About Abel James & Fat-Burning Man
Straight from the Horse's Mouth
Hey there, thanks for stopping by. My name is Abel, and a few years ago, I made some alarming discoveries. I learned that almost everything that I thought I knew about health, nutrition, and fitness was completely wrong.
After years of frustration, sickness, and increasing flab, I stopped listening to the “experts,” “gurus,” and even my doctors. I buried my nose in the research and experimented on myself like a lab rat until I found the truth. And man, it was a doozy.
It turns out that my "healthy" low-fat, low-cholesterol diet and "effective" running program recommended by magazines, TV shows, and my doctors, were actually causing me to be fat and sick.
Once I did the opposite of what my doctors told me, I dramatically improved my health - reversing hypertension, healing my malfunctioning thyroid, and effortlessly shedding 20 pounds in 40 days.
Skip ahead a few years, and now as host of the award-winning #1 Rated Fat-Burning Man Show, I help folks to improve their relationship with food, activity, and life by circumventing marketing myths, misinformation, and corporate scheming by eating real foods and engaging in effective, science-backed training to make you lean, healthy, and energetic.
But make no mistake: I'm no guru. I do not have all the answers. YOU are the expert on you. Through my podcast, books, and coaching, I am dedicated to helping others optimize their health and reach their ultimate potential by being their own guru.
After all, experts should help you build behaviors that would eventually put them out of a job.
But with the collective health of the country (and beyond) falling off a cliff, it is more important than ever the help reverse the obesity and health crisis. As such, I share the principles and system that enabled me to dramatically optimize my life with folks who want to shed unwanted fat and improve their health in a way that is completely honest, fun, and lifelong. If I can do it, so can you.
Questions and Answers
Why did you start your blog and The Fat-Burning Man Show?
Because people deserve to know the truth.
Today, two-thirds of Americans are overweight or morbidly obese. I am extremely passionate about addressing the obesity epidemic and health crisis in order to improve the lives of as many people as I possibly can.
My goal is to create a place where people can have spirited discussions and debate about issues that truly matter - not just fat loss and fitness, but ultimately health and quality of life.
I also feel obligated to expose the truth about nutrition, fitness, and health so that people are no longer reliant upon deceptive marketing practices, misleading corporate propaganda, and powerful special interests that have accelerated the worldwide obesity epidemic and health crisis.
I want to show people that they can eat extremely well - awesome, delicious foods - and not only get away with it, but get lean, strong, and healthy in the process. You can't argue with pumpkin pie.
When people come to my blog, I want them to treat it as a conversation. I learn from my readers and love hearing from them.
The Fat-Burning Man Show rocketed to top the charts just a month after launching and went on to hit #1 in 8+ countries, taking down Jillian Michaels in the process! How did that happen?
Because you listen! What started as a hobby to help spread the truth about health turned into a massive podcast with half a million downloads a month!
No corporation, no sponsors, no PR or media campaigns - I'm just a dude with a mic who is passionate about helping as many people as I can.
I’m humbled, and I truly appreciate your support. (If you'd like to help spread the word, you can leave review on iTunes by clicking through this link.)
Diet, nutrition, and fitness is a crowded space. What makes you unique?
I practice what I preach - and I love this stuff. It's amazing how rare this is these days. Many diet and fitness professionals just treat it as a job. For me, this isn't a business, it's a calling and a lifestyle. I'm extremely passionate about addressing the obesity epidemic and health crisis and improving the lives of as many people as I can.
I'm a biohacker. I'm constantly experimenting on myself to see how much our bodies and minds can achieve. This leads to incredibly interesting discussions with the top minds in performance on the show that you can use to level-up your game.
I used to be flabby and miserable (see my before and after shots here). Many gym rats selling their "advice" (and expensive supplements and worthless gizmos) have always been fit. I followed a low-fat, "healthy" diet for years and it made me fat and sick. Now I'm not. I feel obligated to share with others everything I learned along the way.
The Wild Diet works. So many diet and nutrition "experts" just spout out the same old advice, "Eat less food! Exercise more! Take magic pills!" Nonsense. If you want to judge a nutrition or fitness system, take a good, hard look at a picture of its creator. It's astounding how many of these people are unhealthy, obviously photoshopped, or even fat and out of shape. Enough of that.
My background as a consultant to the consumer food and beverage industry. I witnessed their wily marketing tactics and do my best to expose the deception when I see it. The public deserves to know the truth.
I am not at all afraid to go against the grain or dabble in the fringe. This gives me the freedom to explore and evaluate breakthrough research and uncommon principles and techniques.
You say some things that might ruffle some feathers. Are you worried about making enemies?
No. I like to sleep at night.
It's extremely important to me to call corporations, marketers, diet industry gurus, and other swindlers on their BS and show people what is really going on.
Exposing myths, misinformation, and deceptive marketing is essential to enabling people to make informed decisions about their health.
Why should I listen to you?
At first, you probably shouldn't.
With the amount of misinformation and false prophets out there, it's good to come to the table with a bit of skepticism. But I'm very confident in everything I say and write, and my record of personal success and in coaching others to transform their bodies and lives is nothing to shake a stick at.
Okay, I get it. But what are your credentials?
