The comparison would not format correctly in the comments section, so to make it clear I am posting it here. To understand the context review the comments section for the post Fred Hahn’s Slow Burn Fitness Revolution
Here is a PDF version as well.
We were originally turned onto “The Slow Burn Fitness Revolution: the slow-motion exercise that will change your body in 30 minutes a week” by Jimmy Moore during our podcast interview with him. Jimmy said this book and one other made a compelling argument for Super Slow training. The book is written by Frederick Hahn, Michael R. Eades, M.D. and Mary Dan Eades, M.D. We had forgotten about this book and it’s Super Slow exercise prescription until recently. We decided to take a look at the claims made in the book and a close look at the evidence and report on them both.
*** There is a more in-depth Part 2 here***
If you don’t want to read the entire article and you just want to know what we think of the book and its recommendations, here you go; We feel that this book is filled with misleading, incorrect and unsubstantiated claims regarding the benefits of a type of exercise referred to as Slow Burn. Therefore, it is not worth reading.
Now, if you’re interested in knowing why, read on…
I received my two FREE Quest Bars, one of each flavor, a couple of days ago. I had heard about these bars over at Jimmy Moore’s site, http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/ a few months back. They sounded like they might be good, (i.e., taste good and have quality ingredients) and they were giving away two free bars (http://www.questproteinbar.com/free/jimmy.html?ref=jimmy), so I filled out the form and waited for my goodies.
I ate the bars over the past two days. The result, to put it simply; Well done! The bars tasted good, they had a good texture and they are made with quality ingredients. They do use some Sucralose as one of the sweeteners, but I am really not very concerned about ingesting small amounts of this artificial sweetener. However, I know for some purest it will be a thorn in their side. Also, for the strict Paleo crowd, the whey and milk proteins will be aversive. However, for a lot of people looking for something relatively healthy, quick and convenient and will easily fit into a low-carb diet, then this is definitely are bar that can work. The price point is okay, with the price per bar to be about $2.40 (based on the case price plus shipping). You can usually get more for your money if you get your nutrients from preparing your own food, but sometimes that is very difficult and a bar can really help fill the void. But, like most things, you pay a bit more for the convenience. Overall, when it comes to bars that have a good amount of quality protein, very low sugar, a high amount of fiber, and tastes good this one stands above the rest.
From SPEED:
The fitness industry is chock full of experts. There are gurus of all sorts doling out advice on exercise, weight loss, nutrition and other topics through books, websites, fitness facilities and various other products and services. There is no shortage of advice on any fitness topic, but there is a shortage of evidence to support much of this advice.
Many experts in the field feel their credentials (degrees, certifications, etc.) and their experience are enough to support any claim they make to their customers. We disagree. We feel that no matter an expert’s educational background or number of years in the industry, evidence must be provided to support every piece of advice that is given.
One of our goals when writing SPEED was to help set a better standard of quality in the weight loss and fitness industries. The majority of our time was spent researching what has really proven to be true about effective weight loss techniques. Admittedly, we were surprised by the evidence we found regarding some topics and we were forced to change our minds! We hope you appreciate the effort we put into supporting our recommendations.
We were pleased to see John Barban include a section regarding logical fallacies on his website. In fact, he has a rule set for participating in discussions which includes never using any fallacious arguments. We included a chapter regarding evidence in SPEED which also discusses some fallacious arguments that we see far too often in the weight loss industry. We feel it’s important for you to understand these fallacies in order to weed out the good information from the bad – and trust us, there’s a lot of bad. Below is our short section on logical fallacies from SPEED. If you recognize one of these fallacies being used by someone, back away slowly and call for help as soon as possible.
From SPEED:
Ad Hominem
Ad hominem is described as an argument that attacks a person, rather than the argument the person is making. This often happens when an opponent has no way to attack the argument, and resorts to ad hominem to try to win favor with the audience.
Example: We see ad hominem frequently in political campaigns. One candidate might say “My opponent is a godless liberal and can’t be trusted because she lacks moral structure.” It’s easy to see how this is an attack on the opponents personal character, rather than on her policies.
Appeal to Authority
Appeal to authority refers to the act of blindly following advice or accepting the argument of an entity based on that entity’s position of authority. For example, people often follow the advice of their doctor without researching their situation at all. In this case, the patient is appealing to the authority of the doctor, rather than asking for proof or evidence to support the doctor’s advice.
