Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life by Stacy T. Sims

Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life Reviews

• 
  E.H.

  For a book written by a PhD, this book makes a lot of specious claims, gives statistics in a way that is misleading, and in general seems to do a lot of hand-waving about the specific recommendations its making. For example: in one info block, the claim is made that intermittent fasting can cause "adrenal fatigue"--not a real disease. Many of the recommendations about pregnancy and training are contradictory or confusing (you should exercise 30-60 min, 3xweek or 45-90 min--which is it?), and although the section aims to debunk common myths, many are perpetuated (like telling women to eliminate their coffee intake). Later on, she notes that "women who take oral contraceptives have a 50 percent higher risk of developing lupus," but as far as I can tell this was found by one study, which found a small increase what is already a small risk--from about 6/100,000 to 12, it was only for certain doses of hormones, and although this fact occurs in the "gut biome" section, there's no evidence that's the mechanism. Yet there's that fact, on page 145, leading one to believe that there's a well-established link there. There is also, as far as I know, not a good link between soy and the ill effects people attribute to it. You can't preload with electrolytes or special "prehydration" products (I mean, you can be well-hydrated or dehydrated, but "hyperhydrating" is not a thing as long as you have working kidneys). I could go on but I won't.
  
  Basically, I feel like if they can't get the science right on these things, why should I trust what they have to say about what I should eat to run better? This is 100% just a normal diet book with a muscular skin.
• 
  Tash

  Here's some things I got out of the book:
  
  For females, low-carb, high fat and protein diets and intermittent fasting result in muscle loss, not fat loss. Boo. It can pause periods. This is bad. Eat some protein and carbs within half an hour of hardcore exercise.
  
  It's harder to smash HIT exercises a week before your period. You'll feel low on energy and that's because you are. Once your period starts though, your hormones drop back down and it's on like donkey kong.
  
  Menopause does not sound fun, and it sucks that you stop processing carbs as well as you when you're younger. Which resulted in me committing to eat more pasta more often. Gotta make it count. The drop in progesterone also means that you don't sleep as deeply. I hereby commit to sleeping in while I still can.
  
  This book is aimed at Iron(wo)men and the like. I can't really see myself chugging BCAAs, measuring my protein intake or wearing those funny bike pants, but if you do, then this is the book for you.
  
  I wanted citations instead of sweeping statements. There was alot of sentences that started with "Recent research found", other times, the specific study was spoken about in great detail. Some consistency would have made some of this seem more believable (although I know since can be very selective).
  
  Ok, off to eat some pasta and get some shut-eye!
• 
  Steph Myers

  So, I decided to run a marathon. Long story, but a friend is traveling to Duluth to do Grandma's Marathon and told her I would do the half. It sold out same day and I sucked it up and clicked the button for the full. It was a lapse of sanity. I can admit that now. This title fell into my lap when I told my dentist about the race. She recommended it. And it has been a solid, sound recommendation. It is not only focused on female physiology, but female biochemistry over the years and how to properly train and prepare to be competitive in sports during pregnancy, menopause and beyond. It's very empowering and the entire section on pre-hydration was a total eye-opener. I feel really good, even on long runs in soft snow when I follow the protocol. I would DEFINITELY recommend it to any of my athletic lady friends.
• 
  Amy

  Wow, did I ever need this book.
  
  This book covers female athletes from young adulthood, through perimenopause, menopause, and post menopause. It compare contrasts how female athlete bodies are different from male athletes and how much of the research regarding nutrition, fueling, hydrating, conditioning largely ignore the particulars of female physiology, which hinders our performance and causes a myriad of issues such as GI distress, bloating, dehydration, and more...
  
  Then you get the information you need to understand the effect your hormonal cycles has on your performance and training, and also what to do about it. Simple changes are often all that's needed to reverse these issues that can feel chronic.
  
  Personally, I have been struggling with low-blood pressure, fatigue, and transient issues based on my hormonal levels. Also, whenever I increase my training my appetite goes off the rails and I put on weight while feeling miserable and hungry all the time.
  
