Who is this guy and what is this product?
Alan Aragon – Girth Control, The Science of Fat Loss and Muscle Gain (1st edition reviewed)
Alan Aragon has over 13 years of success in the fitness field. He earned his Bachelor and Master of Science in Nutrition with top honors. Alan is a continuing education provider for the Commission on Dietetic Registration, National Academy of Sports Medicine, American Council on Exercise, and National Strength & Conditioning Association. He speaks to a broad audience including universities, scientific conferences, and major corporations. Alan recently lectured to practitioners at the FDA and the annual conference of the Los Angeles Dietetic Association.
What does this product claim
Quote:
| This book is a compilation of what I’ve learned in my decade-plus in the fitness field. It’s based on the latest scientific research, combined with my personal experience with hundreds of clients. It’s a wealth of information that does, has, and will continue to remodel average physiques into truly exceptional ones. |
Where can I get it and how much does it cost?
Review:
Binding\Design\Paper Quality
This is a spiral bound book 8.5×11” with sturdy paper. The spiral binding is nice as it allows easy reading without the destruction of the book. The paper isn’t special by any stretch. There is some bleed through but not enough to be concerned about. It is sturdy enough to feel comfortable with everyday use
Layout\Format
The layout is relatively standard book formatting. It appears to be about a 12 font standard spaced book. There is very little white space and a lot of information per page. The chapters are logical with no noticeable repeat information or filler.
Does it do what it says\Thoughts
Alan Aragon is the James Dean of Nutrition. He plays buy his own rules and is cool enough (barely) to pull it off. Alan starts the book by mentioning his bias towards research proven methods. The man wants proof and backs up his arguments with cold, hard data. Here’s the down and dirty.
Part 1: Provides background information to scientific terms, practices, and a brief history of nutritional science. For the most part I wanted to gouge out my eyes reading this. It’s not so much that Alan presented it poorly as me just not fucking caring. It’s interesting to a point, there’s just a lot of big words that I just don’t get and concepts that I could die not knowing and not feel cheated about. For those of you that are interested in a crash course in research, you’ll be in love. My gut feeling says that there’s going to be a lot of people skipping this section.
Part 2: Gives you the information on Carbs\Fats\Proteins, different studies on assembling these, and supplements. This part was interesting. You get the basic information that YOU NEED TO KNOW about the macros (What they do and don’t) and various assembly information. Most of this is pretty cut and dry, concise information. Every so often Alan tosses a unique thought out there, but for the most part he simply presents the research that he has deemed relevant to your dietary world. The supplement section is a presentation of different substances, how\if they work, and concerns. It’s more of a reference than something you’d actually want to read. There’s quite a bit of shit reviewed in there so if that’s your thing or if you’re curious about something…rock on.
Part 3: Something that I like to call the “Putting it all together” section. This covers your nutrient timing, workouts, plateaus, macro\calorie breakdown, and fad diets. Many people could and will likely just skip to this part. It’s essentially everything that you need to know to set up your diet (part 2 told you what the tools are, now you use them). There’s tables and diagrams and all sorts of handy dandy shit in there. It’s a little more involved than your standard BWx14 fare…bring a calculator.
So that’s “Girth Control” in a nutshell. Notice that there is no “7 steps to X” or any promises of anything but how to set up your diet to meet your needs. There should be a sticker on the front that says “bullshit free zone” because their isn’t any. It’s not a gimmick. It’s not even entertaining. It’s a manual to tell you everything you need to know about your diet. Borderline textbook “OMG this is boring” part 1 aside this IS the first nutrition book that I’d recommend anyone buying. It’s what you NEED to know. If you want a diet, don’t buy this or you will be disappointed. If you want an educational resource from a master of theory and application then you’ll be satisfied. It will make you smarter.
