Customer Reviews

Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss

5 star:		(135)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I respectfully disagree with those reviewers who claim there is nothing new in this book. They must have skipped to the last chapters and simply read the dietary recommendation at the end - and even those are different in both form and function. I have read, and been on, about every diet out there -- atkins, south beach, california, grapefruit - you name it. I have been on the Ultra Metabolism Phase 1 plan for 3 weeks, have lost 7 lbs - never feel hungry at all - but more importantly - I HAVE NEVER FELT BETTER! I didn't even know I felt that bad!

You must read this book from the beginning and then all the way through - taking each of the tests and determining the areas where your body is not functioning properly. I had no idea so many of my symptoms were tied to stress and cortisol release. I have a friend who had no idea she had hormone imballances but identified them and sought a functional medicine physician to correct them - and is ecstatic - and she was a vegetarian before she even read the book. I have another friend whose breast cancer physician had her read this book and go on the diet as part of her treatment! All three of us feel transformed.

I can't recommend this book enough. I was exercising 4 days a week ,hardly eating ANYTHING, and still gaining weight, and now I know WHY and what do to about it. If you will strictly adhere to the phase 1 guidelines ( which will require shopping at your local Whole Foods or natural foods market ), I bet you will lose weight and feel great doing it too.

When I first read Ultra Metabolism, I had the simple intention of loosing a couple of pounds. After I read and re-read the book, I was changed forever! The information and guidance given by Dr. Hyman has already made profound differences in my family's life. In just one week my skin was smooth and glowing. My daily headaches were gone after eliminating aspartame filled gum. I no longer crash at 3:00pm in need of a coffee fix. Just three days into the detox, my husband stopped snoring, after a week the dark bags under his eyes were gone, and in just two weeks, he has already lost 9lbs.
I feel healthy, educated and informed.
H. Marker, California

This is a great book. If you can put this into practice, you WILL see results. To get any great result with your weight loss, you do need to do work and this is a helpful tool in that area. It opens your eyes to ways to lift your metabolism that you may not have thought of before or known about - but now that you do, you can start to change. While it's ultimately aiming at a 'diet' it's focusing on raising your metabolism which helps you burn calories at a high rate - so not only will you loose weight from eating the right foods etc, but the weight lose will happen faster and in a more healthy way because your metabolism is now boosted and is working for you even when you are resting. Not that I have much to loose, but I've tried this now for one week and have noticed a big difference not only in my physical appearance but in my day to day health (with a weight loss of 8lbs already). I'm not as reliant on Coca Cola to give me my caffiene fix and I'm sleeping better at night.
This is an 8 week plan that if you put your mind to it, you can do, and it's so worth it, because not only are you going to look better, but you are going to feel better. I do already and I'm only on week one. Give it a try. It is so worth it.

Honestly, I may sound like I'm the last to arrive at the table, but I didn't know half of the wisdom contained in this small, easy-to-digest volume. Counting calories won't work? I didn't know. High-fructose corn syrup? I've heard of it, but so what? Eating organic foods? Oh, please...why would I spend the extra money?

Well, all of those attitudes were altered permanently after reading Dr. Hyman's little gem. Currently, I have only a small problem with my weight and my eating habits--but, thanks to this book, I'm fairly confident it won't ever become a big problem. Don't be surprised if you find yourself transforming your pantries, your cupboards and your entire kitchen as soon as you put this book down...not that putting it down will be any easy task.

I give it four out of five stars only because some of what Hyman says feels like it's too high a bar to set for just about anyone...like, "If it has a label, don't eat it!" However, the spirit of even these most radical of his recommendations is well-intentioned, and unlikely to be lost on anyone who can take what he has to say with a grain of salt.

Just don't try to take it with a teaspoon of partially hydrogenated soybean oil.

I never would have read this book, except for a very effective promotion by AOL, because the title sounds to me like the name of a fen-phen drug. "Ultrametabolism -- your weight-loss miracle!"

But it's not. It's quite the opposite. This is only a diet book because in the course of finding the causes of his patients' multiple maladies, Dr. Hyman had them alter their diets, and found that as a side-effect, they lost weight.

Dr. Hyman cites sound research (there are end notes so you can check out the research yourself), and then, based on reason and his own practice, puts these bits of information together to show how those little bothersome ailments -- itchy feet, dandruff, itchy eyes, fatigue, reluctance to get out of bed in the morning -- as well as some more serious problems like eczema, high blood pressure, and extra weight -- can often be tracked to what we eat.

Based on this book, I put my family on a no-gluten and no-dairy diet, with the result that one daughter had great improvements in her eczema as well as a decrease in anxiety, and my two other children had improvements in their ADD symptoms, one drastically so. My fatigue has gone away, and I'm now tired of tolerating "band-aids" for problems. I'm pushing to get to root causes so that we can be as healthy as we are meant to be. I've bought this book for one friend and recommended it to many more. I also recommend it to you.

