Robb Wolf

Whether you're a fan or not of Paleo eating, exercise, or self-help books... this is one seriously entertaining read!!! Robb Wolf is hysterical, very tongue-in-cheek, and is not above smacking his readers around a little, but in a good way! He presents Paleo eating & lifestyle with humor, sarcasm, SCIENCE, and a heavy dose of reality.

Honestly, even if I wasn't interested in eating Paleo, I'd probably have enjoyed the book.

I read this one because I'd heard that a Paleo-style way of eating show more could be highly beneficial to my particular health issue, and my husband had actually been eating this way for several months without realizing that it was an actual well-known way of eating (and he's lost over 50 lbs since going low-carb, high-protein).

As of yesterday, I'm four weeks off grains, legumes, dairy, and refined sugar. I've made a few modifications of my own to the Paleo plan and I'm not one of the paleo police (ie. people who take things waaay too seriously... but you'll find that with any non-traditional way of eating), and aside from the health issues I'm dealing with, I feel amazing. My doctor also approved it and thought I looked great, which was so nice to hear.

...and it's not as hard as you might think when you hear "no grains." Do you eat a piece of chicken, or steak with your dinner? Some steamed veggies? A green salad? That's Paleo! You're probably already doing it some days of the week, and you didn't realize.

The book is hilarious and fantastic, and I've seen the honest, REAL results that eating and living this way (ie. exercising!!!) can have in my own life and my husband's life. Even if you're not interested in Paleo, it's a great read... and for skeptics, Wolf has pages and pages of references so you can check up on all the science points he discusses (which he encourages!).

Loved it. show less

I came close to creating a new shelf just for this book, titled "couldn't finish." There's a lot of interesting, potentially useful information in it, but the author's tone is obnoxious. If his goal was to persuade me, he failed, and not because of his data. Rather, it was that I felt that he didn't understand his audience. He thought he did, but his sense of it was clearly based on people who'd come to him looking for help, and people who'd opposed him from the start, and there was no room show more for the curious but somewhat sceptical reader.

Two things I found particularly naive were his belief that living a Paleo diet was easy and straightforward for everyone (he tends to take his own experiences and generalize wildly from them - he got very sick on a vegetarian diet, so he assumes that anyone eating such food _must_ also be sick, even if they feel healthy, for example), and that it's just a matter of prejudice or lack of will that prevents their success. (He even mocks one woman who failed his program for her attitude - nice.)

In fact, he never mentions the expense of going Paleo - those tasty free-range meats and wild-caught fish and organic veggies aren't available everywhere*, and when they are available, they tend to cost more. So strike one. Second, he doesn't factor in the time involved in this diet - not just the time to prepare the food but also the time needed to shop for it. As "evil" as grain-based and legume-based foods may be, one thing they do have going for them is a stable shelf life. If you don't want to spend your time shopping every other day for your fresh veg and meat, you're going to have to include something else in your diet. So strike two. If you live in a food desert, or work a double-shift, or live on food stamps, sorry, folks. If you're fat and unhealthy, it's your fault for not going Paleo.

I was hoping to be persuaded that the Paleo diet was feasible - and instead I came away feeling scolded and irritated and condescended to by someone I couldn't respect. Perhaps this is what works for some people; it didn't work for me.

*This is the Alice Waters problem. It's reasonable to advise people to eat only local in-season vegetables when you're in a place like California where a variety grows year round. In many parts of the country, however, you're looking at several months of turnips, potatoes, onions and squash - and that's if your grocery store even carries local produce. show less

This was quite an interesting read. Robb Wolf is a big proponent of the Paleo eating lifestyle. While this book does use that as a basis for a plan of general health, what I really like is his take on Personalized Nutrition. Similar to personalized medicine, I believe that personalized nutrition is the way to go. Everyone is so individual it's no surprise that many of the "one size fits all" diets just don't work. Personalized nutrition is exactly how it sounds - find out what foods work show more best for you to figure out how to eat and ignore everything else. Robb's chapter about the 7-day carb test using a glucometer is genius. It's so simple I'm surprised I've not seen it recommended before. The process can help pinpoint how much of a given carbohydrate a person can tolerate and will give them a good picture of their insulin sensitivity. Then you can take the findings and tailor any eating plan! Robb also reminds the reader that this is the start of a process for a whole new eating lifestyle and includes tips on how to make your changes last beyond the initial reset and testing period to help prevent sliding back into old habits. Some great advice here.

I have a few life events coming up that will be too much food temptation but when those are over I'd like to give this method a try and see what happens. show less

I've read other Paleo books (The Primal Blueprint and The Paleo Answer as well as Well Fed) and this is the one I found most useful and readable. I wish I had bought this one rather than other others. Some people might not appreciate the author's humor and style but it didn't bother me. I also like that this doesn't feel like a zealot book - Robb Wolf admits that this isn't easy and no one is likely to live paleo 100% of the time (unless you have serious health issues).

However, I do find is show more disturbing that there are quite a few variants on Paleo. Some books treat soy and dairy like a poison while others have a more modest outlook and do not totally shun them. I'm still not totally on board as I don't currently have any serious health issues but I have certainly made changes to eliminate many refined carbs in my life. show less