Book Review: The Calorie Myth By Jonathan Bailor

THE CALORIE MYTH
How to Eat More, Exercise Less, Lose Weight, and Live Better

By: Jonathan Bailor

Published: December 31, 2013

Nonfiction

Johnathan Bailor has written a diet book unlike the others.  He changes the myths of dieting that include eating less, exercising more, and counting your carbs, your sugars,and your calories and changes it to eating more and exercising less.  I was skeptical and couldn’t wait to see what Bailor had to say.

In THE CALORIE MYTH, Bailor spends much of the first third of the book giving you study after study of both humans and rodents that prove the fact that calorie counting doesn’t work, but what does work is SANE eating and changing your set point.  SANE stands for Satiety, Aggression, Nutrition and Efficiency. By categorizing food and how they are digested in your body into these characteristics, you will find that foods high in protein, low in fat/sugars, and non-starchy vegetables meet the SANE eating requirements.  By eating these foods, you change your set point or metabolism and only then, can you begin lose weight.  You can eat these SANE foods until you are full thereby not leaving room for other fat-causing foods.  He gives you study after study that shows the benefits of SANE eating and how counting calories like other diet plans have you do, just don’t work.

After I began reading THE CALORIE MYTH, I found the first few studies interesting, but after that, they began to get a bit boring and I just wanted to get to the meat of the book.  Since I read this on my Kindle, it was harder for me to skip ahead of all the studies.  If I had read a physical copy, I would have likely jumped ahead a lot quicker.  I understand that the author wanted you to see the science behind his research, but I think he could have presented it with less studies.

Once I got to the actual part of the book where Bailor shares his plan for eating more and exercising less, I was quite interested.  His tips aren’t new to us: eat more lean meats and protein, more leafy, green vegetables and less of the starchy, carbohydrates and sweets and you will see results.  I know all this, but it is certainly difficult in our culture to turn away from pizza, fried foods, and sweets. I found his explanation of calorie counting to make a lot of sense.  He stated:

More water and fiber means bigger food, more stretch and getting fuller and staying fuller longer. That is why 200 calories of wet, fibrous celery is more filling than 200 calories of dry, fiber-free gummy bears. Calorie for calorie, celery is about thirty times the size of gummy bears, stretches our stomach and other digestive organs much more, and is therefore much more satisfying. In the same way, 250 calories of Twinkies are not the same as 250 calories of broccoli. 


Throughout the book, Bailor also addresses the political and financial motivation of our government, agri-business and major food corporations.  Really, if we can’t pronounce the name of the ingredient on the box, should we be eating that…no matter how many grams of protein or fiber it has or how low-fat or few calories it has?  Bailor states, if you can grow it or hunt it, those are your best food choices.

In regards to exercise, Bailor explains how exercising less can actually increase your metabolism.  By intensifying your workout, you can shorten the duration and because your muscles will be so taxed, you will need to have more rest days in between.  Smarter interval training and intensity of effort will go a lot farther in your weight loss journey than daily workouts, according to Bailor.

Bailor ends his book with numerous recipes and lists of foods that he recommends.  I am anxious to try his version of Cinnamon “Rice” Pudding.  He also offers exercises that you can do at home or in a gym.

When you have a broken metabolism, it is going to take time to heal, just like a broken ankle. As with any diet, you won’t see changes overnight, but adding these changes to your daily routine and beginning to swap your high starchy/sweet foods for vegetables or high protein foods will begin to change your metabolism. By smarter exercise, you will begin to change your body’s reaction to foods, and your body will be able to burn more fat and the slimming process will happen naturally.  Obviously, none of us are perfect, and we can’t say no to every dessert that comes along, but by changing the majority of your eating, and focusing on getting it right most of the time, you will see a change in your body. Eating the right foods, SANE foods, are your keys to success.

For more on Jonathan Bailor and his book THE CALORIE MYTH, check out the website TheCalorieMythBook.com.

Jonathan Bailor shares about his book in this Fox and Friends interview:

THE CALORIE MYTH is available in hard cover or as an eBook.  You can purchase it at various locations including, Amazon by clicking the photo below.

This review is my honest opinion.  I was given an eBook version of this book for free, but was not compensated in any other way for this review.  If you chose to purchase from the above Amazon link, I will receive a very small percentage of your purchase without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.  Thanks for supporting SincerelyStacie’s book reviews.