Lean and Strong: Eating Skills, Psychology, and Workouts

If you’re looking for a “diet”, with good and bad food lists, exact macros, strict rules, and prescriptive meal plans, this isn’t it. Lean And Strong is not about dieting, it’s an evidence-based book about changing behavior and mindset.You could say it’s about building good thinking, eating, and workout habits. But Hillis reframes this as developing skills. The word skills is preferred because it’s understood that if you practice skill, you keep getting better at it.From this perspective, you realize that like a musician, if you’re gritty, you’ll ultimately approach mastery, though never quite get there. But it’s a journey, not a destination, and it’s never about perfection. You’ll always make mistakes, and lots at first.But if you see it as practicing skills, it’s okay, because you learn from your mistakes as much as your successes. You also realize you can’t expect to be an expert the first time you try something.The skills taught in Lean and Strong include thinking skills, food skills, and workout skills. They’re presented as guidelines, not rules (another key reframe, and big difference between this and almost every diet book).You learn food skills like how to plate meals that give you balanced macros without actually counting them. You learn to avoid mindless snacking. You learn to listen to your body and eat slowly, without distractions (mindfulness).Some of the skills are inspired by intuitive eating. This includes distinguishing internal signals of hunger from thoughts or cravings, and eating to satisfy physical hunger, not to cope with stress or feed feelings.Lean and Strong also teaches psychology skills. Here are four I found especially powerful.1. Use Implementation Intentions (If-Then Planning)Psychologists created implementation intentions as a form of obstacle planning. You create a statement that says, “If obstacle X shows up, then I’m going to do Y to overcome that.” People who practice this skill double their rate of goal achievement.2. Reflect On Your ValuesValues are what’s important to you, including an identity you aspire to. Values may include integrity, honesty, hard work, freedom, health, fitness, strength, challenge, personal growth, family, community, spirituality and the list goes on. Values drive your intrinsic motivation, which is more powerful than external rewards. Once you know your values, you adjust your actions and make decisions to match them and this leads to success and happiness.3. Pursue Excellence, Not PerfectionPerfectionism is a major cause of failure. An alternative is pursuing excellence. When you’re a perfectionist and you make a mistake, you see a failure. Then you’re more inclined to quit. When you pursue excellence and make a mistake, you keep practicing. Plus, you see it with self-compassion – you don’t beat yourself up.4. Be Flexible, Not RigidThe least successful people make choices from rigid extremes. The opposite is flexibility. This doesn’t mean there’s no structure or guidelines, it means you see a continuum of options, never just good or bad, on or off.Additional psychology skills in the book include thought acceptance, defusion, self-care, intrinsic motivation and a lot more.Workouts are presented with photos, charts, and instructions for sets, reps and periodization. Strength is emphasized, using compound exercises with barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, and cables. These aren’t hypertrophy or body part split routines a bodybuilder would typically follow. But most people are not after maximum muscle bulk or physique goals only, so the majority of trainees should really enjoy them.The workouts include staples like squats, deadlifts and presses, while also introducing unique exercises not everyone typically does. No long, punishing cardio is required.If there’s a downside, it might be the sheer amount of information. But because the psychology is applied to the eating and workouts, putting it all together in one 350-page book makes perfect sense. Besides, strength training is too often missing in weight loss programs. Plus, Hillis summarizes the entire program up front in the span of 20 pages.Lean and Strong may not be the book for people who want huge muscle mass, shredded abs, or a physique contest trophy. It may not be for people who want to track calories and macros and need to know how to calculate those numbers.But it gets the highest recommendation for anyone trapped in the dieting, losing, and regaining weight cycle, especially those looking to manage eating without macro math. It’s also a great resource if you struggle with emotional or mindless eating. If you’re interested in the psychology of weight loss, this a must-read.

