Bob Harper - The Skinny Rules: The Simple, Nonnegotiable Principles for Getting to Thin

Are You Ready!

No book can replace the diagnostic expertise and medical advice of a trusted physician. Please be certain to consult with your doctor before making any decisions that affect your health or extreme changes in your diet, particularly if you suffer from any medical condition or have any symptom that may require treatment.

Copyright 2012 by Bob Harper

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

B ALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Harper, Bob.
The skinny rules: the simple, nonnegotiable principles for getting to thin / Bob Harper with Greg Critser.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-345-53312-8
eISBN: 978-0-345-53313-5
1. Weight loss. 2. Physical fitness. 3. Exercise. I. Critser, Greg.
II. Title.
RM222.2H246 2012 613.25dc23 2012009034

www.ballantinebooks.com

Book design by Caroline Cunningham

v3.1

S ometimes big ideas come from small places.

From, say, a tweet.

Thats how this book came about.

I was on my way back from a taping of The Biggest Loser when I got a phone call. It was from Ben, the husband of Olivia, who won Season 11.

Im following you, he told me. Pretty sure he didnt mean he was stalking me, I still had to ask what on earth he was talking about.

Im following what you eatyour meals you post on Twitter.

Ben, like Olivia about 100 pounds overweight, went on to explain: Its kind of my way to stay connected to Olivia.... Its like being there with her. If youre not familiar with the concept of the show, let me explain a little: While taping the showwhich is a contest to see who can lose the most weightcontestants are separated from their families and all their normal routines, so as to break all ties with their normal eating cues. Ben had been separated from his wife for weeks by this point, and following my tweets about what we were eating made him feel a little closer.

Some weeks later, at the season finale, Ben was on hand to watch and cheer for his wife, and he was noticeably thinner. He had lost about 100 pounds! We were so impressed that we put him on the show, both to share in his wifes victory and to show off his own achievement. Later, he told us all how he did it, and why it worked.

I just followed Bob. I watched his tweets. I listened to what he said he ate. I figured, how can I go wrong? This is what the expert is eating! And that decluttered everything. It made it incredibly clear to me what mattered and what mattered with my diet. It... kind of gave me a set of rules.

Bang! A set of rules.

Anyone whos ever dieted knows exactly what Ben meant. Today, like never before, we are bombarded from every direction with health adviceabout diet, nutrition, weight loss, exercise, organic or nonorganic, free range or corn-fed. Now add in the daily science and medical news, a lot of which sounds either stunningly obvious (not being obese = good) or ridiculously counter to what we thought was correct (fruit juice = not so good), and youve got a jumbo case of Clutter Brain.

Clutter Brain is what happens when you hear so much information about a subject that you cant make solid, reasonable decisionsin this case about what you should eat. Its incredibly paralyzing, and just about every dieter knows what often comes with Clutter Brain: anxiety. And you know what that means: exhaustion, depression, and then bingeing. What elseat least in my experiencerelieves stress and anxiety better than, say, pie? A whole pie. Right? Which obviously counteracts the benefits of the advice you were trying to follow in the first place.

So, what if we eliminated the clutter? I began to think. What if I could come up with a list of simple, nonnegotiable rules that the average Jane or Joe can follow in daily liferules you can always fall back on in a pinch, rules you can use not just when you are trying to lose weight, but for when you are trying to stay slender.

Skinny Rules!

Im certainly not the first guy to say this, but in our modern, information-glutted world, rules matter more than ever. Why? Because our external environment no longer seems to have any firm boundaries, any limits, or any positive cues about when to stop consuming anything. I mean, there is a reason that people get fatits easy and cheap to get high-calorie, tasty food. If you look at statistics, more Americans than ever are eating out (and eating enormous portions), eating bad fast food, drinking huge amounts of high-calorie sodas and energy waters, and microwaving endless plastic platters of convenience food. All of which, while easy, will also make you fatfast.

But if you want to be right-sized in body, youve got to get rid of the supersize way of life. Whether you want to lose 20 pounds or 200, what the contestants on The Biggest Loser have learnedand taught meholds true: youve got to make a break. Youve got to divorce yourself from the past and find a different way of living. And you can never go back.

Once you accept that, and realize there is no finish line, then youve got a better chance of succeeding. Just like Ben, who not only dropped 100 pounds but, so far, has kept it off.

But wow, Bob, you say, all I want to do is drop 20 pounds!

No, I dont think so. Cmon. If all you want to do is drop 20 pounds, youd surely have succeeded by now, given the glut of diet books out there, many of which are pretty good.

No. If you are sitting here reading a diet book by one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser, I think you kinda want something a little more thanjust dropping some weight.

You want to keep the weight off.

You want a way that makes sense in your real-world daily life.

Something convenient and healthy.

Something you can always fall back on.

Something permanent, nonnegotiable, and simple.

Thats what I want to do with this book. Think of it as a rule book for your life as a healthy-weight person, a person who can enjoy delicious food in the right portions and be satisfied. Someone who can not only resist all the jumbo colas and supersized fries that get waved in front of our noses, but not even feel tempted by them!

Actually, this isnt only a rule book. , The Skinny Tools, houses the recipes and tips that youll be called on to look at, cook, and consume! My intention is to take the guesswork out of losing weight for you. After the first thirty days on the program, you will have lost weight and youll be more confident in eating and living according to my rules. By then youre likely not going to need all of the handholding I provide in this book. You will be on your way to a skinny life!

Dont get me wrong, it wont always be easy. Easy does not work. But it will be liberating. Remember what helped Ben: rules and clear instructions freed him from all the brain clutter. These principles let him make rational eating choices without being anxious.