Shedding the Pounds -- Healthily
Author Q&A With Jorge Cruise
By BETHANNE KELLY PATRICK
AOL: While Americans are facing an obesity crisis, they're also facing a glut of diet books. Why should people pay attention to 'The 3-Hour Diet'?
Jorge Cruise: Timing is essential for weight loss and this is the premise of the 3-Hour Diet. Fad diets that make you lose unhealthy amounts of weight each week and have you cut out certain foods or entire food groups are dangerous. The 3-Hour Diet requires that you eat every three hours. You don’t have to deprive yourself of foods that you love and you aren’t hungry because you are eating all day.
Jorge Cruise: Timing is essential for weight loss and this is the premise of the 3-Hour Diet. Fad diets that make you lose unhealthy amounts of weight each week and have you cut out certain foods or entire food groups are dangerous. The 3-Hour Diet requires that you eat every three hours. You don’t have to deprive yourself of foods that you love and you aren’t hungry because you are eating all day.
AOL: You are 'Yale-recommended.' How did that come about? Tell us a bit about the process.
Jorge Cruise: I was on Good Morning America for one of my 8 Minutes in the Morning books and I met David L. Katz MD (Yale University School of Medicine). He was going to be on the show that day as well. We became friends and I told him about the 3 Hour Diet and through working with David the book is Yale recommended and David wrote the foreword for me.
AOL: When you yourself got healthy, fit and slim, what was the hardest thing for you to give up? What was the hardest thing for you to take on? Do you have any advice about facing those things for others?
Jorge Cruise: Comfort eating. I was an emotional eater, and was always eating to make myself feel better. Food is a crutch for so many people, a simple solution to making troubles go away temporarily. The hardest thing to take on for me was to get emotionally fit, so I could start losing weight and getting into better shape.
AOL: Is there anyone who shouldn't attempt the 3-hour plan? If so, why?
Jorge Cruise: No, there isn’t anyone who shouldn’t try this diet. As with any new diet and lifestyle change, if you are pregnant, breast feeding or have concerns you should check with your doctor.
AOL: The plan for this diet includes visualizations. Talk about what those are and why they're so important to weight-loss success.
Jorge Cruise: Visualization is the most powerful tool to ensure success because what you see is what you get – if you keep focusing on the bad things, you will continue to create that for yourself. By “seeing” the good things regularly (the healthy you, the successful you) you can actually make those things come true for yourself. There are studies to support this – even Olympic athletes visualize their successful race or routine before competing. Emotional fitness is the foundation of physical fitness. So yes, people should practice visualization as regularly as exercising or meal planning. The visualizations in the book help people get into the right mindset before they even get started.
AOL: While you're a successful author, you didn't start out as a writer per se -- did the process of writing this book teach you anything new about dieting and/or motivation?
Jorge Cruise: I wrote the “8 Minute in the Morning” series previous to this and what I learned is that when it came to weight loss, people need something simpler, that works, without deprivation. I think of this book as the prequel to the 8 Minutes in the Morning series. From working with my clients on jorgecruise.com I heard their need for a diet that was easy to follow, included all foods and fast.
AOL: Describe your concept of Visual Timing (VM).
Jorge Cruise: Visual Timing is the key of the weight-loss puzzle. With secret 1 – The 3-Hour Timeline™ -- you learn WHEN to eat with a simple visual planner that ensures eating on time becomes effortless and automatic. The second secret is the 3-Hour Plate™ -- a super-simple eating method that makes it easy to create healthy, delicious meals of the foods you love in the right amounts. By using those two secrets, you lower cortisol levels by 17% which helps eliminate belly fat first! Since its 100% visual, you don’t have to constantly measure portions and no foods are off-limits so you never need to sneak, cheat or binge!
AOL: Let's say someone has successfully started the 3-Hour Diet program. What situations (or, if you prefer, what one situation) will be most challenging to the program (e.g., business travel)?
Jorge Cruise: Not having the time to eat every 3 hours. I have made this diet as easy as possible by listing foods that you can eat on the run, including what you can eat at fast food restaurants or frozen meals.
