Jillian Michaels-Master Your Metabolism (revisited)
By Leigh Peele
You’d think I killed a litter of puppies when I wrote that review.
If not aware I recently reviewed Jillian Michaels book “Master Your Metabolism.” I guess I also mastered SEO work because I am on the main page for practically anything you type in for the book. #1 for “Master Your Metabolism Review.” I even beat out amazon, and apparently someone put up the review on Amazon as well based on some things I said.
I am explaining this because you have to understand the level of emails, PM’s, linkbacks, and death threats I have received, and the above is why.
The number one complaint that I am receiving and reading is that I “didn’t going into enough detail.”
Obviously people have a hard time understanding the concept of following the link to the forum post that has page after page of me answering detailed questions and covering the data. That apparently is too much for them. Added to the fact that it is a personal book review. This was not supposed to be a detailed page by page examination of the entire book.
I find it even funnier that a review that states “Wow! Jillian scores again, such a fantastic book about your metabolism!” Gets 5 stars, but my previous review can be seen as “vague.” Really?
Detail you want? Detail you get.
Before I dive in though, just for fun, I want to address a few personal things that I find to be hilarious that were sent to me.
Point #1- I am jealous of Jillian’s celebrity.
I am a triple xxx list celebrity in my own right thank you very much. I have at least 1 person a day email me that they are standing outside my window. Because of this I could care less about D-list Jillian Michaels.
Also, there could be a chance that I am one of the few people in the world who believe that talent and ability make someone swoon worthy. Fame means nothing to me, character and talent does. Label me unimpressed by fame.
Point #2-I have an agenda of trying to sell my book.
My books are better, more logical, and you’re damn right I am going to suggest them in place of hers. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t suggest others or that I have a problem with competition. I happen to review and recommend other books, in my exact field, all the time. I have even told people to buy a book over my own if I felt it fit with them better. I am an entrepreneur yes, but shockingly have ethics to back it up.
If looking for more of this writing magic, please check out my awesome books over at fatlosstroubleshoot.com. Where you can get 2 books, audio cd, workout programs, meal plans and more! How about that for an obvious plug.
Point #3- “Leigh, you’re a nasty woman with a bush like shag carpet and teeth like a ravenous beaver!” -Jillian
I resent this statement and will have you know that my vagina’s teeth are in no way beaver shaped.
Point #4- You didn’t care about how much I rambled on before the book review itself.
Oops, I did it again!
Like I stated in the previous book, my main problems were the “absolutes” and unsupported claims about certain products and health issues. I am going to address some of the specific ones and you can judge from there.
Before I dive in there are a few things that you need to understand.
The headache of research analyzing research
If you are new to analyzing research this can be a huge huge headache. I speak from personal experience. I still don’t know half of what is out there and there is some research that is simply beyond my scope of understanding.
Everything has a deeper layer. For example, right now you are reading this message while sitting at a computer (more than likely). You know in order to type a hate letter to me about this review you have to take your fingers and make them move on the keyboard attached to your computer. Just that simple act has so many layers from how your brain functions to how the keys being pushed creates letters that pop up on the screen.
I can tell you only to a point of my understanding of this. Meaning…
Your finger strikes the key, the key hits a switch that is on something called a “key matrix.” That causes a vibration or a bounce. That then goes into the processor that figures out based on a character map what the letter was, if it was small or capitalized, etc. From there, I have no idea, but I can guess that it keeps going to find a way to appear on your screen. This all happens in an instant and being I am typing right now, I find that fascinating.
That may or may not even be right, I don’t know. I don’t research computers.
Some researchers go in depths beyond a point that even the smartest of people can go. Those people report to other people on a lower level. Based upon those peoples knowledge it gets more “dummed down,” until you achieve a rough end to the telephone game. Like with any telephone game the first message can differ greatly from the last.
If you are still here following along the take home point is that when you get to a book like “Master Your Metabolism” the information in it has passed through many telephones. You have to check best you can on the quality of their interpretations of that message.
Specific points to go along with those that you can find on the forums.