First, a disclaimer: I have not yet read every word of this book. But I have read the intro, the conclusion, and skimmed enough about each chapter to understand its core ideas and the structure of the book as a whole, so I’ve spent about 2-3 hours exploring the book so far. I will update and note any changes when I’ve finished the full read. (I’ll also note that I have interacted with the author in a couple of Facebook groups, so I will refer to him informally as Josh.)Second, a little about my background: I am a long-time dieter and a novice exerciser. I’ve certainly belonged to a lot of gyms and tried a lot of programs, but never gained any real expertise. I also have a doctorate in psychology and am quite familiar with the principles of Contextual Behavioral Science and Self-Determination Theory, which are used as key frameworks for the book (among other psychological theories he draws upon). I am also very familiar with Georgie Fear’s “Lean Habits” approach, which the author builds upon (having worked in partnership with Georgie and her husband Roland for a couple of years).Overall: 4.5 stars. I think Josh does a terrific job of applying some core ideas from the psychology of behavior change (which is not really a coherent framework of its own, but rather a number of different and overlapping theories) to the question of how to become “Lean and Strong.”The introduction sums up the key lessons of the book about how to get lean and how to get strong, and the first chapter contains the most important lessons from the book--an approach which I really like. You don’t have to wade through chapters of theory and wait until the actual plan appears half-way through the book. You have the basics in the beginning, and then the explanations are unpacked in greater detail throughout the rest of the book.Chapter 2 explains why the “skills” approach is better than a “dieting” approach (and also why Josh regards his “skills” framework as superior to Georgie’s “habits” framing). I think both authors have points and it’s really a matter of emphasis--in either, the point is to PRACTICE consistently enough that certain behaviors become HABITUAL or automatic *when you aren’t thinking about it* -- which doesn’t mean that you can’t override the habit. The whole point of developing habits, routines, and systems is to reduce the cognitive load when things are easy to be able to use more of your brainpower for thinking and strategizing in those situations when things are HARD.)Having established that skills are better for most readers of the book (and elucidated which readers would be likely to be successful with a “dieting” approach), the following four chapters start out with the same summary table, emphasizing the key point to be covered in each chapter. These are:Chapter 2: Don’t Diet; “Stop doing things that don’t work”;Chapters 3 & 4: Eating Skills and Workout Skills (“what skills to practice to get lean and strong”)Chapter 5: Meta-Skills (“How to practice the skills so your practice is successful each week”)Chapter 6: The Ten Turning Points (“How to think about your skills practice so you don’t sabotage your results;” ten key lessons from his most successful clients)Chapter 7: The Wise Five (“Understanding intrinsic motivation and how it works”; this is where the book dives most explicitly into self-determination theory and contextual behavior science/ACT).The appendices provide trackers for keeping track of the eating skills as well as an outline for 12 weeks of beginner workouts and also programs for intermediate and advanced workouts (which I didn’t look at, as I’m not there yet). Here’s where I’m taking off half of a point: The beginner warm-up illustrations are in a separate section from the rest of the exercises, and all the exercises are listed by name, and most (or all) of them are illustrated in the back, but the names aren’t always consistent (Is a “Quad T-Spine Rotation” the same as a “T-Spine Rotation”?) and most of all, I had to go through the exercises to find the page listings for each exercise, which was a pain. Also there *are* intermediate and advanced warmups, but they are listed in a chart with some of the exercises in the “beginner warm-up” section and the rest with the other exercises. This part was unnecessarily confusing. The author does note that exercise is not really the thrust of this book and he does reference the reader to both his earlier book and to other programs; he also notes that the program in this book is focused on gym workouts but he does again provide references for programs or exercise variations you could do at home.So--if you are looking for an exercise manual, this is not the book, though the main lesson about the importance of using “perioditized” rather than “random” workouts seems important; but if you want to normalize your eating and get out of the diet trap, this book seems like a very good guide.

