Ten Years Thinner is a book by Christine Lydon which claims it offers a nutrition and exercise plan that will make you look and feel ten years younger. The publisher of the book contacted me and asked me if I would review it. I said no at first since it didn’t seem like my type of book but, after a friend recommended that I look at the book, I agreed. I did however state upfront that my review is independent and I am not committed to reviewing it positively. For full disclosure purposes, I would like to state that the publisher did supply me with a free copy but did not otherwise pay me in anyway nor are they advertisers on 60 in 3. In other words, I reviewed this book because I wanted to and this is my own opinion, not anyone else’s.

First Impression

My first impression of this book was negative. The cover has the obligatory athletic woman on it along with “no gym required” and “6 weeks to a leaner, younger looking you”. These things are usually warning signs of a fad book, something that promises a quick solution and delivers very little in the way of useful content. I said this to my friend and his reply was “that’s the author on the cover and there is actually an exercise program included with this book.” I guess that will teach me to not judge a book by its cover.

Section 1 – Basic Learning

So I decided to dive in and see what the book held. The first third of the book is devoted to teaching you about your body and what it needs to thrive. I liked what I saw. Ms. Lydon has a tendency to relate everything to muscular cavemen, but other than that, there was a lot of solid information here. I didn’t find it as detailed as YOU: The Owner’s Manual: An Insider’s Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger or The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan: Feel Full on Fewer Calories, but there was a lot of good basic education on nutrition and exercise.

This first section really started to win me over, despite my initial bad impression. I like books that don’t just tell you what to do but also explain why you should do it. I think this sort of basic understanding is necessary if you’re going to shape lifelong habits. A lot of the details were a little dumbed down, but that’s ok, people sometimes need dumbed down facts, especially if they’re unfamiliar with the topic. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m the owner of several “for dummies” books.

Some of the highlights for me:

• Good breakdown of fat vs. protein vs. carbs and what each one does
  • I liked the fact that the author stayed away from vilifying proteins, fats or carbs. Instead, she described them in detail and talked about which sub types were good or bad and why.
• Details on the chemical make up of various fats
• Specifics on how your body deals with various nutrients

Section 2 – The six week program

The next third of the book is devoted to the author’s program for better health. There are two parts to this program. The first is a nutrition program in which you start with limited options and slowly add more into your diet over the span of six weeks. Ms. Lydon hits all the basics. She has you eliminate refined carbs, sodas, fruit juices, unhealthy fats and tells you to add fruits, vegetables and servings of healthy fats and protein. The program is rigid in that you do have to follow the guidelines but these guidelines are broad enough to provide for an interesting meal plan that is sustainable for six weeks. The author also asks you to go for the usual three meal and two snack routine, which I think is a bit difficult to maintain but still possible.

Overall, the eating plan seems very sound. Not the approach I would have taken, I prefer to slowly eliminate things from my diet if they are unhealthy, but it seems very workable. The first two weeks might be a bit restrictive for some but it’s only for two weeks, so I think it’s doable. My only issue with the eating plan was that it didn’t provide much support for vegetarians, but that’s a personal thing.

There is also a very nice exercise plan included in this section. It’s a simple one focusing on exercises that can be done at home with a minimal set of equipment, but it’s rather complete. All the major muscle groups are exercised and Ms. Lydon picked out exercises that really get the most benefit out of the time spent. There are illustrations for those unfamiliar with the exercises plus options for beginners or advanced readers. The exercise program is two staged with the second stage adding more exercises and upping the difficulty. There is no cardio included but the program is structured so that you increase your heart rate through your weight exercises, sort of like the workout I talked about earlier this week.

Section 3 – Resources

The last section of the book had various resources in it. Everything from forms to fill out that will keep you on track to recipes for good and healthy meals. All useful stuff. I especially liked the part about motivation. There are also parts of this section devoted to how to extend the six week program into something that will last your entire life. This section really rounded out the rest of the book and left me with a very positive impression.

