| | The Third Act | p. 1 |
| | The Promise: Plan A | |
| | The Promise: Plan B | |
| | Key Point: Eat Less! | |
| | "Up the Revolution!" | |
| | Younger Next Year | |
| | Finding Jen | |
| | "How Come I'm Fat?" | |
| | "Who Are You People?" | |
| | Does This Really Matter? | |
| | The War Zone | |
| | A Program for You | |
| | The Mountain of Slop and Despair | p. 17 |
| | Welcome to the Tar Pit | |
| | Back to You and Your Third Act | |
| | The Old Woman of Bogota | |
| | The Upside | |
| | The Context of Your Effort | |
| | The Mountain of Slop and Despair | |
| | Where I'm Coming From and Where You're Going | p. 24 |
| | Why I'm So Passionate | |
| | Who Are You? | |
| | Why Exercise Is the Key Component for Weight Loss: The 101 Version | |
| | What's Food Got to Do with It? | |
| | Good Eating with Exercise | |
| | Junk Food Is Addictive | |
| | Setting a Realistic Weight Goal | |
| | Where Does All the Energy Go? | |
| | It's Worth It! | |
| | Going Deep | p. 39 |
| | The Good Stuff: What Happens Inside When You Eat the Right "Mix" | p. 47 |
| | How We Use Carbs and Fat | |
| | Carbohydrates | |
| | Fats | |
| | The Metabolism of Fats | |
| | Energy Storage | |
| | Protein | |
| | A Day in the Life: Bash Bish Falls | p. 56 |
| | What We Ate | |
| | Back to the Mighty Spin | |
| | Black Ice | |
| | Two More Meals | |
| | The Bad Stuff: What Happens When You Eat Junk | p. 69 |
| | The Big Bad Five | |
| | The Consequences of All Bad All the Time | |
| | Concept 1: "Runaway Fats," Sugar, and Insulin Resistance | |
| | Concept 2: Fats and Heart Disease | |
| | Inflammation: The Common Thread | |
| | Diets and Other Fads | |
| | Final Thoughts | |
| | A Day in the Life: A New Relationship with Vegetables | p. 87 |
| | A Quick Row on Twin Lakes | |
| | A New Relationship with Vegetables | |
| | Dinner: What to Do with a Kid's Birthday Party | |
| | The Thinner This Year Eating Plan | p. 95 |
| | Eat Significantly Fewer Calories | |
| | Eliminate Dead Food | |
| | Keep Your System Going with Steady Fuel | |
| | Make Vegetables and Fruit Account for 50 Percent by Volume of Your Diet | |
| | Make the Other 50 Percent Count | |
| | Don't Drink Your Calories | |
| | A Long List of Great Things to Eat | |
| | Two Weeks and Fourteen Good Meals | |
| | What Do You Say We Drop a Couple of Pounds? | p. 124 |
| | The Conceptual Framework: Small Changes Over Time | |
| | How We Got Fat | |
| | Know Yourself: Set Rational Goals | |
| | The 7 Percent Solution | |
| | Caveat | |
| | Now What? | |
| | Eating: Gradual Changes in the Early Weeks | |
| | Sink the Carriers! | |
| | The Bad Carbs Fallacy | |
| | Stupid Eating Tricks | |
| | Make Up Your Mind | |
| | Nutrients: They Make the Body Work | p. 133 |
| | The Myth of Perfect Foods | |
| | Nutrients and Metabolism | |
| | Nutrients as "Structure" | |
| | What Key Nutrients Do | |
| | Supplements: A Few Good Ones and a Lot of Expensive Junk! | |
| | Supplements with Special Consideration | |
| | The Balanced Diet of Good Food | |
| | A Day in the Life: In the Land of Dreamy Dreams | p. 152 |
| | The Rapture of the Creep | |
| | In the Land of Dreamy Dreams | |
| | Doubling Down | |
| | Two More Meals | |
| | Exercise: The Magic Bullet | p. 158 |
| | Exercise Changes Your Fundamental Physiology for a Much Better You | |
| | Exercise Is Key for Weight Loss-and a Thinner, Healthier You | |
| | A Day in the Life: Intervals, "Periodization," and Kedges | p. 167 |
| | Interval Day 2: A Walk in the Snow | |
| | Interval Day 3: Playing with Girls | |
| | Sports Nutrition | p. 177 |
| | Are You Slow-Twitch or Fast-Twitch? | |
| | The Metabolic Pathways | |
| | The Lactate or Anaerobic Threshold | |
| | Metabolic Realities | |
| | When and What to Do with Fuel | |
