Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

If you want to jumpstart your eating and exercise routine for a vacation, reunion, or wedding, or just to amp up your get-in-shape progress, you may be interested in Bob Harper's new book telling you how to jumpstart to skinny in three weeks. Bob created this 3-week plan for clients who want to get in shape quickly such as a musician client who was going on tour, wanted to look her best, and shape up in a healthy way. This book has ideas on how to jumpstart progress in a three-week plan emphasizing 13 rules including daily low-impact cardio exercise such as walking, and metabolic-conditioning 20-minutes exercises for five days a week. If you wish you had a "get-in-shape" coach to advise you on a combined diet and exercise program to jumpstart your progress, Bob acts as one via this book. The 13 Rules to jumpstart getting in shape are in brief below - recommend reading the book as the explanations, scientific research and rationale in Bob's words are motivating. Research shows that reading a diet and exercise book is a commitment and makes it much more likely that you will continue on that path to getting in shape. This is similar to the dynamic they found if a child opens a savings account and only puts $1 in it, much more likely they will go to college than if they hadn't opened one up at all. ANY positive action you take towards a goal, makes it many times more likely that the goal is going to be achieved. So, creating a shopping list for this book, trying a new recipe in it, going shopping for the healthy foods each week, or ordering an exercise ball multiplies significantly the potential that you will achieve the goal say psychologists. Here's a very quick overview of Bob's 13 steps which are also listed on Dr. Oz's website in more detail, if you want more background.: #1 - Take control with proper proportions--40/40/20 - 40% protein/40% carbs/20% fat plus unlimited vegetables on Bob's freebie vegetable list that you want to eat. Carbs you can eat DO include whole grain pasta, oatmeal and others he includes in recipes. The protein is not all meat-based, and he lists other protein sources for this plan. #2 - Cut back on calories: 800 calories for women & 1200 for men - plus the additional calories from Bob's recommended vegetables. #3 - Eat no complex carbs (in whole grains) after breakfast - eat whole grains with breakfast foods. #4 - Get rid of water weight by drinking more water - he explains reasons for this based on research and names other beverages that meet this requirement. #5 - Get your electrolytes - ensure you have enough electrolytes - Bob recommends a mix he likes that is fairly inexpensive that you can add to water. #6 - Do 45 minutes a day of low-intensity cardio, preferably before breakfast. #7 - Five times a week, do 15 to 20 minutes of Bob's Jumpstart Moves. Part III of book has seven distinct routines you rotate with over 50 photos of Bob doing the moves. #8 - Cut the salt - recommended salt amount is explained. #9 - Take advantage of the restorative power of fish oil - preferred amount is listed and why. #10 - Fall back on veggies - a list of recommended unlimited veggies for optimum weight loss is provided. #11 - No fruit during week three - the fructose (fruit sugar) in fruit can slow down weight loss. That's the only food that changed for the last week. #12 - Lay off all booze - for a number of reasons including calorie count to optimize weight loss. #13 - An espresso a day ... or two or three - Bob lists other hot beverages also acceptable for this three week plan. You DO get to eat whole grain carbs like whole grain pasta, Ezekiel bread and whole grains on his approved menus. However, you only eat these healthy carbs at breakfast. This doesn't change during the three weeks. A day-by-day meal menu is provided with 63 new recipes. If you find a dish you like for his "power breakfasts, lean lunches and thinner dinners", you can have it more than once a week. Here's a few of the creative names for recipes Bob includes in the book: Shrimp Skimpy, Pizza Toast, Chicken Alla Fresca, Turkey Scramble, Mango Chicken, Eggplant Chili, Salmon with Watermelon Cucumber Salad, Jumbo Stir-fry, Buffalo Chicken Salad, Mediterranean Salad, Gourmet Pork Chop and Spanish Scramble. Exercise seems sensible and consistent - just 45 minutes of walking in the morning a day, and 5 days a week 15-20 minutes of basic movements as outlined by Bob any time during the day. If you are already walking 30 minutes a day, then it's just 15 minutes more walking and add the metabolism conditioning movements which add to your lean look, says Bob. There are 57 photos of Bob doing the jumpstart metabolism conditioning exercises in correct form. Regarding preparing a shopping list: if you eat pretty healthy, you may be buying these foods already and have some of them on hand like canned vegetable broth, or chicken breasts and lean ground turkey breast in the freezer. I load up on vegetables every week for salads, soups and roasting. So, would only need to buy a few new ingredients. Most of us are probably not going to try a new recipe every meal. You can eat the same meal 7 days a week says Bob. Personally, I may skip the swiss chard and halibut. If you find a few core recipes you like, have the ingredients on hand, you can have them every days, says Bob. If you have NO foods already in the house, and are going to make every recipe, below is what you may want to buy for the first couple week's shopping list. Bob seems to provide variety so we won't get bored, but we can find core recipes we like and make them again and again over the three weeks. I buy, or have, 80% of these ingredients already, and will skip some after deciding on the recipes. Here's a sample shopping list: PROTEINS: egg whites, no-salt sliced turkey breast, lean ground turkey breast, roasted chicken, chicken breasts, salmon, halibut, shrimp, cashews or walnuts VEGETABLES: eggplant, spinach, arugula, kale, mixed greens, broccoli, cauliflower, spaghetti squash, celery, avocado, plum & cherry & regular tomatoes, asparagus spears, green & red cabbage, zucchini, red-yellow-green onions, red bell pepper, sweet potatoes, radishes, baby bok choy, swiss chard and the infamous Persian cucumbers FRUITS: apples, fresh blueberries, frozen berries, watermelon, mango, unsweetened apple sauce, lemon-lime-orange for juice GRAINS & FATS: rolled oats, quinoa, ground flax seed, Ezekiel bread, whole grain penne pasta, almond milk, almond butter, non-fat Greek yogurt, light sesame oil, extra virgin olive oil, olive oil spray SEASONINGS & OTHER: fresh cilantro-dill-parsley-rosemary-thyme-bay leaf, garlic cloves, cinnamon, Dijon Mustard, Parmesan cheese, pesto, balsamic and red wine vinegars, fennel bulb, black and red pepper, vegetable broth, pico de gallo, hot sauce, Bragg's liquid aminos-for stir fry These look like healthy mainstream foods we should be eating anyway. Bob provides make-ahead recipes in this book, which can be prepared in advance for busy nights. There is a variety of options for the three weeks. Frankly, I tend to eat yogurt with fruit, oatmeal or eggs for breakfast and salads and soups for lunch, chicken and roast vegetables or stir-fry for dinners most days. So, preparing a shopping list from this will be easy. Was glad to learn about olive oil spray which Bob mentions for roasting vegetables and baking chicken. After the three weeks, you can transition to menus in Bob's SKINNY RULES book - which uses most of these same foods in recipes - which is a healthy life-long eating plan. If you've been wishing you could hire Bob to fine-tune your menu and exercise to get in shape for the beach or a special event, this book is an inexpensive alternative. To help decide if you want to read the book, there's an excerpt from this book, and a short video of Bob talking about this jumpstart program, at the top of this product page just under the picture of the book.