Overall Impressions

Things to like:

• Good basic education on nutrition
• Good basic education on exercise
• Realistic six week program to get you used to healthy habits
  • Excellent exercise program for beginners and experts alike
• Information on following up with permanent changes to your life
• Despite the title, the author focuses on health rather than weight loss

Things not to like

• Bad cover (yah, I know, it’s petty, but first impressions do count)
• No support for vegetarians
• The six week eating program may be a bit restrictive.

Buy or Don’t Buy?

As you can see from my overall impressions, there were some good positives and only a few minor negatives. So would I buy this book? Personally, no. I’m already past the stage where I need something like this. However, if you’re just now looking for ways to start fixing up your health and you’re the kind of person who likes a clear plan with guidelines on what to do and not do, then this is a great book for you. The information is solid and the plan looks great. I would recommend picking it up, starting the program and then picking up something like YOU: The Owner’s Manual: An Insider’s Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger as a follow up if you’re interested in learning more about your body and how to improve your health.

Buy it on Amazon: Ten Years Thinner

I’ve had the link to You, the Owner’s Manual up on 60 in 3 for a while now, and recently, someone asked me why. Why do I recommend this book to my readers? Well, here’s my answer.

Overview

What do you know about your car? Do you know what the brakes do? How about the transmission? Do you know how your engine works in theory? Most people, even non mechanically inclined ones like myself, know the basics about cars. We might not know the specifics of how the transmission works or what the carburetor does, but we do in general understand the workings of our car. So it’s a bit ironic when you ask the same people how their body works and they don’t have a clue. If you had asked me four years ago how an internal combustion engine works, I could have answered you in good detail. If you had asked me how my own metabolic engine worked and how it kept my body supplied with energy, I would have been clueless. That’s where You, The Owner’s Manual comes in.

Authors

You, The Owner’s Manual was written by two doctors, Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz. Dr. Roizen created the Real Age concept which you can learn more about on his webpage while Dr. Oz is a professor at Columbia University.

Purpose

The purpose of You, The Owner’s Manual is to provide you with the basic guide to your body. It’s not an encyclopedia or a detailed medical text. Instead, it is a high level overview of every system in your body along with tips on how to improve its performance. Just like a car manual, it will explain the basics, cover day to day use and provide you with maintenance recommendations.

Contents

The book is divided into 12 chapters listed here:

1. Chapter 1 – Your body, Your Home: Super Health
2. Chapter 2 – The Beat Goes On: Your Heart and Arteries
3. Chapter 3 – Do You Mind: Your Brain and Nervous System
4. Chapter 4 – Motion Control: Your Bones, Joints, and Muscles
5. Chapter 5 – To a Lung and Healthy Life: Your Lungs
6. Chapter 6 – Gut Feelings: Your Digestive System
7. Chapter 7 – Sex Marks the Spot: Your Sexual Organs
8. Chapter 8 – Common Sense: Your Sensory Organs
9. Chapter 9 – Sick Sense – Your Immune System
10. Chapter 10 – This Gland is Your Gland: Your Hormones
11. Chapter 11 – Hells Cell: Cancer
12. Chapter12 – The Owner’s Manual Diet

As you can tell by some of the awful puns in the chapter titles, the authors have a low sense of humor and aren’t afraid to use it. This is one of the reasons I liked this book so much and recommend it to everyone. Somehow, the authors managed to make a medical text that’s actually fun to read. I never had to force myself to keep on reading this book, I simply enjoyed every chapter.

Chapter Basics

Each chapter begins with some myths about the topic it will discuss. It then provides information about the system in question and answers basic questions. It also provides tips on how to better care for the specific system discussed in the chapter. The tips are straightforward and easy to follow. Best of all, the authors explain each tip in detail, providing you with the “why” and not just the “what to do”.

Recommendation

This is the first book I would recommend reading if you’re interested in learning more about your body. It provides you with all the basics you need to understand other, more detailed reference sources. It also gives you the foundation to living a healthy life. So if you’re interested in health and how to better maintain your body but you’re not quite sure what to do, start with You, The Owner’s Manual.

Summary

If you’re going to improve your health, you need to better understand your body, and You, The Owner’s Manual is the place to start. If you’re interested in it, check out the link on the left hand side of 60 in 3 or click the following link:

YOU: The Owner’s Manual: An Insider’s Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger.