The 3-Hour Diet: How Low-Carb Diets Make You Fat and Timing Makes You Thin, by Jorge Cruise from Healthy Books.com

Stepping around the low-fat versus low-carb debate, Jorge Cruise (Eight Minutes in the Morning) suggests that losing weight isn't in what you eat, but rather, when you eat it. The core idea behind The Three-Hour Diet is that by timing your meals and snacks every day, the pounds will come off. No restrictions, no exercise.

While reality is rarely that simple, the advice offered here is nutritionally sound, emphasizing plenty of fruits and vegetables, and filling in with lean proteins, healthy fats, and just enough carbs to keep meals interesting. Following Cruise’s guidelines for portion control, you’ll eat an average of 1,400 calories per day, filling half your plate with fruits or vegetables, and dividing the other half between the rest of the food groups. Healthy meals from fast-food joints and freezer cases are included, and a substantial recipe section offers everything from a bacon and cheese omelet to rosemary lamb chops. A month-long journal is also provided, giving you space to plan each meal in advance (a key part of the diet), along with daily motivational hints and visualization exercises. A few pages cover basic exercises--but the emphasis is definitely on the diet, which Cruise asserts will work, regardless of whether you choose to work out.

Cruise’s straightforward, no-excuses encouragement works well with the simple formula the plan is based upon, and the clever Three-Hour Plate™ makes it easy to keep portion sizes in check. Still, closely monitoring meal time might seem like a challenge to some of the "busy people" for whom the program claims to be specifically designed. If counting calories or net carbs sounds daunting—but keeping a close eye on the clock doesn’t—you might just find weight loss success in these pages. —Jill Lightner

Amazon.com exclusive content

Tired of fad diets and their lack of results? That's just how Jorge Cruise, author of The Three-Hour Diet, wants you to feel. Cruise's guidelines encourage sensible portion control and plenty of vegetables, but--perhaps more importantly--they encourage dieters to feel good about themselves by teaching self-acceptance and positive visualization. Stressing an easy-to-follow visual food plan that insists on incorporating snacks and treats into your day, he contends that carb-bashing is a highly ineffective means of maintaining a healthy weight. How can you sort out weight-loss fact from fiction? Amazon.com contributor Jill Lightner got some straight answers from Cruise.

Watch Jorge Cruise introduce
The Three-Hour Diet. Read our interview with Cruise.

Reviews:

Not very comprehensive but OK

Although I can suggest better books than Thhe 3-Hour Diet, I think that in generel Jorge is right in his approach. Timing is not everything, but it IS important. It is good to eat always at the same time and not have any snacks between the meals. Skipping meals is not only unhealthy but it will also work against loosing weight as it usually brings about overeating at a later time... What I like about Jorge's methodology is the fact that he allows eating practically all kind of foods, just applying some moderation and proper food combination. Maybe it is not always easy to follow this diet, but what is easy? In any case, Jorge's approach is definitely healthy, and this is all that matters to me.

Jorge reminds us about the universal truth that you cannot be slim if you overeat. Of course his method boils down to watching calories intake, but this is what makes him believable. By following his daily eating schedule it is naturally possible to eat less.

Jorge also warns about emotional eating which is often a big problem for some people and one of great reasons for overeating. Anyone interested in that problem should refer to the book "Can We Live 150 Year?" The author of that book expands on this idea by quoting eleven other bad habits that lead people to obesity. He offers definitely more comprehessive approach to not only our nurishment, but to our life style in general.

Don't sign up on his website

Everything associated with Jorge Cruise pushes you to join up at his website, including this book. It is a bunch of marketing hype for a load of junk. When I was stupid enough to sign up at jorgecruise.com I was immediately disappointed by the crazy excercise that was suggested that I do. I'm pusing 50, 100 pounds overweight and get little to no excercise. I input this information into the form when signing up. The first excercise I was instructed to do was to put my feet on a chair and get my back perpendicular to the floor and do push ups. I started to try it and found that it was just plain dangerous for someone of my age, weight and physical fitness level. I thought that this membership was supposed to tailor the diet and activity to you, but I was wrong. I cancelled my membership but of course they kept the "early termination fee" so now I just feel totally ripped-off.

I'm One of His Success Stories!

I can't say enough nice things about what Jorge has done for weight loss, and especially what his plan has done for me. Yes, I think he's tried to appeal to main-stream folks with some of his pre-prepared foods, but sometimes you have to do that for folks who say they don't have time to prepare diet meals. I used his 8 MINUTES IN THE MORNING FOR REAL SHAPES, REAL SIZES which focuses on the more natural foods.

I'm 59 years old and have fought the food battle since jr. high school, but I've lost 105# on Jorge's diet--in fact, I'm page 48 of this very book! Now, if someone had told me 2 years ago that I'd be a success story for a diet, I'd have thought them insane. But each individual has to decide that they HAVE to lose weight--NO diet works if you can't commit to it--and if and when they do, you won't find a more sensible plan to follow. I did, and have kept it off for 9 months. --Deborah Bausmith, Columbus, OH

Catchy.

I like evaluating new diet books now and then and this one caught my eye with its catchy title.

While the title almost implies that you only have to diet for three hours, the true meaning is that you need to EAT every three hours. By doing this, your body doesn't go into starvation mode which will eventually undermine your goal to lose weight.

Reader friendly and well laid out, I'd have to say its not a bad plan all in all. However even if you follow it to a 'T', you'll be doing the same thing you've always had to do to lose weight- eat less and exercise more. Readers interested in other diet books might also want to check out "The No-Beach, No-Zone, No-Nonsense Weight Loss Plan"

Eye-opening

This book was amazing -- one of the rare times in life when someone promises you the moon... and DELIVERS! I have always admired men like Jorge Cruise and Clint Arthur (whose new book "FREE YOUR LOVE NOW" promises Ultimate Fulfillment in 60 minutes!) who can talk the talk and walk the walk for REAL!

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The 3-Hour Diet: How Low-Carb Diets Make You Fat and Timing Makes You Thin

Jorge Cruise

Collins, 2005-04-01

Price: $24.95

Reviews: