Win a FREE copy of the Cheat Your Way Thin Holiday Edition!

I’ve been overweight ALL of my life. I’ve tried everything that I can afford here in Borneo. I’ve swum, gymmed, done martial arts, climbed mountains, done a combination of all that.

And I’m still overweight. Can I cheat myself thin? I don’t know, but I’d like a chance to try.

Dear Joel,

I must confess I spent hours on the internet trying to look for a medical or scientific website that refutes all the claims that you make about dieting and food. I found none.
I am not morbidly overweight or unfit but the “healthy” weight where I am at the moment is maintained in a very unhealthy way. I constantly emotionally overeat and then go days with eating very little. Having been an overweight child I have made it my life’s goal never to let my weight get out of control. Unfortunately the only way I know how to lose weight is to eat as little as possible and exercise as much as I am able to.
Starting my first office job did not help and I gained weght due to not doing being able to do my two hour exercise routine every day and having to eat lunch in front of colleuges at work. I know that there must be a way for me to look better then I do now without resorting to starvation but I have not found it yet. I know that if I do not start living a healthy “normal” life my struggle with food will carry on forever. I hope that this programme can teach me how to use food as a tool and not see it as an enemy. If it is actually possible to eat and get leaner I hope t eat myself thin, fit and healthy… with your help.

I really had a wake-up call this year, and I consider it a second chance for me. I’ve looked at diets, read them all and walked away from them and just couldn’t commit myself to any of them. I am striving to make some good constructive lifestyle changes that I know I can live with. I am recovering from a blood clot in my leg and my knees really need a break since I carry around way too much weight. This program looks like the most real-life kind of way of living that I’ve seen and I think it would be a big help to me and making the lifestyle changes I need to make in order to continue to live a full and productive and active life. I’ve been inspired to make the necessary changes in my life by the fact that even as afriad of needles as I am, I could give myself the shots to thin my blood to help deal with the blood clot and if I can do that, I can do anything! That had to have been the most stressful thing for me, but it’s been a wake-up call all at the same time. Thanks for sharing the materials with us that you have already shared, and I look forward to learning more!

I am sick and tired of being over weight and am desperate and trying everything I can get my hands on to loose weight

i have done a bodybuilding comp. for the first time in august ,finish 3.#. i follow my own diet .It was a bit unorgonise.I did lose the weight but some muscle mass as well.the diet was very restrictive and boring. Your way of eating sound more orgonise and plasant ,you can enjoy some everyday meal as free day (cheat day).I like to compete next eayr and finish first in my categorie ,and I think your plan can help me a lot …thak you Jacky

Hi, Joel
I’ve been waiting with baited breath for your book to come out! The suspense is killing me. I can’t wait to get my hands on it.
I’m a physician, and I’m overweight. I wasn’t until I hit 32 years old and went through an addiction. My life is my own again, but my body isn’t.
When I went to a gym and got my body fat tested, I realized in shock that instead of being 180 pounds, I could easily get down to 120 pounds – slimmer than I’d ever been – if I just got rid of the fat. I have tried nutritionists, and everything from Quick weight loss to a million other things. I’ve stumbled across fat burning furnace and am making myself do weights three times a week to build muscle mass. But I know that there is more to it than that. It is insane how confusing it can be even to those of us in the medical profession.
I’ve come a long way just by cutting out most starches, eating three fruits a day, and four servings of vegetables when I can, but my crazy work schedule is making it tough! Please help me to work WITH my body instead of against it, and through me to help all of my patients by being a good example.
Thank you,
Gigi

I’m 48 years old and already menopausic. As you know, metabolism slows down with age and hormonal changes. In order to lose fat, my daily caloric intake is very low. I have problems calculating calories all the time (and frankly, I’m sick and tired of it) and worried of not getting enough nutrients in my diet. Your program looks like will simplify my life by telling me what to eat and when, while still providing room for cravings and still see results. Any dieter’s dream!!

