The Step Diet: Count Steps, Not Calories to Lose Weight and Keep It off Forever [Paperback]

James O. Hill Ph.D. (Author), John C. Peters Ph.D. (Author), Bonnie T. Jortberg M.S. R.D. (Author), Pamela M. Peeke M.D. (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Developed by weight-loss experts Drs. James O. Hill and John C. Peters, co-founders of America on the Move™, The Step Diet Book is a motivational walking program that will help millions of overweight Americans lose weight and keep it off forever.

Combining a book and pedometer--in itself a $20 value--plus conversion charts and dozens of fat-burning Step Recipes, this is a complete package. At its core is a simple concept called energy balance. Calories come in, calories go out--and when intake is greater than output, you gain weight. The Step Diet Book attacks the problem from both ends. First, use the pedometer to figure out how many steps you take in an average day, then raise the number by 2,000--it's as easy as pacing while talking on the phone, or parking at the far end of the lot. Second, eat one-quarter less of your food--which counteracts our tendency to supersize meals. Once balance is achieved, get fit and lose weight by adding more steps to your day. You can even enjoy a guilt-free lapse by knowing exactly how many steps to tack on at the end of your day.

About the Author

Dr. Pamela Peeke is an internationally renowned physician, scientist and expert in the fields of nutrition, metabolism, stress and fitness. Calling herself an “edutainer”, Dr. Peeke uses her trademark wit and humor to provide audiences with a healthy lifestyle message in such a memorable and entertaining style that she is the most requested woman physician speaker in America. An avid athlete, Dr. Peeke is nationally known as the “doc who walks the talk” as she inspires by living the message she teaches. Dr. Peeke is a featured physician in the National Institutes of Health’s “Changing Face of Medicine” exhibit on the history of women physicians at the National Library of Medicine. She has been named one of America’s top physicians by the Consumers Research Council of America. Dr. Peeke is a Pew Foundation Scholar in Nutrition and Metabolism and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland.

A nationally recognized media expert, Dr. Peeke is the Chief Medical Correspondent for Discovery Health TV and is featured in the award winning National Body Challenge series. Her book, The National Body Challenge Success Program for the Whole Family, is the best selling companion guide to the television and web-based program which is presently followed by over a million American families.

She is a monthly columnist and contributing editor for numerous national magazines – including Prevention, O Magazine, Fitness, Glamour, and More Magazine – in addition to being a member of Oprah Winfrey’s “O Team” of national recognized experts in women’s health. Dr. Peeke is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine.

A practitioner of holistic, integrative medicine, Dr. Peeke was the first senior research fellow at the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine, where she helped establish the scientific foundation for the research and development of investigations involving nutrition and fitness.

Dr. Peeke is an expert in the newly emerging field of gender specific health and medicine, emphasizing the strengths and vulnerabilities of both genders as they practice healthy lifestyles. She is the Medical Director of the National Women’s Health Resource Center and keynote presenter for the Speaking of Women’s Health national campaign series.

James O. Hill, Ph.D. is Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver, Colorado. Dr. Hill also serves as the Director of the Center for Human Nutrition, a nutrition center funded by the National Institutes of Health.

He holds a B.S. degree from the University of Tennessee and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of New Hampshire in Physiological Psychology. He has served on numerous government panels, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Taskforce on the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity. He is a past chair of the NIH Nutrition Study Section. He served as Chair of the World Health Organization Consultation on Obesity in 1997. He is a Past President of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NASSO) and is a current regional vice-president of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO). He was also a member of the Expert Panel on Obesity of the National Institutes of Health that developed U.S guidelines for the treatment and prevention of obesity. He serves as chair of the Partnership to Promote Healthy Eating and Active Living (PPHEAL), a public-private partnership to improve nutrition and physical activity patterns of the population. He is a member of several other professional organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Nutrition, the American Society of Nutrition Sciences, the American Physiological Society and the American College of Sports Medicine.

Dr. Hill has published more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters in the area of obesity. His research in the obesity field involves the study of lifestyle factors that affect body weight regulation. In particular, he is interested in how diet and physical activity influence body weight and how high fat diet and inactivity may contribute to the current global epidemic of obesity. Dr. Hill is a cofounder of the National Weight Control Registry, a registry of individuals who have been successful in maintenance of a reduced body weight. He is the recipient of a prestigious MERIT award from NIH. Dr. Hill is a member of the editorial boards of Obesity Research, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and The International Journal of Obesity. He reviews for many other scientific journals and lectures widely about the obesity epidemic.


