I read a lot of books. Specifically I read a lot of books related to the fitness/nutrition industry. And while most make me want to vomit in my mouth, occasionally I come across one that really impresses me. One such books is The TNT Diet, written by Jeff Volek and Adam Campbell. Dr. Volek is a professor at the University of Connecticut and has been a long time advocate of low-carb diets and their efficacy towards fat loss (notice I didn’t say weight loss). Adam Campbell is a features editor of Mens Health and is a handsome devil (I hate him).
What I like best about this particular book is that it’s written by two guys who actually train and have experience under the bar. Matter of fact, Dr. Volek was a competitive powerlifter not too long ago. Walk down the health/fitness aisle at your local Barnes and Noble and peruse the covers of many of the books. I’m normally not the type of person to judge a book by its cover, but come on…..Dr. Phil? I doubt the man has ever lifted a weight in his life.
Nonetheless, the “TNT” in The TNT Diet stands for Targeted Nutritional Tactics. Essentially the book entails specific nutrition (and exercise, which is very important because most diet books never mention resistance training) strategies that enable “you” to reach your body composition goals as fast as possible. Notice the word body composition and not weight loss.
Most diet books focus only on weight loss, which is a major mistake. Research on dieters show that 75% of their weight loss is fat (great) and the other 25% is muscle (not so great). The TNT Diet focuses specifically on fat loss, while maintaining or even GAINING muscle, which bodes well from a body composition standpoint, as well as overall health (improve cholesterol profile, improve triglyceride profile, cut down risk for heart disease, lower blood sugar, ect). I won’t go into the details here, but suffice it to say it’s refreshing to actually read a mainstream diet book that focus on body composition and not just weight loss.
Also, what differentiates this book from other dieting books is that is goes out of it’s way to debunk many of the common myths that have been perpetuated by the media and “fitness/health experts” throughout the years.
1. The Food Guide Pyramid (yes even the new MyPyramid) stinks.
2. High(er) protein diets will not cause your kidneys to explode.
3. Saturated fat is actually healthier for you than you think and increasing your intake (while decreasing intake of processed foods) will actually DECREASE your risk of heart disease.
All in all, I definitely recommend this book.
