The Sunday
Times
You may feel that taking dietary advice from a
ballet dancer is a bit like taking hurricane warnings from Michael
Fish. Both should know what they're talking about, but you
just can't suppress a niggling doubt.
In The Vitality Plan, Deborah Bull, a principal
dancer with the Royal Ballet, makes you think again about such
notions. Yes, she admits, ballet dancers are renowned for
starving their bodies into submission. But, under the guidance of Torje
Eike, a Norwegian physiotherapist, Bull has kicked the habit of nutritional
self-mutilation, replacing it with a mix of healthy eating and sports- nutrition
guidelines.
In true Dorling Kindersley style, the book is beautifully styled and photographed,
making it a pleasure to handle, read and, most important, learn from. The information
provided is based on physiology not fiction. It concentrates on things you need to do to
lose weight rather than the things you should not do, and asks you to work with your body
rather than against it.
The first section gets straight down to facts, exposing our excuses for adiposity as
just that, excuses. Stripping off the
pounds is done by creating a calorie deficit, and this book shows that, through correct
exercise and sensible eating, it's possible for everyone to achieve this.
In the Energy for Life section, the low-down on calories reveals where they come from,
how many you need and how to calculate your resting metabolic rate. The very act of eating
and digesting food, you may be pleased to know, uses up 10% of the calories you eat. The
role of nutrients is explained, with useful side bars showing good sources, daily
requirements and which types to avoid.
There are no calorie-controlled recipes, but suggestions and guidelines are given under
the headings: The Good
Breakfast Guide (breakfast is considered essential, since research has shown skippers are
more likely to be overweight than breakfast eaters), The Good Lunch Guide and The Good
Dinner and Snack guides.
The Total Fitness Plan covers all aspects of getting active, from useful suggestions
such as investing in a bike stand that effectively converts your outdoor bike into an
indoor version, to explaining exactly when you should exercise. Clear instructions with
fabulous photographs reveal why and how we should go about warming up, stretching,
achieving an aerobic level of exercise, cooling down, strengthening our muscles and
stretching again.
So successfully has Bull overcome her 12-year conflict with food through this
programme, she now lectures on the subject to students at the Royal Ballet School.
Claire Harrison, a sports dietician, comments: "The aesthetic expectations on
dancers mean many feel they have to be virtually anorexic to get to the top. This puts
many aspects of their health at risk, not least the chance of low calcium intakes leading
to stress fractures. For a dancer such as Bull to prove that you can combine sensible
eating and exercise with success is a breakthrough."
Bayinsider.com
"Not a centimeter of Totally Fit's 96 pages is wasted space.
Its chapters on weight loss and nutrition are useful not only in directing sensible eating
plans, but also in blowing away 10 leading training and dietary myths."
"Thank goodness, both authors' presence, demonstrating stretches and exercises, are a
refreshing change from the buffed-out, steroid-addled sorts usually found on bookshelves
and video racks."
USA Today
This manual (Totally Fit) offers sensible advice without a lot of
attitude...
What makes the book particularly noteworthy is its design...lots of white space,
interesting type and large,
striking photographs...makes losing weight and exercise look, well, almost fun."
Amazon.com
Health and Fitness Editors Recommended Book
"DK's fitness adviser features models who give Fred and Ginger fair competition in
eye appeal: Deborah Bull,
a Royal Ballet principal dancer, and physiotherapist Torje Eike, creator of the books
fitness program and trainer
of Olympic athletes as well as Mick Jagger. Eike, of age with his famous client,
exerts Stones-like stringy appeal."
iVillage.com
"The presentation is excellent -- rather than having to wade through
endless paragraphs of straight text,
you can skim the bulleted lists."
"Totally Fit has the best guide to finding your target heart rate that I've
seen."
"The book is beautifully indexed and even has a glossary. Totally Fit is the
perfect book for the beginner who really
wants to start off on the right foot, but, like me, even the fitness fanatics out there
will find a few new gems in the pages."
Discovery
Channel
suggested reading: Totally Fit:
A Dancer and a Trainer Show How to Lose Weight and Stay in Shape Without Dieting
Written by Deborah Bull, a ballerina with the Royal Ballet, this well-illustrated book
describes the importance of eating well for energy and fitness. A short introduction sheds
light on familiar dieting “myths” and explains the benefits and drawbacks of
various foods, from fats to proteins. Several chapters outline a series of easy exercises
that will contribute to total fitness.
Las Vegas View
"Totally Fit does offer plenty of helpful suggestions and
solid information that will help the novice to advanced exerciser."
"The first myth that Bull disputes is that dancers are naturally blessed with perfect
physiques and that they do not have to work to maintain that look; not so. Like
anyone else, dancers, athletes and everyday exercisers need to think of their eating and
diet on a daily basis."
Planet.se (Sweden)
"Gå ner i vikt, maximera din energi och må bra resten
av livet."
"En unik metod som leder till effektiv och varaktig viktminskning."
"Klara och enkla råd om en hälsosam kost med läckra förslag på bra mat."
