Mike Berland - Fat-Burning Machine: The 12-Week Diet

65 Bleecker Street

New York, NY 10012

Copyright 2015 by Mike Berland

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Regan Arts Subsidiary Rights Department, 65 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012.

The information provided in this book is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. This book is not meant to be used, nor should it be used, to diagnose or treat any medical condition. For diagnosis or treatment of any medical problem, consult your own physician. The publisher and author are not responsible for any specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision and are not liable for any damages or negative consequences from any treatment, action, application, or preparation, to any person reading or following the information in this book. References are provided for informational purposes only and do not constitute endorsement of any websites or other sources. Readers should be aware that the websites listed in this book may change.

First Regan Arts hardcover edition, December 2015

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015946436

ISBN 978-1-942872-50-4

eISBN 978-1-942872-51-1

Interior design by Nancy Singer

Interior Illustrations by dougillustration.com

Jacket design by Catherine Casalino

Front cover photo (woman) Mike Kemp / Getty Images

Mike

For my Argentine Princess, who is the love of my life and my true north

Gale

For my husband, Delbert, who is my rock of support

by Stacy Sims, PhD

The Fat-Burning Machine Diet Bridges the Gap in Nutritional Thinking

By Stacy Sims, PhD

Stanford University exercise physiologistnutrition scientist and cofounder of Osmo Nutrition

I am very pleased that Mike and Gale have written this book. For years I have been talking about the divide between medical practitioners and nutrition scientists regarding how people should eat and exercise. With the Fat-Burning Machine Diet, Mike and Gale have bridged that divide. Mikes deep hunger for solutions and Gales commonsense approach have produced a result that is consistent with the science Ive found in my research at Stanford, the University of Otago, and my research consultancy, as well as in my athletes and my own professional athletic endeavors.

The Fat-Burning Machine isnt just a clever turn of phrase; its an actual description of how our bodies are designed to work. The plan incorporates nutrition and exercise in a synchronized way that is effective. The science is solid and people need to understand it, but there has been an absence of scientific discussion about these very important connections. One salient factor is that the medical community and the nutrition community are separately siloed in their own expertise. Its not really their fault. Its just the way theyve been trained and organized. Most registered dietitians dont have a background in exercise physiology, so they dont always appreciate the connection between nutrition and exercise. Medical schools barely address exercise and nutrition; thus MDs and internists have very little background or expertise to counsel their patients on these matters. This silo effect leaves everyone narrowly focusedeven though the science is suggesting a more holistic approach.

The end result is a lot of misinformation being disseminated to the public. Consider how the popular notions of what constitutes a healthy diet have come about. Back in the 1980s, there was a huge wave of opinion that a healthy diet should be low in fat and high in carbohydrates. Everyone got on the bandwagon, and the result was an obesity epidemic. As people replaced fat with sugar, America developed a major sweet tooth. Today everything has added sugar in iteven foods like bread, which shouldnt be sweet. Then the fitness industry got on board and told people they needed high-carbohydrate diets to perform in their workouts. And people were getting fat and experiencing many related health problems.

In current times, there has been a backlash to high-carbohydrate eating. Thats why youre seeing diet trends such as the Paleo diet, which is very high in fat and low in carbohydrates. The problem is, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. Its based on a knee-jerk reaction to obesity, using a faulty reading of the science. In time, people will discover that this extreme diet approach doesnt work eitherespecially for women. It changes their hormonal activity in ways that increase fat storage and menstrual dysfunction. In short, extreme fixes dont work. Theyre a terrible disservice to people who really want a true pathway to wellness.

The appealing thing about the Fat-Burning Machine Diet, from a scientific perspective, is that it emphasizes clean, balanced eatingthe right combinations of food from the best sourcesthat produces true health benefits. For example, looking at the list of fat-storing vs. fat-burning foods, the underlying fact is that the fat-burning foods are actually anti-inflammatory foods. With less systemic inflammation, the body is under less stress, and is less inclined to store fat and create an environment for metabolic syndrome.

Fat-burning foods are actually anti-inflammatory foods. With less systemic inflammation, the body is under less stress, and is less inclined to store fat.

Your body is a machine, and this diet figures out how to keep it running as its intended to run. Look at the results. On the Fat-Burning Machine Diet, your body produces less cortisol (aka the belly fat hormone). You have less inflammation. Youre staying more hydrated. You have less central nervous system fatigue, so you can push harder and recover faster. Your skin and hair have more luster, and youre sleeping better. All of these benefits come together holistically to make you a generally healthier person.

* * *

The underlying story is about hormones. I find that many of the problems people have with diet and fitness begin popping up as they get into their forties. Theyve been cruising along on certain diet and exercise programs, and suddenly even those who have been fit find that the old go-to training and nutrition habits arent producing the results they are used to. They start getting more abdominal fat, and they cant hit the same intensities in their workouts. Of course, theyre very unhappy. But they dont realize that this isnt a sudden phenomenon. Those hormonal changes have been occurring under the radar for a long time.

We all know people in their twenties who have terrible diets but seem to get away with it. They say, I have high metabolism, and everyone accepts it at face value. But when they dont see it overtly, theres an undercurrent going onsubtle hormonal responses to the food theyre eating, their sleep patterns, their life stressesas well as reproductive hormones that are not necessarily picked up on blood tests. People arent usually aware of these changes because theyre not overt. So theyre surprised and unhappy when they get to their forties and they start noticing problems.

Men and women have different issues. For women, as their estrogen and progesterone levels and ratios change, long before menopause, they become sensitive to carbohydrates and they start gaining weightspecifically, putting on fat around the abdomen. For men, its the gradual decline in muscle mass and the effects of declining testosterone. But while men and women have different hormonal impacts, they can find common ground in the program presented in this book.

It all comes back to the need for nutrition and exercise science to work together. While working in the Stanford Prevention Research Center (SPRC), the center of all research in physical activity and nutrition, it was very apparent to me that the physical activity research scientists were myopic in their expertise, and the nutrition research scientists were myopic in theirs: The physical activity scientists would factor nutrition as a cofounding variable, and the nutrition research scientists would put physical activity into an afterthought variable column. The integration of the two was a rarity, and for most, it didnt even cross their minds! When your physician is looking at how to treat metabolic syndrome, most of the research he or she is reading is about reducing carbohydrates, with little attention to the exercise component. The question never gets askedhow does physical activity mitigate the onset of metabolic syndrome? The best thing about the Fat-Burning Machine Diet is that nutrition and exercise work so beautifully in concert. Its the right path and an excellent example of how science can change the trajectory of your health, fitness, and life.