Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life


Brendan Brazier - 2008
    As one of the few professional athletes on a plant-based diet, Brendan Brazier researched and developed this easy-to-follow program to enhance his performance as an elite endurance competitor.Brazier clearly describes the benefits of nutrient-rich foods in their natural state versus processed foods, and how to choose nutritionally efficient, stress-busting whole foods for maximum energy and health. Featuring a 12-week meal plan, over 100 allergen-free recipes with raw food options—including recipes for energy gels, sport drinks, and recovery foods—and a complementary exercise plan, The Thrive Diet is “an authoritative guide to outstanding performance” (Neal D. Barnard, M.D., Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine).

Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution


Robert C. Atkins - 1972
    Atkins' New Diet Revolution "is still the safest, easiest, most effective weight-loss program available! You've tried all the rest--from the Beverly Hills Diet to the South Beach Diet--Atkins is the proven one, the weight-loss plan that works!"

The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter's 28-Day Save-Your-Life Plan that Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds


Rip Esselstyn - 2009
     Professional athlete-turned-firefighter Rip Esselstyn is used to responding to emergencies. So, when he learned that some of his fellow Engine 2 firefighters in Austin, TX, were in dire physical condition-several had dangerously high cholesterol levels (the highest was 344!)-he sprang into action and created a life-saving plan for the firehouse. By following Rip's program, everyone lost weight (some more than 20 lbs.), lowered their cholesterol (Mr. 344's dropped to 196), and improved their overall health. Now, Rip outlines his proven plan in this book. With Rip as your expert coach and motivator, you'll transform your body and lifestyle in a month. His plant-powered eating plan is based on a diet of whole foods, including whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds. This invaluable guide features: Dozens of easy, mouthwatering recipes-from pancakes to pizza, Tex-Mex favorites to knockout chocolate desserts-that will keep you looking forward to every bite Pantry-stocking tips will take the panic out of inevitable cravings and on-the-fly meals Guidelines on menu choices that will allow you to eat out, wherever and whenever you want Rip's simple, firefighter-inspired exercise program that will boost your metabolism and melt your fat away. Medically approved, easy-to-follow, and amazingly effective, this diet is designed for anyone who wants to make heroic strides in his or her health, weight, and well-being-all without heroic effort. "Want to be as strong as a Texas firefighter? Or as healthy as a professional triathlete? Then follow the wonderful advice of Rip Esselstyn, who is both. His book can save your life--whether you're a man or a woman. Highly recommended!" -Dean Ornish, M.D., Founder and President, Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Clinical Professor of Medicine, U of California, SF, author, Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease

Sweet Potato Power: Smart Carbs: Paleo and Personalized


Ashley Tudor - 2012
    Many have turned to Paleo and a low carb way of life to avoid the effects of these food impostors we were never designed to eat. Low carb diets, however, can leave you feeling as though you don't have enough gas in the tank.Low carbs need to be smart carbs. Lucky for us, nature has given us the nutritious, delicious sweet potato. This super food gives all the benefits of other high energy foods with more nutrition and without spiking blood sugar. Plus, this humble tuber tastes great and is easily incorporated into your diet in seriously good ways.Sweet Potato Power gives you the tools to run your own tests to determine the diet rules that work specifically for you and your unique biology. Through self experimentation you can cut through diet mumbo jumbo, and let science and your numbers speak for themselves to answer questions such as:How many carbs should I eat to make me look, feel and perform at my best?What foods spike my blood sugar the most and make me fat?How do I eliminate craving?How can I avoid mental fogs and post-lunch energy slumps?How can I optimize my carbs with my athletic pursuits?How can I get fit without getting fat?What exercise is best for my body?How can my kids become the most delightful version of themselves?How can my doctor be a well-care provider instead of a sick-care provider?Understanding a bit of science and incorporating new tools in your arsenal will make you an active participant in your health. Applying what you learn brings you closer to the ideal version of you. All of this and easy sweet potato recipes so you can incorporate this power food into your everyday life—making Sweet Potato Power a force to be reckoned with!

Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers


David Perlmutter - 2013
    Perlmutter, the devastating truth about the effects of wheat, sugar, and carbs on the brain, and a 4-week plan to achieve optimum health.In Grain Brain, renowned neurologist David Perlmutter, MD, blows the lid off a finding that's been buried in medical literature for far too long: carbs are destroying your brain. Even so-called healthy carbs like whole grains can cause dementia, ADHD, anxiety, chronic headaches, depression, decreased libido, and much more. Groundbreaking and timely, Grain Brain shows that the fate of your brain is not in your genes, it's in the food you eat. Dr. Perlmutter explains what happens when your brain encounters common ingredients in fruit bowls and bread, how statins may be erasing your memory, why a diet high in "good fats" is ideal, and how to spur the growth of new brain cells at any age. And his revolutionary 4-week plan will show you how to keep your brain healthy and sharp while dramatically reducing your risk for debilitating neurological disease -- without drugs. Featuring a blend of cutting-edge research, real-life stories of transformation, and accessible, practical advice, Grain Brain teaches you how to take control of your "smart genes," regain wellness, and enjoy lifelong health and vitality.

Weight Loss Boss: How to Finally Win at Losing--and Take Charge in an Out-of-Control Food World


David Kirchhoff - 2012
    No wonder obesity among Americans has tripled since the 1960s--and that those prone to weight gain fail over and over to maintain their hard-won goals. Simply put, our brains and environments are stacked against us. Simplistic willpower-based and food-focused diets will never bring lasting change.But a solution is within reach--one that will help readers live better, longer, and more happily.In fact, David Kirchhoff isn't just the President and CEO of Weight Watchers--he's also one of its biggest success stories. In his pursuit of a trim physique, Kirchhoff divulges his slide into full-fledged obesity, his struggles to manage his relationship with food, and to find an exercise regimen that sticks. Drawing on the latest scientific research and numerous other inspiring personal stories, he makes the case that the only recipe for long-term success is to radically shift our mindset when thinking about obesity and adopting a healthy lifestyle that stays with us for good. This requires incorporating positive habits that become second nature, and rigorously managing one's food environment--as well as embracing practical behavior-change tools and other sustainable maintenance strategies. In the light of a new, healthier lifestyle that helps readers look good and feel good, change isn't a burden--it's a release.All author royalties will be donated to Share Our Strength (www.strength.org), a nonprofit organization that supports the goal of ending childhood hunger in the U.S. by 2015.

Prescription for Dietary Wellness


Phyllis A. Balch - 2003
    It is a complete, practical guide to eating for good health.

Core Performance: The Revolutionary Workout Program to Transform Your Body and Your Life


Mark Verstegen - 2004
    How? By giving you a personal coach who has worked with some of the most famous and successful athletes in the world today.The intense focus on the muscles of your core--abs, lower back, hips, and thighs--will help you stand taller and prevent the back pain from which most people eventually suffer. The detailed nutrition section guarantees that you'll feed your muscles, starve your fat, and get boundless energy when you need it most. This program is like nothing you've ever seen before--it enables you to totally transform your body in just 12 weeks. The potential is within you, and the power to unleash that potential is within Core Performance.

The 5 Factor Diet


Harley Pasternak - 2004
    This book contains a chapter on 5-Factor Fitness workouts and sample 5-minute workout moves to help maximise diet results in just 25 minutes a day over five weeks.

Your Personal Paleo Code: The 3-Step Plan to Lose Weight, Reverse Disease, and Stay Fit and Healthy for Life


Chris Kresser - 2013
    But what happens when we hit a wall and weight loss stalls, energy flags, or we're tired of restricted eating? We're not cavemen anymore, so why should we follow a strict caveman diet? In YOUR PERSONAL PALEO CODE, Chris Kresser uses the Paleo diet as a baseline from which you can tailor the ideal three-step program-Reset, Rebuild, Revive-to fit your lifestyle, body type, genetic blueprint, and individual needs. Kresser helps further personalize your prescription for specific health conditions, from heart disease and high blood pressure to thyroid disorders and digestive problems. Along with a 7-day meal plan and delectable, nutritious recipes, YOUR PERSONAL PALEO CODE offers natural solutions and an avalanche of groundbreaking advice on how to restore a healthy gut and immune system; how to eliminate toxins; which fats to eat liberally; how to choose the healthiest proteins; and much more. Best of all, you only have to follow the program 80% of the time; there's room to indulge in moderation while still experiencing dramatic results. Based on cutting-edge scientific research, YOUR PERSONAL PALEO CODE is designed to be flexible and user-friendly, with helpful charts, quizzes, and effective action steps to help you lose weight, reverse disease, and stay fit and healthy for life.

