Editorial Review

"In my little way I'm going to rattle the world," proclaims Covert Bailey, who already rattled the world when he changed the way America looked at weight loss and exercise with his original Read more

Reviews (20)

not what I expected
It's nothing but an exercise book. I don't need a book to know that exercise is good for me. I'm not sure what I expected but this book wasn't it.

A totally new book, and it really works!
I had bought the original Fit or Fat book many years ago, and may have been the only person on the planet who didn't know that Covert Bailey continued to write new books. I bought this one recently, and discovered it is an entirely new book. The basic premise is still there, but everything else is new, like pulling into your driveway and finding anew, bigger house with more rooms on the old foundation. There is lots of additional information, and even the old jokes and illustrations have been replaced by new ones. Some reviewers are apparently annoyed that Covert does not endorse their pet ideas or theories on fitness, but the bottom line is that this book works. I lost fat with the first book before changes in my schedule caused me to neglect exercising for several years -- well, that's lame my excuse anyway. Then I decided to get serious again, and bought the new "ultimate" book and applied it (including wind sprints and weight lifting) and began losing fat again within weeks, and people are noticing! This book is my coach now, and I'm glad I discovered it. I do wish metric equivalents were included (we don't have pounds, inches, or miles where I live) but I can make the conversions easily enough myself.

very practical and understandable
Ultimate Fit and Fat is an easy and quick read.Just as he did in his earlier book Smart Exercise, Bailey discusses the importance of exercising over dieting in improving and maintaining one's fitness. The recommendations that he makes regarding exercise are practical and easy to implement. I would strongly recommend this book to people who would like to improve their fitness AND understand the process of improving their health. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aerobic exercises    2. Aerobics    3. Consumer Health    4. Diets - General    5. Exercise    6. Health    7. Health & Fitness    8. Health/Fitness    9. Physical Fitness    10. Reducing exercises    11. Fitness & diet    12. Health & Fitness / Diets   

Editorial Review

The best-selling author of The New Fit or Fat offers a feast of useful information and practical advice in this comprehensive guide to exercise and training. Helpful to anyone designing a fitness program, whether it's to lose a "spare tire" or train for a marathon. ... Read more

Reviews (32)

Smart Exercise, Real World Results - It Worked out for me. I lost 200 lbs

misleading
"Set-point" in regards to exercise's effects is a term I've only seen used by Bailey, and there's no point in arguing about the definition of a usage that the author himself has coined. However, there are inarguable facts that supercede the Bailey theories:Fat-Burning /Sugar-Burning proportions exist on a conitinuum. There is no level of intensity where only one of these fuels is used, and no clear line where the proportions drastically change. Higher intensities -do- use more sugar -proportionately-, but the greater number of calories burned per unit of time usually means that more -actual- fat is burned with higher intensity. The muscle tissue that high intensity builds will keep body burning more calories/fat 24 hours a day. What does this mean in real life? : That weshould -all- exercise at what we subjectively percieve to be high intensity. Our own lack of fitness at the beginning will protect us from working out too intensely, (so don't be afraid of going at it as hard you can), and ourincreasing fitness willalter our perception of what high intensity is, and so will automatically increase the level of the workout's intensity. No overt system is need toincrease intensity, just work out as hard as you can.This will mean very different things toa 22 year old olympic athlete than is does to an 85 year old housewife, but thatwill be self-regulating. With this in mind , the mistakes to avoid have -nothing- to do with working out "too hard", but rather making sure not to work out too long, (20 minutes as a rule, 15 is often acceptable), not working out too often, (3,or even 2 times a week isplenty), and learning the correct technique for whatever exercises you choose. Athletes who spend great deals of time at their workouts have different needs than we do: Some of them are training for endurance, and so, must go for long periods of time at a lower intensity to simulate their sport's endurance requirements, and many hours must be spent on the focused rehearsal of any given sport's many skills. This has nothing to do with the short, seldom, and intense workouts that most benefit general fitness and fat loss. Most important rule: 1/Fitness is -achieved- by exercise and -enhanced- by correct diet, and 2/ Fat loss is -achieved- by diet, and -enhanced- by exercise.Keeping weight off withoutdietary considerations would require more time to workout than anyone with a real job has free in the day.

easy to understand
I am a personal trainer and I bought several copies of this book to give to my clients.It explains how we burn fat in a scientific, but easy to understand, way.I suggest this book to someone who is confused about the best way to lose weight. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Consumer Health    2. Diet / Health / Fitness    3. Exercise    4. General    5. Health & Fitness    6. Health/Fitness    7. Physical fitness    8. Exercise & workout books    9. Health & Fitness / Exercise   

Reviews (6)

Great practicle book!
This is such an easy read and so common sense. Not a quick fix, but very healthy and applicable theories.