  Because of GI issues I've experienced, I wouldn't eat before a run and usually went out hungry. My run would feel grueling and I'd get lightheaded. After my run, I'd drink water and usually feel a little seasick. After that would pass I'd have a light snack (apple or banana) a while later. Then a couple hours later I'd suddenly be ravenous and overeat whatever was within reaching distance.
  
  A few corrections based on the advice in this book, with regards to fueling before a workout (I split my afternoon snack to 1/2 before and 1/2 after and changed it to a protein rich source with easy going carbs, rather than fiber heavy.) Now I feel great during runs. I have consistently shaved off time. When I get home I drink water and finish the second half of my protein rich snack. No more savage pantry raids.
  
  The other stuff is a longer game. I need to analyze my diet, supplements, and blood work to make sure I am getting enough iron and B12 to support my blood. The amount of protein athletes need is also surprising and explains my wimpy blood and lack of gains. I also need to be careful with my hydration, salts, and electrolytes to keep my blood pressure right.
  
  The book also outlines specific strategies for dealing with your high-hormone phase (a week or so before your period) and your period, that are surprisingly simple and very effective. You also learn when your body is primed for putting on muscle and endurance gains, and when your effort is mostly spent fighting nature.
  
  So many of my observations about how I feel now make sense. I workout regularly with my husband, who of course is not subjected to these hormonal shifts, who was certain these fluctuations was "just in my head." Now, I have real answers as to what is going on in my body. I know when to go with the flow, when to train hard, what to eat, drink and how much I need, and how to find and understand metrics that will help me understand what is going on in my body.
  
  I have read numerous magazine articles, books, blogs, and nearly everything in this book was information I had never seen/heard anywhere else. Not from my doctors, when I asked point blank why I have GI issues when I run (at mile 1.5! not 21...), why I feel so tired (you have low-iron, take a supplement), why my performance gains were so slow and arduous. Shrug, shrug, shrug... I thought I was just defective.
  
  Now I have a clear plan that is already working. Maybe a 1/2 marathon isn't impossible for me...Maybe I can surpass the sprint marathon and train for an Olympic...
  
  Last note...I am usually content to borrow books from the library, but I'm glad I own this one. I highlighted passages, I've tabbed pages with recipes and exercise recommendations, and I'm sure I'll be continually referring back to the text as I go through this process of understand my body's relationship to my athletic goals.
• 
  Viv JM

  4.5 stars
  
  Stacy Sims mantra is "You are not a small man. Stop eating and training like one" and this book is a really excellent and in-depth look at the science behind these physiological differences and their effects on performance and health. It is a book I would recommend to all sporting and active women and one which I feel I have learned a lot from. The only downside, for me personally, was that it is very much aimed at those involved in endurance sports (perhaps because Sims comes from a triathlon background) and I would have liked a bit more strength/power-based training information and that's the only reason for not giving 5 stars. Highly recommended otherwise!
• 
  Liz

  Mostly skimmed the second half. Wasn't a big fan -- seemed like some of the information isn't totally accurate and not relevant to me. I was mostly interested in how I can better my eating but ended up with a lot of tips for very serious athletes
• 
  Kelli

  A few good takeaways. I was looking for more specific information and recommendations. I found the advice very broad for a book with a targeted audience.
• 
  Eve Stark

  If you are a woman who is into fitness, whether new to it or fairly well acquainted, chances are that this book will have something for you.
  
  As the excerpt says, women are not small men. This should not be a revelation to most reading this, but unfortunately the fitness industry tends to lump all their training programs together without any accounting for the specific needs of women. Stacy T. Sims, PhD, who holds her PhD in Environmental Exercise Physiology and Sports Nutrition, saw this need in the market and put together what is perhaps one of the best and most easily digested books on how to train and eat as a woman. That said, of course something written as broadly as this book is (I said "easily digested") will not be without faults. Some of the statements regarding recent research were stated too generally to be entirely accurate (as noted by a few other reviews). But, overall, there is something in here for the bulk of women who are trying to learn to train smarter, instead of just harder.
• 
  Michelle Kilty

  There is some really solid information. However, like some other reviewers have noted, she sometimes slips into pseudoscience and presents possibilities as facts. I hope there will be more books like this in the future, because while some information is useful, other parts are questionable.
  
