The 3-Hour Diet

March 28, 2005
Cruise promises to help readers lose two pounds every week, without counting calories or depriving themselves of carbs. It's all about timing, says the USA Today
fitness columnist, whose diet advice has been featured everywhere from O
and Prevention
to the Today
show and Good Morning America
. Cruise theorizes that if a person allows more than three hours to pass between eating, a body turns on its natural "starvation protection mechanism," which causes the body to consume muscle. When this happens, one's resting metabolism is adversely affected. In an attempt to eliminate his main competition, Cruise dedicates an entire chapter to debunking low-carb diets. He claims they actually cause people to gain more weight in the long run. Along with an explication of his recommended diet and exercise plans, Cruise provides readers with 30 "timelines," charts they should fill out every morning at breakfast. These visual aids include space to write down what time each meal (or snack) will take place that day and what each will consist of (every meal must contain a balance of carbohydrates, fat and proteins). To help readers determine which foods fall into which categories, and how much of them they must eat, Cruise, who is also AOL's weight loss coach, provides recipes and "The All New Cruise Down Plate," a twist on the food pyramid. Although Cruise tends to oversimplify, this is overall one of the best diet books to hit the market in recent years, brimming with success stories, photos and plenty of optimistic energy. Agent, Ben Gage.