daily, but neither is required for weight loss.9 -
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Weight training preserves muscle, but doesn't necessarily burn a lot of calories. Aerobic exercise burns more calories but is not muscle-preserving. Both are recommended for fitness and health, and can contribute to the total calories expended daily, but neither is required for weight loss.[/quote]
Greene doesnt argue that aerobic exercise preserves muscle. That wasnt what I said. He argues that feeding your body when it's hungry (and feeding it good quality food, not junk) helps preserve muscle. Contrarily, starving your body breaks down muscle (and fat) and as such, is not the best way to lose weight.
As for the other person's comment about metabolism, I'm curious what her credentials are ?? Bob Greene is an exercise physiologist and his book goes into detail on how metabolism works. I, and Oprah, are living proof that you can alter your metabolism.
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Greene doesnt argue that aerobic exercise preserves muscle. That wasnt what I said. He argues that feeding your body when it's hungry (and feeding it good quality food, not junk) helps preserve muscle. Contrarily, starving your body breaks down muscle (and fat) and as such, is not the best way to lose weight.
As for the other person's comment about metabolism, I'm curious what her credentials are ?? Bob Greene is an exercise physiologist and his book goes into detail on how metabolism works. I, and Oprah, are living proof that you can alter your metabolism.
Hi, I'm that "other person". Greene being an exercise physiologist doesn't automatically guarantee anything. Dr. Oz is an actual doctor with an actual degree, and he spouts crap on his show all the time. Crap he as an actual medical professional should know better about i.e. detoxes and drinking apple cider vinegar. If you don't want to take my word for it have a read of this: https://www.vox.com/2016/5/18/11685254/metabolism-definition-booster-weight-loss
Again Oprah's not a shining success of weight management. She's lost and gained numerous times.12 -
@MichelleSilverleaf I find it odd that you are resisting the idea of changing your metabolism this much. Is it that you don't want to do aerobic exercise? If you've ever worked out hard on a regular basis, you are familiar with the increase in hunger one feels as a result. What do you think is happening in your body when it's constantly hungry? That's your internal furnace=metabolism working.
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@MichelleSilverleaf I find it odd that you are resisting the idea of changing your metabolism this much. Is it that you don't want to do aerobic exercise? If you've ever worked out hard on a regular basis, you are familiar with the increase in hunger one feels as a result. What do you think is happening in your body when it's constantly hungry? That's your internal furnace=metabolism working.
I thought this was a conversation about the value of a book, not about attacking someone based on what you imagine their workouts are like.
And no. If someone works out long and hard and is hungry, it's because they haven't adequately fueled their body for the actual work it performed. It's not because their workout caused them to suddenly be burning vastly more calories during the time between their workouts.9 -
@MichelleSilverleaf I find it odd that you are resisting the idea of changing your metabolism this much. Is it that you don't want to do aerobic exercise? If you've ever worked out hard on a regular basis, you are familiar with the increase in hunger one feels as a result. What do you think is happening in your body when it's constantly hungry? That's your internal furnace=metabolism working.
I do aerobic exercise as it gives me more calories to eat in a day and it great for my physical health. Does it impact my BMR once I have stopped exercising? Very little, and even then it is only straight afterwards, rather than long term. However, anaerobic exercise has the ability to increase your muscle mass. Muscle takes more energy to maintain than fat does. Over time, doing weights can impact on your BMR, but even then, it is not by massive amounts.
No exercise will ignite this internal furnace like you seem to think it will.8 -
He acknowledges that in the book. It looks like my synopsis didnt do his book justice. The point he is making is that aerobic exercise 5-7 days a week revs up your metabolism so that you burn more calories throughout the day than you normally would. This, coupled with eating only when hungry and stopping when you are full, is the right way to lose fat in the long run.
If your approach to weight loss consists of only restricting calories, your body will lose muscle along with fat, and you are doing yourself a disservice by slowing down your metabolism.
Of course you burn more calories when you exercise than when you don't. That's not because you're hacking your metabolism, it's because exercise burns calories.8 -
Sorry, but are you all just making this stuff up? Lol
Each reply here opposing the book is written with absolutely certainty. What are your credentials? If you have studied metabolism and have 20+ years of experience working with overweight clients (as the book's author does) please say so.
Otherwise all this back and forth is just conjecture.
