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The Cardio-Free Diet

Description:

Jim Karas was one of the first personal trainers in the fitness business. He now has many celebrity clients, such as Diane Sawyer and Hugh Jackman, who pay him over $10,000 a week to help them get into shape. 

 

The premise of this book is that cardiovascular workouts are a waste of time. Go into any gym, Karas says, and you will find fat, discouraged people on stationery bicycles and treadmills literally getting nowhere, while all the lean, muscular, gorgeous people are successfully working out in the weight room. He therefore advises you to work out the way the bodybuilders do. You will decrease your time in the gym to as few as 60 minutes a week and get better results.  Women need not worry about developing masculine-looking bodies, he says, because this is impossible to do without taking steroids. This book details your cardio-free workouts with many illustrations and tips.

 

The Cardio-Free Diet is an accompaniment to your cardio-free lifestyle. The premise behind the diet is that you must limit your calories to lose weight.  The first two phases of the diet are designed to produce quick results to keep you motivated as you move into Phases 3 and 4. The complete diet lasts two months. Karas includes recipes and even a weekly shopping list for the grocery store.

 

During the first two weeks (Phase 1), both men and women have three 300-calorie meals at breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Karas presents some scientific evidence that consuming protein at each meal and sufficient amounts of calcium helps people lose weight, so these are emphasized in his diet. Men are allowed three 200-calorie snacks mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and after dinner; women get three 100-calorie snacks.

 

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Sample Menu:

Phase 1 Menu Plan for One Day

 

Breakfast: 1 cup Wheaties, 1 cup 1% milk, 2 cups sliced strawberries

 

Snack: one piece of string cheese for women; 1 piece of string cheese and one apple for men

 

Lunch: Kiwi Salad

Place six ounces cooked shrimp, one medium sliced cucumber, and one sliced kiwi over mixed greens; season with balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

 

Snack: 12 almonds for women; 25 almonds for men

 

Dinner: Apple Chicken: Place ¾ cup diced apple, ¾ cup diced cranberries, and four ounces skinless chicken breast in baking dish. Top with four tablespoons balsamic vinegar and bake at 375 degrees until chicken is done.

 

Snack: 100-calorie yogurt for women; 100-calorie yogurt and 1 medium banana for men

 

Phases 2, 3, and 4

 

During the next three phases, calorie counts gradually increase to 1,500 a day for women and 1,800 for men. Therefore, the suggested menus and recipes are Phase 1 meals with incremental additions, so that you increase your meal counts from 300 to 333 to 364, and finally to 400 calories per meal in Phase 4. Snack levels stay the same. He provides calorie additions for each meal in Phases 2, 3, and 4.

 

For example, during Phase 3, breakfasts, lunches, and dinners go up to 366 calories each, so the menu plan looks like this.

 

Example: Phase 3 Daily Menu

 

Breakfast (Phase 1)

Two poached eggs, 100-calorie low-fat yogurt, ½ slice whole-wheat bread

 

Modify for Phase 3 by adding ½ slice toast and ½ cup strawberries (63 more calories)

 

Snack for women: one orange; for men, one orange and 1 packet instant oatmeal

 

Lunch (Phase 1)

Grilled chicken breast with a sliced pear over three cups mixed greens, 2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar, salt, and pepper

 

Modify for Phase 3 by adding one more ounce chicken breast, one more cup greens, and another tablespoon of vinegar (63 more calories)

 

Snack for women: ½ cup 2% cottage cheese; men get one cup

 

Dinner: Lemon Swordfish

Combine ½ cup parsley, four tablespoons lemon juice, two teaspoons water, salt, and pepper and spread it over six ounces of swordfish. Cook at 400 degrees for fifteen minutes. Serve with one cup steamed broccoli.

 

Modify for Phase 3 by adding another ounce swordfish and 1½ cups broccoli (80 more calories)

 

Snack for women: one piece string cheese; for men: two pieces


See: Karas, Jim. The Cardio-Free Diet (New York: Simon and Schuster) 2007.

 

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