The 3-Hour Diet

Called "fatso" and "lard ass" by his childhood classmates, weight-loss guru Jorge Cruise knows firsthand the pain involved in being overweight. A frequent talk-show guest, the now-slim Cruise is known for preaching the importance of small amounts of resistance training for weight loss. In The 3-Hour Diet (HarperResource), he offers a "diet only" approach to shedding pounds. Put simply, the plan is all about timing. Eating every 3 hours helps you control your appetite, preserve muscle, and burn fat, Cruise says. It's not that exercise isn't valuable, but the new approach helps folks who can't exercise (perhaps because of painful joints or problems with obesity) jump-start their weight loss—at a guaranteed rate of 2 pounds a week—with diet alone.

Cruise deserves credit for recognizing the needs of dieters who want to lose weight but who have physical problems with exercise. And he offers plenty of good advice to help these dieters eat healthfully. It would be nice, though, to see some activities tailored just for these folks. Perhaps resistance training or 8 Minutes in the Morning (HarperResource)—Cruise's first, workout-heavy diet plan—isn't possible, but gentle-on-the-joints activities like water walking and water aerobics might help extremely overweight or arthritic dieters become more active (after all, the Arthritis Foundation does recommend exercise to treat arthritis). Cruise could also use a little help in the recipe department. He may have a chef on his advisory board, but the recipes here aren't as mouthwatering as those in most top diet books. In fact, a slow-cooker turkey breast steeped with sugar-free cranberry gelatin and dried onion soup mix sounds downright bizarre.