Joel, I recently got engaged to a wonderful woman, and with her still living at home and recently taking a job sitting at a desk all day (going to that from retail and becoming a bit less active because of it) she’s put on a bit of weight as her family eats out on a fairly regular basis, which has shot her self confidence to nothing since she has only one pair of pants that fits properly. Now she had already had a goal of wanting to lose 30lbs already before gaining this extra weight and it’s just killing me to see her like this. Thinking nothing works, that it’ll take forever to work the weight off, that it’s difficult for her (women) to lose weight, and that it’ll just be easier for her to stop eating (which i know isn’t the case, but I can’t explain it to her, as she’s so depressed and emotional which also makes it worse as she’s a depression eater. It’s killing me to see her like this, and I KNOW this program will work for her. I just need a little help in showing it to her, in having the program to give to her, to read over to see for herself what is possible and get her looking at herself in a more positive way, get her self esteem back up, and her confidence up as well, as all I care about is her happiness

Hello Joel.
I’m Zdravko Genov from Bulgaria.I’m bodybuilder.I’m member of T-nation.
I’m fan of Eric Cressey,Mike Roberson.

I saw they refer you as one of the best in Diet Industry.For diet and proper nutrition, you are like Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson for condition training.

I work in the gym everyday, I have plan for the gym.
I have plan for my nutrition too, but I need to fine tun many things like leptin re-feed process.

Actually I’m on my way to the body I want, I have visible ABS, but I need some help for the rest of my journey.
I think you can take me to the next level

Thank you,
Zdravko Genov

I went on my first diet (doctor-prescribed) when I was 7 years old, but I’ve never succeeded in maintaining a “normal” weight for any length of time. Finally, after trying every diet under the sun (calorie counting, fat gram counting, Protein Power, South Beach, Atkins, Zone, Weight Watchers, to name just a few), I simply gave up the constant struggle. But I believe Cheat Your Way Thin will let me take back control of my life and my body. I’ve just turned 60, I’m newly single again, and after spending the last 18 years taking care of everyone but myself, I want to take responsibility for my life. At 5’2″ and 195 pounds, I have high blood pressure and serious arthritis, both of which are aggravated by my weight. I’m starting a new chapter in my life, and I need to make changes that I can sustain throughout the rest of a long and healthy life. PLEASE select me for a free copy of Cheat Your Way Thin Holiday Edition!!!!

Hi Joel,
Firstly let me say “Thank you” for all the hard work you have put in over the years. Your emails have been extremely informative and they make a lot of sense. I have struggled with those extra kilos most of my life and felt guilty whenever eating cake, chips, chocolate and even fruit. No one should feel guilty about eating fruit! I have done some serious high protein diets, sure they worked, but it is always to difficult to continue these extreme diets. I have done meditation and lipo dissolve injections..guess what nothing has worked. Well I am definitely ready to give your cheat your way thin approach a go. I have explained it to my parents (who need a little help as well) and they think it sounds great. No more guilt..just a fab bod. Thanks again from Sunny Australia

Hi Joel,
I’ve been struggling with my weight all my life. Seven years ago I went on a charity bicycle ride from San Francisco to Washington, DC. During that time, I was in decent shape, but was still overweight. Once I finished the trip, I gained what little weight I had lost plus some. After college, I moved to LA to work in film and with the 12-15 hours a day I work, losing weight became lower on my priority list.
As my 30th birthday came around, I decided it was time to get in shape as my family has a horrible heart history. My mother passed away from a heart attack, uncle is on a waiting list for a new heart, aunt had a major heart attack, and both grandfathers have had heart attacks, one of them having multiple over the years.
I lost 30 pounds over a 4 month span, but in the 9 months since then, I have gained 5 pounds despite my best efforts to continue losing weight. I am hoping that this is the program that can lead me the rest of the way to better health and keep me there before it is too late.
Thank you,
Adam

Motivation is the spark that can make or brake humans! After reading your newletters, I feel just that, motivated. All I need, to not have an excuse anymore, is the “Cheat your way thin” download! I am a 43 year old mother of 3 and battles to keep my weight down since forever! I must admit that, since two years ago, I am losing that battle. I am sick of feeling deprived of all the goodies my thin friends can stuff down their throaghts! I am fat with already depriving myself of all the good stuff! For the first time in 2 years I am starting to understand why I can not loose the weight and I know with your help, I can change my life again! This information will benefit me because that can turn my life into a positive and me into a positive, thinner me again with a zest for life to enjoy my family and for them to enjoy me too!

