Josh Hillis' Fat Loss and Fitness

Rocky IV Training Montage

I love the "underground strength training" vs. the best of soviet sports science circa 1985.  I don't care what kind of machine that guy is hooked up to while he is doing leg extensions, he's going to get his ass kicked by the guy that's chopping wood and pulling sleds.  No contest. 

Josh's Quick And Dirty Evaluation of Three Popular Diets

The Zone

Works Because:
1.) People get a good balance of protein, carbs and fat.
2.) Is designed to be a very low calorie diet.
3.) Once you get the hang of it, no food is off limits.
4.) You should feel full and satisfied.

People Fail On the Zone When:
1.) They eat too many calories because they were only paying attention to the ratios.

Eating For Life

Works Because:
1.) You have a good balance of protein and carbs.
2.) Uses hand size portion control should reduce calories.
3.) It's simple.
4.) Has a free day.

People fail on Eating For Life When:
1.) They over-estimate their portions (really common).
2.) They go absolutely crazy on their free day.

The Sonoma Diet

Works Because:
1.) Makes eating on diet sexy.  The food is beautiful and flavorful.
2.) Should have a good balance of protein and carbs.
3.) Uses plate based portion control to reduce calories.
4.) You eat lots of veggies.

People Fail on The Sonoma Diet Because:
1.) They don't have time to cook.
2.) They over estimate their portions.

What You Can Learn

In my book, Losing The Stubborn Seven Pounds: How To Go From Good To Rockstar, I talk about the master keys that make a diet work or fail.  None of these diets are bad, in fact, I picked these three because they are three of my favorites. 

Also, none of these diets are the be all end all of diets.  They all have something to teach you.  If you understand the underlying principles that make a diet work or not work, then you begin to see the commonalities between different diets that work.  Instead of them all sounding like they are giving conflicting advice, you begin to see what are the "key" distinctions, and what is just the author's style.  You can pull out the strategies that work from each diet, and leave behind the dogmatic hard-line rules.  In fact, the more you learn, and the more you can connect the dots, actually the more free you will feel on your diet.

By Josh Hillis

author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds: Take Your Body from Good to Rockstar.

National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) and Performance Enhancement Specialist (NASM-PES)

Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certified Instructor (RKC) and Combat Applications Specialist (RKC/CAS)