May 27, 2020 • 39 mins
As a writer himself, Tom is in constant pursuit to gain insight through reading. On the eve of his latest book, The Micro-Workout Plan, Tom runs through nine of the books that have helped him form the bedrock of his holistic approach to living well. If you are looking for some reads to help give you a solid foundation about living the good life, look no further the this list!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio.
I am Tom Holland, and this is Fitness Disrupted. Nine
health books you should read. Pretty straightforward, that's what I
will be talking about. Nine books I am going to recommend.
(00:24):
And they cover all the different areas that I talked
about on all of these podcasts. So there's nutrition, there's
the mind, there's motivation. I tried to do a mix
of all of those because it's so important. So it's
not just nutrition, and it's not just exercise, and it's
not just motivation. You're gonna have a handful of all
of those. And these are nine books that I love
(00:48):
that I refer to all the time. Back when I
was a kid, there were three things I loved fitness, music,
and reading. I was a nerd when I was younger,
read voraciously, loved, loved, love to read. I remember vividly,
probably being in fourth or fifth grade, going through a
(01:09):
toll booth reading in the back seat with my big
glasses on. Definite nerd and the toll booth collector remarking
to my mom about me reading in the back And
I just always had a book and loved it. And
it continued on into fitness, and I want to say,
right at the start, I think this is one of
the enormous problems with so many fitness people out there today.
(01:33):
They just don't read. They don't read. They're not reading
the research, they're not looking at the studies, and they
don't have to go into it deeply, but they need
to be up on the current research. And I will
never forget back when I started in this industry and
was starting writing for different publications that there was one
(01:56):
personal trainer type magazine and the editor wrote he was
a bodybuilder type guy. And one of his letters letters
to the editor, but one of his you know, intros
to the magazine that month was about how he didn't
have time to read, didn't have time to read the newspaper,
didn't have time to read, and it was it just
(02:17):
stood out to me, was like, Wow, this is a magazine.
You're supposed to be a writer, you're supposed to be
all about gathering knowledge, and you're talking about how like
I always thought like that was the equivalent of his
client saying him, well, I don't have time to exercise.
Just stood out to me. So it's so important to
be up on the latest research and science and then
(02:39):
to be able to discuss it and not only to
be up on the latest research, but what's really important
to our First of all, again, most fitness people, I
would argue, don't spend enough time reading. And then the
ones that do tend to only read stuff that supports
their bias, supports their one way of doing things, and
(03:00):
that will come up in one of the books specifically.
And so one problem is not enough reading and gathering
of of knowledge and recent knowledge, you know, the recent research.
And then for those that are, they're just kind of
reading stuff that supports it, so they're not looking at
all different aspects. And that has always been so important
to me, so important to me that I'm giving you
(03:24):
the whole picture that I'm looking at all sides, that
I don't come in with a bias, because that is
really not helpful when it comes to total overall wellness.
So my office filled with books. So I'm gonna give
you nine. I will probably do many more shows. And
(03:44):
don't say, by the way, you forgot this one or
this one, it's in my office. If it's important, it's
in my office. I've read it. And one thing you'll
you'll notice about these nine books. There's not one diet
book there. There's one with the we're diet in it,
but it's not a diet book. Now. I read them
(04:04):
because I have to, because when someone says to me,
I'm doing the fat diet of the month, and I understand,
I get it. I understand why people do that, why
you do that, many of you, and and you know
we're gonna slowly fix that, but I get it. But
it will never be in my list of books to read.
I've yet to read a diet book that is helpful
(04:28):
long term, long term, and if they're a diet book,
they're not called that. And actually there's there's one in
my list. Again, the term diet's not in it, so
that speaks volumes about it too. Enough we'll get to those,
all right. So again, many many other books that are
super important, but this is a great one to get
you started, especially if you're if you're just starting on
(04:50):
this maybe a new you know, path of your journey
to wellness, and you're listening to this podcast and you're
enjoying the way you know I approach it, well, then
these are books that you're gonna enjoy. One book I did,
I actually pulled this out that I said, Am I nuts? Like,
am I actually telling people that they should read this book?
(05:10):
So no, that I didn't include, although it is a
anyone who's anyone in running exercise better have read The
Law of Running? Okay, Dr Timothy Noakes. The War of
Running is nine hundred and twenty one pages. Nine hundred
and twenty one pages. And every time I pick up
(05:32):
that book or think about it, I think of that
joke the comedians. You know, so many comedians had the
same joke or have the same joke about running, like,
what's the book about running? Put one ft in front
of the other? Right? Well, Timothy Knokes wrote a nine
hundred and twenty one page book way back, and he's
got you know, many different editions of that over the
years and has done some incredible work in exercise science.
(05:54):
But I thought, am I actually putting this on the list?
They're gonna go it's nine so so it's not on
the west, but just know those are That is an
example of many other books that uh that sit in
my office as well. All right, uh so when we
come back from the break, gonna get right into it.
Nine books that I think you should read, and I
(06:16):
think you'll enjoy. All right, We'll be right back. Quick
break a right, nine health books I think you should read.
That is the topic of this show. And keep a
pen and paper handy or your phone or however you're
(06:39):
listening to this, so if you're interested, just take them down.
We're gonna give you the names. I'm gonna give you
the authors, and i'm gonna give you the publishers in
year two as well, just in case you need that.
All right, but I'm sure obviously with Google and the
uh the title of the book, that will give you
what you need. But I'm also gonna give you quick
little bios on many of these, all of these authors,
so you know who they are, and some I've had
(07:01):
on the show, and most I want to all of
them eventually I hope to have on the show, and
one recurring theme, not all of them, but uh, PhD
level PhD level, Now that's not the be all end all.
There's a bunch of PhD people out there that I
don't agree with and that I won't have on the show.
Just because you go to school doesn't mean that you
(07:24):
interpret things perfectly. I'll leave it at that, all right,
But I'm gonna start with one that was one of
the first ones I read um when it came to nutrition,
or one of the first authors, I should say, because
she has many And the interesting thing about her is
her name looks like it should be pronounced nest Lee.
It's Marion Nestle, but the name is spelled and E
(07:46):
s T l E, so again it's it's pronounced Nestle,
but Nestlee. And what's kind of amusing is she writes
all about nutrition. So the book to start you off
is Why Calories Count? All right, this is Marion Nestle
and Malden Nesheim. I believe it's how you pronounce his name,
and this is University of California Press back in two
(08:08):
thousand twelve. But it's amazing. It's just if there's some
science at the start, but if you listen to my show,
you kind of want a little bit of that and
you can always skip ahead. So this one, I would say,
is a little more on the science he start to start,
but it has to be to qualify so what a
calorie is, and most people have, you know, so much
(08:29):
confusion about calories in, calories out energy, and that's why
this book was I said, this is you know, this
is staying in my library just as all are. But
all of these books that that I truly refer back to,
I take notes in them. They are destroyed. There's coffee
rings on the covers, and I'm taking copious notes in
(08:51):
the margins and at the front and the back of
the book. And this is one of those. And this
is one of the first ones when I found Dr
nessel I said this as a woman I am following.
She is so smart. She truly looks at the science
and looks at it objectively. I would say, uh yes,
I will say. And just let me give you a
(09:11):
quick little bio for her, and this may not be
as recent, but basically she's a professor in the Department
of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University,
which she chaired for many many years, Professor of Sociology
at n y U, and visiting Professor of Nutritional Science
Sciences at CORE now. Her degrees include a PhD in
(09:32):
molecular molecular biology and a Master's of Public Health in
Public Health Nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley,
and she's held faculty positions at different colleges. She was
Senior Nutrition Policy Advisor in the Department of Health and
Human Services and managing editor of the Surgeon General's Report
on Nutrition and Health. All right, so she's really smart.
