Review by Lunastella -- 80Bites The Dancers Diet

[María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda]

[Following is a volunteer review of "80Bites The Dancers Diet" by PhysicalMind Institute.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Ballerinas stand out for their beauty, poise, and grace. Who wouldn’t want to know how to achieve a ballerina body? 80Bites — The Dancers Diet by PhysicalMind Institute offers a 12-step slimming-down program that consists, mainly, of portion control. The magic number is 80 bites a day. This, allegedly, will resize our stomachs, regulate our hormones, and even save the environment. For this purpose, the PhysicalMind Institute developed an app that helps you count your bites with a “funny” cartoon, named Sam Stomach. The authors also dive into the evils of the diet industry and some biological components that influence our weight.

In the name of accurate book reviewing, I downloaded the app and did a brief experiment. My total meals for the day tallied less than 1200 calories (I know authors say calories shouldn’t count, but it gives a measuring parameter) but 88 bites, and that’s not even counting the ton of water I drink because I live in a country that reaches 90 degrees on any given day, and I dance at least an hour a day. Also, clicking the app during my meals (you have to click every time you give a bite) prevented me from enjoying the experience or paying attention to the conversation with my husband. Furthermore, I didn’t find Sam funny but annoying. It was, overall, a dreadful experience.

I can say scarcely anything in favor of this book. The premise is solid: we, the Western culture, could benefit from portion control. The authors explain the chemical and biological aspects of food intake and processing in simple terms that most people can understand. Also, in between some disarranged arguments, there are tidbits of truth about nutrition.

On the downside, the arguments presented are oversimplified, exaggerated, or plain wrong. Take the following assertion: “Insulin is responsible for weight loss or gain.” Actually, insulin is responsible for converting glucose into energy. An exaggeration is, for example, the total blaming of diabetes on overeating. Not only is it cruel, but that’s overlooking other causes of diabetes: genetics (diabetes type 1 and monogenic diabetes), cystic fibrosis, hemochromatosis, hormonal diseases, or drug-induced diabetes. One of the plain wrong arguments is the insistence on limiting water consumption in favor of flavored or alcoholic beverages. The authors reason that too much water stretches the stomach, and that it’s bad for the environment. However, water is used to produce all other beverages. It takes 34 gallons of water to produce 5 fluid ounces of wine, for example. Which comes to show the environmental advocacy is an excuse.

The sarcastic narrative style comes across as arrogant instead of as refreshing no-nonsense. It’s hard to do sarcasm right when we are dealing with sensitive subjects, and the authors don’t have their facts straight. On top of it all, the edition is a disaster, linking to videos that are not there and with numerous errors for such a brief text (108 pages).

As someone who battled with anorexia for many years, I can say the overzealous focus on quantity that the book promotes was the kind of compulsive behavior that —now banned—, pro-ana forums promoted in the 90s. This “program” can easily lead up or encourage eating disorders in people who already have this mindset. Should we use the dancer community as an example when 12% of ballet dancers struggle with eating disorders, and anorexia is the deadliest mental illness? (Arcelus J, Witcomb GL, Mitchell A. Prevalence of eating disorders amongst dancers: a systemic review and meta-analysis. Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2014 Mar;22(2):92-101.)

I rate 80Bites — The Dancers Diet 1 out of 4 stars because of the oversimplified, exaggerated, or wrong facts presented, the encouragement of risky behavior, namely overzealous portion control, and the messy edition.

I can only see this book and its app being useful to people who recently had bariatric surgery and have to limit their food intake strictly. I would not recommend it to anyone else.

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80Bites The Dancers Diet
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[Stephanie Runyon]

80 bites? I don't think that is even reasonable. I know I am on the scale for needing to gain weight (87 to 130 isn't going to be hard...not). I think that the perfect weight for any person is what they feel healthiest at. There are medical issues that cause weight gain and loss that this book seems to forget about. 80% of the human body is made of water. Alcohol causes liver cirrhosis and is an addictive substance.
Great review! I would rate this book a negative 100 and toss it in the trash.

[María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda]

80 bites? I don't think that is even reasonable. I know I am on the scale for needing to gain weight (87 to 130 isn't going to be hard...not). I think that the perfect weight for any person is what they feel healthiest at. There are medical issues that cause weight gain and loss that this book seems to forget about. 80% of the human body is made of water. Alcohol causes liver cirrhosis and is an addictive substance.
Great review! I would rate this book a negative 100 and toss it in the trash.

I've never needed to gain weight (well, yes, but I was self-restricting), but I battled anorexia for years, and suggesting this kind of restraint is an awful idea. I got especially angry at the authors promoting alcohol consumption or flavored beverages instead of water...
If it wasn't inside my Kindle I would've tossed it
Thank you for your comment!

[Bertha Jackson]

Thank you for your honest review.

[María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda]

Thank you for your honest review.

Thank you for your comment!

[Chizioboli]

I read this book and I must say, you are explicit in your review work. I recommend this book really, to people who would love to go the right way to achieve optimum weight loss

[María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda]

I read this book and I must say, you are explicit in your review work. I recommend this book really, to people who would love to go the right way to achieve optimum weight loss

I think there are healthier ways to achieve a healthy weight, but I appreciate you taking the time to share your opinion .

[Hunter Tester]

Well done on completing this book. It sounds dreadful and like a chore to get through. I'm sorry it was so poorly written and not done with factual information. Great review though!

[María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda]

Well done on completing this book. It sounds dreadful and like a chore to get through. I'm sorry it was so poorly written and not done with factual information. Great review though!

It was dreadful. But considering it's an essential — even dangerous — subject, I thought it was important to complete the review.
Thank you for your kind words!