All diet myths shattered.
After reading this book, I know why all those diets I've tried failed.I was so happy to finally find someone who understands the special dietary needs of women and who could thoroughly explain away the diet myths out there.It is one of the most helpful books I've read in years.

Good Book
Has good info for newbies to fitness and seasoned vetrens. Also it is an easy read. YOu can get the majority of the book read in one night. One Negative is the last few chapters are more wordy than nessasary. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Consumer Health    2. Diet / Health / Fitness    3. Diets - General    4. Exercise    5. Exercise for women    6. Health & Fitness    7. Health & Healing - Weight Control    8. Health and hygiene    9. Health/Fitness    10. Reducing    11. Reducing exercises    12. Women    13. Women's Health - General    14. Fitness & diet    15. Health & Fitness / Diets   

Reviews (1)

Four Great Books for the Price of One

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Subjects:  1. Consumer Health    2. Diets - General    3. Exercise    4. Food Content Guides    5. Health & Fitness    6. Health/Fitness    7. Weight Loss    8. Health & Fitness / Exercise    9. MUSIC & DANCE - INSTRMTS/INSTRCT TPB    10. Sale Books   

Reviews (5)

A pioneer of low energy density dieting.
I didn't realize the importance of"The Fit or Fat Target Diet" and its companion book "Smart Eating" co-authored by Ronda Gates until some time after I had read them. I reanalyzed the book after reading the book "Mayo Clinic on Healthy Weight". That is when I understood the principle of energy density. Low energy density foods have more fiber and water in their structure allowing us to eat more food with fewer calories. Deprivation diets simply do not work, but lowering our energy density is a workable approach to weight management.
Some Good Advice, Some Poor Advice
I'm not sure where I should put this book in terms of how good it is. Undoubtedly, it has some good advice and I would be lying if I said otherwise. At the same time, Bailey is off the deep end, which is fine if you too are off the deep end. But if you're only starting to get into a pattern of weight loss and healthy eating, this book is probably going to turn you away from that. ONE BOOK WHICH HELPED LAUNCH HIGH CARB/LOW FAT CRAZE!
Sometime in the late 70s to early 80s an anti-fat movement began to gain momentum, to the complete detriment of American health. Mr. Bailey along with Nathan Pritikin, Jane Brody, Dean Ornish, and many others (including that hyperactive woman who kept screaming: "Stop the insanity) became the gurus who have helped lead Americans into the state of health we are in today.Ladies and gentlemen, please read the statistics - Americans have never been so obese, not to mention the fact that type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc. are increasing in this country.The "eat all you want", high carb/no fat/low fat solution may work (at best) if you workout maniacally, to the extreme on a daily basis (stop or reduce your daily workout and the weight comes back with a vengeance - EVEN IF - you are still following your no fat/high carb plan!Since the mid 80s I had tried to lose weight and keep it off by following this philosophy and I experienced short periods of weight reduction at best (it was always an unrelenting struggle).I would always gain the weight back faster than ever before - that is - until I got off the "fat free/low carb merry-go-round" and switched to the "Protein Power Program". I've lost the weight painlessly, gained energy, and only have to workout 3 to 4 days a week to maintain (I include free weights, and Pilates). It's hard to believe that after all these years the philosophy behind books such as this one continues to prevail.I only wish I could give this book 0 stars. Please check out the books by Drs. Michael & Mary Dan Eades, Dr. Atkins, and Dana Carpenter, and Dr. Diana Schwarzbein. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Consumer Health    2. Diet    3. Diet / Health / Fitness    4. Diet/Nutrition    5. Diets - General    6. Diets - Weight Loss    7. Health & Fitness    8. Nutrition    9. Reducing    10. Reducing diets    11. Fitness & diet    12. Health & Fitness / Diets   

Reviews (7)

common sense guide to fitness
I really liked how the author differentiated between "overweight" and "overfat." You can be overweight, like a body builder, but not be "fat" by any means. I learned quite a bit here. Basically, good exercise (and he provides many, many tips on this) is the key to having a healthy body. And he doesn't think dieting is a good idea. I like this guy. If you're looking to get in better shape or lose weight, this book is for you!

