Bob Harper's Skinny Rules

Eating carbs, especially white processed carbs, spikes your blood sugar which can lead to food cravings and for people who are not mentally stable enough to stick to a healthy eating plan that can lead to a huge calorie increase and effect the total deficit for the day so I can understand why he would reccomend not eating carbs after lunch if you are not going to be stable enough to log your food every day and stick to your deficit. Also people tend to be more strong willed in the morning so they can stick to smaller portions of breads and other carb food which tends to be higher in calories than veggies and lean proteins.

His other rule about going to bed hungry is something some people don't get but it totally makes sense to me. My hunger is mental, it's not physical. I am getting enough food but sometimes when I'm sitting on the couch at night I just want a bag of potato chips and I get "hungry". I make myself go to bed "hungry" to try and teach myself that hunger and cravings are mental battles that you need to win every day to win the war.

I like Bob, I'm not too familiar with his other rules but I have to assume that he's not writing those for people on MFP who have proven weight losses by showing self-determination through exercise and self-control with their food/nutrition. He's writing them to help the masses get over the mental part of diet and nutrition and help them to stop over eating and create a deficit, just like we do.

The "no carbs after X amount of time" is BS. Also, anyone can say anything on the internet. One's supposed IQ has nothing to do with smart eating and exercising habits.

About 40-45% of my diet is carbs. Yummy carbs like bread, tortillas, pizza, fruit, veggies, sugar etc. Love them carbs. And fat. And protein too. And I have lost 45-ish ppounds. I consistantly lose 1 lb a week by eating what I want but 500 cals less a day than I burn.

Good luck on your Harper diet though. I am sure if you have the will, you will lose. I dont have that kind of willpower though.

This content has been removed.

Ugh, haven't there been enough threads debunking this book? It's nothing but a bunch of myths that have been completely debunked by science, all rolled into a book with the sole purpose of Bob Harper profiting off of the ignorance of the masses. Nothing in this book has any shred of scientific truth to it.

Do I have to turn this car around?

You might want to

To heck with turning it around. I always just pulled over, turned around and smacked them all. :laugh:

.

You'd likely lose weight following his plan. I personally think some of the "rules" are good sense. Some are unnecessary. One, go to bed hungry, just doesn't make sense to me. No carbs after lunch seems...unnecessary.

Yes, fiber is good.
Berries are also good for MOST people. Yes, they can be "dirty".
Egg yolks are good for MOST people.
Yes you should eat protein with most meals.
Many doctors and experts recommend cutting down on refined grains.
Eat vegetables, makes sense.

For me, many of his "rules" are common among many diet plans, eating plans, lifestyles.
I dont see what his "plan" offers that's unique (and smart)
I also don't see what credentials "Lauren" who "debunks" him has. Other than being a young woman with colitis who's *studying* nutrition..
I don't put much stock in her review.

Try just eating food. Enough to fuel your body. And focus on good common sense nutrition. Fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, unrefined grains. No need to make it toooooooo complicated. And then get your body moving.

ohhh

I have not read the book, but I'll address the book's rules listed in the "debunking" article:

1. Drink a large glass of water before every meal. No excuses.

Unlike the debunking article, I don't see any harm in this. I don't think most feelings of hunger come from the actual volume of your stomach, they are probably the result of the chemical state of your blood and tissues. But water is healthy, and is fine to drink with your meal. If the actual fullness of your stomach helps you maintain a calorie deficit, so much the better.

2. Don’t drink your calories.

Sure, the debunking article is right in that there are plenty of things you can drink that are healthy for you. But it's also true that many things that you'd want to drink that have calories tend to be calorie dense, and since they are easy to consume quickly it's easy to "overeat" them. Avoiding liquid sources of calories is probably sound advice if you are trying to maintain a deficit.

3. Slash your intake of refined flours and grains.

The debunking article goes off on a "healing" tangent regarding these kinds of foods, which is probably bunk for most people. The primary benefit of cutting out refined flours and grains is that it cuts out a source of calorie-dense and frequently very tempting-to-eat foods. Nothing wrong with that.

