Can you tell us about your exciting new self help weight loss book?
Sure. It’s called How To EAT LOADS And LOSE WEIGHT. Or just EAT LOADS, LOSE WEIGHT. And that’s pretty much the entire concept, right there in those four words. How to eat loads of proper, tasty, satisfying meals, and yet somehow still lose weight – all without feeling hungry, without calorie counting, and without exercise.
What makes your book different from the established slimming regimes?
I suppose the key difference is that this book is based on actual science.
The mainstream low-fat diet advice that we’re used to hearing on a daily basis is actually rooted in a misunderstanding of how the body works; ie. the idea that your body needs a certain number of calories (per day) to sustain itself and stores any excess. But in more recent years we’ve discovered that this is actually a huge over simplification. What you eat – so it turns out – is actually more important than how much.
Of course, being a huge nerd, this is what got me excited about the subject in the first place. I wanted to get to the bottom of how the body actually works. If it isn’t fat making us fat, what is? If calorie counting doesn’t work, what will? If cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease what does?
Turns out the answers weren’t all that difficult to find. Just complicated. So a large part of my job when writing this book – the bit I enjoyed the most – was to describe those biological processes in a way that the average man (or woman) on the street would a) understand and b) find interesting and entertaining.
That’s the kind of non-fiction I love to write.
How has your opinion on diets and dieting changed since writing the book?
It’s made me more cynical! We’re a nation of people struggling to maintain our collective health, yet the mainstream media would have us believe that it’s all our fault: We’re lazy. We’re greedy. We’re not doing enough exercise. We’re eating too many fatty foods. We’re ignoring the experts. We’re not buying diet books. We’re not going to slimming classes. But it’s all nonsense! The data shows the exact opposite – yet somehow we’re still getting fatter, and sicker.
But it’s difficult for governments to radically change health guidelines that have been in place since the 1980s without raising eyebrows and risking an angry outburst. It’s difficult for doctors to dish out advice that isn’t in line with strict NHS policy. It’s difficult for slimming clubs and food manufacturers to switch to a weight loss model that would work so well people wouldn’t need to come back. And it’s neigh-on-impossible for drug companies to support any kind of advice that might eliminate the need for their most profitable products.
But the tide is turning. Slowly. There are more and more books like the one I’ve just written. And I’m proud to be apart of this health revolution.
What feedback have you had from your readers?
The feedback has been lovely. I decided to start a Facebook group for readers of the book (or those interested in learning more) and rarely a day goes by when someone doesn’t post about how much weight they’ve lost, how that gnawing hunger has dissipated, and how much better they’re feeling. People keep sharing recipes, and tips, and giving each other encouragement, and sometimes I have to pinch myself and say “you started this Jonesy – you!”
Where can interested readers contact you?
Several places!
Amazon: http://getbook.at/ELLW
The website: http://www.eatloadsloseweight.com
The Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/443208936345878/
valerie holmes, author 