Table of Contents
Chapter 1 The Third Act 1
The Promise: Plan A
The Promise: Plan B
Key Point: Eat Less!
"Up the Revolution!"
Younger Next Year
Finding Jen
"How Come I'm Fat?"
"Who Are You People?"
Does This Really Matter?
The War Zone
A Program for You
Chapter 2 The Mountain of Slop and Despair 17
Welcome to the Tar Pit
Back to You and Your Third Act
The Old Woman of Bogota
The Upside
The Context of Your Effort
The Mountain of Slop and Despair
Chapter 3 Where I'm Coming From and Where You're Going 24
Why I'm So Passionate
Who Are You?
Why Exercise Is the Key Component for Weight Loss: The 101 Version
What's Food Got to Do with It?
Good Eating with Exercise
Junk Food Is Addictive
Setting a Realistic Weight Goal
Where Does All the Energy Go?
It's Worth It!
Chapter 4 Going Deep 39
Chapter 5 The Good Stuff: What Happens Inside When You Eat the Right "Mix" 47
How We Use Carbs and Fat
Carbohydrates
Fats
The Metabolism of Fats
Energy Storage
Protein
Chapter 6 A Day in the Life: Bash Bish Falls 56
What We Ate
Back to the Mighty Spin
Black Ice
Two More Meals
Chapter 7 The Bad Stuff: What Happens When You Eat Junk 69
The Big Bad Five
The Consequences of All Bad All the Time
Concept 1: "Runaway Fats," Sugar, and Insulin Resistance
Concept 2: Fats and Heart Disease
Inflammation: The Common Thread
Diets and Other Fads
Final Thoughts
Chapter 8 A Day in the Life: A New Relationship with Vegetables 87
A Quick Row on Twin Lakes
A New Relationship with Vegetables
Dinner: What to Do with a Kid's Birthday Party
Chapter 9 The Thinner This Year Eating Plan 95
Eat Significantly Fewer Calories
Eliminate Dead Food
Keep Your System Going with Steady Fuel
Make Vegetables and Fruit Account for 50 Percent by Volume of Your Diet
Make the Other 50 Percent Count
Don't Drink Your Calories
A Long List of Great Things to Eat
Two Weeks and Fourteen Good Meals
Chapter 10 What Do You Say We Drop a Couple of Pounds? 124
The Conceptual Framework: Small Changes Over Time
How We Got Fat
Know Yourself: Set Rational Goals
The 7 Percent Solution
Caveat
Now What?
Eating: Gradual Changes in the Early Weeks
Sink the Carriers!
The Bad Carbs Fallacy
Stupid Eating Tricks
Make Up Your Mind
Chapter 11 Nutrients: They Make the Body Work 133
The Myth of Perfect Foods
Nutrients and Metabolism
Nutrients as "Structure"
What Key Nutrients Do
Supplements: A Few Good Ones and a Lot of Expensive Junk!
Supplements with Special Consideration
The Balanced Diet of Good Food
Chapter 12 A Day in the Life: In the Land of Dreamy Dreams 152
The Rapture of the Creep
In the Land of Dreamy Dreams
Doubling Down
Two More Meals
Chapter 13 Exercise: The Magic Bullet 158
Exercise Changes Your Fundamental Physiology for a Much Better You
Exercise Is Key for Weight Loss-and a Thinner, Healthier You
Chapter 14 A Day in the Life: Intervals, "Periodization," and Kedges 167
Interval Day 2: A Walk in the Snow
Interval Day 3: Playing with Girls
Chapter 15 Sports Nutrition 177
Are You Slow-Twitch or Fast-Twitch?
The Metabolic Pathways
The Lactate or Anaerobic Threshold
Metabolic Realities
When and What to Do with Fuel
Do You Chow Down After a Workout?
Hydration Is Key
Exercise and Free Radicals
Other Nutrients Important to Exercise
Chapter 16 Aerobic Exercise: The Secret of the Good Life 191
Putting Exercise into Practice: Meet Bill Fabrocini and Riggs Klika
Why Aerobics?
A Teeny Bit Boring
Recovery Rate
Chapter 17 The How-To of Aerobic Exercise 200
Two Views of Aerobics
Long and Slow: The Details
The Workout
The Mythical "Fat-Burning Zone"
Mix It Up and Enjoy It
The Endurance Zone
The Rich Hours
Going Hard for Fitness
The "Hockey Stick": Moving the Lactate or Anaerobic Threshold
Intervals
Two Great Rules of Interval Training
A Formal Interval Regimen
Four Interval Days
Fast-Twitch and Slow-Twitch: Alive in the Hills
Chapter 18 Muscle as the Grand Negotiator of Body Signals 218
Muscles Send Signals
The Tide of Aging
Muscle Gulps Up Sugar
Muscle Over Insulin
Healthy Muscle Burns More Fat
Healthy Muscle Is Anti-Inflammatory
The Biggest Payoff of All
Just a Little More Good News
Chapter 19 The Astonishing Importance of Strength Training 226
A Personal Note
Quality of Life
We Live in Glass Boxes
Chapter 20 Train Movements, Not Muscles: Whole-Body Movement and the Three Little Pigs 233
The New Model
Life and Movement in Three Dimensions
Signaling in Three Dimensions
A Special Blessing for Those Who Rot!
Balance
Boomers and the Shrinking Margin for Error in Movement
The Three Little Pigs and the Importance of Posture
Geologic Forces
Built Like a Brick House
What Is Good Posture?
Stability
Things Going Wrong
Critical Lesson: Do Not Bend, Lift, and Twist with Your Back
Last One: Heads-Up!
Don't Slouch!
A Word to Athletes: Good Posture Is Stronger
Chapter 21 The Warm-Up, or "Preparation for Movement" 247
No Special Toys Required
One Size Does Not Fit All
The Warm-Up: A Quick Intro
General Rules
On Your Back
On Your Stomach
Side Lie
On All Fours
Half-Kneeling
Standing
Chapter 22 A Day in the Life: A Cold Day in Hell 269
Warm-Up
Lunges Count
The Day Five Miracle
What We Ate
Chapter 23 The Twenty-Five Sacred Exercises 274
Why Range of Motion Matters
General Rules for All Exercises
Don't Make Yourself Nuts
A Word About Intensity and Difficulty
Don't Try to Do All of These from the Get-Go
The Twenty-Five Sacred Exercises
The Weight Loss Side of Strength Training
The Rhythm of These Sessions
What About Static Stretching?
Chapter 24 The Third Element in the Third Act: General Grant, Scott Fitzgerald, and the Need to "Care, Connect, and Commit" 317
The Limbic Brain
Orienting Idea: Relationships Trump Jobs
Walter, the Homicide Cop
Wetting the Felt… Being You
You're Not on Vacation
Living More Than One Life
The Other Side of Your Brain
Get Over
Yourself, At Least Your False Self' Take Control
The Gifts of Women
Get
Your Lines Out Early
Keeping Your Lines Out All Your Life
Ranie and the
Great Kedge
Full House
The Old Girl on 57th Street with the Four-Footed
Cane
The Recap: The Three-Legged Stool
Chapter 25 A Day in the Life: Victory Lap 333
Appendix A Jen's Rules 339
Appendix B Other Stuff 340
Index 343