4. Get 30 to 50 grams of fiber each day.

Again the debunking article goes off on this "natural" tangent when the fact is there is no reason why you can't get your fiber from natural sources.

5. Eat apples and berries every day. Every. Single. Day.

Again some mostly hippie-dippie responses from the debunking article. Generally speaking, there's nothing wrong with eating fruit.

6. No carbs after lunch.

As I've said before, you can do like the professor did who lost weight eating only Twinkies and other snack cakes. But cutting out carbs usually cuts out tempting, tasty, calorie-dense foods.

Now it doesn't really matter if you eat carbs or not if you maintain a deficit, and it certainly doesn't matter what time of day you eat them. But there is some logic to what the rule says. Many of us are probably pretty restricted to what we eat during the normal day, because we have prepared our breakfast and lunch ahead of time for the work day, plus we are busy working. It's when you get home at night that you have the means to binge on those tasty, tasty carbs. Also, after running on a deficit all day long, night time, when you are no longer preoccupied with work, may be when the urges strike you the hardest. Take the tempting and calorie-dense foods "off the table", so to speak, and it may be easier to maintain that deficit.

8. Learn to read food labels so you know what you are eating.

While I tend to agree with the debunking article that the more you have to read the label the more you should be leery of eating it, the point of the rule is that you need to become aware of the nutrient and caloric content of what you are eating. The label is certainly a good place to start. Probably the second biggest reason being overweight is a problem in this country is because people don't eat with consideration to what they are eating, behind lack of exercise.

9. Stop guessing about portion size and get it right.

The debunking article is completely wrong on this one. Sorry, if you are trying to lose weight, yes, sadly, you must obsess about calories. Trying to lose weight without tracking calories is like trying to fly a plane with no altimeter or drive a car with no gas gauge. Yeah, you can do it, and you might even be successful. Maybe.

10. No more added sweeteners, including artificial ones.

I tend to think that artificial sweeteners aren't as safe as the sellers say and probably not as bad as the detractors say, but anyway no harm can come from cutting them out. Natural sweeteners just tend to make for a more calorie-dense food and generally make it more tempting to eat, so watch out.

11. Get rid of those white potatoes.

A 360 gram potato has about 300 calories in it. Not too bad, but who wants to eat that? Slather that sucker up with all the fixings and you may well find that your "potato" is consuming 50% of your daily calorie allotment.

But, like I said, you can eat anything you want, as long as you maintain a deficit.

12. Make one day a week meatless.

I don't see any reason to do this.

13. Get rid of fast food and fried food.

Again, from a nutritional standpoint, this isn't strictly necessary. You can lose weight eating *kitten* food. And you can even buy healthy food at fast-food places.

But from a practical standpoint of losing weight, you will probably find it easier to stick to your diet if you avoid fast food places. Unless you have the willpower to go to McDonald's and order a McDouble and a glass of water and be content with your 390 calories. Succumb to an order of fries and a sugary drink and a desert and you've blown half your daily calorie allotment or more. So be careful. Personally, I avoid the temptation.

14. Eat a real breakfast.

I don't know what a "real" breakfast is, but you can eat your food whenever you want to, just maintain a deficit.

15. Make your own food and eat at least 10 meals a week at home.

Nothing wrong with this. But, of course, you can blow a diet eating your own food just as easily as eating someone else's.

16. Banish high-salt foods

I'm beginning to think that salt may be getting the bad rep that eggs got. But I do agree with the debunking article - many high-salt foods are processed foods and that leads you down the path of very tempting, tasty, calorie-dense food. There's a reason why the ad goes, "Betcha can't eat just one!"

17. Eat your vegetables. Just do it.

Nothing wrong with that. The debunking article goes off on some hippie-dippie angle again, but for most people eating vegetables is a great idea.