(09:55):
These are the people I study and I listened to,
and I take all that they're saying and balance it
off against what you know, some of the other authors
I'm gonna bring up here saying, and then you'll look
at the studies and they Marion Nestle is distilling down
those studies for you. So and she's an engaging speaker
when you look at her videos as well. And her
research examined scientific, economic, and social influences on food choice
(10:19):
and obesity, with an emphasis on the roll of food marketing.
So she's a lot of what she talks about is
how the food companies don't make it easy for you
for us, and that's a that's a big thing, and
that will come up again in a couple of these books.
But really, really really good book, Why Calories Count. And
(10:42):
malden Nesheim is professor of nutrition at Cornell University, and
so the book wrote quickly again there it's gonna explain
what calories are, how they work biologically, and as they
call it, politically, and it sorts through a lot of
the misinformation that you know, food manufacturers, diet programs are
putting out there, talks about how we're in and eat
(11:04):
more environment and it gives you information to interpret food labels,
evaluate those diets that I was talking about, and understand
the evidence as it's being presented and often convoluted as
I often talk about. And then they finished with some
pretty great advice eat less, eat better, move more, and
they say get organized as well. So that's a great
(11:26):
one to start us off if you're into diet and
nutrition and you want to kind of know the basics
on calories. What is it calorie? And it's once you
start to learn that, you're gonna start to say all
the other stuff starts to sound like noise. You can go, oh, I,
I'm starting to understand what Tom's talking about. Great books,
there we go. Number two. Now, this one I love
(11:49):
the hungry brain outsmarting the instincts that make us overeat.
And this is Flat Iron Books two thousand seventeen, relatively recent.
The author's aim is ridiculously hard to pronounce, and I'm
gonna spell it for you for that reason. Uh, it's
Stephen gi na and it's st e p h A
(12:13):
n So Stephen is what it looks like g n
A g u y e n e t pH d. Again,
the hungry brain out smarty the instincts that make us
over eat. I watched an amazing debate he had on
a podcast where he took on a another nutrition person
(12:34):
and it just blew me away. How smart this guy is? Uh.
He is an obesity researcher and health writer whose work
ties together neuroscience, physiology, evolutionary biology, and nutrition to offer
explanations and solutions for our global weight problem. He received
a BS in biochemistry at the University of Virginia and
a pH d in neurobiology at the University of Washington. Okay,
(12:59):
I'm gonna read you a quick takeaway from the book
The Problem argues Stefan gullion A is not necessarily a
lack of will power or an incorrect understanding of what
to eat. Rather, our appetites and food choices are led
astray by ancient, instinctive brain circuits that play by the
rules of a survival game that no longer exists. It's
(13:20):
about evolution. This is the smart stuff without you knowing it,
and sometimes knowing it because I'll say it during the show.
But I am constantly referring to stuff that I've read
and learned and agree with in this book and and
Dr Nestles as well, but this one, and it sounds
(13:41):
let me say this, This book, I would argue, is
easier to read and more entertaining. He's a great writer
as well. Dr Nestle is still a great book, and
you should read it obviously. You may want to start
with The Hungry Brain. He really talks about in an
accessible way, the brain and how you artificial sweeteners and
(14:02):
evolution and food scarcity and now food being everywhere. It's
just so smart. And the amazing things is he gives
you takeaways, I think, because that's what we want. So
you read that book and you'll learn. Oh, here's ways,
and I've talked about this on other shows. Here's ways
I can structure, you know, the food in my house,
changes I can make to eat better. So I couldn't
(14:25):
recommend that one more highly as well. The Hungry Brain
outsmarting the instincts that make us overeat awesome, awesome, awesome.
You've heard me talk about this one, if you've listened
to other podcasts and these books, I would argue complement
one another. So um, the first one, why Calories Count?
That is going to kind of give you the knowledge
(14:48):
you need, not necessarily, but but you know a little
bit more understanding of the science. Then you go to
the Hungry Brain. And then I take you to Diet
Cult by Matt Fitzgerald. Again I've talked about him, I
had I have had him on the show and the
podcast was Diet Cults. We talked all about the book,
and that's how much I love this book, and that's
how important I think it is. And let me give
(15:10):
you just the great takeaway. And if you're into this,
by the way, listen to that podcast. He is one
of the smartest guys, just the real deal that I know.
And he talks about with all the other with all
the diets out there, they agree on one thing that
there's only one true way to eat for maximum health.
And what Matt says is the first clue that a fallacy,
(15:31):
that that is a fallacy, I should say, is the
sheer variety of diets advocated. Indeed, why all of these
competing views claim to be backed by science. A good
look at the actual nutritional science itself suggests that it
is impossible to identify a single best way to eat,
and so along the way in this book, Matt talks
(15:53):
about popular diets like Atkins, raw Food, Paleo, all of
the ones out there that you're familiar with, and each
time he goes into the dangers of excluding an entire
food group, and he also talks about why we choose
them or they choose us. It's a great book. He's
a great writer. So there's three great books when it
(16:14):
comes to nutrition, and there's one more that will come up,
but Awesome Diet Cults by Matt Fitzgerald. And I said
it when I interviewed him, one of the greatest covers.
We talked about that it's a piece of toast with
an angry face. But great read, great read did cults.
All right, Now we're gonna get into the brain. The brain,
(16:35):
so there's not one way we can't just talk about.
As I started the show by talking about exercise and nutrition,
and you know, it's not just about weight loss. This
book when it comes to the benefits of exercise for
the brain and other related things amazing. So the title
(16:58):
is spark the Revolutionary a New Science of Exercise and
the Brain. This was published by Little Brown Spark two
thousand thirteen. Uh and I don't know if I said.
By the way, um diet Colts is peg Assist Books
two thousand fourteen for Matt Fitzgerald's book, So Spark two
thousand thirteen. And it was written by two people. Dr
(17:19):
John Rady, who is a clinical professor of psychiatry at
Harvard Medical School. Pretty good credentials, right, and he's the
author of numerous best selling books. And then Eric Hagerman
co wrote it with him. He is a former editor
of Popular Science and Outside, So a great collaboration there.
And this is all about the power of exercise in
(17:40):
the brain. Done a bunch of shows on that. And
I'm just gonna read you a paragraph because I can't
do it any better than this. So here's what this
book is about. Did you know that you can beat stress,
lift your mood, fight memory loss, sharpen your intellect and
function better than ever simply by elevating your heart rate
and breaking us wet. The evidence is incontrovertible. Aerobic exercise
(18:04):
physically remodels our brains for peak performance. In Spark, Dr
Radi M. D. Embarks upon a fascinating journey through the
mind body connection, illustrating that exercises truly our best defense
against everything from depression to a d D, to addiction,
to menopause to Alzheimer's and people their studies. So this
(18:27):
is filled with amazing case studies such as the revolutionary
fitness program in Naperville, Illinois. This will blow you away.
And if you have kids, you gotta read this. That
has put the local school district of nine kids first
in the world of science test scores. So it's about
the kids exercising before school and the incredible science behind
(18:51):
it that their test scores come right out and prove
it's an amazing book. Spark is the first book to
explore comprehensibly the connection between exercise and the brain. It
will change forever the way you think about your morning run.
And how many times have I said on these podcast gosh,
I love these books. Get excited, Uh, beat stress, lift
(19:12):
your mood, fight memory loss, gets smarter, function better than ever.
