What's a good nutrition book to get?

[laxcdn]

Originally Posted by Lost_Dog

Just curious. What was the fiasco? I haven't heard about it.

It happened when Mahler, Deserve, myself, Ninja, etc bought the book and he never created the forum for it. So we created one here and he was invited to participate. It ended up him pumping his new program and etc. I went back and looked at the thread, it looks like some of the posts are missing. He also was telling people that if they gave him a positive review at amazon.com that he would give them some free pdfs. He had a few good pm's back and forth with a couple people from this forum about his ethics. Since then he has never really come back to post on anything. I think he sticks to the T-nation guys because they hang on every word like it is written by god.

I use to tell people to read lean eating or massive eating, but now tell them to listen to CB or read Adam's diet.

[Lost Dog]

Thanks. I see what you're saying. Just remember that Berardi is very young. Not only may he have been caught up in the sudden success and popularity of his work, but he was likely unaware of the complexities involved with setting up web sites, forums, etc.

As to the guys at t-nation hanging on this word, not many of his newer articles over at t-nation have much to argue with. Back when he was advocating higher protein and pwo drinks, there was plenty of arguement.

His work is still solid and his free articles are a good reference to point people to for more "advanced" eating styles.

It's certainly not as user friendly as Adam's Diet. I'll be pleased when THAT book comes out, so we can point people to it.

CB working on stuff with Christopher Mohr (I think) now. I haven't read anything about or by him. I'll have to do that.

[Lost Dog]

Someone mentioned Nutrient Timing, too. Susan Kleiner wrote the nutrition plan in that book, too.

Originally Posted by Lou Schuler

In defense of Susan Kleiner, who's a friend of mine:

She's worked with high-level pro and amateur athletes in the Seattle area for more than a decade. If you want to gain weight for sports performance, Power Eating is an excellent book. Yes, it's a very high-carb diet, but it's hard to gain weight without a carb-heavy diet.

She was skeptical about protein supplements earlier in her career, but she's come around the past few years, which is a hell of a thing for someone in mid-career to do. I mean, how many nutrition gurus ever change their minds about anything?

Another interesting thing about Susan: Early in her career, I believe she was the first scientist to actually study the nutritional needs and practices of competitive bodybuilders. This was in the late '80s, when that was a pretty radical thing to do.

She's one of the good people in our world, with unimpeachable integrity. And it's worth pointing out that she's worked with more pro athletes than most gurus have even met.

[BamaDave]

Am I just nuts, or are most of these "diet" approaches generally the same stuff? Lean protein... good fats... low GI carbs. Have some high GI carbs + protein during/after working out. Some take it to further levels by emphasizing that low GI carb sources should predominantly be fruits and vegetables (Berardi, Paleo Diet) because of the health benefits associated with the micronutrients. It doesn't have to be that complicated.

[RobLL]

Bamadave: You've heard the comment, "if they had a weight loss diet that would work, there wouldn't be a whole shelf full of books, just one". To some degree nutritionists are zero-ing in on the 'right' diet.

Your summary is roughly where it is, different plans wiggle the various components one way or another, but now one of Weight Watchers plans is pretty much like Atkins is pretty much like South Beach. I use something close to Adam's because I don't like to count.

[BamaDave]

Originally Posted by RobLL

To some degree nutritionists are zero-ing in on the 'right' diet.

I actually think the Paleo Diet gurus have it the most "right." But I don't think that diet will ever be widely popular because it is so limiting, there's a definite lack of a "convenience" factor, and it's really expensive to follow and no doubt prohibitively so for many people.

[Lou Schuler]

From where I sit, it looks like the diet that best combines simplicity with affordability and efficacy is a balanced-macro diet. It's not just because we (Adam, Jeff Volek, and I) recommended that in TAP. We recommended it in TAP because it looked like the best option then, and I continue recommending it because it still looks right to me.

I know Adam and Jeff have moved on to lower-carb diets, and if I wanted to lose a few pounds fast, I'd go to Adam's Diet in a heartbeat.

But, for everyday purposes, I still like and follow the balanced-macro diet.

Aside from being simple and easy, it's also versatile. If you're shifting to it from a higher-carb diet, you'll lose weight pretty quickly and easily. It's certainly a great diet for body comp. And I think it can even help guys who want to gain weight. I thought that was the weakest part of TAP, but I have heard from guys who've successfully put on solid weight with the diet.

[Adam Campbell]

I still think TAP is good, especially the weight loss portion. But, as Lou alluded, I don't balance carbs and fat anymore.

Why? 1) I think it's too easy to overeat on the carbs, unless you're tracking your intake, which I don't care to do, and 2) There is, of course, the the carb-fat interaction that I'm not particularly fond of. Although the levels of carbs in TAP shouldn't create much of a problem. And I've seen with my own eyes the amazing results that people have gotten on that program.

My only regret with the diet in TAP is that we weren't more diligent on stressing to avoid foods with added sugars, as opposed to just emphasizing to achieve balance. Like, I could have done without the chocolate milk during snacks--it was a way for guys to conveniently balance the fat and the carbs, but I think that's one of the problems when trying to follow a formula so closely. Instead of string cheese and a chocolate milk, I'd now much rather see guys forget about balance and just have more cheese without the chocolate milk.

As far as carbs being needed to gain weight, I think they do make it easier--simply because it's easier to eat a lot of them and they stimulate your hunger by causing fluctuating blood sugar levels. But they also make it easier to get fat.

Also, I've gotten a lot of questions about whether there will be a commercial version of Adam's Diet. I've told a few people but have been avoiding an official announcement because 1) I really hate the "I've got something INCREDIBLE in the works, but I can't tell you about it" posts, 2) it'll be at least next Spring before it's published, and 3) We have a lot of work to do on it--which means I'm not even sure how it's going to turn out yet, so it's hard to talk about.

However, Jeff and I have found a publisher for it, and it does have an official name (I think). However, I have no idea if it's been trademarked yet, so I can't reveal it just now (which violates #1 above). I can tell you that it is basically Adam's Diet 2.0, which will hopefully cover every detail--so that Lost Dog doesn't have to keep answering the same questions over and over again.

It is seriously designed to help you lose fat and simultaneously build muscle. I know that's supposed to be impossible, but Jeff has been studying nutrient partitioning for some time and has already shown that it happens in his laboratory. You know the type of training I subscribe to, which will be included in the book. So that's the type of book you can expect. We are also focusing heavily on the health aspects of the plan--I hope to give that even more emphasis than the vanity benefits. Of course, maybe that's just because I'm just getting old.

[Lost Dog]

That's great, Adam. Congrats on the upcoming book.

What a coincidence. I need to lose fat and gain muscle, so I'm there!

[RobLL]

Adam - looking forward to it.

[Dogmama]

Fantastic! When it gets close, you'll let us know when/where we can order from, right?

[Lou Schuler]

you'll let us know when/where we can order from, right?

It'll be hard to miss. Your only concern should be ordering it early, since the publisher has a reputation for running out of books when it turns out that people actually want them. For some reason, demand always seems to catch them by surprise.

[Lost Dog]

Originally Posted by Lou Schuler

It'll be hard to miss. Your only concern should be ordering it early, since the publisher has a reputation for running out of books when it turns out that people actually want them. For some reason, demand always seems to catch them by surprise.

Lou,

If the publisher needs any tips on printing books "on demand," I'll be happy to help?

There's no excuse for running out of books. Even if the print runs are so large that presses are more cost effective, publishers should have a short run production center (read digital) to pick up the slack until the the next big run can be scheduled.

Roland
Xerox Corporation

It's not SPAM if you put the little winking guy "" on here, right?