wndranne
02-07-2009, 05:49 PM
Break Through Your Set Point: How to Finally Lose the Weight You Want and Keep It Off, by George L. Blackburn, M.D., Ph.D, with Julie Corliss
Blackburn is the Associate Director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School, with three decades of research and clinical practice. Break Through Your Set Point combines his research with that of others in the field to produce a book on the practical aspects of how to lose weight and keep it off. “Set a reasonable goal to lose about 10% of your initial body weight. Then hold steady at your new weight without regaining any weight for at least six months, which will reset your body’s set point (or typical body weight).” Repeat as needed.
The book begins with a review of the scientific studies on the set point, which is a weight that your body tends to hover around without too much effort. It then discusses how our “toxic” environment conspires with our biology to move our set points into the overweight and obese realms. Next up is the “10% solution” or why 10% is a good amount of weight to lose from both set point and general health perspective.
The next chapters of the book get practical and deal with how to lose that 10% and get it off, starting with getting ready, and finishing with pulling it all together. There are five basic components: eating less, eating healthy, exercising, getting enough rest, and dealing with stress. Eating less is a calorie-based approach, without strict calorie counting, using an RKO scale for Regular Reducing, Keeping it off, and Off Plan ratings for each day. Eating well involves the simple plate method; half should be veggies, a quarter devoted to lean proteins, and the rest starches, preferably of the whole grain or starchy vegetable variety, with some discussion of the Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid developed by Walter Willett (see Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy). The exercise chapter discusses the benefits of exercise and includes, among other things, a three phase plan to get sedentary people up off the couch and exercising. Sleep is covered next, and given its importance to weight loss, subjects from time management to prescription sleep medications are all discussed. Stress management is up next with lots of suggestions, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mind-body techniques, and behavior chains. The final chapter pulls it together with results from the National Weight Control Registry studies.
The book has lots of selected references to the original literature at the end, but no footnotes in the text. It also has good online resources for people looking for more information.
I was just blown away by this book! It pretty much contains all the things I believe to be true about weight loss and a lot I suspected. Almost every one of my own successful strategies is covered here and many more as well. I was always a little skeptical of the set point theory, but the research behind it is compelling and it explains pretty well why some of the successful maintainers around here are the exception rather than the rule. The breadth of information is impressive, and alternatives from weight loss shakes, supplements, surgery, different diets are all discussed and their appropriate uses detailed. From page xii, “Most importantly, I never give any weight-loss patient the exact same advice, because each person has unique reasons for gaining weight and making lifestyle and behavior changes.” This philosophy is obvious in the book.
This approach is slow, but gentle, and for that reason probably not of interest to many dieters. It is also not clear if the flexible approach will help someone transform from a morbidly obese person into a fashion model. But the emphasis is on healthy, sustainable weight loss, and Break Through Your Set Point has a lot of intelligent and practical things to say about achieving that. I highly recommend this book on that basis.
Anne
Blackburn is the Associate Director of the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School, with three decades of research and clinical practice. Break Through Your Set Point combines his research with that of others in the field to produce a book on the practical aspects of how to lose weight and keep it off. “Set a reasonable goal to lose about 10% of your initial body weight. Then hold steady at your new weight without regaining any weight for at least six months, which will reset your body’s set point (or typical body weight).” Repeat as needed.
The book begins with a review of the scientific studies on the set point, which is a weight that your body tends to hover around without too much effort. It then discusses how our “toxic” environment conspires with our biology to move our set points into the overweight and obese realms. Next up is the “10% solution” or why 10% is a good amount of weight to lose from both set point and general health perspective.
The next chapters of the book get practical and deal with how to lose that 10% and get it off, starting with getting ready, and finishing with pulling it all together. There are five basic components: eating less, eating healthy, exercising, getting enough rest, and dealing with stress. Eating less is a calorie-based approach, without strict calorie counting, using an RKO scale for Regular Reducing, Keeping it off, and Off Plan ratings for each day. Eating well involves the simple plate method; half should be veggies, a quarter devoted to lean proteins, and the rest starches, preferably of the whole grain or starchy vegetable variety, with some discussion of the Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid developed by Walter Willett (see Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy). The exercise chapter discusses the benefits of exercise and includes, among other things, a three phase plan to get sedentary people up off the couch and exercising. Sleep is covered next, and given its importance to weight loss, subjects from time management to prescription sleep medications are all discussed. Stress management is up next with lots of suggestions, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mind-body techniques, and behavior chains. The final chapter pulls it together with results from the National Weight Control Registry studies.
The book has lots of selected references to the original literature at the end, but no footnotes in the text. It also has good online resources for people looking for more information.
I was just blown away by this book! It pretty much contains all the things I believe to be true about weight loss and a lot I suspected. Almost every one of my own successful strategies is covered here and many more as well. I was always a little skeptical of the set point theory, but the research behind it is compelling and it explains pretty well why some of the successful maintainers around here are the exception rather than the rule. The breadth of information is impressive, and alternatives from weight loss shakes, supplements, surgery, different diets are all discussed and their appropriate uses detailed. From page xii, “Most importantly, I never give any weight-loss patient the exact same advice, because each person has unique reasons for gaining weight and making lifestyle and behavior changes.” This philosophy is obvious in the book.
This approach is slow, but gentle, and for that reason probably not of interest to many dieters. It is also not clear if the flexible approach will help someone transform from a morbidly obese person into a fashion model. But the emphasis is on healthy, sustainable weight loss, and Break Through Your Set Point has a lot of intelligent and practical things to say about achieving that. I highly recommend this book on that basis.
Anne