David Zinczenko - The 8-Hour Diet: Watch the Pounds Disappear Without Watching What You Eat!

This book is intended as a reference volume only, not as a medical manual. The information given here is designed to help you make informed decisions about your health. It is not intended as a substitute for any treatment that may have been prescribed by your doctor. If you suspect that you have a medical problem, we urge you to seek competent medical help. The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper exercise training. All forms of exercise pose some inherent risks. The editors and publisher advise readers to take full responsibility for their safety and know their limits. Before practicing the exercises in this book, be sure that your equipment is well-maintained, and do not take risks beyond your level of experience, aptitude, training, and fitness. The exercise and dietary programs in this book are not intended as a substitute for any exercise routine or dietary regimen that may have been prescribed by your doctor. As with all exercise and dietary programs, you should get your doctors approval before beginning. Mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities in this book does not imply endorsement by the author or publisher, nor does mention of specific companies, organizations, or authorities imply that they endorse this book, its author, or the publisher. Internet addresses and telephone numbers given in this book were accurate at the time it went to press.

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Book design by Mike Smith with George Karabotsos

Photographs by Beth Bischoff

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To future generations of Americans. May the obesity crisis be something they read about only in history books.

I want to tell you about a moment that changed my life. Because its going to change your life, too.

Several years ago, shortly after I was appointed editor in chief of Mens Health, I reached a personal crisis point. From the outside, my life seemed packed to perfection: I was taking high-powered breakfast meetings almost every day and wooing writers and photographers over dinners late at night. I was eating and working from sunup until long after sundown, but I was eating healthy. And I was training like a maniacrunning marathons on weekends and lifting weights at lunch several times a week. I needed all that food and all that exercise and all those early mornings and late nights to maintain the fitness and the workload that allowed me to be that Mens Health guy.

I was the embodiment of healthy and active. I was doing it all. And I was exhausted.

In 1999, my father died at age 52 of a stroke. It taught me two lessons. First, that life was short and I needed to cram everything I could into it. Second, that I needed to work out constantly and follow a strict diet to avoid the same fate. But after years of trying to do it all, I was just plain tired of being tired all the time. My doctor noted that I was also developing high blood pressure, just like my dad. Something inside me said that it was time to slow down. Maybe working so hard to be healthy wasnt so healthy, after all.

About the same time, I started reading some preliminary research about a new trend in weight-loss science that was yielding eye-opening results. One that didnt involve hard workouts, watching calories like a hawk, or pushing yourself and your body to the limit. It was a simple technique by which you cut down on the hours you spend eating, cut down on the intensity of exercise, and spend more time resting and enjoying the foods you love. Somewhere in the back of my mind, this new science started to take hold.

It wasnt a sudden decision, but over time I started skipping those power breakfast meetings. Instead, I took leisurely walks to work and just focused on getting things out of the way before tucking into a long, delicious lunch. I stopped working so hard in the gym, quit the marathons, fired the personal trainer. I started going to bed earlier instead of working so hard and fueling my body late into the night. And you know what happened?

No, I didnt gain weight. Just the opposite. Seven pounds in the first 10 days. I started losing weight and keeping it off, effortlessly, even as my blood pressure came under control. I was stunned.

I just thought this new plan would help me relax and enjoy life a little more.

I had no idea it would prove to be a weight-loss miracle.

Ive been so inspired by how simple, easy, and enjoyable life has become that Ive spent the last several years digging deeper into this research and boiling it down into an easy, accessible, life-altering plan. And the result is the book you hold in your hands. The 8-Hour Diet is the simplest, most sustainable weight-loss plan in the world. It will change your life. It will make you slimmer, healthier, and happier. Its worked for me.

I know it will work for you.

David Zinczenko

The ideas expressed in this book are, quite frankly, startling.

When we began researching the 8-Hour Diet, everything we thought we knew about eating to manage ones weight and improve ones health was turned on its head. As a result, we needed more than ever to do our homework, digging deeply into the science and relying on a network of reporters, researchers, fact checkers, and scientific advisors to see us safely, and wisely, through to the groundbreaking book you have in your hands.

In particular, wed like to extend our thanks to Satchin Panda, PhD, associate professor of the regulatory biology laboratory at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, and Mark Mattson, PhD, chief of the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging, as well as their respective teams, for their revolutionary investigations into the health benefits of intermittent fasting. The leading theories and science in this field are theirs; the plan to implement it is ours.

To Maria Rodale and the Rodale family, whose dedication to pushing envelopes has left us anything but stationary! We thank them for empowering us to help people improve their lives and the world around them.