18. Go to bed hungry.

Got news for ya: If you're on a diet, this is your life. Wake up hungry, be awake hungry, go to sleep hungry. Sorry. Wish it was different.

19. Sleep right.

OK.

20. Plan on one splurge meal a week.

I would say rather than plan to screw up just accept that every meal may not be perfect and you may give in to eating things you shouldn't in portions you shouldn't. It's OK as long as most days you maintain your deficit. The biggest "problem" with "falling off the wagon" is too often it's an excuse to stay off the wagon. Now that is destructive. If you binge on Wednesday and say, "Well, I'll start again next week" and proceed to binge the rest of the week, you'll never get ahead.

So that's my take on the "rules".

I have not read the book, but I'll address the book's rules listed in the "debunking" article:

1. Drink a large glass of water before every meal. No excuses.

Unlike the debunking article, I don't see any harm in this. I don't think most feelings of hunger come from the actual volume of your stomach, they are probably the result of the chemical state of your blood and tissues. But water is healthy, and is fine to drink with your meal. If the actual fullness of your stomach helps you maintain a calorie deficit, so much the better.

2. Don’t drink your calories.

Sure, the debunking article is right in that there are plenty of things you can drink that are healthy for you. But it's also true that many things that you'd want to drink that have calories tend to be calorie dense, and since they are easy to consume quickly it's easy to "overeat" them. Avoiding liquid sources of calories is probably sound advice if you are trying to maintain a deficit.

3. Slash your intake of refined flours and grains.

The debunking article goes off on a "healing" tangent regarding these kinds of foods, which is probably bunk for most people. The primary benefit of cutting out refined flours and grains is that it cuts out a source of calorie-dense and frequently very tempting-to-eat foods. Nothing wrong with that.

4. Get 30 to 50 grams of fiber each day.

Again the debunking article goes off on this "natural" tangent when the fact is there is no reason why you can't get your fiber from natural sources.

5. Eat apples and berries every day. Every. Single. Day.

Again some mostly hippie-dippie responses from the debunking article. Generally speaking, there's nothing wrong with eating fruit.

6. No carbs after lunch.

As I've said before, you can do like the professor did who lost weight eating only Twinkies and other snack cakes. But cutting out carbs usually cuts out tempting, tasty, calorie-dense foods.

Now it doesn't really matter if you eat carbs or not if you maintain a deficit, and it certainly doesn't matter what time of day you eat them. But there is some logic to what the rule says. Many of us are probably pretty restricted to what we eat during the normal day, because we have prepared our breakfast and lunch ahead of time for the work day, plus we are busy working. It's when you get home at night that you have the means to binge on those tasty, tasty carbs. Also, after running on a deficit all day long, night time, when you are no longer preoccupied with work, may be when the urges strike you the hardest. Take the tempting and calorie-dense foods "off the table", so to speak, and it may be easier to maintain that deficit.

8. Learn to read food labels so you know what you are eating.

While I tend to agree with the debunking article that the more you have to read the label the more you should be leery of eating it, the point of the rule is that you need to become aware of the nutrient and caloric content of what you are eating. The label is certainly a good place to start. Probably the second biggest reason being overweight is a problem in this country is because people don't eat with consideration to what they are eating, behind lack of exercise.

9. Stop guessing about portion size and get it right.

The debunking article is completely wrong on this one. Sorry, if you are trying to lose weight, yes, sadly, you must obsess about calories. Trying to lose weight without tracking calories is like trying to fly a plane with no altimeter or drive a car with no gas gauge. Yeah, you can do it, and you might even be successful. Maybe.

10. No more added sweeteners, including artificial ones.

I tend to think that artificial sweeteners aren't as safe as the sellers say and probably not as bad as the detractors say, but anyway no harm can come from cutting them out. Natural sweeteners just tend to make for a more calorie-dense food and generally make it more tempting to eat, so watch out.

11. Get rid of those white potatoes.

A 360 gram potato has about 300 calories in it. Not too bad, but who wants to eat that? Slather that sucker up with all the fixings and you may well find that your "potato" is consuming 50% of your daily calorie allotment.