Page 28: “We’ll focus on food groups that trigger your fat-burning hormones and blunt your fat storing hormones”
Doesn’t exist. There is no such thing as a fat storing hormone. There is a collection of processes that lead you to store fat if in a caloric deficit or if you have to much of certain macros. However, even if you store fat you can turn right around and pull from those stores if in a deficit. It is the simplest thing in the world and very logical but missed by doctors, trainers, and nutritionist world wide.
Page 28: “No calorie counting here. You’ll learn how to combine foods in ways that trigger optimal hormone release…keep body burning calories throughout the day, you’ll be eating constantly.”
This is deceptive and also works on the principal of multiple meals and combining foods.
Food timing and combing certain foods, while it can be a nutritional strategy, doesn’t HAVE to be in order to be healthy or lose fat. It is made very clear it is in her book. Also, the fact that a caloric deficit doesn’t need to be achieved is ridiculous and going to set people up for frustration. It is also contradicted in many sections.
Page 29: “You wont believe how many chemicals are in your water supply, house, office, car -you name it-are making you fat right now.”
You don’t gain fat out of nowhere. Those same chemical are in the air too and unless you live in a plastic bubble, you’re screwed anyway. She suggests through out the book that -
a) she knows what they do (she doesn’t)
b) that you can do something about it (depending on where you live, you may or may not be able too)
No matter what, no chemical in the world makes you gain fat out of nowhere. There is a CHANCE that certain exposures on larger levels can mess with endocrine functions making you more sensitive to hunger, stress, and insulin issues. However, none of that forces a outback steak and onion rings into your mouth.
Page 33: She accounts of her story about how her friend and Vanessa are completely different and it is the diet sodas and organic foods that were the answer.
It is a anecdotal story that is the base lead off for the books information and plays on the “I hate my pretty friend” card, which is just sadder.
Page 38: There is a chart discussing “Things that mess up insulin” and she lists out “Certain food additives, pesticides, and plastics.”
No references at all to any specifics data showing anything about these things have a direct link on insulin response in humans that I am aware of on small levels.
The only things you can pull up that provide this are ridiculous studies that have no real world effect or situations of special and EXTREME contamination, mostly with animals. Here is an example of such one.
Earlier test-tube studies had suggested that bisphenol-A makes pancreatic cells secrete secrete /se·crete/ (se-kret´) to elaborate and release a secretion.
se·crete
v.
To generate and separate a substance from cells or bodily fluids. the glucose-regulating hormone insulin. To investigate this effect in live animals, Nadal and his colleagues injected adult male mice with pure corn oil or with oil containing either bisphenol-A or an equal amount of the natural female sex hormone sex hormone
n.
Any of various steroid hormones, such as estrogen and androgen, affecting the growth or function of the reproductive organs and the development of secondary sex characteristics.
….. Click the link for more information. estradiol. Animals received as many as eight shots over 4 days.Within 30 minutes of an injection, animals receiving either the sex hormone or bisphenol-A had abnormally low concentrations of glucose in their blood, Nadal’s team reports in the January Environmental Health Perspectives. The chemicals acted on recently discovered estrogen receptors on pancreatic cells’ surfaces to boost the cells’ secretion of insulin, the researchers determined.
Repeated exposure to either bisphenol-A or the natural estrogen over several days produced insulin resistance, a pre-diabetic state in which tissues lose their sensitivity to normal concentrations of insulin, Nadal’s group says. Estrogen receptors in the pancreatic-cell nucleus appear to contribute to this gradual effect.
So, receptors both in the cell nucleus and on the surface could contribute to insulin resistance and diabetes, Nadal says.
Leaking of bottles could never equal this kind of level and as research has shown only certain bottles ever could and a a couple of good hot washes destroys any trace all together.
Page 70: “A recent large scale epidemiological study by the national institutes of Health looked at what happened to thirty thousand people, mostly men, who used pesticides on their farms. These licensed applicators, of the chemicals, probably with protective gear, had a greater risk of diabetes.
The results suggest that being exposed to pesticides may be a significant contributor to diabetes. “
So lets break this down.
A survey/collection study (that is basically what a epidemiological study is) is given to a bunch of farmers, who live all day in the pesticides as their job.Based on these questionnaires, they determine that the reason these farmers are fat and have diabetes is the pesticides?