I know that the body has a remarkable ability to heal itself and reverse any condition once we learn to take the appropriate steps. I believe that your “cheating” method sounds logical and sustainable. Why would I say that? Because I’ve had extensive experience in trying to reverse an approximately 30-lb weight gain, beginning in my late thirties, that affects my health disproportionately. You see, for the past six years, my blood sugar has tested diabetic. I refuse to say that I “am” diabetic because I know that my Type II diabetes is reversable. How? Because I did reverse it in 2004 with a vegetarian diet and intensive exercise. The problem? It is very difficult to maintain such a strenuous regimen and makes traveling and eating out extremely difficult.

At times my blood sugar readings have been so high that medical personnel look at me in shock when they see that I don’t weigh 300 lbs. I know that, if I could maintain a 20-lb. weight loss, I could reverse the potential damage of diabetes. I say “potential damage” because I feel great with a lot of energy and no apparent health problems–except the hidden danger of high blood sugar.

In the past, I tried a six-week program of a structured diet of six small meals/day and intensive, slow-motion resistance training 3x/week. I worked very hard to only lose 9 lbs. As I mentioned, I tried Dr. Fuhrman’s vegetarian diet with great success, but found it hard to sustain. I have tried Michael Thurman’s diet-and-exercise program, with targeted resistance exercises and six small meals/day, emphasizing protein, fruits and vegetables. I am still eating several small meals per day, but I love my oatmeal and my toast, so it’s difficult to restrict all carbs, as most diabetics are instructed to do. Currently I have been using the Fat-Burning Furnace exercises and, since he recommends your diet, would love to find a sustainable, long-term eating plan–not diet!–that works in a normal life. I can tell you that my body is geared to survive a great famine because, the minute it notices that my calories are restricted, it goes into shut-down mode and keeps my weight loss at a frustrating plateau. I have wondered how to kick-start the process again and I suspect that you may have the answer. I would love to be considered for the opportunity to explore your solutions.

Thank you very much for the work you have done.

I am always intending to do something about my weight and have only ever managed to stay on WeighLess (SA program like Weight Watchers) for about three months ( – and I did lose 4kg). Life is too short to weigh food, worry about everything that goes into your mouth and to spend a lot of money on doing so, when people are starving all around us. If it is not easy, flexible, scientifically sound and sustainable, then it is a fad, as far as I am concerned! I don’t have the time or inclination to make losing 5-10kg the sole focus of my daily life, so from what I have read in your free posts, I am intrigued that there is someone out there with a message like yours. I want to spend most of my time and energy on doing the things that I consider the most important – but obviously being fit and healthy is a prerequisite for doing those things! And most of “those things” involve people and food! All cheating hints are thus most welcome!!