Actually it is only about weight loss. No, you don't
judge the success of your fitness program, of your morning run,
of your morning walk by that number on a scale
or how you look in the mirror that will come
(19:33):
and that is you gotta listen to the nutrition side too.
But we exercise for our immune systems, for our brains,
to beat stress, for depression. It's incredible. And this book
if you're you know, questioning what I'm talking about, how
(19:57):
powerful exercises and to make you feel better. No exercise
is wasted that in other words, it's too short or
not enough minutes matter and you don't have to do
an hour and you don't have to go to the gym.
And there's a book coming up that's going to really
kind of support that, but Spark the revolutionary new science
(20:21):
of exercise. And the brain can't recommend that one highly
enough either. All nine of these, by the way, all
right now we're staying with the brain. We're getting a
little into the motivation and the question of is it
the body or is it the brain that is hour
that are is our limiting factor? Title the book Endure, Mind, Body,
(20:45):
and the curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance. And this
is a writer named Alex Hutchinson who I've just come
to love. He writes frequently for different magazines outside especially
follow him on Twitter. Super smart uh. In this book,
by the way, William Morrow two thousand eighteen relatively recent
(21:06):
and Alex Hutchinson, the author, is a national magazine award
winning journalist who writes about the science of endurance for
runners world and outside. He writes about more as well,
uh and frequently contributes to other publications such as The
New York Times and The New Yorker. A former long
distance runner for the Canadian national team, he holds a
Masters in journalism from Columbia and a PhD in physics
(21:29):
from Cambridge. And let me say, by the way, just again,
Matt Fitzgerald, I think he's a two thirty five marathon
or now at age he might be fifty. So he
walks the walk, is my point, as does Alex Hutchinson.
And most of these people either have the PhD, the masters,
(21:52):
and or the experience in in athletics, which just helps
because they understand and then they study it and then
they can connect it. So Alex Hutchinson an amazing writer.
And I'm just gonna pull some of the reviews for
this book because it just really cuts to the chase.
(22:12):
One is it makes the case that we're actually underestimating
our potential and reveals how we can all surpass our
perceived physical womens. So this is this is a Yes
it's a fitness book. Yes it's an exercise book. Yes,
it's a brain book on the mental side, the psychological
which I love along with the exercise. But he goes
(22:36):
into not only great athletes, but adventurers and peak performers, musicians.
So this is so important when it comes to not
just sports, but whatever your goals are in life. We're
talking about whether it's the body or the mind. And
(22:59):
let me just hoping the book is where. Yeah, Malcolm
Gladwell wrote the intro. I know some people have problems
with him, but it's it's it's a great book. It's
a great book. And again he goes into historical adventurers
and talks about that debate was it the body or
was it the mind that kept them from achieving their
(23:21):
goals or allowed them to achieve their goals. So, if
you're into the brain, if you're into motivation, if you're
into potential, you know, unlocking all those kind of things
and you want the science behind it, Uh, this is
the book for you. Endure Mind Body, So endures the
title subtitle Mind Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of
(23:42):
human performance. And these are all great writers. I wouldn't
do it to you. And that actually flows perfectly, you
know what. That's to our final break and then what
do we have? We have four more, so perfect four
to go. You're gonna love this if you're a runner,
even if you're not. He's such a great writer. Was
phenomenal book coming up. All right, last break, will be
back talking about nine health books you should read, and
(24:05):
we got four more. We'll be right back talking about
books you should read if you're into bettering yourself, whether
it's nutrition, whether it's motivation, whether it's exercise. Spark just
(24:27):
talking about it again. I read that one a while back.
I gotta reread it. And I, by the way, I
don't read one of these books once ever, it's I
read it, then I'll go back. I'll take notes. Uh.
It's just when I find good stuff, when I find
smart people, when I find great research. Uh, you can't
(24:49):
do it in one pass um, and Spark is definitely
one of those. Now this one, I'm so excited when
I started getting into it and realized it's guys, just
a great writer. It's just awesome him. So it's a
running book. But it's also it's just a great read.
And it's called Running with the Kenyans, Discovering the Secrets
of the Fastest People on Earth. There's so many books
(25:10):
out there about this stuff, like Born to Run, and
many of them have biases, and many of them oversimplify science.
This one does not. So this guy what I love
about him. And I had to look up so many
videos to pronounce his name, so the author, I'll spell
his name first, just so you know how difficult. A
d h A R A n A n d and
(25:33):
Finn is his last name. I believe it's pronounced I'm
pretty sure A dah harand finn A dah harand Finn
is the author. And this is Balentine Books, two thousand thirteen,
and it's just an amazing book about a guy who
was a competitive former junior cross country runner, so he's
a pretty talented runner. But he went he took his
(25:54):
whole family, upended his family and said I'm going to
go live with the Kenyans and I'm going to see
what this is all out and I'm gonna truly see
what the secrets are, if there are any. And you know,
if you listen to my podcast, I'm not a fan
of that term secrets, but we'll use it every now
and again just to simplify things. But that was He's like,
(26:15):
I'm gonna go. I'm gonna up end my family, and
they weren't necessarily thrilled about it. And he talks about
like trying to hang and do these workouts. So he
trained for it was a long time memory, a couple
of years, if I'm not mistaken, But he was full
in living, eating, training, racing with the top runners in
(26:39):
the world. And there's one valley, one place where this
generally happens and Born to Run and all those books
will will reference it. And by the way, this book
was the Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year and
one Best New Writer at the British Sports Book Awards,
and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book Awards.
(27:00):
So even if you're not a runner, it's a great
book just on travel everything. It's in a great book period.
But one of the things he wanted to learn was
was it the barefoot running? Was at the barefoot running?
And what I love is his takeaways are amazing because
it's science and it's experience. He lived it, and he
(27:24):
looks at the science and then he looks at the
runners and he gives you his conclusion. And the conclusion
I'm not going to give you because it's I want
you to find it in the book. But I've I've
talked about it many times, but you gotta read the book.
It's just one of the greatest. If you're a runner again,
I'll leave with that. Um, and you're wondering about, you know,
(27:45):
training modalities, equipment, nutrition, Um, this is the book. This
is one of the best. All right, we move on.
How many times do I talk about the Blue zones?
Because this is just one of the smartest books if
you're truly looking. How many times have I said, if
(28:06):
you want to achieve something, find someone who has done it,
and then do what they do. And if this isn't
the book that exactly goes to that sentiment, I don't
know what it is. So what does the blue zones mean? Well,
researcher was looking at was researching places in the world
where the world's longest lived cultures, where people live the longest,
(28:27):
and he was circling with a blue pen these areas
and he had a handful and that's what this books about.
Dan Buttner b u E. T. T n e R
is the author. He is a National Geographic explorer, a writer,
and the founder of Quest Network Incorporated. His two thousand
(28:47):
and five cover story for National Geographic Magazine, Secrets of
Living Longer, was a finalist for the National Magazine Award.
This book is just has to be up there. If
you're into health and wellness, you have to read this book.
And because it's about moderation, it's about movement. They don't
(29:08):
go to the gym, they do drink wine, they don't
exclude food groups. Social connections are a huge part, and
that is one of the most incredible things of this
book is not only are you learning exactly what these
people do and and the the correlations, like, okay, what
(29:30):
do the people in one blue zone do that the
people and the others do. Where where's the overlap? And
there's incredible overlap. And that's the takeaway and that's the
final chapter. So in this book he visits locations where
people are living the longest, healthiest lives anywhere on the planet.
