For Hoover Fitness Owner Jason Cerniglia, true health is not a number on the scale.  “The way I feel tells me all I need to know when it comes to my health,” he writes in his book, “Look Great. Feel Great. And Still Eat Pizza!” 

Cerniglia’s gentle approach calls for progress rather than rigidity.  Rather than going on a diet, Cerniglia instructs readers to change their diets in small increments.  He believes you do not have to give up your favorite foods, like ice cream or pizza.  All you have to do is eat fewer calories than you burn or eat less of what you normally eat. 

Change your thinking, he advises.  Exercise regardless of how you feel.  On the practical side, Cerniglia encourages readers to switch to lower-fat alternatives for foods such as milk, salad dressings, cheese, and bread.   He includes a diet cheat sheet for readers to figure out a lower-calorie alternative to their favorite foods. 

For exercise, he advocates both cardio and weight training.  He reminds readers that lifting weights will help increase bone density and boost metabolism. 

Cerniglia has created a variety of workouts for people with different goals.  Golfers, youths and people with home gyms can benefit from his routines.  Unfortunately, pictures are not included to guide readers on how to perform the various workouts. 

Still, his tone will reassure beginners and the experienced alike.  Many people will find inspiration and encouragement from Cerniglia’s book.

By Laura Axelrod

The above is what I feel is a very good review of my book.  She describes the reason that this book is different from all other diet and exercise books, which is that this book is for literally ANYONE.  Anyone can use the principles that are in this book to make improvements, regardless of where they are.  This book is a different approach than most.  It is for everyone.  I am not a fitness-freak, and with 2/3 of our nation overweight,  it is easy to see that this fitness-freak, all-or-nothing approach is not working.   This book teaches an approach that is for everyone, as opposed to other books that may teach plans that are too tough to follow.  She mentions that the book does not have pictures of the specific exercises, which is true, but there are detailed descriptions of some of the exercises.  Although this book has many different workout plans in it, this book teaches more of a mental approach to diet and exercise.  This book teaches you more HOW to work out more than What to workout.  The book does have a lot of workout plans in it, including gym workout plans, at-home plans, golf workouts, other sports-specific workouts, and even youth workouts.  I am very thankful for this book review and hope it helps readers reach my book and ultimately improve their looks and health.

Eric Caldwell, Mortgage Loan Officer

“Over the years, I have used Jason’s approach to diet and exercise to improve not only my own personal diet and exercise, but also my clients’ diet and exercise programs.”

Evan Slaughter, Certified Personal Trainer

See the big picture 

            Exercise is not something that you can start, work for three months, get your results, then quit.  It is a life-long process.  Exercise has to be a part of your life if you want to look good and feel good.  Your body needs exercise like it needs food, water, oxygen, nutrients, sunlight, sleep, and anything else essential for life.  Your body is like a car.  It needs regular maintenance if it is going to run well.  Our bodies are designed to be taken care of.  Exercise is part of the plan!  It is really scary how many people don’t realize this.  You have to see the big picture.  The big picture is the results that you will achieve in the long run.  If you exercise on a progressive, always improving, lifelong basis, then you will see results for a long time.  Your goal should not be to be where you ultimately want to be in only one or two months.  Your goal should be to make a positive change in one or two months and then another improvement one or two months later, and on-and-on for a long time.

            Take progressive steps in improving your exercise.  To get results, you only need to go to the level above where you currently are.  If you don’t exercise at all, then you are at level zero.  You will see results by starting with level one.  Level one for someone that does not exercise could be getting off the couch and walking thirty minutes every other day.  That is very easy, but since it is more work than sitting on the couch, then that person, who usually sits on the couch and does not exercise, will see results.  Now those results will slow or stop after a certain period of time.  When that happens, then it is time to go to level two.  Level two may be jogging or adding an easy weight routine.  What each level is for each person is different.  What determines the next level is what your current level is.  Take a look at what you currently do and find an easy way to improve it.  Make that one improvement and you will see results.  When the results slow, then improve that routine, and so on, and so on.  Take the steps, go from one step to the next.

Don’t eat good?  That’s great news!

            It is all relative to what you currently are doing.  The “good” that we have been talking about is the end result.  The beginning of developing a “healthy eating lifestyle” is just improving on what you are currently doing.  Start by making one change.  Your body will notice one change, your mind will not, if it is a small enough change.  Then, a week later, make another change.  Keep making small changes week after week.  Take the stairs!  Take baby steps.  Do this gradually and it will be easy.  You will not see results as quick, but you will be less likely to quit and you will see more results in the long run.  Let’s revisit the scenario given earlier in the book for an example:

           John eats horrible and drinks 4 12oz. cans of soda per day.  Instead of quitting soda all together, he reduces from 4 cans of soda to 3 per day, a small change that required little discipline.  That is the only change that he made in his entire diet.  He still eats bad everyday and drinks 3 cans of soda.  He has cut out roughly 750 calories and 250 grams of sugar per week.  That is enough to lose a pound of body fat in 3-4 weeks.  That is just making that one change.  You obviously can make a few more changes and start exercising and see results even faster, but don’t change too much.  You want to keep it easier.  You want to be happy.

You don’t have to be a fitness fanatic to get results

            Work hard enough to keep going, but not so hard that you quit.  You have to create a balance.  You have to be happy.  You can get in better shape and achieve all the results in the world and still be happy.  You don’t have to be a fitness fanatic to get results.  If you work progressively harder over time and look at the big picture, then you can get results and still keep your sanity.  Often, people go 100% all-in and create a miserable lifestyle that is set up for failure.  You are miserable because you have to exercise all the time and go on a 100% strict diet and never be able to eat the foods that you like.  You are unhappy and you are working at a higher level than you should be.  Soon you fail.  Everyone has been on that rollercoaster with their exercise or diet at sometime in their life.  You had this great plan to start a balls-to-the-wall exercise program or diet and one week into it you quit because you were miserable.  You have to be happy.  You don’t have to go all-in.