Book review of Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald

Racing Weight:
Racing Weight teaches athletes (runners, cyclists, triathletes, cross-country skiers, rowers, swimmers, etc) how to lose weight effectively without losing your nutrients, strength or conditioning. He has five steps to get lean for events. His book also has lists of what professional athletes eat and recipes from Pip Taylor, a triathlete.

Book description from Amazon:

Book Description

Endurance athletes are weight-conscious and given the miles and hours spent training, there’s a lot at stake. Weighing in just five or ten pounds over the ideal weight can dramatically impact race results. Author Matt Fitzgerald shows athletes how to identify their optimal weight and body composition to realize their goals. This 5-step plan to get lean is the key to faster racing and better health. With tools to improve diet, manage appetite, and time important nutrients, Racing Weight will inspire and equip athletes to make the subtle changes they need to start their next race at their optimal weight.

The book lists a few supplements that an endurance athlete should consider consuming. One in particular, Beta-Alanine,comes with a warning that I discovered on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=3234041 Before trying any of the supplements that the book suggests,do your homework or speak to a doctor.


What I took away from Racing Weight is that I should be eating a lot more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and because I'm addicted to cheese, I should drastically cut it out. I also learned about adding a 150 calorie or less pre-meal to my meals and eating more than 3 times a day will decrease over-eating at meals. I liked the section on improving your diet quality and the scoring system placed on foods. It also talks about how to figure out how much carbohydrates, proteins, etc you should be consuming and has a list of foods that are high quality foods and low quality foods. I did not like how analytically the book started out, tracking BMI's and how to go about determining your optimal performance weight. I guess, when I started reading the book, I was looking for more "just tell me what to eat and what not to eat." Some of the book was common sense knowledge, some of it I am already doing, some new information.

Since reading the book, I've lost 3 pounds in a week. I've cut out cheese, been eating more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains, lots of water and have been keeping track of my food intake on the Livestrong website. http://www.livestrong.com/myplate/

Is the book worth reading? If you feel you have something to gain (or lose) than read it. But unless you are already in tip top shape or a nutritionalist, skip it.
http://www.amazon.com/Racing-Weight-Lean-Peak-Performance/dp/1934030511/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325893910&sr=8-1