And the coolest thing is I was just saying, is
you will learn how to immediately incorporate these lessons into
(29:53):
your life to make a change. As you're reading the book,
you'll start to make the changes. Any of those change
is most of all of those changes I've talked about before. Alright,
blue zones, the blue zones. Lessons for living longer from
the people who have lived the longest. Dan Buttner, all right,
uh number eight two to go, two to go on
(30:16):
eating meat, the truth about its production and the ethics
of eating it. Now we're getting in the little controversial
area a little bit. This is Murdock Books. I'm not finished.
I'm halfway through it. It's a tough read. So there's
a lot on should you eat me? Should you not
eat meat? There's a lot of Netflix documentaries out there.
(30:38):
There's a lot of misinformation out there. So I'm reading
these books. Who is Matthew Evans? Who is the writer?
That is super important? Matthew Evans gonna read his bio.
Is a former chef and food critic and he's now
a Tasmanian smallholder, restaurant tour and food activist. He raises pigs,
milks cows, tends a garden, runs a farm restaurant, and
(30:58):
teaches from Fat Pig Farm. He is the star of
the long running SPS TV show The Gourmet Farmer, as
well as food documentaries What's the Catch and For the
Love of Meat. He's the author of twelve books, including
the authoritative and internationally best selling Real Food Companion and
The Gourmet Farmer Deli Book, as well as his autobiography
(31:20):
Never Ordered Chicken on a Monday, followed by The Dirty Chef.
So he goes into this so he he's a chef
and he's also a farmer, so he has seen the
meat side from all angles he's been and is full
in it. And it's a really tough read because he
goes to the slaughterhouses and in graphic detail he talks
about all that stuff. And like I said, I'm halfway
(31:44):
through the book and it's it's brutal. And the one
term I'm just gonna give you, and I'm gonna leave
that at this that he uses is ethical carnivore. Ethical carnivore.
So I don't want to get too much you know
this right now, but yes, and many of those books
that are about not eating meat and all that kind
(32:06):
of stuff, I have them all in my library as well. Um,
and there's a lot to that. And actually Matt Fitzgerald's
talks about that in diet cults as well, and we
should eat less meat just gonna of course, the science
says that we should eat less meat. But if you
look at the Blue Zones, people who live the longest,
they eat meat, but very infrequently and higher qualities and
smaller portions. So I'm gonna leave it at that. And
(32:29):
that's why you take, or I take things like the
Blue Zones and on eating Meat and why calories matter,
and all of these books, and you start to say, Okay,
what are people doing that are living to be a
hundred and nine? What does science say about this? What
is the ethically appropriate right thing for me to do?
And then you balance all that and that's why these
(32:50):
books are all over the place as far as there
subject matter. Okay, number nine, this may not come as
a surprise, but I have to throw it in there
with good with good intentions. Uh. The micro workout Plan
Get the body you want without the gym in fifteen
minutes or less a day, Sterling Press years. Truly, this
(33:13):
is my newest book. Now. I have others. I really
wanted to throw some of them into but uh, I
didn't leave it at that. Uh. This one helps you though,
so this book has all of my philosophy, and I
go into everything we talked about here and all those books,
actually the first eight, they're all within my book because
(33:37):
you know, my philosophy is based on all of that stuff.
But again, my philosophy I've been doing for forty odd years,
almost from since I was a kid. I've always followed
the same basic premise and that's what this book's about.
So it's shorter workouts. Yes, there are five minute workouts
at the back, thirty different workouts. You can choose to
do five minutes, you can do twenty five minutes. But
(33:59):
my point, as you've heard on so many of my podcasts,
as minutes matter. You don't have to go to the gym,
you don't have to do an hour. And yes, that's
the major takeaway from this book. But I have success
Stories is one of the greatest ways to learn. Three
or four of my most successful clients back when I
was training as a personal trainer amazing so male and female,
(34:20):
different goals that they had. And I talked about the
five components of fitness, talk about the Fountain of youth,
and I talked about like spark, how fitness, how exercises,
so much more than that scale. So I take all
the eight books that came you know before, my suggestion
for the micro workout plan and how it relates to
(34:42):
what we're talking about. So there you go, the micro
workout plan, get the body you want without the gym
in fifteen minutes or less a day. It comes out
as um recording this in a couple of days, but
you can preorder it and super helpful, especially in today's
climate of more people to never working out at home
less equipment. And that's one thing too, by the way.
(35:04):
Lots of body weight, mostly body weight, and dumbbells and
and you can do just about everything you need to
do with that. Of course you can use more, but
when you're working at home and when minutes matter, we're
gonna keep it simple. And the simple stuff is what works.
And there you have it. Let me go back one
final time in case you're just suddenly grabbing a pen.
(35:26):
Why calories count? Awesome? The Hungry Brain, diet cults, spark
Endure running with the Kenyans, the Blue Zones on eating meat,
and the micro workout plan. That is a great mix,
(35:49):
is a phenomenal mix. If I do say so myself.
You start with that you get through those books, you're
gonna be a better person. You're gonna be a better person,
You're gonn have knowledge, you're gonna be armed with so
many different ways to change your life immediately for the better.
And two, as I said with the book Spark, to
(36:11):
make you feel better about all those workouts you're doing
and movement you're doing and not feel guilty about not
going to the gym for an hour or doing extreme workouts,
excessive moderation. Kind of what all these books are about too.
But all the benefits that we just I do but
(36:31):
aren't talked about enough, especially by the media. And let
me just I kind of feel obligated to say this
as I'm putting together this list. There's not The book
publishing industry is really tough. That's my The Micro Workout
Plan is my sixth book, and I feel so fortunate
and work my butt off to get these books published
and talk about not taking no for an answer, but
(36:54):
it's really hard because I'm not going to defend them.
The book publishing world wants those diet books, and they
want the weight loss and they want the quick fix.
I think I said it on a prior podcast excessive moderation.
I wanted that to be the title of one of
my books, and they're like, that's horrible, like horrible. Now
I get it. But my point is that there's a
(37:17):
lot of books out there that are just going to
confuse you. And so when you find the books, as
I've said, that are really powerful and have great information,
you mark those up, you underline those, you highlight those,
you dog your the pages, you write things down, you
put it on your wall, and you implement them. Because
(37:38):
the book publishing industry needs to make money too, and
it's a good and bad thing when it comes to
diet and exercise. UM. I don't leave it at that.
So I hope you enjoyed this. I will do it again.
There are more, but as I just said, these are
phenomenal books to get you started. Great writers, all of them,
and you know, start with what you're into. But also
(38:00):
fill those gaps, as I said, fill those gaps. And
if you have a bias, if you don't agree with something,
read that book, read that book. We need both sides,
especially in today's climate. I read everything I can't talk about,
you know, I can't base my opinion if I don't
have a truly balanced and and you need to see
(38:21):
both sides. It's just so not there today enough. Thank
you for listening. If you have not yet rated the show,
please do so. I need need those ratings. It's super helpful,
and I thank you. If you have already comments, you
can leave those if you have a place to do
so where you are listening. Tom h Fit is both
my Instagram and my Twitter accounts. You can follow me there,
(38:43):
ask me questions, comment hashtag Fitness Disrupted on any social
media posts that you want me to see, and thank
you for doing that as well. And yeah, if you
want to you know the micro workout plan, I gotta
you know, selfless self promotion. But if you enjoy the show,
you're gonna enjoy that book and the workouts especially as well.
And just remember, and these books all go to what
(39:05):
I say at the end of every show, and and
Stephen Gulliona's book The Hungry Brain. We are in control
of three things, how much we move, what we literally
put into our mouths, and as these books talk about
our thoughts, our beliefs, our attitudes, and that is awesome.
(39:31):
I'm Tom Holland this is Fitness Disrupted. Believe in yourself.