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Sorry, but are you all just making this stuff up? Lol
Each reply here opposing the book is written with absolutely certainty. What are your credentials? If you have studied metabolism and have 20+ years of experience working with overweight clients (as the book's author does) please say so.
Otherwise all this back and forth is just conjecture.
No, the posters above are not just "making this stuff up". They are distilling the info given in many, many scientific studies into short sentences to make it understandable. Rather than give a short list of studies for you to read (the short list would be 10-20) as a counterpoint to Greene, you are receiving the benefit of other people's time and effort by receiving a summary of the conclusions. Metabolism just does not work the way Greene describes it.13 -
Sorry, but are you all just making this stuff up? Lol
Each reply here opposing the book is written with absolutely certainty. What are your credentials? If you have studied metabolism and have 20+ years of experience working with overweight clients (as the book's author does) please say so.
Otherwise all this back and forth is just conjecture.
No, the posters above are not just "making this stuff up". They are distilling the info given in many, many scientific studies into short sentences to make it understandable. Rather than give a short list of studies for you to read (the short list would be 10-20) as a counterpoint to Greene, you are receiving the benefit of other people's time and effort by receiving a summary of the conclusions. Metabolism just does not work the way Greene describes it.
Sometimes you've got to let the zealots get on with it and learn for themselves that books lie.3 -
Sorry, but are you all just making this stuff up? Lol
Each reply here opposing the book is written with absolutely certainty. What are your credentials? If you have studied metabolism and have 20+ years of experience working with overweight clients (as the book's author does) please say so.
Otherwise all this back and forth is just conjecture.
You asked for people's opinions, and that's what these responses are.
Most people who write a self help book need to have some kind of gimmick to make it sell. Metabolism is an easy gimmick because myths abound. But most actual research out there shows your metabolism pretty much is what it is. Obviously the more active you are the more calories you need, but it doesn't speed up your metabolism for the long haul.
I'd love to have Bob Greene as a trainer, but if the message of his book is "don't eat when you're not hungry, and exercise to burn calories" he's not really breaking new ground there, just trying to word it differently so it seems necessary. But if you enjoyed it and it got you motivated or gave you a new way to move forward, that's great :drinker:6 -
Sorry, but are you all just making this stuff up? Lol
Each reply here opposing the book is written with absolutely certainty. What are your credentials? If you have studied metabolism and have 20+ years of experience working with overweight clients (as the book's author does) please say so.
Otherwise all this back and forth is just conjecture.
Wow - Bob Greene is in this to make money. Because he makes a profit by printing things (that people want to hear)....then it must be true.
No one here is making money by disputing things in Bob Green's book. People here have lost weight successfully. What I mean by successfully is they actually maintained that weight loss. This isn't a common thing. But "those" people must be making things up.
While Oprah is not (yet) a shining example of successful weight loss or an increase in metabolism.5 -
NorthCascades wrote: »He acknowledges that in the book. It looks like my synopsis didnt do his book justice. The point he is making is that aerobic exercise 5-7 days a week revs up your metabolism so that you burn more calories throughout the day than you normally would. This, coupled with eating only when hungry and stopping when you are full, is the right way to lose fat in the long run.
If your approach to weight loss consists of only restricting calories, your body will lose muscle along with fat, and you are doing yourself a disservice by slowing down your metabolism.
Of course you burn more calories when you exercise than when you don't. That's not because you're hacking your metabolism, it's because exercise burns calories.
Yup.
And my basis for that is that I exercised 5-6x per week (swimming, cycling, and running) most of the time when losing weight, and haven't seen any particular change in my metabolism. My TDEE, sure, of course.
Lots of people (not all), including me, probably find it easier to not overeat when exercising, in part because you can eat more cals, and in part because you tend to be more focused on fitness and how you feel and that might make you more mindful about food choices. But it's not perfect. I've always found that training for 10Ks and half marathons tend to be helpful for me in controlling cals (same with olympic distance tris and just riding my bike for commuting to work with extra mileage as part of that). But I also find that swimming specifically tends to make me hungrier than the burned calories would justify, and that when I marathon train (or when I trained for a half ironman) I have to be really careful not to overeat. Don't know why, and this is not something I'm claiming is specific to anyone but me.
I also did a fun Backroads biking trip, where we were doing tons of biking per day and lots of hilly rides, and the joke was that everyone gains weight, which in fact I did (not that much).2
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