Stikky books are intriguing, and even hypnotic. The authors teach topics like tree identification, astronomy, and weight management via up-to-date learning theories. Their books are adult picture books, providing small pieces of knowledge and building upon them, reinforcing everything you learn through constant little tests and repetition. As for weight management, Stikky writers believe it is the number of calories you eat that determines your weight. The only ways to lose weight are to lower your calories, increase the rate at which you burn them by exercising more often, or both. They believe that low-fat diets, high-protein diets like Atkins, and complicated plans like the Zone do not work because they have no basis in calorie intake.
The Stikky weight management plan has only a few rules:
Don’t eat when you are not hungry.
Stop eating before you feel full.
Avoid leaving tempting foods around.
Eat more fish, fiber, folic acid, fruits, and vegetables.
Eliminate saturated fats. Make small changes in your food selections to lower your calorie count.
Take a brisk, half-hour walk five times a week.
Make small changes to increase your normal daily exercise.
Stikky has you memorize the calorie counts of familiar foods. For example, an apple has 50 calories and a candy bar has 250. One small change you can make is to substitute an apple for a candy bar when you snack. Another is to substitute water (0 calories) for your usual soda or beer (150 calories each). If you save 500 calories per day by making such substitutions, you will lose about a pound a week (one pound equals 3,500 calories).
The authors explain that Americans are eating too much saturated fat, mostly through over-consumption of cheese, beef, and milk. They point to a study of people who had suffered heart attacks. The group that followed a Mediterranean diet mostly free of saturated fats had a 60 percent lower death rate.
The top 10 foods Americans eat are bread, potatoes, milk, soft drinks, beef, pizza, chicken, cheese, rice, and cookies. After you read the Stikky book, you’ll know better than to eat the items on that list that are full of saturated fat. The Stikky approach to exercise is about making small changes. Getting off the bus a few stops early or parking your car farther away from your destination forces you to walk more and burn more calories. Carrying boxes upstairs one at a time burns up more calories than carrying up one big load. The authors also point out that if you are “just a bit” fit, you get most of the health benefits enjoyed by “superfit” people.
See: Stikky Weight Management (New York: Lawrence Holt), 2008.
Created:
2008
Categories:
Low Calorie
Website:
http://www.stikky.com/
Meetings:
No
Books:
Yes
Expert Review:
Good basic principles regarding lowering saturated fat and keeping a closer eye on calories. The small steps to big fitness plan is probably pretty effective with people who haven't exercised in a long time. Emphasis on calories is important, but the quality of calories does make a difference. It is far better to get your calories from healthy, whole foods than processed foods.