Stepping around the low-fat versus low-carb debate, Jorge Cruise (Eight Minutes in the Morning) suggests that losing weight isn't in what you eat, but rather, when you eat it. The core idea behind The Three-Hour Diet is that by timing your meals and snacks every day, the pounds will come off. No restrictions, no exercise.

While reality is rarely that simple, the advice offered here is nutritionally sound, emphasizing plenty of fruits and vegetables, and filling in with lean proteins, healthy fats, and just enough carbs to keep meals interesting. Following Cruise’s guidelines for portion control, you’ll eat an average of 1,400 calories per day, filling half your plate with fruits or vegetables, and dividing the other half between the rest of the food groups. Healthy meals from fast-food joints and freezer cases are included, and a substantial recipe section offers everything from a bacon and cheese omelet to rosemary lamb chops. A month-long journal is also provided, giving you space to plan each meal in advance (a key part of the diet), along with daily motivational hints and visualization exercises. A few pages cover basic exercises--but the emphasis is definitely on the diet, which Cruise asserts will work, regardless of whether you choose to work out.

Cruise’s straightforward, no-excuses encouragement works well with the simple formula the plan is based upon, and the clever Three-Hour Plate™ makes it easy to keep portion sizes in check. Still, closely monitoring meal time might seem like a challenge to some of the "busy people" for whom the program claims to be specifically designed. If counting calories or net carbs sounds daunting—but keeping a close eye on the clock doesn’t—you might just find weight loss success in these pages. —Jill Lightner Amazon.com exclusive content Tired of fad diets and their lack of results? That's just how Jorge Cruise, author of The Three-Hour Diet, wants you to feel. Cruise's guidelines encourage sensible portion control and plenty of vegetables, but--perhaps more importantly--they encourage dieters to feel good about themselves by teaching self-acceptance and positive visualization. Stressing an easy-to-follow visual food plan that insists on incorporating snacks and treats into your day, he contends that carb-bashing is a highly ineffective means of maintaining a healthy weight. How can you sort out weight-loss fact from fiction? Amazon.com contributor Jill Lightner got some straight answers from Cruise. Watch Jorge Cruise introduce
The Three-Hour Diet.   Read our interview with Cruise.

From Publishers Weekly
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. (Apr. 1)

Book Description

Finally -- a diet plan that lets you eat what you really want and that actually works long-term! Jorge Cruise introduces a revolutionary diet and lifestyle plan that will shed the pounds for good. The answer is not in a grapefruit diet, a cabbage-soup diet, and certainly not in a low-carb diet. Although low-carb diets produce short-term weight loss, nutritionists and medical authorities are now recognizing that the results are not sustainable and can even lead to serious health issues.

What is the solution? Jorge Cruise’s all-new groundbreaking 3-Hour Diet™ plan reveals that timing is the secret. Losing weight and keeping it off is not only about what you eat but when you eat. Knowing when to eat resets the body’s metabolism and turns off its “starvation protection mechanism,” ensuring that fat is released and fat-burning muscle preserved. So get ready to lose two pounds every week using The 3-Hour Diet™ -- with no carb counting, no calorie counting, no starvation, no deprivation, and no exercising.

The 3-Hour Diet™ includes:

A recipe guide with options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and delicious treats from a range of homemade, frozen, and fast-food choices

A 28-day visual eating planner to promote organization and accountability in meal planning

Tips and advice from Jorge’s clients on managing time and making meals on the go

A sample mini-week of “8 Minute Moves®” for those who want to take health and fitness to the next level

With his trademark easy-to-follow instructions, accessibility, and client success stories, Jorge Cruise’s The 3-Hour Diet™ is a dynamite combination of proven success and medical innovation. Losing weight and keeping it off has never been easier!

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Following the amazing success of his New York Times bestseller 8 Minutes in the Morning, America's #1 online weight loss specialist, Jorge Cruise, is back with a revolutionary diet book that keeps with his trademark hassle-free, time-friendly approach.

It's a fact: the low-carb craze is everywhere. Another fact: two-thirds of Americans are still overweight, and no one is getting thinner. Although low-carb diets produce short term weight loss, the results are not sustainable in the long term. Dieticians, fitness experts, and medical publications are slowly awakening to the fact that the low-carb diet isn't the answer to weight loss nor a solution to the obesity epidemic.

What is the solution? Jorge Cruise's The 3-Hour Diet reveals that timing is the revolutionary weight loss element that has been kept secret until now.

Finally -- a diet plan that lets you eat what you really want and that actually works long-term! Jorge Cruise introduces a revolutionary diet and lifestyle plan that will shed the pounds for good. The answer is not in a grapefruit diet, a cabbage-soup diet, and certainly not in a low-carb diet. Losing weight and keeping it off is not only about what you eat but when you eat. Knowing when to eat resets the body￯﾿ﾽs metabolism and turns off its ￯﾿ﾽstarvation protection mechanism,￯﾿ﾽ ensuring that fat is released and fat-burning muscle preserved. So get ready to lose two pounds every week using The 3-Hour Diet￯﾿ﾽ -- with no carb counting, no calorie counting, no starvation, no deprivation, and no exercising. The 3-Hour Diet￯﾿ﾽ includes: A recipe guide with options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and delicious treats from a range of homemade, frozen, and fast-food choices A 28-day visual eating planner to promote organization and accountability in meal planning Tips and advice from Jorge￯﾿ﾽs clients on managing time and making meals on the go A sample mini-week of ￯﾿ﾽ8 Minute Moves￯﾿ﾽ￯﾿ﾽ for those who want to take health and fitness to the next level With his trademark easy-to-follow instructions, accessibility, and client success stories, Jorge Cruise￯﾿ﾽs The 3-Hour Diet￯﾿ﾽ is a dynamite combination of proven success and medical innovation. Losing weight and keeping it off has never been easier!

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly