A book that effectively presents a realistic, flexible diet.
A Los Angeles physician and nutrition specialist offers customized eating plans based on individual goals and insulin status.
Refreshingly, Jampolis (The Calendar Diet, 2012) acknowledges that “there is not a single ‘best’ way to lose weight.” Instead, she argues, diets should be customized to suit criteria like age, gender, and specific health requirements. Luckily, the author’s diet, which is in three phases, has built-in flexibility. Phase 1, the 10-day “CleanStart Plan,” aims to curb hunger by having you eat protein-rich foods and cutting dry carbohydrates like pasta and cereal. Jampolis recommends three smaller meals and one or two snacks. Phase 2, the “Customize Your Carbs Plan,” is higher-calorie and has more variety. Based on a self-diagnosis of insulin resistance or responsiveness, readers are directed to separate tracks; the insulin-resistant consume slightly more fat and fewer dense carbohydrates and fruit servings. Phase 3, the “Cycle for Success Plan,” is all about “structured flexibility.” Patients alternate between adapted versions of one or both of the previous plans in a 5:2 pattern, again based on insulin status. Interspersed quizzes, questionnaires, work sheets, and sample meal plans within the text ensure that the book is not overloaded with information. The varied layout includes bullet-pointed lists, charts indicating serving sizes of suggested foods, and inset boxes with tips labeled “Clinical Pearls.” Recipes cover all the bases, from smoothies to entrees. The case studies are particularly helpful, although the heading “SOAP Notes”—with SOAP standing for the physician’s subjective and objective responses, followed by an assessment and plan—is opaque. Indeed, the book’s unenlightening title, gimmicky naming, and acronyms—quibbles common to diet books in general—may well be its only off-putting elements. For instance, NEAT, “non-exercise activity thermogenesis,” is a fancy term for adding minutes of calorie burning here and there, while HIIT, “high-intensity interval training,” is about burning more calories in less time. A chapter on changing one’s frame of mind delivers a useful reminder that food is never without emotional connotations, while another, about maintaining health gains, targets erstwhile yo-yo dieters.
A book that effectively presents a realistic, flexible diet.Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-939457-46-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Ghost Mountain Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A superb work that paints the resilient athlete as a fierce competitor and an unforgettable sportsman.
Heartfelt biography of a Texas football star whose life was cut short by cancer.
Inspired by interviews with coaches, teammates and friends and a 1971 autobiography, award-winning sportswriter Dent (Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football, 2007, etc.) tracks Freddie Joe Steinmark’s early years and burgeoning career with the Texas Longhorns. From his childhood in 1950s Denver, Colo., Steinmark’s interest in sports flourished, carefully groomed and profoundly encouraged by his father, a self-made athlete turned cop who’d sacrificed a professional baseball career to raise his son. “A small child with fragile bones” yet dubbed “a born winner” by early mentors, Steinmark’s diminutive stature proved a surprisingly suitable match for his steely, fearless determination on the field. Dent budgets his narrative wisely, proffering equal parts sports achievement and personal accomplishment in tracing his subject’s incremental ascent to greatness as he earned the admiration of fellow teammates like star quarterback Roger Behler. As the Longhorns’ “golden boy” key safety, the “155-pound peach-fuzz kid” exhibited drive and tireless perseverance on the gridiron, making him a respected letterman under Coach Darrell Royal. However, soon after a game-saving field performance, Steinmark suffered a crushing blow when he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of bone cancer that would eventually claim his life at 22. Dent also includes the story of Steinmark’s shyly romantic courtship of high-school sweetheart Linda Wheeler, an intensive love that endured throughout their tenure together at the University of Texas. The author also bolsters the biography with a fond foreword from current Texas head coach Mack Brown, who, to this day, continues to memorialize Steinmark’s legacy by bringing his photograph along to the team’s away-games.
A superb work that paints the resilient athlete as a fierce competitor and an unforgettable sportsman.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-312-65285-2
Page Count: 307
Publisher: Dunne/St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
A dramatic demystification of suicide from detailed accounts of failed suicide attempts, their circumstances, and their aftermaths. Therapist and psychology professor Heckler (John F. Kennedy Univ.) interviews 50 people, ranging from teenagers to septuagenarians, mechanics to physicians. What these people share is their ability to live meaningful lives after having failed in their suicide attempts. Heckler opens with an analysis of the most common preludes to suicide. In their own words, his subjects reveal the devastating effects of traumatic loss, extreme family dysfunction, and alienation. As each of their stories unfolds, the critical elements in the suicidal urge become identifiable. Early unresolved pain compounded by present adversity is a chief precursor of suicide. Many of the interviewees relate early experiences of loss and trauma—such as the death of a parent or sexual abuse—that they were not able to mourn: They were experts at putting up a facade. But once this facade could no longer be maintained, many of those interviewed fell into a state that Heckler identifies as the ``suicidal trance.'' At this stage, suicide seems a logical option—almost an imperative. It becomes the only sensible way to both gain control and kill the pain. But when suicide attempts fail, survivors are forced to face the reality of their self-abuse and the crisis that they were trying to ``resolve.'' In addition to grappling with the more recent calamity, Heckler's interviewees underwent a grieving process in which their original pain finally surfaced and could then be dealt with. ``Grieving actually represents the successful beginning of resolving one's past,'' he writes. The catharsis of their suicide attempts were so powerful, in fact, that many of the survivors have moved on to success in helping and counseling professions. A bibliography and resource list round out the volume. Revealing and inspiring.
Pub Date: Oct. 19, 1994
ISBN: 0-399-13945-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1994
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