Title: The Buffer Zone Diet
Author: Fred Cuellar
Reviewed by: Anne Holmes
For the NABBW

According to author Fred Cuellar, when we eat is as important as what we eat. If you’re one of those people who can say you’ve successfully dropped twenty pounds – only to gain it back, plus a few extra – there’s a good chance this book can be your solution – and your salvation.

The information contained here is based on the author’s personal experience. Experience gained after he had a near-fatal stroke. He’s done a lot of personal research on diet and the diet industry. As he notes, knowing how our bodies work, and understanding how to remain in a stable relationship with food has become his mission.

Read and apply the Buffer Zone Diet’s information and you can forget about counting calories, carbs, or fat grams.  You can ditch your food anxiety and find balance. You can stop bargaining with yourself over whether or not you can enjoy a dessert tonight since you went to the gym earlier today. You can stop obsessing over every bite and sip. And you can forget about all those commercially marketed diet programs – Paleo, Atkins, South Beach, Cabbage Soup, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Medifast,etc. Instead, you’ll succeed in your weight loss efforts, with a program that works best for you.

Understand that The Buffer Zone is not a diet program in the traditional sense. In other words, you will not be asked to measure carbs, count fat grams, log every bite you eat into a software program – or starve yourself. And yet, by following Cuellars’s guidelines on how to determine whether you are experiencing physical hunger or emotional hunger, he believes you will not only lose weight, but better yet, you will become healthy.

The book opens by taking a look at all the diet-related “lies” or diet-related old-wives tales Cuellar observes we’ve been fed during our lives. Amazingly, a lot of these platitudes are so ingrained into our psyches, we may actually think they are facts. While he covers more than these, some of these lies are:

  • Breakfast is the most important meal of the day
  • Skinnier people have a high metabolism
  • Food consumed late at night turns directly into fat
  • Fast food is bad food
  • Avoid fat and carbs
  • Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day

Cuellar examines each of these and points out what logically makes sense and what doesn’t.   The rest of the book covers his personal story, and the explanation of his thesis that WHEN we eat can be as important as WHAT we eat. Specifically, as you read, you’ll discover:

  • Tips for distinguishing between emotional and physical hunger
  • How to create nutrient-dense meals that keep physical hunger at bay
  • Five individual blueprints for designing your best and healthiest self
  • Strategies for breaking through those dreaded weight loss plateaus
  • Cuellar’s Four Laws of Weight Management
  • And, the formula that regulates our body’s weight

Don’t miss Chapter 13 – Primers and Full-Tanks. Here you’ll learn about what Cuellar has dubbed primer meals, full-tank meals, and fat fuel. According to the program, primer meals should be 20-40-percent of your daily caloric intake, full-tank meals are 60-80-percent, and fat fuel is what keeps us alive when our bodies are on standby – resting or sleeping.

In conclusion, it’s clear there’s a ton of good nutritional information and training here. It’s the kind of training I’ve only previously received by working with a personal physical trainer and a dietician. So NABBW heartily endorses this book, especially if you’d like to successfully lose weight and keep it off. 

Author Fred Cuellar has distinguished himself in various fields. He is one of the world’s top diamond experts, a three-time Guinness Book record holder in jewelry design, a consultant to investment and financial firms, and a best-selling author. His clients include the Dallas Cowboys, the Denver Broncos, the Detroit Redwings, plus celebrities associated with Lionsgate and the Rubik’s Brand. His personal commitment to making a difference in people’s lives has taken him on a journey into the world of obesity, and his discoveries not only saved his life but can save yours.

NABBW

NABBW Contributing Author