| | Do You Chow Down After a Workout? | |
| | Hydration Is Key | |
| | Exercise and Free Radicals | |
| | Other Nutrients Important to Exercise | |
| | Aerobic Exercise: The Secret of the Good Life | p. 191 |
| | Putting Exercise into Practice: Meet Bill Fabrocini and Riggs Klika | |
| | Why Aerobics? | |
| | A Teeny Bit Boring | |
| | Recovery Rate | |
| | The How-To of Aerobic Exercise | p. 200 |
| | Two Views of Aerobics | |
| | Long and Slow: The Details | |
| | The Workout | |
| | The Mythical "Fat-Burning Zone" | |
| | Mix It Up and Enjoy It | |
| | The Endurance Zone | |
| | The Rich Hours | |
| | Going Hard for Fitness | |
| | The "Hockey Stick": Moving the Lactate or Anaerobic Threshold | |
| | Intervals | |
| | Two Great Rules of Interval Training | |
| | A Formal Interval Regimen | |
| | Four Interval Days | |
| | Fast-Twitch and Slow-Twitch: Alive in the Hills | |
| | Muscle as the Grand Negotiator of Body Signals | p. 218 |
| | Muscles Send Signals | |
| | The Tide of Aging | |
| | Muscle Gulps Up Sugar | |
| | Muscle Over Insulin | |
| | Healthy Muscle Burns More Fat | |
| | Healthy Muscle Is Anti-Inflammatory | |
| | The Biggest Payoff of All | |
| | Just a Little More Good News | |
| | The Astonishing Importance of Strength Training | p. 226 |
| | A Personal Note | |
| | Quality of Life | |
| | We Live in Glass Boxes | |
| | Train Movements, Not Muscles: Whole-Body Movement and the Three Little Pigs | p. 233 |
| | The New Model | |
| | Life and Movement in Three Dimensions | |
| | Signaling in Three Dimensions | |
| | A Special Blessing for Those Who Rot! | |
| | Balance | |
| | Boomers and the Shrinking Margin for Error in Movement | |
| | The Three Little Pigs and the Importance of Posture | |
| | Geologic Forces | |
| | Built Like a Brick House | |
| | What Is Good Posture? | |
| | Stability | |
| | Things Going Wrong | |
| | Critical Lesson: Do Not Bend, Lift, and Twist with Your Back | |
| | Last One: Heads-Up! | |
| | Don't Slouch! | |
| | A Word to Athletes: Good Posture Is Stronger | |
| | The Warm-Up, or "Preparation for Movement" | p. 247 |
| | No Special Toys Required | |
| | One Size Does Not Fit All | |
| | The Warm-Up: A Quick Intro | |
| | General Rules | |
| | On Your Back | |
| | On Your Stomach | |
| | Side Lie | |
| | On All Fours | |
| | Half-Kneeling | |
| | Standing | |
| | A Day in the Life: A Cold Day in Hell | p. 269 |
| | Warm-Up | |
| | Lunges Count | |
| | The Day Five Miracle | |
| | What We Ate | |
| | The Twenty-Five Sacred Exercises | p. 274 |
| | Why Range of Motion Matters | |
| | General Rules for All Exercises | |
| | Don't Make Yourself Nuts | |
| | A Word About Intensity and Difficulty | |
| | Don't Try to Do All of These from the Get-Go | |
| | The Twenty-Five Sacred Exercises | |
| | The Weight Loss Side of Strength Training | |
| | The Rhythm of These Sessions | |
| | What About Static Stretching? | |
| | The Third Element in the Third Act: General Grant, Scott Fitzgerald, and the Need to "Care, Connect, and Commit" | p. 317 |
| | The Limbic Brain | |
| | Orienting Idea: Relationships Trump Jobs | |
| | Walter, the Homicide Cop | |
| | Wetting the Felt… Being You | |
| | You're Not on Vacation | |
| | Living More Than One Life | |
| | The Other Side of Your Brain | |
| | Get Over | |
| | Yourself, At Least Your False Self' Take Control | |
| | The Gifts of Women | |
| | Get | |
| | Your Lines Out Early | |
| | Keeping Your Lines Out All Your Life | |
| | Ranie and the | |
| | Great Kedge | |
| | Full House | |
| | The Old Girl on 57th Street with the Four-Footed | |
| | Cane | |
| | The Recap: The Three-Legged Stool | |
| | A Day in the Life: Victory Lap | p. 333 |
| | Jen's Rules | p. 339 |
| | Other Stuff | p. 340 |
| | Index | p. 343 |