But, like I said, you can eat anything you want, as long as you maintain a deficit.

12. Make one day a week meatless.

I don't see any reason to do this.

13. Get rid of fast food and fried food.

Again, from a nutritional standpoint, this isn't strictly necessary. You can lose weight eating *kitten* food. And you can even buy healthy food at fast-food places.

But from a practical standpoint of losing weight, you will probably find it easier to stick to your diet if you avoid fast food places. Unless you have the willpower to go to McDonald's and order a McDouble and a glass of water and be content with your 390 calories. Succumb to an order of fries and a sugary drink and a desert and you've blown half your daily calorie allotment or more. So be careful. Personally, I avoid the temptation.

14. Eat a real breakfast.

I don't know what a "real" breakfast is, but you can eat your food whenever you want to, just maintain a deficit.

15. Make your own food and eat at least 10 meals a week at home.

Nothing wrong with this. But, of course, you can blow a diet eating your own food just as easily as eating someone else's.

16. Banish high-salt foods

I'm beginning to think that salt may be getting the bad rep that eggs got. But I do agree with the debunking article - many high-salt foods are processed foods and that leads you down the path of very tempting, tasty, calorie-dense food. There's a reason why the ad goes, "Betcha can't eat just one!"

17. Eat your vegetables. Just do it.

Nothing wrong with that. The debunking article goes off on some hippie-dippie angle again, but for most people eating vegetables is a great idea.

18. Go to bed hungry.

Got news for ya: If you're on a diet, this is your life. Wake up hungry, be awake hungry, go to sleep hungry. Sorry. Wish it was different.

19. Sleep right.

OK.

20. Plan on one splurge meal a week.

I would say rather than plan to screw up just accept that every meal may not be perfect and you may give in to eating things you shouldn't in portions you shouldn't. It's OK as long as most days you maintain your deficit. The biggest "problem" with "falling off the wagon" is too often it's an excuse to stay off the wagon. Now that is destructive. If you binge on Wednesday and say, "Well, I'll start again next week" and proceed to binge the rest of the week, you'll never get ahead.

So that's my take on the "rules".

SOUNDS PREtty good to me.

I'm an old lady who stopped living to eat at 25, and eating to live for 39 years. I have never had an interest in reading a book on how to eat, cause I was always differing from what the book said. But I read Susan Powter's book. How could she fill hundreds of pages just to say don't eat not one gram of fat? I love Bob Harper. He is cute and his workouts are awesome to me. I didn't know he had a book. I wonder why? I'm not knocking this at all, cause people know what they want to do in their plans. One of the things the OP listed was "don't eat carbs after a certain time". Way back in the day, our group did every fad diet in the country. we would do one, lose lots of weight, get weak, and gain it back. Then we would try another one. So this omitting carbs at certain time of day came about and we tried it. Dang if it didn't work. We lost weight. The only guy in the group continued doing it that way until I quit the job six years later, but he never gained his weight back. The rest of us, well that was not a reasonable lifestyle for us. So we continued counting our calories and exercising and did fine. No more fads. The only reason we did those fads was because we were too lazy to keep up with what we ate. On the fad, it tells us what to eat and how much - one size fits all.
I sure hope you enjoy your Bob book, I'll bet its humorous too.

18. Go to bed hungry.

Got news for ya: If you're on a diet, this is your life. Wake up hungry, be awake hungry, go to sleep hungry. Sorry. Wish it was different.

That's why I choose not to be "on a diet" but rather change my eating habits a sustainable way. Eating on a deficit, losing weight (and more importantly inches) and never go to bed feeling hungry.

Edited to add "never" which I apparently missed originally.

18. Go to bed hungry.

Got news for ya: If you're on a diet, this is your life. Wake up hungry, be awake hungry, go to sleep hungry. Sorry. Wish it was different.

I never go to bed hungry. Sounds like a pretty crap existence to be hungry all the time, honestly.