Some people call me a madman. I have a voracious appetite for knowledge and research. I graduated from high school and college in a total of six years. After being Valedictorian at New Hampton School, I earned my degree in Psychological and Brain Sciences from Dartmouth College in three years and graduated as a Senior Fellow with Honors.
After paying my own way through school with scholarships, I still had to take on some hefty, nasty loans. So I put on a suit and became a strategy consultant.
I conducted research and gave presentations across the world and learned the ins and outs of an industry that does not always present the truth to consumers.
What was the audience you had in mind when you wrote The Wild Diet?
The person who has tried everything and just can't get results. Someone who just wants to make some simple tweaks to lose a few pounds. The athlete who wants to get stronger and faster and improve performance. Foodies. Parents.
Everyone can really benefit from the principles in the Wild Diet and I hope to get it out to as many people as possible.
How did you get a six-pack?
With a lot less exercise (and more fun) than you'd expect. I haven't been to a real gym in years. That said, I probably exercise more than I "need to" to maintain my physique. But it comes down to the fact that I have found workouts that I really enjoy, so when I feel like I need to get up and move or let off some steam, I get outside and run fast or throw heavy weights around at home. It always makes me feel better.
I usually don't follow a routine. I listen to my body and so what it wants to do, which amounts to doing something active almost every day, and a "workout" (but a fun one) about 2-3 days a week for 10-45 minutes. I alternate between resistance training with free weights and body weight, and I throw in high-intensity sprints during a casual jog once in a while. Call me crazy, but sometimes I crave burpees.
You advocate a nutrition plan that approximates that of our ancestors. How did you get into the evolutionary/paleo approach?
After being sidelined by a recurring injury, I started researching the evolutionary approach to running. There are native tribes all over the world where geriatrics run 80 miles a day for no apparent reason and live beyond 100. If grandpa can run 80 miles a day, then why can't I run 8 without shattering my shins?
The answer: my expensive running shoes.
After I tossed my shoes, strengthened my feet with barefoot running (with Vibrams), and developed a natural, symmetrical form, I suddenly didn't get injured anymore. And then I got fast. 
I went from being able to run 8 miles to being able to run 30. For fun.
Then I ran two marathons in 2 months and finished in the top 3%. None of this would have happened if I hadn't simply stopped wearing "proper running shoes" that magazines, coaches, commercials, and professionals say are absolutely necessary.
Could it be that marketing and conventional wisdom isn't telling us the whole truth?
I thought, "if running like our ancestors ran optimizes performance, shouldn't it apply to diet and lifestyle as well?" It does. I think the evolutionary "this-is-what-we-used-to-eat-for-millennia-before-agriculture-ruined-it-for-everyone" line of reasoning was what really clicked for me.
The principle is stupefyingly simple, and it's a message that never gets widely talked about, or more accurately, is drowned out by the propaganda of powerful interests; it really should be more widely known. Now I'm doing my best to spread the word.
That said, The Wild Diet is decidedly less strict than Paleo. It's not about dogmatism or following arbitrary calculations to "get ripped," it's all about teaching you to find your highest potential by combining real food with cutting-edge technology and science.
Where do you see it all going?
The ancestral health movement is growing rapidly and I see no plausible reason why it wouldn't continue to gain steam. Its transformational effects on health and fat loss are definitively proven by research. More importantly, it just works.
Thousands - probably millions - of people have changed their lives following the general principle that we should eat foods that humans should eat.
Whether or not you want to live like a caveman is another issue entirely, but there is no doubt that the paleo approach to nutrition and lifestyle works. I'm honored to be a trusted voice in such a vibrant, thriving community of people interested in health and nutrition.
Fancypants Bio
Abel James is a #1 best-selling author, top 10 App Developer, musician, radio show host, entrepreneur, and veritable health crusader. Abel’s work has been featured in WIRED Magazine, Paleo Living, and hundreds of media outlets in business, technology, psychology, and health.
Within its first year, Abel's Fat-Burning Man Show rose to the #1 most popular health podcast in the United States and United Kingdom and went on to top the charts in more than 7 countries across the world for the past 2 years.
A former strategic advisor to the food and beverage industry, Abel now acts as a consumer advocate who exposes the truth behind deceptive marketing practices, misleading corporate propaganda, and powerful special interests that have accelerated the worldwide obesity epidemic and health crisis. Abel harnesses the techniques he developed for the Wild Diet to achieve extremely compelling results in fat loss and health for his clients and the community.
Abel’s quick-start guide, Intro to Paleo and The Musical Brain are distinguished as #1 Amazon bestsellers in health and psychology. The Musical Brain explores evolutionary biology and how musical training and experience affects the brain.
Abel and his team developed Caveman Feast, the #1 App in Food and Drink across the world and #6 App overall in the Apple Store in 2013.
Abel has advised Fortune 500 and federal government clients including Microsoft, State Street Global Advisors, Lockheed Martin, the Department of Education, the Department of Labor, and the Library of Congress.
A research junkie, Abel James completed high school and college in a total of just six years. Distinguished as Valedictorian at New Hampton School, he earned his A.B. from Dartmouth College and graduated as a Senior Fellow with Honors with a concentration in Psychological and Brain Sciences.
Hailing from the frosty backwoods of New Hampshire, Abel James lives with his kitchen co-pilot, Alyson, and his rambunctious yellow lab, Bailey, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
Abel enjoys strong coffee and cheesecake. Preferably together.