I'm shocked that anyone would give this book 2 or 3 stars. I've been dieting since the age of 9, and have read more books on the subject of health, weight loss, and fitness than I can count. "Ultrametabolism" offers great advice on how to "reboot" you body if you haven't been eating so well. There's no counting calories, protein, or fat grams, and you don't have to cut out enitre food groups, like carbs. The first two weeks on the plan, you have to refrain from all potentially allergenic foods [peanuts, dairy, wheat, etc.] to give your body a break from anything that may be hard on your body; that you may be allergic to. He also recommends drinking a few cups of his "detox broth", which you make yourself using a variety of fresh organic veggies of your choosing.

The plan is essentially a whole foods lifestyle. After the first two weeks of detox, you can slowly add things like organic dairy and whole wheat into your diet. There are lots of tasty recipes included, like coconut dal, cashew chicken, and lemon salmon. They're all pretty simple to prepare for anyone who cooks even a little. Not to sound like some crazy informercial, but during the two week detox part, I lost 14 pounds. The author says you can expect to lose 9 to 11 pounds in the detox phase (mostly water weight, likely). I started the plan right after the holidays though, so I'm sure it was a shock to my body to go from egg nog and pecan pie to fresh fruits and veggies, plus I'm very obese [240 lbs], hence the dramatic weight loss. After that, I lost the typical 1 to 2 pounds a week.

With all the health and diet books I own, this is the one I always recommend when friends and family ask what i suggest to help them eat better without the fad diets. A sample day on Dr. Hyman's plan would be quinoa with peaches for breakfast, lunch would be black bean and avocado tacos on corn tortillas, salmon with spinach, brown rice, and vinegarette for dinner, and snacks are fresh fruit and raw nuts. As you can see, the focus is on unprocessed foods, without refined sugar and saturated fat. Every time I start to veer away from healthy eating and get distracted by holidays, parties, etc., I always go back to this book to help me refocus and remind me of the basics of good eating.

Dr. Hyman has hit upon a number of truths regarding weight loss and good health in general. Having read all the popular plans, I must say that Dr. Hyman is the first author to present all of these useful pieces of information in one place. Some of his material I had suspected to be true but no one has ever before explained it all so profoundly and clearly! At long last, I am losing those extra pounds and enjoying my meals! Although I have dropped the gluten and sugars, I do not feel deprived! Amazing!

My biggest reason for praising this book so highly is that I don't feel like I'm on a diet or weight loss program. I really enjoy the fact that I can use the book as a general guideline and not be tied down to specific or hard to follow plan.

I'm a 35 year old male, 5 foot 10, and started following the guidelines when I weighed 283 pounds. 13 months later I'm down to 224 and counting, my latest physical reveals great numbers on all the vital tests, and I feel really confident that I will achieve my goal of 195 in due time.

Can I verify the science behind the book, obviously no. And certainly exercise has played a huge role in my weight loss (I work out at least 4 days a week). But eating whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean meats, etc., makes so much more intuitive sense than other diets that I've tried like Atkins (which worked short term but failed long term).

I used to never eat breakfast, now I go to bed with anticipation of what I'll make myself in the morning. The fact that eating breakfast is also a key metabolism booster makes it that much better - I love knowing that I'm starting my day off right. Interestingly, as Dr. Hyman predicts, I've found that fast foods and junk foods just aren't that appealling anymore. If I have a craving I indulge, I simply moderate the portion size (instead of the $1.49 bag of chips, I'll get the $.50 bag). Such moderation doesn't make me feel like I'm on a diet; I just feel sensible and proactive towards my health.

I've supplemented the ideas in Ultrametabolism with those in Volumetrics. I've also looked a little further into the interval training tips that Dr. Hyman stresses and have supplemented those as well.

This is the answer for me! I am not allowed to exercise because I had polio as a child. My weight has gradually increased, even though I tried to eat reasonable amounts. I have been on the Ultra-Metabolism food plan for 2 weeks and have NOT been hungry, except at mealtimes, and have lost 6 pound so far. The book has excited me so much that I have bought copies for 4 family members and several friends. My husband, sister-in-law and brother-in-law are now doing it with me. (We are all in our 60s.) My husband keeps asking me if the great dinners I fix are really on the plan - they are! As a person with several sweet teeth, I never thought I could stop eating sugar - what a pleasure to find that I can!

This book is full of very good advice and I'm sure that it will work if properly applied. He asks his readers to find some pretty hard to find ingredients - at least in this area. And finding a doctor to perform some of the tests he recommends is equally difficult. I just don't know if this is a plan that can be used by someone of moderate income.