Understanding Metabolism: The Truth About Counting Calories, Sustainable Weight Loss, and Metabolic Damage

I needed this book. I've completely lost balance in my nutrition/health, and this book says exactly why it's happened to me and so many other modern dieters.... Scott Abel also does offer his own diet advice. I will summarize it as 1) 6 out of 7 days a week, he eliminates processed snacks, alcohol, sweets/cakes, sugars, and second helpings. He eats a diet consisting of whole foods (as unprocessed as possible), mainly meat, vegetables, fruits, starches, grains (bread), and whole dairy. On the 7th day, usually Sunday, he eats whatever he wants however much he wants. This is his refeed day which helps to keep his metabolism high. His dietary advice seems to revolve around the idea that added sugar is one of the leading causes of obesity and hormone problems in people today, so he tries to cut it out as often as possible. He does not count calories because if you cut out snacks, alcohol, sweets, sugars, and seconds for most of the week, you should be in a small, barely noticeable deficit anyway. 2) Eat food, not too much, mostly plants. (your plate should be 1/3 meat, 2/3s plants starchy or non starchy) 3) Unless you are in a physique competition, you really shouldn't need to be counting calories or macros or doing anything extreme. You don't even need that much protein, (1g protein per 1 kg bodyweight is enough). 4) the only real deliberate exercise you need is strength training. You don't need cardio (cardio happens when you do fun things like hiking, etc) 5) sleep a lot, reduce stress, etc.

Very good and helpful book on metabolism. (I ordered this and Scott Abel’s other book titled about the same subject - “Beyond Metabolism”. I can’t say enough about his books. Well I have a dozen of them this in the top five. You get common sense advice, based on his decades of experience, research, and personal knowledge. You read his books thinking you’re going to get information on just food or just exercise etc. and instead you’re getting such amazing mind, body and spirit encouragement and advice. These books have made a complete difference in my life, of course by me applying information I read. I don’t do this with all books, but with all of Scott’s I always have a marker in hand to highlight items I will refer back to again and again, or want to share with others and find it easily. Scott has not only been in the fitness industry for 40+ years, but has also worked that long with physique competitors, bodybuilders, seriously overweight clients , those with food and body issues etc. He also has a degree in sociology and has done so much counseling, that I have gleaned emotional & mental information that I never expected to get out of a book about metabolism . If you paid 100 bucks for this book, it would still be a bargain. Enjoy!

Firstly, I'm a great fan Scott's work. His works are among the very best fitness books I have read, and I have read tons of them since I am a student of exercise science. What he writes is based on scientific research as well as his own experience from working with clients for several decades, providing very valuable source of information. Things like human psychology, neurology and endocrine system are all taken into account (not just nutrition and exercise science) to explain why diets don't work and giving sound advice on eating habits that will. The only reason, I didn't give this book 5 stars is this - very large part of this book is made of articles previously published on Scott's blog. As a dedicated follower of his work, I would have wished the book contained something more than I had already read. However, if you are new to Scott's approach and if you struggle with weight, dieting and body image, this book is a must.

this book is quick read and easy for the lay person wanting to understand how and what human metabolism is. The book is broken down into two section: Part 1 "What You Need to Know To Lose Weight...And KEEP It Off!" In my own simplistic terms here Scott explains how a calorie is not a calorie; what is the residual and cumulative effects of consuming too many and too little calories; how it is important to learn and understand: "Force the body and it reacts; coax the body, and it responds."; how the "Big Three" - metabolic, hormonal and internal biochemical environments must be in synchronicity with one another in order for the body to function optimally; why body part training with resistance is the best method to lose weight as opposed to "cardio"; and my favorite - "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants". The second part of the book goes through some of today's false claims that continue to costs people thousands of dollars on false premises. Too be honest, this book, if you thoroughly read it, makes you realize really how easy it is to eat right and train right. However, it takes patience and self-education.

This book is absolutely brilliant for anyone interested in weight control. It balances scientific research with an easily digestible style that cuts through the industry dogma and explains away all the misunderstandings out there that pass as credible knowledge. Do yourself a favour and educate yourself.

A good straight to the point honest read. I really like the way Scott breaks down the metabolic damage from dieting into 3 distinct phases. Simple and powerful.

Scott explains that there is no magic formula out there to get lean. Moreover he explains the metabolic system and the way to heal an damaged metabolism. He writes what is right and what is wrong with paleo and low carb and he shows the benefits of coffee and artificial sweeteners but the most important thing there is: to get lean and stay lean you have to work hard and make the right choices- quality over quantity

I liked it. The main parts of the book are about why “calorie counting,” or reducing metabolism to a daily “cals in/cals out” calculation basically ignores a whole bunch of other factors (e.g. what happens to your energy levels and hunger levels in the long term), and what can cause metabolic damage. For metabolic damage there’s also info on how to prevent it, and how to begin recovery… and how to be realistic about recovery. The author emphasizes thinking about things longterm. If there was one thing I’d have liked to see more of, it’d be more specific examples or case studies or something like that.

Fantastic!