Bonniers Bokhandel.se
(Sweden)
Här är äntligen boken som ger möjlighet till en varaktig viktminskning. Deborah
Bull, premiärdansös vid The Royal Ballet i London, har tillsammans med fysioterapeuten
Torje Eike tagit fram ett program som bygger på det viktigaste av allt: en kost som
innehåller mycket kolhydrater och lite fett kombinerat med rätt typ av träning. Här
ges fakta om bantning, hur kroppen fungerar, vad den behöver och hur träningen ska
läggas upp. Deborah Bull har dessutom sammanställt en näringsguide och ger tips om
läckra och nyttiga måltider. Med Deborah Bulls och Torje Eikes kost- och
träningsprogram som grund kan du själv utforma den metod för viktminskning och
vitalitetsökning som passar just dig bäst.
Spamagazin
"Totally Fit, by Principal Dancer Deborah Bull, is a well-written, beautifully
illustrated guide to losing weight and staying fit sans the total- deprivation diet. In
this book, Bull offers a no-bull approach to shaping up."
LifeWorks Magazine
"After the bombardment and confusion of alternative diets that require
sometimes extreme dietary measures, thank
you Deborah Bull for the sane advice! Totally Fit covers sensible measures that
ensure a lifetime of health and good
nutritional habits. Diet, nutrition and exercise are examined without the "get thin
quick" gimmicks. Ms. Bull and
co-author Torje Eike (fitness advisor to Mick Jagger, Olympic athletes and several soccer
teams) dispel the myths
and put you on the right track to understanding the way our bodies function."
"As an added benefit, Totally Fit is published by DK Publishers. This means
great illustrations, easy-to-follow page
design with the reader in mind. And at $11.95, the value is outstanding. This guide is a
permanent resource in my fitness library."
Time Out
"This is a superb book - beautifully illustrated, written in a
straightforward, fact-packed style, and offering safe, effective workout and stretch
programmes. No matter your level of fitness, The Vitality Plan comes highly
recommended."
Dancer's book has solid tips
Mike Springer, certified personal trainer by ACE, NASM and ACSM.
A book titled Totally Fit was recently published in which author Deborah Bull reveals how
she has mastered getting lean and staying fit through the years.
Bull, who is a principal dancer for the Royal Ballet, worked with a trainer who helped her
develop an eating and exercise program to get her into peak shape. Of course, what works
for one person does not always work for another, so all personal testimony should be taken
with a grain of salt.
Totally Fit does offer plenty of helpful suggestions and solid information that will help
the novice to advanced exerciser. The first myth that Bull disputes is that dancers are
naturally blessed with perfect physiques and that they do not have to work to maintain
that look; not so. Like anyone else, dancers, athletes and everyday exercisers need to
think of their eating and diet on a daily basis.
Kustannusmakela (Finland)
Hoikistu ja pysy vireänä
Hoikistu ja pysy vireänä on yhdistetty laihdutus- ja
kuntoiluopas. Se kertoo, kuinka pääsee paino-ongelmista lopullisesti ja voi ryhtyä
nauttimaan elämästä. Balettitanssija Deborah Bullin ja fysioterapeutti Torje Eiken
kirjoittama kirja rohkaisee järkevään syömiseen ja tehokkaaseen liikuntaan. Nälässä
ei tarvitse olla, eikä rehkiä väkipakolla kuntosaleilla. Keskeisiä neuvoja ovat
rasvansyönnin vähentäminen ja hiilihydraattien lisääminen. Ruoka- ja liikuntaohjeet
perustuvat kehon fysiologian tuntemiseen ja sen kanssa työskentelyyn; ei taisteluun kehoa
vastaan. Asiat esitellään kirjassa visuaalisen vetoavasti: tekstit ja kuvasarjat
muodostavat poikkeuksellisen havainnollisen kokonaisuuden.
Suomentanut Raija Viitanen.
Chic
"The Vitality Plan...is packed with information and
illustrations and is invaluable to anyone interested in getting
- and keeping - fit."
Daily Telegraph
"...the basic facts about diet and exercise in a beautiful and seductive
package."
My Weekly
"This is one of the most sensible diet and exercise books we’ve
come across."
Unmondoni (Italy)
Questo libro si limita a descrivere i fatti: l'unico modo
per perdere il peso in modo permanente consiste nel seguire una dieta a scarso contenuto
di grassi e ricca di carboidrati praticando contemporaneamente il giusto tipo di
ginnastica. Una serie di accurate spiegazioni su come e' possibile perdere peso senza
senza dover contare le calorie, permette al lettore di formulare il programma di fitness
piu' adatto alle proprie esigenze. Tanti consigli facili da seguire, idee per la
preparazione dei pasti. Grafici e tabelle rivelano i benefici dell'aerobica dolce di
resistenza e il Total Fitness Plan identifica gli obiettivi progressivamente
raggiungibili. Un programma super pratico per perdere peso, tonoficare l'organismo e
aumentare la voglia di vivere, ideato e collaudato dalla ballerina del Royal Ballet
Deborah Bull.
Slimming
"...a frank and informative guide to healthy eating and effective
exercise that you can do at home."
Here's Health
"...a motivating book to help you work with your body to lose
weight." |