Fitness Disrupted is a production of I heart Radio. For
more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
(39:52):
favorite shows.
Welcome to Fitness Disrupted, a production of I Heart Radio.
I am Tom Holland, and this is Fitness Disrupted. Nine
health books you should read. Pretty straightforward, that's what I
will be talking about. Nine books I am going to recommend.
(00:24):
And they cover all the different areas that I talked
about on all of these podcasts. So there's nutrition, there's
the mind, there's motivation. I tried to do a mix
of all of those because it's so important. So it's
not just nutrition, and it's not just exercise, and it's
not just motivation. You're gonna have a handful of all
of those. And these are nine books that I love
(00:48):
that I refer to all the time. Back when I
was a kid, there were three things I loved fitness, music,
and reading. I was a nerd when I was younger,
read voraciously, loved, loved, love to read. I remember vividly,
probably being in fourth or fifth grade, going through a
(01:09):
toll booth reading in the back seat with my big
glasses on. Definite nerd and the toll booth collector remarking
to my mom about me reading in the back And
I just always had a book and loved it. And
it continued on into fitness, and I want to say,
right at the start, I think this is one of
the enormous problems with so many fitness people out there today.
(01:33):
They just don't read. They don't read. They're not reading
the research, they're not looking at the studies, and they
don't have to go into it deeply, but they need
to be up on the current research. And I will
never forget back when I started in this industry and
was starting writing for different publications that there was one
(01:56):
personal trainer type magazine and the editor wrote he was
a bodybuilder type guy. And one of his letters letters
to the editor, but one of his you know, intros
to the magazine that month was about how he didn't
have time to read, didn't have time to read the newspaper,
didn't have time to read, and it was it just
(02:17):
stood out to me, was like, Wow, this is a magazine.
You're supposed to be a writer, you're supposed to be
all about gathering knowledge, and you're talking about how like
I always thought like that was the equivalent of his
client saying him, well, I don't have time to exercise.
Just stood out to me. So it's so important to
be up on the latest research and science and then
(02:39):
to be able to discuss it and not only to
be up on the latest research, but what's really important
to our First of all, again, most fitness people, I
would argue, don't spend enough time reading. And then the
ones that do tend to only read stuff that supports
their bias, supports their one way of doing things, and
(03:00):
that will come up in one of the books specifically.
And so one problem is not enough reading and gathering
of of knowledge and recent knowledge, you know, the recent research.
And then for those that are, they're just kind of
reading stuff that supports it, so they're not looking at
all different aspects. And that has always been so important
to me, so important to me that I'm giving you
(03:24):
the whole picture that I'm looking at all sides, that
I don't come in with a bias, because that is
really not helpful when it comes to total overall wellness.
So my office filled with books. So I'm gonna give
you nine. I will probably do many more shows. And
(03:44):
don't say, by the way, you forgot this one or
this one, it's in my office. If it's important, it's
in my office. I've read it. And one thing you'll
you'll notice about these nine books. There's not one diet
book there. There's one with the we're diet in it,
but it's not a diet book. Now. I read them
(04:04):
because I have to, because when someone says to me,
I'm doing the fat diet of the month, and I understand,
I get it. I understand why people do that, why
you do that, many of you, and and you know
we're gonna slowly fix that, but I get it. But
it will never be in my list of books to read.
I've yet to read a diet book that is helpful
(04:28):
long term, long term, and if they're a diet book,
they're not called that. And actually there's there's one in
my list. Again, the term diet's not in it, so
that speaks volumes about it too. Enough we'll get to those,
all right. So again, many many other books that are
super important, but this is a great one to get
you started, especially if you're if you're just starting on
(04:50):
this maybe a new you know, path of your journey
to wellness, and you're listening to this podcast and you're
enjoying the way you know I approach it, well, then
these are books that you're gonna enjoy. One book I did,
I actually pulled this out that I said, Am I nuts? Like,
am I actually telling people that they should read this book?
(05:10):
So no, that I didn't include, although it is a
anyone who's anyone in running exercise better have read The
Law of Running? Okay, Dr Timothy Noakes. The War of
Running is nine hundred and twenty one pages. Nine hundred
and twenty one pages. And every time I pick up
(05:32):
that book or think about it, I think of that
joke the comedians. You know, so many comedians had the
same joke or have the same joke about running, like,
what's the book about running? Put one ft in front
of the other? Right? Well, Timothy Knokes wrote a nine
hundred and twenty one page book way back, and he's
got you know, many different editions of that over the
years and has done some incredible work in exercise science.
(05:54):
But I thought, am I actually putting this on the list?
They're gonna go it's nine so so it's not on
the west, but just know those are That is an
example of many other books that uh that sit in
my office as well. All right, uh so when we
come back from the break, gonna get right into it.
Nine books that I think you should read, and I
(06:16):
think you'll enjoy. All right, We'll be right back. Quick
break a right, nine health books I think you should read.
That is the topic of this show. And keep a
pen and paper handy or your phone or however you're
(06:39):
listening to this, so if you're interested, just take them down.
We're gonna give you the names. I'm gonna give you
the authors, and i'm gonna give you the publishers in
year two as well, just in case you need that.
All right, but I'm sure obviously with Google and the
uh the title of the book, that will give you
what you need. But I'm also gonna give you quick
little bios on many of these, all of these authors,
so you know who they are, and some I've had
(07:01):
on the show, and most I want to all of
them eventually I hope to have on the show, and
one recurring theme, not all of them, but uh, PhD
level PhD level, Now that's not the be all end all.
There's a bunch of PhD people out there that I
don't agree with and that I won't have on the show.
Just because you go to school doesn't mean that you
(07:24):
interpret things perfectly. I'll leave it at that, all right,
But I'm gonna start with one that was one of
the first ones I read um when it came to nutrition,
or one of the first authors, I should say, because
she has many And the interesting thing about her is
her name looks like it should be pronounced nest Lee.
It's Marion Nestle, but the name is spelled and E
(07:46):
s T l E, so again it's it's pronounced Nestle,
but Nestlee. And what's kind of amusing is she writes
all about nutrition. So the book to start you off
is Why Calories Count? All right, this is Marion Nestle
and Malden Nesheim. I believe it's how you pronounce his name,
and this is University of California Press back in two
(08:08):
thousand twelve. But it's amazing. It's just if there's some
science at the start, but if you listen to my show,
you kind of want a little bit of that and
you can always skip ahead. So this one, I would say,
is a little more on the science he start to start,
but it has to be to qualify so what a
calorie is, and most people have, you know, so much
(08:29):
confusion about calories in, calories out energy, and that's why
this book was I said, this is you know, this
is staying in my library just as all are. But
all of these books that that I truly refer back to,
I take notes in them. They are destroyed. There's coffee
rings on the covers, and I'm taking copious notes in
(08:51):
the margins and at the front and the back of
the book. And this is one of those. And this
is one of the first ones when I found Dr
nessel I said this as a woman I am following.
She is so smart. She truly looks at the science
and looks at it objectively. I would say, uh yes,
I will say. And just let me give you a
(09:11):
quick little bio for her, and this may not be
as recent, but basically she's a professor in the Department
of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University,
which she chaired for many many years, Professor of Sociology
at n y U, and visiting Professor of Nutritional Science
Sciences at CORE now. Her degrees include a PhD in
(09:32):
molecular molecular biology and a Master's of Public Health in
Public Health Nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley,
and she's held faculty positions at different colleges. She was
Senior Nutrition Policy Advisor in the Department of Health and
Human Services and managing editor of the Surgeon General's Report
on Nutrition and Health. All right, so she's really smart.