Hi Joel,

my name is Bethany Grainer; I am 35 years old, happily married 6 1/2 years, and a mommy of two beautiful little girls. I have grown up in a family of four children where my two older sisters were more petite and my brother and I have been told we have the “athletic build.” Both my brother and I have been involved with sports (football, baseball, cross country, basketball, and swimming) for over twenty years. For me, the running and jarring movements have caused my knees to break down and not allow me to exercise as aggressively as I would like. It has been a reality that has been difficult for me to grasp because my mind began to believe that if I was running, I could stay in shape, but if I wasn’t, I would become overweight. In the recent years I have begun to look for more gentle and effective ways to stay healthy, active, and be in overall good physical condition. It feels like I have come to a standstill in my life in the last six years, especially the last four years when I was pregnant or nursing or not getting enough rest each day and night. I have tried many diets and none have helped in the end. My doctor thinks I eat too much and I have been told by other women, “You like to eat a lot, don’t you.” The truth of the matter is, I don’t like eating at all any more because of the constant yoyo, rollercoaster ride I go on each time I purposefully seek to attain my body’s perfect weight for my height. I think of food as my enemy because all it ever gives in return is a stomach ache or extra body fat. I am afraid to eat because of the negative results and hurtful comments from others. It may sound silly, but for me, achieving my perfect body fat weight using your program, Cheat Your Way Thin, seems empowering because I believe it will help me to regain my ability to enjoy food and have a healthier outlook on life. Recently I bought a few books from Rob Poulos to help me get my body and metabolism where it should be by using his weight lifting program. I believe that by incorporating both Rob’s program and “Cheating Your Way Thin,” I will have a 100% better chance of succeeding this time than ever before.
I look forward to working with you and your program and I want to thank you in advance for helping me find the best way of cheating my way thin.

Sincerely,

Bethany Grainer

Oh gosh, if there has ever been a diet or exercise program, I have done it! Years & years of fads, restrictions and inconvenience and now at the age of 49 I am still carrying that extra 14 pounds around with me that I’ve always carried around. Ever the skeptic I subscribe to everything, give it a go and after a week or two I fail… onto the next contradiction. Your emails have got me hooked though and I’m really excited at the prospect of trying something that works(?) I’ve even got my overweight son brimming with anticipation….please dont let me down with another fad. I think I will lose faith in humanity if I come crashing down to earth/reality again….Go on then…hit us with it……. Bring it on, I’ve 14 pounds to get rid of and I challenge you to help me…!!!

@jacky –

Since the age of 20, I have been struggling with fat. Often I get the felling that I put on weight and fat purely through fresh air…of course I know this is not true. I don’t drink and I don’t smoke, my only vice is good food and I just don’t know how to curtail it. When I see food in front of me, all promises, oaths and resolutions fail. Once the first bite is taken, the flood gates open. I just don’t know what is the solution.

Recently I have come across your advice as also that of Isabelle Rios. I can appreciate the scientific methods recommended by both of you ie based on extensive research. It all makes sense, however I live in India and find it difficult to co-relate your recommendations with the types of food available here. But I am trying to work on equivalences. May be you can come up with some generic names. So far i have lost the battle, but with your guidance, I intend to win the war.

I wish you all success in trying to make the world healtier, fitter and disease free.

I haven’t been this excited about the possibility of having a normal life for years. I’ve ordered your book and can’t wait for it to arrive. I’m a 56 year old, 5’7″ Aussie lady and yo-yo between 64 and 68 kilos (usually closer to 68 kilos most of the time). I workout with a Personal Trainer 3 times a week, love free weights, hate cardio!! Low carb, high fat diet seems to work the best, but then I plateau and get depressed. Feels as though I put on weight just looking at carbs. I’m starting to worry that I’m becoming obsessed about the way I look. I keep wondering if the day will come where I’ll just give up and eat cake every day and not care about how I look. I know the muscles are there BUT my body fat keeps them hidden. So, yes, I’m dreading the holidays and all of the extra food. My diary is already overflowing with invites. HELP!!!

Even when I was a regular at the gym, I noticed that, at best, I would get stronger but still look fat. It was certainly not an optical illusion either, as I use a scale at home which uses your age, height, gender and weight, and measures your bodies impedence and then, based on all of these, it calculates your fat%. But after one of the most time-consuming work weeks(including 1 fast-food feast Friday) of my entire career, stepping onto the scale the following Wednesday night was odd to say the least. In all my years of failed attempts, I finally did something right…but I do not know what exactly happened. I lost just under 2 kilos of fat in a week, without even going to the gym once!? I felt…liberated! Perhaps I’m just lazy, but I actually did not follow what you’ve said in your blog. I read it, thought it sounded as though it had a lot of good points to ponder, but I wasn’t convinced. And quite frankly, I am still not sure if what I had just experienced was what you were talking about all along or could my weight loss have been stress related? If it is the former, I WANT more of the same..I want to know exactly when to fast and when to feast (and what I should and shouldn’t eat)!! If however it is the latter, then next week will be the test, as I will be unable to attend the office gym during my vocation(I can’t cook so I’ll probably be living off whatever I can get my hands on and the occasional fruit), so I wouldn’t be surprised if the lost fat just flocks back to the herd..
I am willing to make the change, but don’t know how – Help Me To Help Myself Joel!
All the best for this festive season –
Mishan

