Ageless MirrorAthlete

"If I wanted to lose weight and increase my energy levels, the processed food had to go . . . required a greater balance of organic whole foods . . ."

The author chose exercise as his major life tool to remain fit and healthy, ignoring another significant contributor to health: nutrition. A skilled fitness expert, Woodard created customized training programs for servicemen and women returning from war with serious physical and mental handicaps. After retirement, he worked as a personal fitness expert. His own journey back to health started after being diagnosed with avascular necrosis (AVN)―bone loss in his hips that resulted in serious injury. After his surgeries, pain, weight gain, and depression, the author decided to follow the advice he offered soldiers. Beginning with dietary changes, he used the preparation of nutritional foods as a therapeutic exercise. Woodard knew that a certain amount of pain must be accepted to restore health to an injured body. The author was able to give up his walker and canes, and now walks unaided 8-10 miles a day.

This insightful 367-page book is about restoring imbalances so the body can heal itself and provides the information one needs. However, it becomes clear that there is no fast track solution to optimal health. The author’s guide successfully debunks some diet plans, drink mixes, and supplements as possibly unhelpful or even injurious. It also clearly explains the effects food and snacks have on muscle types and how keeping hydrated prevents injuries. Fitness trainers will be amazed to have access to this expertise. Technical subjects are explained well for the average reader, but the elderly will likely need the help of a family member or fitness expert to show how to apply them. Cartoons and encouraging images will spur on skeptics and those who are visually oriented. Terms are defined within the text and can be found in the extensive index.

- US Review of Books

The weight loss industry should be ashamed, opines lifestyle consultant and author Marc Woodard. Fad diets, the inundation of weight loss pills, and fitness equipment that sits in the corner gathering dust sells people gimmicks instead of solutions. Woodard’s book, Ageless MirrorAthlete™, promises to expose the industry’s cheap secrets and offer readers a healthier way to live.

As a person looking to make a healthy lifestyle change, to lose weight or gain strength, maybe even to manage a disease, you are entrusting your lifestyle coach with not only your well-being, but with your life. Woodard knows this, is passionate about his job and it’s clear he holds equally high standards for others in his industry. This is why Woodard scorns the half-truths of weight loss products, and favors a more wholesome diet, regular exercise and good old fashioned calorie counting along with self-awareness.

Calorie counting, or at least awareness of caloric intake, is a key component of Woodard’s fitness plan. Understanding your body’s basal, resting and exercise metabolic rates is how Woodard’s clients lose weight safely, without sacrificing the foods they love. The book becomes technical, explaining the differences between carbohydrates, fats and protein; how the body utilizes each nutrient; and how to calculate how much of each you need. Thankfully, Woodard follows up with, “You don’t have to finish reading to begin losing weight and feeling well right now.” Instead, Woodard says, make a commitment to daily walking and minimizing processed foods. Ageless MirrorAthlete™ scorns fad diets in favor of this holistic, educated approach. As an example, Woodard points to high protein, high fat diets like Atkins and KETO. These diets work by throwing the body into a metabolic state of ketosis, wherein you lose weight very quickly but may suffer health complications with continued use. Woodard notes an extended state of ketosis may result in gout, kidney stones and kidney failure.

The Ageless MirrorAthlete™ plan focuses on habitual adjustment to daily routine, since unless you can maintain your lifestyle long-term, no diet or exercise plan is going to work for you. Instead of limiting the types of foods you eat, people learn a better awareness of the food being consumed, the quantity and their nutrient value. Exercise plans favor daily walks or bicycle rides. By making healthier lifestyle choices, clients have greater sustainable energy to get through their day. Woodard offers the example of a client, Sally, who was placed on a popular diet plan by a previous lifestyle coach. Sally was eating a high carbohydrate, low fat, low protein diet. At first she was able to meet her exercise goals, but eventually found she barely had energy to get through her work day, never mind spending energy working out. Under Woodard’s tutelage, they developed a more balanced diet plan to give Sally more energy, and an exercise program she was more easily able to commit to. Several months later, Sally lost weight and still practiced her healthy lifestyle.

Just as he promises, Woodard is the real deal. He promises to expose the truth behind the weight loss and body building industries, and he does. Ageless MirrorAthlete™ is a no-gimmicks call-out to all the diet plans, weight loss pills, and exercise equipment founded of false promises made by commercial interests.

- Pacific Book Review