Authors are often villainized for giving diet or health advice that’s contrary to popular opinion, whether it’s risky, controversial or just plain wrong. And every once in a while when such a person comes along, they’re either welcomed with enthusiasm or shunned entirely. This week, British author Venice A. Fulton is facing a little of both reactions for his new health book “6 Weeks to OMG: Get Skinnier Than All Your Friends,” which offers up some head-turning health advice.
Fulton, whose real name is Paul Khanna and writes under an alias for career purposes, penned his new health book based on months of personal research and it’s already seen raging success in the U.K. Now, it’s skipping the pond to the U.S., and there’s already plenty of mixed opinions surrounding its validity.
The primary concerns surrounding the book lie with the sensational title and the unconventional advice Fulton dishes out, including the recommendations to take ice cold baths, skip breakfast, and drink black coffee to speed up the metabolism. And the promise behind Fulton’s out-there advice? Readers will lose up to 20 pounds in just six weeks and get skinnier than all their friends.
No matter how outlandish it may seem, Fulton says he stands behind the advice in his book because it’s backed by sound clinical research. In addition to testing the theories against his experience with his own personal training clients, he also studied thousands of relevant articles to fish out fact from myth when it comes to weight loss and health.
“Some of the stuff appears quite shocking to people, but it’s backed up with research,” Fulton told Diets In Review in a recent interview. “I must’ve read around 10,000 scholarly articles over a seven month period. It was a mixture of research and testing it out on people that I actually worked with. And I was very keen to only use humans and human-based researched, because a lot of research is tested on rats or mice and I didn’t want to do that.”
A summary Fulton’s main principals can be found in the chapter titled ‘The Joy of Six,’ in which the author breaks down what a typical day looks like for a person following the OMG model. It essentially includes waking up to a big glass of water and a cold bath, exercising for 30-45 minutes, delaying breakfast for several hours after waking up, eating a breakfast with plenty of protein, getting in another short burst of exercise, eating lunch three-five hours after breakfast, exercising once more, and eating dinner three-five hours after lunch all followed by a good night’s rest.
Among other more specific advice, Fulton also recommends getting plenty of protein to stay full and limiting daily carbohydrate intake to about the size of 4 iPhones stacked together. Staying within a reasonable carb limit is key for most people, he says.
As for the catchy title, Fulton has good reason for that, too, saying he wanted to make health sound sexy – otherwise, it can be boring.
“I chose ‘6 Weeks’ because people need a time frame in their mind to make changes. It’s important to get people get excited about their health,” he said. “The ‘OMG’ refers to that moment of realization a person has when they ‘get it’ and decide to get healthy. And as for the ‘Get Skinnier Than All Your Friends’ – two-thirds of us are heavier than we need to be, and being skinnier than all your friends is about being that one person who wants to make a difference and be empowered to become an expert on health.”
While Fulton may seem an unlikely new leading health figure, as a sports scientist and personal trainer, he’s extremely passionate about healthy living and helping other people find their way to it. Upon coming across statistics such as the average U.K. woman trying 31 diets in her lifetime, Fulton decided to write “6 Weeks to OMG,” because he wanted it to be the last health book people would read – hoping it would ultimately set them free from the diet mindset.
The book has become quite popular in U.K., after starting out as a self-published online book that grew primarily by word-of-mouth. Fulton hopes that it will be just as well received in the U.S., as he believes the two countries are really quite similar when it comes to health issues.
“The body doesn’t know where it lives – it just knows how you nourish it, rest it, and move it. So the problem of being overweight is universal,” he said. “Around the world, people have done pretty well on natural diets in their own areas. And when you take people away from a natural diet, they tend to have problems.”
While the U.K. faces about a 25 percent obesity rate and the U.S. inches toward 40 percent, Fulton remains that the statistics aren’t what we should focus on. “The numbers are much higher everywhere than what’s being presented. But these figures are almost meaningless because if you are heavier than you need to be, you are unhealthier than you need to be,” he said. “Mentally, you’re not going to feel at your best if you’re heavier than you need to be. Life isn’t fun if you don’t feel good.”
“6 Weeks to OMG” made its U.S. debut this week and has already caused quite a stir among media outlets and health circles alike. And while Fulton is hoping the book does well, he will ultimately measure its success by how many lives it changes. “My definition of success is when people who read my book are happy and feel free of diets…that’s what equals success to me.”
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