Honestly one of the best books I've ever read on eating/nutrition.Firstly, 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙄𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝘼 𝘿𝙄𝙀𝙏 𝘽𝙊𝙊𝙆! The diet industry has a lot to answer for with regard to our oft unhealthy relationship to food. Peddling diets that are restrictive, faddish, based on pseudoscience, & aren't sustainable, creating feelings of guilt, shame, and self-loathing when our willpower fails.Most nutrition/diet books focus on the "what we should eat" (keto, paleo, zone, low carb, fasting, etc). Why this book is so groundbreaking is because it focuses on "how we should eat", with a values based approach to eating , eating as a skill to be practiced, & tackling the psychology of eating (emotions, boredom, stress etc.) with strategies to deal with potential pitfalls. The aim is to develop a healthy relationship with food & with yourself, without "good" or "bad" foods, eat more intuitively and understand what your hunger cues are.The same way you practice skills in training, you should practice skills when eating.. eg: eat slowly, check in on fullness, pausing when craving. Part of the book is also dedicated to periodized strength training.Above all where this book shines is that it encourages you to be kind to yourself, become more mindful, and use the framework of guidelines and skills to crystallize what your own values are with respect to food rather than being told what they should be. This is afterall a lifelong journey. 🙂

Book Review of ‘Lean & Strong’ by Josh Hillis.I had the pleasure of interviewing Josh last week for the Health Oddity podcast (that episode will be out next Friday 26th March) & prior to talking with him I purchased his latest book & have just finished it this weekend - it weighs in at a chunky (but easy reading) 346 pages.This IS NOT A DIET BOOK.It is a values based approach to eating, training & living and focuses predominantly on ‘eating skills’ and psychology around food.No food is GOOD or BAD or a SUPERFOOD or a SIN. This is a lifelong personal journey on mindfulness, choice, getting in touch with your personal feelings, triggers & habits & living like an adult without someone telling you exactly what to do every step of the way.‘Lean & Strong’ is unlike any diet/nutrition or training book I have read before & it has (and is) changing the way I think about & talk to clients about food, habits, goals & motivation (and how I relate to myself and my family as well).This is written very much for the end user & is NOT written for coaches & personal trainers although I think there is HUGE value here for anyone in the health and fitness industry who works with real people and wants to take their understanding and empathy to another level.I have read many tens of books over the last 20+ years on nutrition & lifestyle coaching (and attended multiple courses as well) & this book blows them all out of the water because it actually has the PERSON at the heart of it & not a particular diet programme or structured approach to sell.I highly recommend you read this book.

I came across Josh when he was working with Georgie Fear as I had read her book and was part of the Lean Habits community since 2016. Whilst I have only read 35% of Lean and Strong (all you need to get started is in the first chapter) and only completed one workout, I can already see that this book is going to be a game changer for me. I believe the use of “skills” instead of “habits” is more empowering term and concept. Rather than feeling frustrated that listening to your bodies hunger and fullness cues isn’t becoming habitual after much practice, I have found it helpful to understand that they are a skills to be learned and will take time and practice, even if you practice a small amount, you are still learning, but the more you practice the better you will get.The use of guidelines to support the skills is also helpful as for me, rules with dos and don’ts ultimately leads to failure as I become frustrated with my lack of adherence, and eventually give up. Lean and Strongs’ flexible guidelines fit in with my values of self-compassion and being anti diet, as I’m not asked to drastically change the things that I like.Lastly, but not at all the least, choosing eating and exercise skills that are aligned with my values is one of the best concepts of the book and what I believe is going to be a major key for change. In the short time I have had the book, I have already started to make more mindful decisions around eating and exercising and it is far more empowering than anything else I have tried. I’m excited about living a more valued driven life and being free of diets and diet culture for good!

Wonderful book with incredible insight. Josh knows his stuff, and is exactly who the fitness industry needs right now.As a professional nutritionist I cannot stress enough how much reading this will put you ahead of the curve. In 20 years, this book will be considered the gold standard of writing on fitness and nutrition, and you are lucky enough to read it now. Dont hesitate, just buy.

I have been following Josh since the release of 'Fat Loss Happens on a Monday'. This was the first time an approach to eating & exercise really worked for me, so I was keen to see how his approach had developed over 5 years. In many ways, it is simpler, but if you want, there is great detail behind the why. His exercise approach covers everything you need really for the rest of your life. However, the best thing is that Josh allows a tremendous amount of flexibility within his approach, allowing you to use what you have, rather than requiring you to buy new equipment. Highly recommended.