Diet and Fitness Explained (William Porter's 'Explained')

Simple, easy to understand and well written.

I just finished Diet and Fitness Explained by William Porter. At 53 I thought I knew everything about diet, but was wrong and did learn some very helpful information which I’ve been putting to practice this week and hope to continue on forever! If you are ready to concentrate on eating healthy and overall fitness, I highly recommend this book and the Audible version which accompanies it. Unlike alcohol, which the author wrote an explanation of in the book Alcohol Explained, at least one can “cheat” every once in a while and still maintain overall health. I love it that William doesn’t pretend to be perfect and to never have a slice of pizza at a kids party when there is nothing else to eat. The advice on diet and exercise was very sound and easy to understand. I’m staring at a REALLY nice filet cooked perfectly by my sweet husband (he had no idea I was trying to avoid red meat lol) and after a couple of bites I really dont want any more of it. I believe my attitudes about food that is bad for me has changed just as my beliefs about alcohol changed with AE.

I read Alcohol Explained and it changed my life and how I look at alcohol. It was that simple for me. Don’t get me wrong, at first it’s definitely work, but over time, wow. I started eating more cookies after I quit alcohol and really felt unhealthy (even after taking the alcohol out!) so I tried Noom (which is very practical and a great app) and decided I wanted a quick, common sense kind of approach to diet and fitness. Welp, I turned to William Porter’s “Diet and Fitness Explained” and I’m ready (mentally) to go for it.Each time I crave something, I’ll really think about it. He also talks about the digestive system and for me that was huge. I never knew these things and that tangible knowledge is power for me.Highly recommend!

I read Porter's other book, Alcohol Explained, and both enjoyed it and gleaned a lot of great info, so I decided to try this one. I have to admit it was somewhat preaching to the choir, because I had already put some of this together based on my own reading and research, but everything in here closely aligns with both diet and fitness recommendations from the medical community and my own anecdotal experience.Knowledge is empowering. Instead of reading puff pieces in magazines and in blogs about açai berries, paleo, or whatever the newest fad is, read about how our bodies work. Read about what foods actually nourish us without slick marketing crowding out the facts. And shifting or thinking about food the way this book presents it makes it much easier to make lasting lifestyle changes that lead to healthy weight and body than simply being told "eat less."I'd recommend buying a few cookbooks with healthy recipes along with this one, so you can learn to cook and prepare tasty and healthy meals. This way it will be easier for the junk to not tempt you. As for me, I'm happily expanding my food preparation skills and watching the scale go down, especially since I no longer drink, also thanks to Potter!

You know when your credits for the audible are used up and you have to wait for another month to get the refill before getting another free audible? I am so happy I did not wait! There is so much noise about what to eat and what not to eat, it gets impossible to find a way between one's own addictions and too much of information coming from all around us! Author of this book walks you through it all, with admirable precision illuminating the monsters of cravings, overeating poor choices, etc., and showing how to defeat them. Made me think of fencing for some reason. Amazing book!

William Porter has written another easy to understand, logical, and highly informative book about how our mind and bodies think about and process food. I firmly believe most people who read this will come away from it with a changed opinion and view of how and why they eat what they do; and a logical plan for a how to live a healthier lifestyle.

The author explains processes like digestion and craving in a straightforward manner, giving the reader the information necessary to decide what to eat and when. The author doesn’t try to convince readers to always eat a particular type of food or always avoid another: In fact, he shares that he himself has a morning cup of coffee, and a burger or pizza slice on occasion. I read this book and Porter’s book Alcohol Explained, and cannot recommend them highly enough. Thank you, William, for both of these books!

Every ten years I lose weight using these principles. And in the years in between I try some new diet or exercise thinking it will be the (easier) magic bullet. But it really comes down to just eat real food, mostly plants, and break a sweat a few times a week. It just takes mindfulness and consistency. It’s easy to veer off course when life throws grief or a pandemic at you; you just have to remember to get back to basics.

