270 pg, (paper) ‘02

Do you believe that your weight should be within the range recommended by one of the various height-weight tables that are always appearing in books and magazines?  That being overweight is unhealthy?  That weight loss improves health?

Have you ever been told by your doctor to lose weight?  Are you currently dieting or contemplating going on a diet?  Have diets failed you or made you feel like a failure?  Do you feel people look down on you because of your weight?  If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then this book is for you.

Millions of Americans stigmatized as “too fat” need to be reassured that the roads to good health are wide enough for everyone.  Here’s proof that people can be overweight and still be fit and healthy.  Glenn Gaesser, an exercise physiologist, challenges the conventional wisdom that excess body fat poses a danger to health.  This is an authoritative, clearly written book that is crucial reading for anyone who wants to take concrete steps towards improving their health – no matter what their size.

CONTENTS:

Part One – The Crusade Against Obesity
1 – Weight:  An Unhealthy Obsession
2 – How Obesity Got Such a Bad Name

Part Two – Exposing the Myths
3 – Is Obesity a Killer Disease?  A Closer Look at the Evidence
4 – Thinner May Not Be Healthier
5 – “Ideal” Height-Weight Tables:  Measuring the Immeasurable
6 – Good Body Fat, Bad Body Fat
7 – Weight Loss for the Overweight and Obese:  Panacea or Pound-Foolish?

Part Three – The Twenty/Twenty Program for Metabolic Fitness
8 – Metabolic Fitness: 
9 – Exercise for Metabolic Fitness:  Shaping Up Without Necessarily Changing Shape
10 – Nutrition for Metabolic Fitness

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Glenn Gaesser is a professor of exercise physiology and director of the adult fitness program, at the University of Virginia. Gaesser is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), is a member of its Board of Trustees (1996-1999), and is an associate editor of ACSM's journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. He is also on the editorial board of Sports Medicine Digest. His research interests focus on muscular efficiency, postexercise metabolism, lactate metabolism, oxygen uptake during exercise, modeling of exercise endurance, and adaptations to endurance training in young and older subjects. Gaesser is the author of two other books: The Spark: The Revolutionary New Plan to Get Fit and Lost Weight – 10 Minutes at a Time (with Karla Doughterty, Simon & Schuster, ’01)and It’s the Calories, Not the Carbs (with Karin Kratina, Trafford, ’06).Gaesser earned his BA, MA, and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley.

REVIEWS:

“A thorough and compelling synthesis of the medical literature that challenges the common beliefs that ‘thin is best’ and ‘weight loss improves health.’ Bravo!”
—Pat Lyons, RN, MA, Author of Great Shape

“A fascinating, witty, informative collage on one of the most bewildering contemporary controversies in the health field.”
—Rubin Andres, MD, Clinical Director, National Institute on Aging

“People will vary and cannot all fit some insurance chart.  This book should be required reading before going on a diet.” 
—Charles Van Dyke, Chairman of the Board, National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance

“Lucid and clear. . .Should be read by anyone with an interest in treating themselves or other for supposed weight problems.”
—Janet Polivy, PhD, Co-author of Breaking the Diet Habit

Read an excerpt from Big Fat Lies