Dr. John C. Peters is Director of the Nutrition Science Institute within the Snacks and Beverages Technology Division at the Procter & Gamble Company. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Biochemistry from the University of California at Davis and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, respectively. Following his graduate work Dr. Peters joined the faculty at the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine where he taught biochemistry and nutrition and conducted research on nutritional
support for catabolic illness. In 1985, he joined the research and development organization at Procter & Gamble. Since then Dr. Peters has conducted and managed research in a variety of
areas including obesity, diabetes, lipid absorption and metabolism, and vitamin and mineral bioavailability. Outside of Procter & Gamble, Dr. Peters is involved in a number of public health initiatives aimed at promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors for the prevention/management of obesity and diabetes. Dr. Peters is President of the Friends of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado, President of the International Life Sciences Institute Center for Health
Promotion and is CEO of the Partnership to Promote Healthy Eating and Active Living. He sits on the scientific advisory boards of several other organizations, including, Arkansas Children's
Hospital Research Institute, the University of Colorado Center for Human Nutrition, and the Healthy Weight, Healthy Living Task Force of the Cincinnati Health Collaborative. He recently
served on the Institute of Medicine's committee on prevention of childhood obesity, which released its report "Preventing Childhood Obesity: Health in the Balance", in September of 2004.
Dr. Peters has published over 100 research papers, reviews, chapters and books. 


Bonnie T. Jortberg is with the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, Department of Pediatrics, Center for Human Nutrition, Denver, CO

Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Workman Publishing Company; 1 edition (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761133240
• ISBN-13: 978-0761133247
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 7.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #63,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

  #16 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Diets & Weight Loss > Diets > Weight Watchers
  #16 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Exercise & Fitness > Walking

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most helpful "non-diet" book I've read..., July 13, 2004

By	"recchiuj" (West Chester, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Step Diet: Count Steps, Not Calories to Lose Weight and Keep It off Forever (Paperback)

I am a nut for healthy, weight-loss information so when I came across this book, I thought I would try it out. It was the best decision I've made.

I've always worked out for maybe 30-45 min. a day, but I would sit on my butt the rest of the day. This book had wonderful ideas on how to increase your movement throughout the day, not just in the 30 minutes I worked out.

My other problem is that I like food. I could not get used to the idea of giving up the food I like in order to lose weight. I think the best part of the book is the idea that you need to cut back on your food intake by 25% in order to acheive weight-loss. I eat what I like to eat, I just eat a little bit less at each meal. I have tried this over the past two weeks and I have lost 2 pounds and I am confident that they will stay off as long as I continue to follow the plan.

The pedometer is a great way to pace yourself throughout the day. I set goals for myself such as getting between 6000 and 7000 steps during work. It's a great way to keep moving.

It is not a quick, weight-loss gimmick or diet. I call it a "non-diet" because the authors offer ways to change your lifestyle in order to lose healthy amounts of weight in a reasonable timespan in order to acheive weight-loss for life.

59 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn how to walk off your weight !, October 13, 2004

By	Lee Mellott "www.SkinCareForWrinkles.com (my ... (Frederick, Maryland) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Step Diet: Count Steps, Not Calories to Lose Weight and Keep It off Forever (Paperback)

"The Step Diet" is a compact 7 and 1/2 by 5 and 1/2" book that explains exactly how you can lose weight by walking and making small dietary changes. According to the authors the average American will gain a little bit of weight each year. You can prevent this gain by adding 2000 steps to your daily walking. To lose weight you add more steps and cut back on what you eat.
These simple changes can be made one at a time and add up to permanent change thats easy to incorporate into your everyday life.

The book teaches you how to determine your current average step amount and increase it week to week. There is also a chart to show how to convert other activities into steps so you can track all of your activities. Information is included on how to make minor dietary adjustments so you can reap the reward of a fitter, slimmer body.

Overall the book is excellent at helping the reader learn how to regulate weight through step activity. The authors do however confuse the issue with "megasteps". The authors help you determine your megasteps and then at the back of the book they list common foods and tell you how many megasteps each food is equal to. For example an egg will cost you approximately one megastep. praline ice cream about 6. This is just another way of calorie counting and really not needed in the book in my opinion.

Instead it would have been nice if the authors had included the number of steps you would have to walk to burn off certain foods. For example to burn up an order of small fries (210 calories) you would have to walk about 4,200 steps. This type of information in the book would have been great. But it's not included.

A pedometer comes with the book. As others have noted here I personally have and would recommend that others purchase a better quality, more accurate pedometer.

The book is linked to the americaonthemove.org website and its GREAT! A lot of information on walking for individuals or groups. You can set goals at the site. For example you can pick a trail like the Lewis and Clark trail which requires you step about 9,000 paces a day. Each day you record your steps and see visually how far you are on the map and your average steps, plus you can read about the area. What fun and its free!

Overall, the book is a "breath of fresh air" with it's focus on making small changes in eating and increasing walking activity (not killing yourself with intense exercise programs) to see big results.

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST DIET BOOK BY FAR, June 16, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Step Diet: Count Steps, Not Calories to Lose Weight and Keep It off Forever (Paperback)

I have never been able to get myself to exercise. And when I moved from Manhattan to California, I no longer walked from place to place, but instead drove everywhere. I noticed that I was gaining a few pounds a year and became concerned. I don't believe in gimmick diets because I've seen how they take the weight off in the near-term but not in the long-term and I also think they can be damanging to your health. So I was very excited when I saw the Step Diet. The pedometer that comes with this book provides instant feedback and the program is safe, healthy and even--dare I say it--fun. Amazing what a little gizmo can do. Most importantly, as a result of wearing the step counter I am now getting a very respectable amount of exercise each day. This is an amazing book that can be used for the whole family.