I have jogged, slogged and logged until my brain is fogged with the effort of weighing, splaying and flaying chicken breasts, turkey tenderloins and grass fed bison for the goal horizon of lean, healthy, hard, shapely lady muscle. Success? No. Why? Because fat loss takes discipline, and discipline is not a one time thing, it’s a lifestyle. So week after week I plan out my meals, balance my macros, time and cycle my carbs. My meals are mirrored and my ideals are mirrored in my dutiful promise to myself to stay on track with an unstoppable mindset based on a clear, precise, written goal. I never cheat, for to do so would be to cheat myself–or so I’ve been told…until now.

My best friend brings me an apple strudel from the Norwegian bakery by the Post Office. I say, “Thanks, but I can’t.” Her face falls, and funny thing: so does my fat loss. What? I’m as pristine as an acolyte and my girth remains the same? Do I dare cut more calories and risk doing battle with the demons of starvation mode? Leaping leptin! Holy hormones, Marion-man: Better do more high intensity intervals–or else!

I want to be thin, lean, muscular! I mean it! I’ve done everything exactly right for the ENTIRE year: meals, resistance, cardio, mental aspects, everything… except… CHEAT! And I haven’t reached my goals. Cheat?! I NEVER cheat! Please, Joel, teach me how to cheat!

Honestly, I get stressed when thinking about food, and what to eat all the time. This coming holiday my husband and I are going to my parents for ten days, and they are huge on comfort foods. I would love a coping strategy to reduce some of that constant stress.

Hi Joel: I’ve been following a similar diet for nearly a year now. While I managed to lose some pounds, I can’t seem to lose the last few I need to feel comfortable and healthy. It gets too boring, or else I start to feel somewhat obsessed by “being on a diet” (though I tell myself it’s not a diet, it’s a nutrition plan for life)–so I end up always feeling somewhat deprived. I just turned 64 yesterday (“Will you still need me, will you still FEED me-when I’m 64?”), and I have a few health issues: some asthma, a tendency to high blood-pressure and cholesterol that I am trying to control without resorting to any more drugs, just natural stuff, etc. I’m also trying to implement exercise programs–all this between my work as a freelance translator and a part-time grandma to our 4-year old granddaughter, who is, as they say, “special” (she still doesn’t talk and we still don’t know why). It all makes for pretty much stress, which may be one of the reasons I find it hard to shed pounds and keep them off. I feel I deserve some treats on the weekends, but, for some reason, those are the days my body decides to store fat. It gets a bit discouraging to see the scales going up and down, up and down. Though I am allowed cheat days, something is not working. Also, I get confused, because one diet is pretty restrictive about the KINDS of food I’m allowed, the other one I sort of follow insists I should get ALL the nutrients at every meal. Result? I’m stuck. I’d really like to give your option a try and see if, finally, at long last, it is the “diet” I can stick with and not feel deprived, but not gain weight either!

Hey Joel,
I am so glad you are sharing what you know, especially the part about filling up the bowl! I love to eat and it dosen’t matter if it’s a protein shake or a ice cream treat, I love to eat!
So teach me how to eat right and maybe my jeans won’t be so tight! Your telling me I will be thinner by cheating at dinner, this sounds like it will make me a winner!
Thanks for all your hard work and dedication, it’s men like you who will make this a healthy nation! I look forward to meeting you in Florida in January and I shall be lean and mean by February!
I am 45, 5’9″ and 275, I am setting my goal for 205 so I can stay alive!
Here’s to Leptin, I am in!
I am not a poet and now you know it :-)!!!