(09:55):
These are the people I study and I listened to,
and I take all that they're saying and balance it
off against what you know, some of the other authors
I'm gonna bring up here saying, and then you'll look
at the studies and they Marion Nestle is distilling down
those studies for you. So and she's an engaging speaker
when you look at her videos as well. And her
research examined scientific, economic, and social influences on food choice
(10:19):
and obesity, with an emphasis on the roll of food marketing.
So she's a lot of what she talks about is
how the food companies don't make it easy for you
for us, and that's a that's a big thing, and
that will come up again in a couple of these books.
But really, really really good book, Why Calories Count. And
(10:42):
malden Nesheim is professor of nutrition at Cornell University, and
so the book wrote quickly again there it's gonna explain
what calories are, how they work biologically, and as they
call it, politically, and it sorts through a lot of
the misinformation that you know, food manufacturers, diet programs are
putting out there, talks about how we're in and eat
(11:04):
more environment and it gives you information to interpret food labels,
evaluate those diets that I was talking about, and understand
the evidence as it's being presented and often convoluted as
I often talk about. And then they finished with some
pretty great advice eat less, eat better, move more, and
they say get organized as well. So that's a great
(11:26):
one to start us off if you're into diet and
nutrition and you want to kind of know the basics
on calories. What is it calorie? And it's once you
start to learn that, you're gonna start to say all
the other stuff starts to sound like noise. You can go, oh, I,
I'm starting to understand what Tom's talking about. Great books,
there we go. Number two. Now, this one I love
(11:49):
the hungry brain outsmarting the instincts that make us overeat.
And this is Flat Iron Books two thousand seventeen, relatively recent.
The author's aim is ridiculously hard to pronounce, and I'm
gonna spell it for you for that reason. Uh, it's
Stephen gi na and it's st e p h A
(12:13):
n So Stephen is what it looks like g n
A g u y e n e t pH d. Again,
the hungry brain out smarty the instincts that make us
over eat. I watched an amazing debate he had on
a podcast where he took on a another nutrition person
(12:34):
and it just blew me away. How smart this guy is? Uh.
He is an obesity researcher and health writer whose work
ties together neuroscience, physiology, evolutionary biology, and nutrition to offer
explanations and solutions for our global weight problem. He received
a BS in biochemistry at the University of Virginia and
a pH d in neurobiology at the University of Washington. Okay,
(12:59):
I'm gonna read you a quick takeaway from the book
The Problem argues Stefan gullion A is not necessarily a
lack of will power or an incorrect understanding of what
to eat. Rather, our appetites and food choices are led
astray by ancient, instinctive brain circuits that play by the
rules of a survival game that no longer exists. It's
(13:20):
about evolution. This is the smart stuff without you knowing it,
and sometimes knowing it because I'll say it during the show.
But I am constantly referring to stuff that I've read
and learned and agree with in this book and and
Dr Nestles as well, but this one, and it sounds
(13:41):
let me say this, This book, I would argue, is
easier to read and more entertaining. He's a great writer
as well. Dr Nestle is still a great book, and
you should read it obviously. You may want to start
with The Hungry Brain. He really talks about in an
accessible way, the brain and how you artificial sweeteners and
(14:02):
evolution and food scarcity and now food being everywhere. It's
just so smart. And the amazing things is he gives
you takeaways, I think, because that's what we want. So
you read that book and you'll learn. Oh, here's ways,
and I've talked about this on other shows. Here's ways
I can structure, you know, the food in my house,
changes I can make to eat better. So I couldn't
(14:25):
recommend that one more highly as well. The Hungry Brain
outsmarting the instincts that make us overeat awesome, awesome, awesome.
You've heard me talk about this one, if you've listened
to other podcasts and these books, I would argue complement
one another. So um, the first one, why Calories Count?
That is going to kind of give you the knowledge
(14:48):
you need, not necessarily, but but you know a little
bit more understanding of the science. Then you go to
the Hungry Brain. And then I take you to Diet
Cult by Matt Fitzgerald. Again I've talked about him, I
had I have had him on the show and the
podcast was Diet Cults. We talked all about the book,
and that's how much I love this book, and that's
how important I think it is. And let me give
(15:10):
you just the great takeaway. And if you're into this,
by the way, listen to that podcast. He is one
of the smartest guys, just the real deal that I know.
And he talks about with all the other with all
the diets out there, they agree on one thing that
there's only one true way to eat for maximum health.
And what Matt says is the first clue that a fallacy,
(15:31):
that that is a fallacy, I should say, is the
sheer variety of diets advocated. Indeed, why all of these
competing views claim to be backed by science. A good
look at the actual nutritional science itself suggests that it
is impossible to identify a single best way to eat,
and so along the way in this book, Matt talks
(15:53):
about popular diets like Atkins, raw Food, Paleo, all of
the ones out there that you're familiar with, and each
time he goes into the dangers of excluding an entire
food group, and he also talks about why we choose
them or they choose us. It's a great book. He's
a great writer. So there's three great books when it
(16:14):
comes to nutrition, and there's one more that will come up,
but Awesome Diet Cults by Matt Fitzgerald. And I said
it when I interviewed him, one of the greatest covers.
We talked about that it's a piece of toast with
an angry face. But great read, great read did cults.
All right, Now we're gonna get into the brain. The brain,
(16:35):
so there's not one way we can't just talk about.
As I started the show by talking about exercise and nutrition,
and you know, it's not just about weight loss. This
book when it comes to the benefits of exercise for
the brain and other related things amazing. So the title
(16:58):
is spark the Revolutionary a New Science of Exercise and
the Brain. This was published by Little Brown Spark two
thousand thirteen. Uh and I don't know if I said.
By the way, um diet Colts is peg Assist Books
two thousand fourteen for Matt Fitzgerald's book, So Spark two
thousand thirteen. And it was written by two people. Dr
(17:19):
John Rady, who is a clinical professor of psychiatry at
Harvard Medical School. Pretty good credentials, right, and he's the
author of numerous best selling books. And then Eric Hagerman
co wrote it with him. He is a former editor
of Popular Science and Outside, So a great collaboration there.
And this is all about the power of exercise in
(17:40):
the brain. Done a bunch of shows on that. And
I'm just gonna read you a paragraph because I can't
do it any better than this. So here's what this
book is about. Did you know that you can beat stress,
lift your mood, fight memory loss, sharpen your intellect and
function better than ever simply by elevating your heart rate
and breaking us wet. The evidence is incontrovertible. Aerobic exercise
(18:04):
physically remodels our brains for peak performance. In Spark, Dr
Radi M. D. Embarks upon a fascinating journey through the
mind body connection, illustrating that exercises truly our best defense
against everything from depression to a d D, to addiction,
to menopause to Alzheimer's and people their studies. So this
(18:27):
is filled with amazing case studies such as the revolutionary
fitness program in Naperville, Illinois. This will blow you away.
And if you have kids, you gotta read this. That
has put the local school district of nine kids first
in the world of science test scores. So it's about
the kids exercising before school and the incredible science behind
(18:51):
it that their test scores come right out and prove
it's an amazing book. Spark is the first book to
explore comprehensibly the connection between exercise and the brain. It
will change forever the way you think about your morning run.
And how many times have I said on these podcast gosh,
I love these books. Get excited, Uh, beat stress, lift
(19:12):
your mood, fight memory loss, gets smarter, function better than ever.
Actually it is only about weight loss. No, you don't
judge the success of your fitness program, of your morning run,
of your morning walk by that number on a scale
or how you look in the mirror that will come
(19:33):
and that is you gotta listen to the nutrition side too.