I finished reading D&FE this morning and honestly didn’t want it to end - such a fascinating and inspiring read. It started to change my perception about food just a couple of chapters in. This review/recommendation is about this book. However I want to add some context, so forgive the preamble, but it may be useful for some people. I read Alcohol Explained by the same author a year ago and it made so much clear sense. It was just what I was looking for - an explanation as to why I had the relationship with alcohol that I did. Despite this however, and for various reasons I continued to over-drink until December 2018 when I re-read it along with ‘Tired of thinking about drinking’ by Belle Robertson (which also struck a massive chord, although I prefer William Porter’s more plain and simple writing style). I stopped drinking overnight, weirdly more easily than I expected. By the way, I found it better to stop one quiet day in December than that horrible momentous midnight cut off point that is New Years Eve with all its looming expectations. (Try New Years Day without a hangover. It’s great.) It’s been 64 days and I feel incredible. Anyway, I saw friends last weekend who were curious about my new found serenity, not to mention weight loss and clear skin! I excitedly told them about the Alcohol Explained book and gave my copy of AE to one of them who I could tell was feeling the same as I had been about alcohol. Off she went home with it, and I was excited for her - I hope it changes her perception as it did mine. The other friend opened up about her battle with biscuits saying my visible joy at knocking alcohol on the head had inspired her. The next day I was missing my copy of Alcohol Explained - I don’t like to be without it, as I like to dip into it occasionally to get that happy buzz of reinforcement. So I decided to buy it again. Deep joy - I saw William Porter had written a new one. Imagine my excitement. I ordered two copies (plus AE again) one for me and one for my biscuit loving pal which I gave her on Tuesday. You have no idea what D&FE has done for me. It has turned my view of food completely around. I am so excited for the future. During the past week while I have been reading it I have so enjoyed listening to my body and making the right choices. Now I actually watch people eating cake etc and secretly think, what are you doing!? My desire for sugary rubbish has quite simply evaporated. I know weight loss is just one aspect of the benefits of healthy eating (as explained in the book), but having already lost half a stone by cutting out alcohol, I know this book is going to make even more of an incredible difference to me achieving the healthy weight I should be. My friend texted me yesterday to say she’d already finished her copy of D&FE and it’s a total game changer for her as well. She was so thankful. I will be buying D&FE for so many people - my brother’s arrived yesterday. So I wanted to say thank you SO much to William Porter. I love his writing style and plain common sense. He deserves to sell millions of copies. I suspect though the diet industry and parts of the media will conspire to keep him down. His writings deserve greater exposure though and I hope it will come - both for him and the millions of people his books will help. Well, better go. I’m off for a run (I used to run and have started up again). Buy this book - and Alcohol Explained if you drink more often than you want to and don’t know why. Good luck.Sent from my iPhone

I read" Alcohol explained "by William Porter and it changed my life . I then read this book and although I love fitness and health , it explained things differently . So easy to digest ( excuse the pun) and absorb. The writing suits me perfectly . All information is superbly presented . I would recommend anyone who wants to become healthier, or even to challenge their present views on food etc to purchase this book. The main reason that I love William Porter's approach to his books is that he never forces his opinion on you. He leaves you to make your own choices and adjust your lifestyle as per you own requirements . Buy his two books if you can . Well worth it to change your life for the better .

I came to know the name of this book from Craig Beck StopDinking Expert,as I had done the whole course. This book has been an eye opener about Alcohol. Many reviews are about its simplicity ,and the common sense,but for me really was how it stuck the chord as to why I started drinking alcohol. Most of us do not realise the compounded effect of Alcohol after number of years has passed. I have not touched alcohol for two months,but again the most important thing to learn from this book is how to STOP CRAVING. I have experimented with trying to "control " ,drink in "moderation",but it does not work. Life as a sober person might seem difficult in the beginning,but as days passes by , this is what a person should be living as. I cannot bring back the past,but I am looking forward to a Clear future. I have also bought Diet Explained, by William(another amazing book). I think a bad diet and alcoholism goes hand in hand. These two books should be made part of the school curriculum, rather than teaching worthless subjects. These books can save lives ,and bring up an excellent future generations,healthy and wise.I would request Mr.Porter to write a book on perhaps Relationships Explained?? That topic will help many.Thank You Mr.Porter( and Craig Beck)

I love William Porter’s writing... he does the research and presents it to us a plate in this book. Just as he did with Alcohol Explained. It all makes sense! It isn’t outlandish.. it’s common sense and I’ve been mindful of how I feel and what I eat and how it tastes and feels compared to the fantasy I would build up around the crappy snacks and the ‘proper’ meals I would normally eat. I became vegan (please don’t let that put you off reading this review!) but apart from the ethics of it I actually wasn’t clear myself as to what I should be eating now. There are soooo many diet and fitness gurus out there but only William’s laid out facts deal with cravings and why and how to get to the bottom of them sooo easily. I swear I feel better for several reasons already and I am relaxed about my diet and exercise in a way that I never have been. It’s all clicked into place. To now live guilt free about my eating choices and exercise... to be excited every day about exercise is a true gift. Thank you for this ground breaking simple and open and honest insight.

I read a lot of health books as I have allergies, urticaria, low blood sugar and low blood pressure. (I know, I'm a walking miracle!) I gained a lot of weight in the perimenopause and have dieted off a stone and a half of it but still want to lose more. This book concentrates on digestion, bloating and how to eat for energy. It's simply written and makes sense. The author is 95% vegetarian which isn't for me (I became very unwell on a vegetarian diet) but he acknowledges that not everyone will want to go this route. He makes some excellent points and I was so impressed that I've bought his Alcohol Explained book and will review it in due course.