Appeal to Tradition
Appeal to tradition occurs when a person or group of people use the following thought process; “it’s always been done this way.” Well, just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t make it the best course of action. It should be said that just because something is new doesn’t make it the best course of action either. We see the appeal to tradition fallacy in religious cultures where thousands-of-years-old scriptures dictate the earth is still flat.
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
A self-fulfilling prophecy appears when we have an outcome in mind and so we act as if the outcome were already true, which leads us to the outcome. For example, if a child believes they don’t do well with school work, they may act as if they’re no good and end up performing poorly in school. Self-fulfilling prophecies can be initiated by thoughts we have about ourselves or by the opinions of others thrust upon us.
Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias is related to the self-fulfilling prophecy in that the result of our outcome is in mind before an experiment is conducted. The experimenter then favors evidence which shows the desired result or outcome and ignores evidence against it. This happens far too often in medical literature and is one of the main reasons that reading research thoroughly is so important.
The Holiday season is definitely a high-risk time of year for gaining weight. However, does it mean that gaining weight during this time of year is inevitable? I think not. There are many things that can be done that can decrease the likelihood that a person will continually eat more than normal during this time of year. It is not a matter of not enjoying the Holiday season; rather it is using some simple strategies that help us, often unconsciously, to move our eating behaviors in a positive direction.
First, what is the average weight gain during the Holiday’s? Is it 5, 10, or 15 pounds? From the few studies that have looked at this specific question, it seems that the average weight gained during the Holiday season (runs from Thanksgiving to New Years Day, so about 6 weeks) is 1 to 2 pounds (Yanovski). This is much less than what most people think happens. It is also much less than what is often stated in articles on the subject. For example, a recent article at ScienceDaily.com (Nov. 6, 2010) states “the time to begin changing the pattern is now because most of us gain anywhere between 5 to 15 lbs during the Holiday season” (Methodist Hospital). Really? I am not sure where they get these numbers? They have no citation for explaining it. But it is articles like this that perpetuate the “big weight gain” view. Anyway, even the 1 to 2 pounds could be problematic over the long-term. This “long-term” view is what the studies on this subject are concerned with. The idea is that the small weight gain will not be lost and it will slowly accumulate over 10 to 20 years. Therefore, this small gain can lead to an additional 20 to 40 pounds over 20 years. Whether the hypothesis that increasing weights of Americans are due to the small increases that occur during the Holiday season is debatable. I will leave the analysis of that subject for another time. The concern here is how to mitigate the typical weight gained during the Holiday season.
The reason the Holiday season is a “high-risk” time of year for weight gain is the convergence of many factors that tend to increase food intake. These factors include;
What results is the increased tendency to eat more at a particular meal and to do this many times during this time of year. This can happen other times of the year, but the consistency of this effect seems more pronounced now. Knowing that there are many things that are pulling you to eat more, what can be done to avoid or minimize the effect?
There really is no fool proof way to avoid many of these influences, unless you plan on living in a nuclear bunker, by yourself, for 6 weeks. However, there do seem to be some strategies that can help minimize their effects. Keep in mind that it is not about having a huge amount of will power, although it helps. It’s really not will power, because many of the variables mentioned above seem to influence us on a more subconscious level. Also consider the fact that many people do NOT gain weight during the Holiday season and some even lose weight during this time. So it is not hopeless. It is just a matter of doing a bit of planning and practicing a few behaviors that will allow you to enjoy yourself but still maintain a high level of control.
Here are my recommendations for getting through the Holidays and NOT gaining weight.
It’s that time of year when people fall off the track slightly, and then let that snowball into a big mess of negative behaviors. Don’t be one of those people.
In the past few days I’ve seen two great posts on food cost, one by Richard at freetheanimal.com and one by Don at primalwisdom.com. Not being one to kill a good trend, I thought I’d pass along another example. This morning, at a local supermarket, I bought:
Beef Roast: 2.13 lbs @ $3.49/lbs = $7.43
Avocados: $1.99 for 4
Yams: 1.51 lbs @ $1.00/lbs = $1.51
Diced Tomatoes: 1 can = $.67
I put the roast, tomatoes and yams in the crockpot and will split into 4 servings with one avocado at each.
Total calories per serving: 976
Protein: 54.5g
Carbohydrate: 62.2g (fiber: 18.6g – net carb: 43.6g)
Fat: 58.0g
52% fat, 23% protein, 25% carbohydrate
So, total cost is $11.60. Cost per serving is $2.90. Keep in mind these are near 1,000 calorie servings. Add 6 eggs at $2 for breakfast and you’re eating for $4.90 for the day. If you’re telling yourself you haven’t been eating well because it’s expensive, stop it.