But we exercise for our immune systems, for our brains,
to beat stress, for depression. It's incredible. And this book
if you're you know, questioning what I'm talking about, how
(19:57):
powerful exercises and to make you feel better. No exercise
is wasted that in other words, it's too short or
not enough minutes matter and you don't have to do
an hour and you don't have to go to the gym.
And there's a book coming up that's going to really
kind of support that, but Spark the revolutionary new science
(20:21):
of exercise. And the brain can't recommend that one highly
enough either. All nine of these, by the way, all
right now we're staying with the brain. We're getting a
little into the motivation and the question of is it
the body or is it the brain that is hour
that are is our limiting factor? Title the book Endure, Mind, Body,
(20:45):
and the curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance. And this
is a writer named Alex Hutchinson who I've just come
to love. He writes frequently for different magazines outside especially
follow him on Twitter. Super smart uh. In this book,
by the way, William Morrow two thousand eighteen relatively recent
(21:06):
and Alex Hutchinson, the author, is a national magazine award
winning journalist who writes about the science of endurance for
runners world and outside. He writes about more as well,
uh and frequently contributes to other publications such as The
New York Times and The New Yorker. A former long
distance runner for the Canadian national team, he holds a
Masters in journalism from Columbia and a PhD in physics
(21:29):
from Cambridge. And let me say, by the way, just again,
Matt Fitzgerald, I think he's a two thirty five marathon
or now at age he might be fifty. So he
walks the walk, is my point, as does Alex Hutchinson.
And most of these people either have the PhD, the masters,
(21:52):
and or the experience in in athletics, which just helps
because they understand and then they study it and then
they can connect it. So Alex Hutchinson an amazing writer.
And I'm just gonna pull some of the reviews for
this book because it just really cuts to the chase.
(22:12):
One is it makes the case that we're actually underestimating
our potential and reveals how we can all surpass our
perceived physical womens. So this is this is a Yes
it's a fitness book. Yes it's an exercise book. Yes,
it's a brain book on the mental side, the psychological
which I love along with the exercise. But he goes
(22:36):
into not only great athletes, but adventurers and peak performers, musicians.
So this is so important when it comes to not
just sports, but whatever your goals are in life. We're
talking about whether it's the body or the mind. And
(22:59):
let me just hoping the book is where. Yeah, Malcolm
Gladwell wrote the intro. I know some people have problems
with him, but it's it's it's a great book. It's
a great book. And again he goes into historical adventurers
and talks about that debate was it the body or
was it the mind that kept them from achieving their
(23:21):
goals or allowed them to achieve their goals. So, if
you're into the brain, if you're into motivation, if you're
into potential, you know, unlocking all those kind of things
and you want the science behind it, Uh, this is
the book for you. Endure Mind Body, So endures the
title subtitle Mind Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of
(23:42):
human performance. And these are all great writers. I wouldn't
do it to you. And that actually flows perfectly, you
know what. That's to our final break and then what
do we have? We have four more, so perfect four
to go. You're gonna love this if you're a runner,
even if you're not. He's such a great writer. Was
phenomenal book coming up. All right, last break, will be
back talking about nine health books you should read, and
(24:05):
we got four more. We'll be right back talking about
books you should read if you're into bettering yourself, whether
it's nutrition, whether it's motivation, whether it's exercise. Spark just
(24:27):
talking about it again. I read that one a while back.
I gotta reread it. And I, by the way, I
don't read one of these books once ever, it's I
read it, then I'll go back. I'll take notes. Uh.
It's just when I find good stuff, when I find
smart people, when I find great research. Uh, you can't
(24:49):
do it in one pass um, and Spark is definitely
one of those. Now this one, I'm so excited when
I started getting into it and realized it's guys, just
a great writer. It's just awesome him. So it's a
running book. But it's also it's just a great read.
And it's called Running with the Kenyans, Discovering the Secrets
of the Fastest People on Earth. There's so many books
(25:10):
out there about this stuff, like Born to Run, and
many of them have biases, and many of them oversimplify science.
This one does not. So this guy what I love
about him. And I had to look up so many
videos to pronounce his name, so the author, I'll spell
his name first, just so you know how difficult. A
d h A R A n A n d and
(25:33):
Finn is his last name. I believe it's pronounced I'm
pretty sure A dah harand finn A dah harand Finn
is the author. And this is Balentine Books, two thousand thirteen,
and it's just an amazing book about a guy who
was a competitive former junior cross country runner, so he's
a pretty talented runner. But he went he took his
(25:54):
whole family, upended his family and said I'm going to
go live with the Kenyans and I'm going to see
what this is all out and I'm gonna truly see
what the secrets are, if there are any. And you know,
if you listen to my podcast, I'm not a fan
of that term secrets, but we'll use it every now
and again just to simplify things. But that was He's like,
(26:15):
I'm gonna go. I'm gonna up end my family, and
they weren't necessarily thrilled about it. And he talks about
like trying to hang and do these workouts. So he
trained for it was a long time memory, a couple
of years, if I'm not mistaken, But he was full
in living, eating, training, racing with the top runners in
(26:39):
the world. And there's one valley, one place where this
generally happens and Born to Run and all those books
will will reference it. And by the way, this book
was the Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year and
one Best New Writer at the British Sports Book Awards,
and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book Awards.
(27:00):
So even if you're not a runner, it's a great
book just on travel everything. It's in a great book period.
But one of the things he wanted to learn was
was it the barefoot running? Was at the barefoot running?
And what I love is his takeaways are amazing because
it's science and it's experience. He lived it, and he
(27:24):
looks at the science and then he looks at the
runners and he gives you his conclusion. And the conclusion
I'm not going to give you because it's I want
you to find it in the book. But I've I've
talked about it many times, but you gotta read the book.
It's just one of the greatest. If you're a runner again,
I'll leave with that. Um, and you're wondering about, you know,
(27:45):
training modalities, equipment, nutrition, Um, this is the book. This
is one of the best. All right, we move on.
How many times do I talk about the Blue zones?
Because this is just one of the smartest books if
you're truly looking. How many times have I said, if
(28:06):
you want to achieve something, find someone who has done it,
and then do what they do. And if this isn't
the book that exactly goes to that sentiment, I don't
know what it is. So what does the blue zones mean? Well,
researcher was looking at was researching places in the world
where the world's longest lived cultures, where people live the longest,
(28:27):
and he was circling with a blue pen these areas
and he had a handful and that's what this books about.
Dan Buttner b u E. T. T n e R
is the author. He is a National Geographic explorer, a writer,
and the founder of Quest Network Incorporated. His two thousand
(28:47):
and five cover story for National Geographic Magazine, Secrets of
Living Longer, was a finalist for the National Magazine Award.
This book is just has to be up there. If
you're into health and wellness, you have to read this book.
And because it's about moderation, it's about movement. They don't
(29:08):
go to the gym, they do drink wine, they don't
exclude food groups. Social connections are a huge part, and
that is one of the most incredible things of this
book is not only are you learning exactly what these
people do and and the the correlations, like, okay, what
(29:30):
do the people in one blue zone do that the
people and the others do. Where where's the overlap? And
there's incredible overlap. And that's the takeaway and that's the
final chapter. So in this book he visits locations where
people are living the longest, healthiest lives anywhere on the planet.
And the coolest thing is I was just saying, is
you will learn how to immediately incorporate these lessons into
(29:53):
your life to make a change. As you're reading the book,
you'll start to make the changes. Any of those change
is most of all of those changes I've talked about before. Alright,
blue zones, the blue zones. Lessons for living longer from
the people who have lived the longest. Dan Buttner, all right,
uh number eight two to go, two to go on
(30:16):
eating meat, the truth about its production and the ethics
of eating it. Now we're getting in the little controversial
area a little bit. This is Murdock Books. I'm not finished.
