Lyle McDonald

I began my foray into the fitness and health field in 1985 when I got into cycling, swimming and triathlon. I would get involved in gymnastics my senior year of high school and this led me to UCLA to pursue a degree in Kinesiology (exercise physiology). During that time I became interested in the science of sports performance including nutrition, training, and supplementation. I was really trying to fix myself. During that time I got involved in the growing sport of inline skating (rollerblading) and raced for many years. Cycling and weight training were always part of my training and have been going on decades now. While I was never accomplished in the weight room (I did one powerlifting meet in my 20's and have some Olympic Lifting Experience) I always loved the iron. In my 20's, I got involved with Dan Duchaine's Bodyopus diet, a cyclical ketogenic diet surrounded by controversy. The Internet was growing and I had been a part of it since 1993 and I started doing more and more writing, culminating eventually in my first book The Ketogenic Diet, A Complete Guide. This was and will always be the textbook on the topic of low-carbohydrate diets and it can be found in libraries and universities in addition to the thousands of copies sold over the years. Over the next 10+ years, I would dedicate myself to solving various problems related to diet and fat loss, along with athletic performance. My Guide to Flexible Dieting was the first book to discuss the topic of flexible dieting (from which If It Fits Your Macros, a current bandwagon derives). My Rapid Fat Loss Handbook provides a scientific approach to crash dieting, ensuring maximal nutrition, minimal to no muscle loss and the ability to sustain the loss. I've also written books aimed at the more advanced dieter. My Ultimate Diet 2.0 allows already lean dieters to reach the extremes of human leanness while gaining muscle. My Stubborn Fat Solution tackles the issue of stubborn abdominal and hip/thigh fat. That was a 10 year project. I've also written about topics related to sports nutrition. My Protein Book is a complete work on the topic of protein nutrition for athletes. I also wrote a weird little drug booklet titled Bromocriptine that really dealt with bodyweight regulation. For over 20 years I've dedicated every waking moment to the fitness, health and human performance field. I've been involved in most sports with my most recent adventure being 5.5 years spent in Salt Lake City Utah attempting to make the US Olympic Ice Speed Skating team/Olympic trials. I've trained powerlifters, Olympic lifters and endurance athletes, prepped bodybuilders for shows along with helping thousands find TRUE solutions to losing fat and improving performance. At the end of the day I believe in science, research and evidence and I am known for being able to take complex scientific information and making it understandable to those without a background. I don't discount experience but anecdote and individual reports tend to carry little weight. My journey continues and I have more projects in the wings. The fitness and health field choose me when I was about 16 and that's almost all I've done or known for 25 years. My books are the fruit of that dedication and I hope you enjoy them.