‘The Great Fat Fraud’ is not a diet book, in fact, author Mike Schatzki claims that the “obesity epidemic” is nonexistent; it’s just made up by the $58 million Weight Loss Industry.
It’s hard to believe anyone could deny the existence of an obesity epidemic when 2/3 of Americans are overweight, and 1/3 of adults and 17% of children are obese. But ‘The Big Fat Fraud’ insists otherwise, and brings up a lot of intriguing ideas about weight, fitness, and the relationship between the two.
Right off the bat Schatzki claims you don’t need to exercise (sounds like another fad diet book, right?), and that you can become reasonably fit without traditional forms of exercise, like running or strength training. He also says that weight has nothing to do with mortality rates. In fact, it’s healthier to be “fit” and overweight, than “unfit” and thin. This makes sense. Being too thin can be just as unhealthy as being too fat, but if you’re “fit” – which Schatzki defines as walking 10,000 steps a day – then it doesn’t matter if you’re overweight or not. The author includes a number of studies to prove this, breaking research down with charts and graphs.
“Bottom line: As long as you are fit, it does not matter what you weight. But if you are not fit, being heavy compounds the problem.”
‘The Big Fat Fraud’ uses evolution to give a clear, practical explanation as to why our bodies store fat, why it’s okay to carry excess fat, and why it’ll kill you if you don’t move your body. He says that every species has its own definition of fitness, and that humans are are fine-tuned by evolution to move a lot – to hunt for food. Your body wants you to be “fit”! The book also does a great job in explaining why it’s so difficult to keep the weight off, how yo-yo dieting affects long-term weight loss, and why we get hungrier when we exercise – in terms that everyone can understand!
Schatzki shows you how to lose weight and keep it off without resorting to fad diets or extreme exercise programs, and does a great job at explaining the reasoning behind it. Still, 10,000 steps is a lot of steps to walk each day, and many people will need to head to the gym to accomplish this. Furthermore, not including strength training as part of “fitness” just doesn’t make it complete. Strength training – and I don’t mean body builder lifting – benefits our bodies in ways that walking 10,000 steps simply can’t.
I think the underlying message of the book is not to be fooled by the weight loss industry. It does sometimes seem as if the industry is constantly bombarding the public with new messages and diet rules just to confuse overweight, yo-yo dieters into buying more into the industry out of desperation. ‘The Great Fat Fraud’ certainly brings up some interesting points, and will make you reconsider what you’ve been told about what it means to be healthy. If you’re sick of buying diet book after diet book, weight loss pills, or trendy exercise equipment, ‘The Great Fat Fraud’ just might help you discover a happy, healthy lifestyle change that you can actually follow for the rest of your life.