I'm halfway through it. It's a tough read. So there's
a lot on should you eat me? Should you not
eat meat? There's a lot of Netflix documentaries out there.
(30:38):
There's a lot of misinformation out there. So I'm reading
these books. Who is Matthew Evans? Who is the writer?
That is super important? Matthew Evans gonna read his bio.
Is a former chef and food critic and he's now
a Tasmanian smallholder, restaurant tour and food activist. He raises pigs,
milks cows, tends a garden, runs a farm restaurant, and
(30:58):
teaches from Fat Pig Farm. He is the star of
the long running SPS TV show The Gourmet Farmer, as
well as food documentaries What's the Catch and For the
Love of Meat. He's the author of twelve books, including
the authoritative and internationally best selling Real Food Companion and
The Gourmet Farmer Deli Book, as well as his autobiography
(31:20):
Never Ordered Chicken on a Monday, followed by The Dirty Chef.
So he goes into this so he he's a chef
and he's also a farmer, so he has seen the
meat side from all angles he's been and is full
in it. And it's a really tough read because he
goes to the slaughterhouses and in graphic detail he talks
about all that stuff. And like I said, I'm halfway
(31:44):
through the book and it's it's brutal. And the one
term I'm just gonna give you, and I'm gonna leave
that at this that he uses is ethical carnivore. Ethical carnivore.
So I don't want to get too much you know
this right now, but yes, and many of those books
that are about not eating meat and all that kind
(32:06):
of stuff, I have them all in my library as well. Um,
and there's a lot to that. And actually Matt Fitzgerald's
talks about that in diet cults as well, and we
should eat less meat just gonna of course, the science
says that we should eat less meat. But if you
look at the Blue Zones, people who live the longest,
they eat meat, but very infrequently and higher qualities and
smaller portions. So I'm gonna leave it at that. And
(32:29):
that's why you take, or I take things like the
Blue Zones and on eating Meat and why calories matter,
and all of these books, and you start to say, Okay,
what are people doing that are living to be a
hundred and nine? What does science say about this? What
is the ethically appropriate right thing for me to do?
And then you balance all that and that's why these
(32:50):
books are all over the place as far as there
subject matter. Okay, number nine, this may not come as
a surprise, but I have to throw it in there
with good with good intentions. Uh. The micro workout Plan
Get the body you want without the gym in fifteen
minutes or less a day, Sterling Press years. Truly, this
(33:13):
is my newest book. Now. I have others. I really
wanted to throw some of them into but uh, I
didn't leave it at that. Uh. This one helps you though,
so this book has all of my philosophy, and I
go into everything we talked about here and all those books,
actually the first eight, they're all within my book because
(33:37):
you know, my philosophy is based on all of that stuff.
But again, my philosophy I've been doing for forty odd years,
almost from since I was a kid. I've always followed
the same basic premise and that's what this book's about.
So it's shorter workouts. Yes, there are five minute workouts
at the back, thirty different workouts. You can choose to
do five minutes, you can do twenty five minutes. But
(33:59):
my point, as you've heard on so many of my podcasts,
as minutes matter. You don't have to go to the gym,
you don't have to do an hour. And yes, that's
the major takeaway from this book. But I have success
Stories is one of the greatest ways to learn. Three
or four of my most successful clients back when I
was training as a personal trainer amazing so male and female,
(34:20):
different goals that they had. And I talked about the
five components of fitness, talk about the Fountain of youth,
and I talked about like spark, how fitness, how exercises,
so much more than that scale. So I take all
the eight books that came you know before, my suggestion
for the micro workout plan and how it relates to
(34:42):
what we're talking about. So there you go, the micro
workout plan, get the body you want without the gym
in fifteen minutes or less a day. It comes out
as um recording this in a couple of days, but
you can preorder it and super helpful, especially in today's
climate of more people to never working out at home
less equipment. And that's one thing too, by the way.
(35:04):
Lots of body weight, mostly body weight, and dumbbells and
and you can do just about everything you need to
do with that. Of course you can use more, but
when you're working at home and when minutes matter, we're
gonna keep it simple. And the simple stuff is what works.
And there you have it. Let me go back one
final time in case you're just suddenly grabbing a pen.
(35:26):
Why calories count? Awesome? The Hungry Brain, diet cults, spark
Endure running with the Kenyans, the Blue Zones on eating meat,
and the micro workout plan. That is a great mix,
(35:49):
is a phenomenal mix. If I do say so myself.
You start with that you get through those books, you're
gonna be a better person. You're gonna be a better person,
You're gonn have knowledge, you're gonna be armed with so
many different ways to change your life immediately for the better.
And two, as I said with the book Spark, to
(36:11):
make you feel better about all those workouts you're doing
and movement you're doing and not feel guilty about not
going to the gym for an hour or doing extreme workouts,
excessive moderation. Kind of what all these books are about too.
But all the benefits that we just I do but
(36:31):
aren't talked about enough, especially by the media. And let
me just I kind of feel obligated to say this
as I'm putting together this list. There's not The book
publishing industry is really tough. That's my The Micro Workout
Plan is my sixth book, and I feel so fortunate
and work my butt off to get these books published
and talk about not taking no for an answer, but
(36:54):
it's really hard because I'm not going to defend them.
The book publishing world wants those diet books, and they
want the weight loss and they want the quick fix.
I think I said it on a prior podcast excessive moderation.
I wanted that to be the title of one of
my books, and they're like, that's horrible, like horrible. Now
I get it. But my point is that there's a
(37:17):
lot of books out there that are just going to
confuse you. And so when you find the books, as
I've said, that are really powerful and have great information,
you mark those up, you underline those, you highlight those,
you dog your the pages, you write things down, you
put it on your wall, and you implement them. Because
(37:38):
the book publishing industry needs to make money too, and
it's a good and bad thing when it comes to
diet and exercise. UM. I don't leave it at that.
So I hope you enjoyed this. I will do it again.
There are more, but as I just said, these are
phenomenal books to get you started. Great writers, all of them,
and you know, start with what you're into. But also
(38:00):
fill those gaps, as I said, fill those gaps. And
if you have a bias, if you don't agree with something,
read that book, read that book. We need both sides,
especially in today's climate. I read everything I can't talk about,
you know, I can't base my opinion if I don't
have a truly balanced and and you need to see
(38:21):
both sides. It's just so not there today enough. Thank
you for listening. If you have not yet rated the show,
please do so. I need need those ratings. It's super helpful,
and I thank you. If you have already comments, you
can leave those if you have a place to do
so where you are listening. Tom h Fit is both
my Instagram and my Twitter accounts. You can follow me there,
(38:43):
ask me questions, comment hashtag Fitness Disrupted on any social
media posts that you want me to see, and thank
you for doing that as well. And yeah, if you
want to you know the micro workout plan, I gotta
you know, selfless self promotion. But if you enjoy the show,
you're gonna enjoy that book and the workouts especially as well.
And just remember, and these books all go to what
(39:05):
I say at the end of every show, and and
Stephen Gulliona's book The Hungry Brain. We are in control
of three things, how much we move, what we literally
put into our mouths, and as these books talk about
our thoughts, our beliefs, our attitudes, and that is awesome.
(39:31):
I'm Tom Holland this is Fitness Disrupted. Believe in yourself.
Fitness Disrupted is a production of I heart Radio. For
more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
(39:52):
favorite shows.
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