Get With The Program! Diet Review:

Read The Pros And Cons Of Bob Green's Guide To Good Eating

Get with the program! Guide to good eating

Author: Bob Greene ©2003 228 pages (128 are recipes)

Review written by: Dr. Kendra Pearsall

Summary:

Praise for Get with the program! Guide to good eating:

1) Most of the nutritional advice was good and simple to follow.

2) I like the fact that he mentioned shopping at local farmers markets to support local farming which is fresher and healthier than produce that is shipped thousands of miles from large scale industrial farms.

3) This is one of the few books that dares to criticize the holy Glycemic Index (upon which so many diet books are based (e.g. South Beach Diet). Greene says that carrots are higher on the index than a candy bar which some may conclude that the candy bar is the healthier choice, but it would take 12 servings of carrots to match blood glucose effects of one candy bar.

Also, the Glycemic Index doesn’t take into account what happens when you eat several foods together as you generally do at a meal. You can only use it when eating foods alone.

Criticism of Get with the program! Guide to good eating:

1) It is not for someone looking for in-depth information. It can be read in 30 minutes.

2) Greene recommends cooking with olive oil or canola oil.

These oils are not as heat stable as saturated fats like coconut oil and butter and therefore can turn into trans-fats at high temperatures.

3) Greene recommends low-fat treats such as frozen yogurt or sherbet.

The problem with these low-fat treats is that they are still high in sugar; in fact, many low-fat items are higher in sugar than their natural full-fat counterparts because the sugar is needed to replace the fat. It is the sugar that causes increased fat storage, not the fat. When you eat low-fat products, you don’t have the satiety that fat provides which makes you want to eat more.

4) Greene advises a minimum of 50 min. of aerobic exercise per week to lose weight.

Fifty minutes per week may not be enough. Most overweight people have to overcome a large exercise deficit and a very slow metabolism due to years of inadequate diet and exercise.

5) Breakfast suggestions will lead to starvation.

Breakfast options included a handful of trail mix, OR a hard boiled egg. These options are much too small to qualify as a meal, especially the first meal of the day which should be your largest.

6) Weight training regimen should be: 3 sets of 10 reps 3-4 times a week

This is a standard prescription for weight training but keep in mind that you will need to change your routine every month in order to avoid a plateau. Changing your routine involves changing the sets, reps, intensity, weight, speed etc. Also consider the revolutionary Slo-Burn method or the new functional approach to muscle building. They are super fast and they work!

7) Greene follows the food pyramid such as recommending 7 servings of whole grains a day.

Beware of the food pyramid as the advice is based on the needs of special interest groups in the food industry. The last thing overweight people need is to eat lots of grains.

8) Use single nutrients over multivitamins

This is unwise. People have no idea which vitamins they may be missing in the diet so multi-vitamins are like an insurance policy--they give you all the vitamins and minerals you need to cover all the bases. In addition, vitamins and minerals work best in combination because nutrients are dependant on other nutrients for proper absorption and utilization.

Conclusion :

In summary, Get with the program! Guide to good eating. is a quickie book for a beginner. It is one of many of Greene's books and strikes me as more of a project to make a quick buck and promote Greene, than being an in-depth, deeply insightful work. This book contains some good advice but also contains some incorrect information partly due to the fact that Greene's training is in exercise physiology not nutrition or medicine.