An Alternative 5:2 Way Of Eating: The Happy Hormones Slim Belly Book

The Happy Hormones Slim Belly Book
Jorge Cruise's book called Happy Hormones Slim Belly was published in December 2013 (this is being written in January 2014). He has some notable people in the health field endorsing this book. He has published 19 books on weight loss. His primary emphasis is to limit the amount of sugar calories. Carbohydrates and sugars are both counted as sugar calories. In limiting sugar calories (which is both sugars and carbohydrates) he doesn't care how many other calories (fats and proteins) that you eat. You only count sugar calories; not total calories.

His way of eating before this book, seems to me, has a lot in common with low carb diets and to the Atkins way of eating in that you don't need to count calories from proteins, fats, and many vegetables. He differs from Atkins in that he wants to eat healthy fats as much as possible (Atkins is less picky about the type of fat that you eat).

He writes in his book: "The truth is that the only calories that really do count and cause weight gain are the ones that trigger insulin, namely sugar calories. That's why I often tell my clients 'Count only sugar calories to successfully lose weight.' .... Proteins, healthy fats and low-sugar vegetables can be called 'freebie foods' because they liberate fat from your body and cause weight loss."

In this book, and different from any advice that he's given before, Jorge Cruise embraces the 5:2 way of eating. He calls his 5:2 way of eating The Carb Cycling Plan. His 5:2 way of eating has two consecutive slim days (with a limit of 100 sugar calories a day) and five consecutive happy days (with a limit of 500 sugar calories a day).

The 5:2 way of eating that I follow has the two calorie restriction days be non-consecutive; also there is no counting of calories on the five days a week when you can eat whatever you want to eat.

His Self-Admitted Flaw In His Previous Books
In this latest book (Happy Hormones Slim Belly) he says that his old way of restricting sugar calories every day doesn't work for women forty to sixty years old. He admits that he was wrong; especially for women 40-60 years old.

He now realizes two points in his new book. The first point that he realizes in his new book is that eating carbohydrates increases the serotonin level. Serotonin is a major "feel good" hormone that the body releases; and serotonin levels naturally decrease once women are forty. Women 40-60 need carbs to help increase their serotonin level. Their body craves carbs so that their serotonin level will increase. This is why carbs have been known to be "comfort foods." This increased craving of carbs in women over 40 is natural for the woman's body. Carbs raise serotonin, though in women overweight they also can raise guilt and self criticism.

He writes that if a woman over forty tries to fight this natural increase in eating carbs, they'll most probably lose. He found that many women who were 40-60 and followed his previous advice to limit sugar calories every day were having uncontrollable sugar cravings, binge eating, mood fluctuations and trouble sleeping. They also hit a plateau in their weight loss.

In his book he's very diplomatic (he's not speaking plainly and clearly) when he says: "The only constant in life is change. ..... This is something I try to embrace, even when it means revising and updating what I've said and done in the past." (This is the diplomatic way to say that what he said in the past isn't correct.)

He goes on to say: "Ultimately, I know that the best way to continue offering successful strategies for lasting weight loss is to always be open and honest about ways we can improve our methods. And while my core philosophy (to count only sugar calories) is still accurate, how this counting is applied for women over 40 needs some finesse." (In non-diplomatic terms: what I've said in the past doesn't work for women over 40.)

The second point that he realizes in his new book is that women need to cycle on and off carbs (5 days on and 2 days very restricted) rather than restrict carbs everyday. This is what he means by "how this counting applies to women over 40 needs some finesse."

He does a very good job of explaining how carbs are needed to offset the natural decrease of serotonin, and how eating a regular amount of carbs every day doesn't work and how restricting carbs every day also doesn't work.

Why I Embrace The Happy Hormones Slim Belly Book
He writes in detail and in an easy-to-understand way how your body works, and how and why your body makes fat, and how insulin is important and how to help your insulin levels be healthy. I like very much how he educates you.

He says that you need to cycle on and off; not to severely limit sugar calories seven days a week. He advocates having two days that he calls slim days (sugar calorie restriction days with a maximum of 100 sugar calories a day) and five days of happy days (with a maximum of 500 sugar calories a day). Jorge Cruise has recipes for vegetarians and non-vegetarians.

Further Thoughts on Jorge Cruise's and Michael Mosley's 5:2 Ways Of Eating
If you've read the page about my 5:2 way of eating, you know that I think there are a lot of health benefits that come from having calorie restriction days mixed in with regular eating days. The health benefit in eating 500 or 600 calories two days a week is the primary reason that I have calorie restriction days; not the weight loss. The weight loss, of course, is great.

I don't think that Jorge Cruise's way of eating is as cleansing for the body as eating the way that Michael Mosley suggests. Michael suggests for women to eat just 500 calories and for men to eat just 600 calories on the two calorie restriction days of the week. Jorge Cruise will let you eat lots of proteins and fats on his two slim days (the two sugar calorie restriction days). He's limiting your sugar calories on the two slim days a week; not your total calories. I don't think that eating lots of calories on the slim days is as cleansing as limiting your calories to 500 or 600 calories a day.

What Works For You Is Best
I'm writing about two different and new ways of eating. They are new in that they have just been packaged and published. Both of these two ways are about 5:2 eating. If I was a woman, I'd think more about following Jorge Cruise's 5:2 way of eating (5 happy days and 2 slim days).

Since I like two non-consecutive calorie restriction days a week as a way to cleanse my body without full-on fasting, I'm going to stay with my current way of eating. I'm keeping open the possibility of changing to Jorge Cruise's way of eating. Life is an adventure.

To Learn More About The Happy Hormones Slim Belly Book
You can order the book through Amazon or get it probably at any bookstore. Click here to go to the book on Amazon. If you go to Amazon, do not download the Kindle version of the book. There have been many complaints about this book being very hard to view on the Kindle reader.

You can read his introduction and the first two chapters of his book for free. This free part of the book educates you very much in how he says the body works with sugars, carbohydrates, fats and proteins. He does a very good job explaining why to eat the way that he suggests. This free part doesn't tell you how to follow his program. So they give you a lot of information for free without giving away the book.

To read this part of his book you'll be sent to a link that will begin to immediately try to read a fifty page PDF document. This free part of the book is not downloaded to your computer. Two warnings. The first warning is that some people don't like to receive PDF files from the web. This book is published by Hay House (Louise Hay's publishing company; and she's a very good person). The second warning is that it'll take your computer many minutes before you're able to read the fifty pages.

With those two warnings, click here to begin the immediate processing of your computer to read the fifty pages. Good wishes to you in living a healthier life.

Click here to back to the page on the 5:2 way of eating that I follow.

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