THE BIBLE OF FAT LOSS!!
No other book describes what it takes to lose fat better than this one.Covert is brilliant at describing how the metabolism works in such a way that anyone can understand it.I refer to it oftenwhen my motivationslips because this book motivates as well as educates.It is pure commonsense which is something that is lacking in today's society.This book isall you need.

Simple, easy to understand, informative, a great source
It was an excellent source of basic information for the newcomer to the fitness world.The chapters were easy to understand but were in depth enough get the point across. An excellent source for someone who wants toget in shape. However, if you want a more scientific, in depth discussion,this may be a bit too simple. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Aerobic exercises    2. Body composition    3. Diet / Health / Fitness    4. Diet/Nutrition    5. Exercise    6. Health & Fitness    7. Healthy Living    8. Physiological aspects    9. Reducing exercises   

Subjects:  1. Diet / Health / Fitness    2. Diet/Nutrition    3. General    4. Health & Fitness    5. Health & Healing - Weight Control    6. Healthy Living    7. Low-fat diet    8. Nutrition    9. Recipes    10. Reference   

Reviews (3)

A pioneer of low energy density dieting.
I didn't realize the importance of"Smart Eating" and its companion book "Fit or Fat Target Diet" until some time after I had read them. I reanalyzed the book after reading the book "Mayo Clinic on Healthy Weight". That is when I understood the principle of energy density. Low energy density foods have more fiber and water in their structure allowing us to eat more food with fewer calories. Deprivation diets simply do not work, but lowering our energy density is a workable approach to weight management.
Smart Eating?
I learned a lot from this book but it really left me wanting to know more.His other books are much better.The recipes were not very exciting. I loved his other books and was dissappointed with this one.

Great!
This is the most sensible way to look at food I have discoverd. I've heard Gates lecture and it's too bad her diet plan strategy is not in the book (she reported Bailey "lost interest" in the "writing process" of the book so this was excuded. You can write to Gates c/o P. O. Box 974, Lake Oswego, OR 97034 ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Consumer Health    2. Diet / Health / Fitness    3. Diet/Nutrition    4. Diets - Better Health    5. General    6. Low-fat diet    7. Nutrition    8. Weight loss    9. Fitness & diet    10. Health & Fitness / Diets   

Reviews (1)

Saved my body image
This first of Covert Bailey's "Fit or Fat" series, the 1978 publication, saved my life literally when I was a sophomore in college and had gained much weight and, although I had been a fairly active person,hadn't been exercising. Covert's 12-minute approach to aerobic exercising-- which doesn't mean just dance, it means anything that keeps yourheartrate up to a certain level for a certain amount of time -- made merealize I didn't have to "waste" precious time to get in shape.But most of all, I DIDN'T HAVE TO DIET! He explains the importance of lightweight lifting and to basically give yourself a break and accept that noneof us are going to have a perfect body. He also turned me on to jump-ropingas a cardiovascular exercise, and I still love it. Anyone concerned withhealth ought to check out Covert Bailey! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Diet/Nutrition   

Subjects:  1. Audio Adult: Other    2. Healthy Living    3. Unabridged Audio - Misc.Nonfiction   

Reviews (5)

Still CorrectInfo in 2005
Lets say I am in the right field to judge whether this type of information is correct.
The Ultimate Inspiration
Covert Bailey IS fitness!!! He blows all of the nonsense hype about fad diets and exercise out of your mind and replaces it with the truth! I own every product he has ever sold and I never get tired of them. The Total Body Power series is the best yet. I especially enjoy Christina Bailey's (Covert's daughter) workout. It's fun and effective. Covert Bailey's Total Body Power Program is the only library of fitness information you will ever need!!!!

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW!!!
This series is fantastic and I highly recommend it!Covert takes you step by step through proper eating and exercise! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Audio - Exercise / Health    2. Audio Adult: Other    3. Diets - Weight Loss    4. Food habits    5. Healthy Living    6. Metabolism    7. Physical fitness   

Reviews (1)

Great, Tasty Recipes
Target Recipes gives you a whole range of dishes designed to be both delicious and healthfully low in fat. The recipes are easy to make, and simple instructions show how to adapt your own favorites to lower fat content. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cooking    2. Cooking / Wine    3. Health & Healing - General    4. Low-fat diet    5. Recipes   

Subjects:  1. Low-fat diet    2. Recipes   

Subjects:  1. Diet    2. Exercise    3. Health    4. Physical fitness   

Subjects:  1. Nutrition    2. Reducing diets