This is taking nothing into consideration of that fact that these farmers could be stuffing themselves left and right with barbecue and rolls.
Now, because of these few, fat, diabetes ridden farmers, the apple I got and washed off (which washing alone has proven to servery decrease contamination) is going to cause me to get fat and diabetes?
Yes. Yes, that is brilliant research and cause/effect connection.
This is a small, small amount. The whole book is filled with them to the brim. I will give you a more gems before closing.
Fish oil-1g – Really? Out of all the stuff in the book that you researched you didn’t find out that higher levels might actually be the one thing any there that CAN help. You didn’t find out that higher levels of fish oil intake could possibly combat some of the very effects you are claiming in the book?
Only eat organics-Is it a bad thing to be safe? No. Has it been proven to do anything? No.
“Status Summary- Organic Foods. Journal of food Science- vol. 71, Nr.9, 2006
The FDA actually conducts its own market basket survey, the total diet study, which involves a market basket of 285 distinct foods analyzed for pesticide residues at the time the foods are ready for consumption. While the results for the total diet study have consistently shown low levels of pesticide residues in food samples, the FDA discontinued estimating dietary exposure to specific pesticides after 1991. From the 1991 total diet study, the highest daily average pesticide intake among different population subgroups (6- to 11- month old infants, 14- to 16 yr old men, and 60- to 65- y-old women) was compared directly with the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization/ WHO ADI values for 38 pesticides. Estimated exposures were less than 1% of the ADI values for 34 of the, with the remaining 4 pesticides contributing 1%, 1.8%, 2.7%, and 4.8% of the ADI values. To put such values in perspective, the ADI typically represents a value 100 times lower than the highest level of exposure to a pesticide given to the most sensitive animal species on a daily basis throughout it’s lifetime that has not caused any noticeable toxicological effect. A typical human exposure at 1% of the ADI represents an exposure 10000 times lower than levels that do not cause toxicity in animals. Such findings suggest that typical dietary exposure to pesticide residues in foods poses minimal risks to humans. From a practical standpoint, the marginal benefits of reducing human exposure to pesticides in the diet through increased consumption of organic produce appear to be insignificant.”
There are also more charted cases of people dying due to hookworms and other problems because of pest ridden foods than anything showing up on pesticides, for the record. It is much like the swine flu. Thousands of people die every year from the regular flu, but because of a handful of people sick in another country thousands of pigs are being killed and paraniod people are running rapid to the doctors.
No carbs before bed/Don’t eat after nine-*sigh*
Yeah, if you have insomnia it might not be the best time to eat a lot of sugar, before bed or down cases of red bulls either. However, that doesn’t mean that have a small meal at night is going ot hurt you, especially if it fits within your scedule or program.
Small activity doesn’ help, get to the gym 4-5 hours a week-Nope, wrong again there Jillian. I am happy for you though that your OC exercise habits have decreased to that level now though, congrats.
It is also hilarious that all the exercise prescriptions contradict most of the hormonal arguments.
Is this detailed enough yet?
I have a great idea, the next person that wants to argue about my review of the book, please do the following.
-Read all the studies that are cited on the specific topics you want to argue.
-Read other studies that aren’t listed in the field of work so that you can provide a review on the subject.
-Research the actual effects of meal timing and macro combination in relation to body composition and health
-Don’t whine and pull bull arguments like “your just jealous or I think you are bitter.” I am not, and that has no relevance and is basically a “Well YOU SMELL!” arguing technique.
I am not arguing with anyone that doesn’t present me a logical study. If so I am happy to hear it, all ears even as it would give me a greater ability to protect myself and clients.
Any further questions?
My take home point is this.
There is nothing wrong with eating healthy and taking the safe road IN CASE we found out that what we know thus far turns out to be wrong or more severe. However, scare tactics by a paranoid aggressive trainer who wants you to run from everything until there is no place left to go, not even the water, is crap.
Be careful? Yes.
Make healthy decisions overall? Yes.
Do what you can to get the best nutrition possible? Yes.
Don’t drink cleaner fluid? Yes.
Make absolutes and claim that things are proven (that aren’t), and scare the shit out of people with BS facts?
NO.
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