Resistance Band Workbook: Illustrated Step-by-Step Guide to Stretching, Strengthening and Rehabilitative Techniques


Karl Knopf - 2013
    Using this simple device, you can: • Increase Strength • Improve Balance • Reduce Lower Back Pain • Rehabilitate Injuries Resistance Band Workbook offers more than 70 safe, effective exercises paired with clear captions and step- by-step photos that can be done practically anywhere, anytime. In addition, special programs will enhance your daily life, whether you’re looking to revamp your physique, elevate your sports performance or simply improve functional fitness.

Corps Strength: A Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant's Program for Elite Fitness


Paul J. Roarke Jr. - 2010
    Corps Strength applies the same techniques used to develop and maintain each Marine's combat readiness to a day-to-day program for top-level fitness. Every aspect of training is incorporated into the program including warm-ups, stretching, upper body, core strength, lower body, cardio, running, goal-setting, and motivation. The author has trained thousands of people and witnessed time and again the amazing results achieved by these proven techniques. Regardless of current fitness levels, this personalized training methodology will enable readers to begin today and immediately progress in absolute strength, muscular endurance, aerobic capacity, and joint flexibility. The workouts in this book are packed with grueling mind- and body-draining tasks that test the mettle of any athlete while bringing him or her to top physical form.

The Athlete's Book of Home Remedies: 1,001 Doctor-Approved Health Fixes and Injury-Prevention Secrets for a Leaner, Fitter, More Athletic Body!


Jordan Metzl - 2012
    (High schoolathletics alone result in more than 2 million injuries a year!) Now, the hobbled masses have an authoritative guide to healing themselves: The Athletes Book of Home Remedies. This comprehensive guidebook for fitness buffs and sports enthusiasts empowers readers to self-diagnose and self-treat chronic and acute aches and pains—from shin splints and sprains to athlete’sfoot—and provides medically sound advice on preventing injuries. A doctor-designed, get-back-in-shape workout and diet plan accompanies the head-to-toe diagnosticmanual, ensuring that readers will not only come back from injury stronger than ever, but will avoid getting sidelined in the future.

Running & Walking For Women Over 40


Kathrine Switzer - 1998
    For women over forty it can be the key to the most fulfilling years life has in store.Katherine Switzer, a pioneer in women's fitness since 1967, when she became the first woman to officially enter the Boston Marathon, is once again blazing a trail with the very first running and walking program designed specifically for women over forty. Now every woman can benefit from Katherine's highly personal, motivational, and step-by-step advice.For women beginning fitness programs at age forty, fifty, and beyond, the results can be nothing short of dramatic. For the first time they are reaching the body weight and physical conditioning they've always dreamed of. Women who have been reasonably active off their lives can also find a new and exciting road of fitness ahead of them after age forty. Some even find themselves outrunning women half their age! --Katherine Switzer

The Complete Book of Pilates for Men: The Lifetime Plan for Strength, Power Peak Performance


Daniel Lyon Jr. - 2005
    Many books on the subject show lithe female bodies stretched across their covers. Top Pilates instructor Daniel Lyon Jr. aims to break the preconception that Pilates only benefits and appeals to women. "This couldn't be further from the truth," he asserts. "Joseph Pilates was a cigar-smoking boxer, acrobat, and gymnast, and he developed his exercise program from that background for men first." Likewise, Lyon designed this book specifically with men in mind, as the number of male Pilates practitioners -- among them professional athletes, actors, businessmen, and other high-profile personalities -- has rocketed to about three million and continues to grow.For athletes, working stiffs, and men recovering from injuries, Lyon offers the first comprehensive exercise program of its kind. He walks you through forty "traditional mat" exercises and more than sixty "reformer on the mat" exercises -- each one brilliantly illustrated -- in an inspiring self-guided program that adapts to all experience levels and requires nothing more than floor space, an exercise mat, and the desire to look and feel your best. Using the Pilates method of engaging the strongest parts of the body, or the "powerhouse" (Joseph Pilates's term for the abdominals, hips, lower back muscles, and buttocks), and integrating all other body parts from this core, Lyon's program targets trouble spots for men and helps them achieve strong, lean, masculine physiques.The Complete Book of Pilates for Men will deliver quick and long-term results to any man who seeks optimal fitness and a competitive edge in all aspects of his life.