AOL: See Question 6: what do you think is different, useful and/or important about using/reading a book for a diet program?
Jorge Cruise: A book is private, it also gives you references such as journals, lists of recipes, what to eat when you are out, things to buy at the grocery… it is all in one, and easy to take with you. If you need support in your efforts, I also have my website, www.jorgecruise.com where you can get all the support you need with other 3-Hour Dieters.
AOL: What comes next for you? Will there be a 3-Hour Diet cookbook?
Jorge Cruise: Yes, there is one on the way. The meals will be easy to prepare.
Jorge Cruise: I was on Good Morning America for one of my 8 Minutes in the Morning books and I met David L. Katz MD (Yale University School of Medicine). He was going to be on the show that day as well. We became friends and I told him about the 3 Hour Diet and through working with David the book is Yale recommended and David wrote the foreword for me.
AOL: When you yourself got healthy, fit and slim, what was the hardest thing for you to give up? What was the hardest thing for you to take on? Do you have any advice about facing those things for others?
Jorge Cruise: Comfort eating. I was an emotional eater, and was always eating to make myself feel better. Food is a crutch for so many people, a simple solution to making troubles go away temporarily. The hardest thing to take on for me was to get emotionally fit, so I could start losing weight and getting into better shape.
AOL: Is there anyone who shouldn't attempt the 3-hour plan? If so, why?
Jorge Cruise: No, there isn’t anyone who shouldn’t try this diet. As with any new diet and lifestyle change, if you are pregnant, breast feeding or have concerns you should check with your doctor.
AOL: The plan for this diet includes visualizations. Talk about what those are and why they're so important to weight-loss success.
Jorge Cruise: Visualization is the most powerful tool to ensure success because what you see is what you get – if you keep focusing on the bad things, you will continue to create that for yourself. By “seeing” the good things regularly (the healthy you, the successful you) you can actually make those things come true for yourself. There are studies to support this – even Olympic athletes visualize their successful race or routine before competing. Emotional fitness is the foundation of physical fitness. So yes, people should practice visualization as regularly as exercising or meal planning. The visualizations in the book help people get into the right mindset before they even get started.
AOL: While you're a successful author, you didn't start out as a writer per se -- did the process of writing this book teach you anything new about dieting and/or motivation?
Jorge Cruise: I wrote the “8 Minute in the Morning” series previous to this and what I learned is that when it came to weight loss, people need something simpler, that works, without deprivation. I think of this book as the prequel to the 8 Minutes in the Morning series. From working with my clients on jorgecruise.com I heard their need for a diet that was easy to follow, included all foods and fast.
AOL: Describe your concept of Visual Timing (VM).
Jorge Cruise: Visual Timing is the key of the weight-loss puzzle. With secret 1 – The 3-Hour Timeline™ -- you learn WHEN to eat with a simple visual planner that ensures eating on time becomes effortless and automatic. The second secret is the 3-Hour Plate™ -- a super-simple eating method that makes it easy to create healthy, delicious meals of the foods you love in the right amounts. By using those two secrets, you lower cortisol levels by 17% which helps eliminate belly fat first! Since its 100% visual, you don’t have to constantly measure portions and no foods are off-limits so you never need to sneak, cheat or binge!
AOL: Let's say someone has successfully started the 3-Hour Diet program. What situations (or, if you prefer, what one situation) will be most challenging to the program (e.g., business travel)?
Jorge Cruise: Not having the time to eat every 3 hours. I have made this diet as easy as possible by listing foods that you can eat on the run, including what you can eat at fast food restaurants or frozen meals.
AOL: See Question 6: what do you think is different, useful and/or important about using/reading a book for a diet program?
Jorge Cruise: A book is private, it also gives you references such as journals, lists of recipes, what to eat when you are out, things to buy at the grocery… it is all in one, and easy to take with you. If you need support in your efforts, I also have my website, www.jorgecruise.com where you can get all the support you need with other 3-Hour Dieters.
AOL: What comes next for you? Will there be a 3-Hour Diet cookbook?
Jorge Cruise: Yes, there is one on the way. The meals will be easy to prepare.