  I think the Run Fast, Eat Slow books are actually way more useful.
• 
  Sarah Clement

  There are too many of these books out there at the moment - books that are given an air of authority because of the author's qualifications and endorsed by a particular community of fitness and health enthusiasts. The book basically boils down to the old, tired trope of using body types to determine how you should eat and train. It's useless, not proven, and particularly not valuable for the majority of the population that is somewhere in between the 3 standard body types. I can't understand the hype around this book, as it's just yet another book that regurgitates the same ideas but doesn't offer anything particularly new, innovative, or scientifically sound.
• 
  Laurie Allin

  I've never had a nutrition book really speak to me the way this one did. Her battle cry is: Women are not just small men. And really gets into the physiology of how we're different and why that matters. But she manages to do so in a way that is still easy to read without going all Sheldon Cooper on us. I took a ton of notes on this and then just decided to buy my own copy, which I'm looking forward to re-reading and highlighting the heck out of.
• 
  Tina

  Good for women who want to know how to be healthy! A tip I liked: one study shows 54 year old women need an hour of exercise a day to minimize weight gain, which is a lot more than the usual recommendation. Also, don't fill up on so much fiber that you're not getting in other nutrients you need because you feel full. (Note: some swearing.)
• 
  Gina

  This was excellent. I learned so much about a topic I had no idea about--the effects of the hormone cycle on performance and hydration. I definitely recommend this book to all women and coaches.
• 
  Emma Smith

  A great insight into how to tailor your training and nutrition to work with your anatomy and body chemistry instead of following advice from studies that are based on a sample of men. There could be a bit more about plant based options in here but it's a great start and allows you to have a good base to start more research.
• 
  Shaun

  This was okay.
  
  Main strength: Women are not little men, and training like little men does our body a disservice. I also like that Sims recommends using real food to meet your energy and hydration needs. I think this is wise advice.
  
  I learned two things from this book:
  
  1. A woman’s performance can be impacted by hormones (aka where she is in her cycle). Seems like a no brainer, but not something I had really read much about. In fact, I would have thought performance would be worse during the actual menstrual cycle, but she lays out the evidence for why this is not the case.
  
  2. As women age, changes in their hormones impact how their body burns certain fuel. Again, makes sense and actually good to know. I'll be 49 in a few months, and I do feel as if my approach to training and diet has had to change.
  
  Weakness of this book:
  
  I felt as if beyond the two things I learned not much else was there. Above a few generalizations about hormones, by her own accounting, each athlete has specific needs, and the only way to fully understand what they need is to get tested and then use the results of those tests to tweak what they are doing.
  
  I also don't agree with some of her dietary advice, which goes against other stuff I've read. For example, I think she shortchanges intermittent fasting. I've actually read several books on TRE which is a form of intermittent fasting that has been shown to have many health benefits. I personally have started a 8 hour window of eating with a tremendous amount of success. I'm not participating in an ironman, but I do train regularly. In fact, I think as a woman who is getting very close to menopause, it has helped me beyond expectations. I've never been leaner, stronger, or slept better with less overall effort. So there you go.
  
  So, yeah. It was okay.
• 
  Stephanie O'keefe

  This book was recommended to me by my running coach. It is a bible of women’s nutrition! One of the main reasons I never got on the keto or low-carb bandwagon is because it never made sense to me. Women have different nutritional (NOT just caloric) needs than men. This was particularly evident to me in the case of pregnancy and breast-feeding. During those times I knew that if I restricted carbohydrates I would feel worse and/or my milk supply would drop. Also, when I first read a book about the ketogenic diet back in 2015, almost all the studies had been done on men. At that time, there was no discussion whatsoever as to how women might react differently to a low-carb or ketogenic diet. I had a similar reaction to intermittent fasting. Fortunately, there are several women in the ketogenic world who are coming out and talking about how a woman’s cycle greatly influences her nutritional needs at the time. However, there are very few women who are both in the ketogenic world and either recreational athletes or elite athletes. I love that this book tackles everything from periods to menopause to hydration to mindset in women. I’m inclined to say that only athletic women will find this interesting, but I do think there is tons of valuable information for any woman who struggles with their weight, mood, PMS symptoms and etc. And I think men who train women or train with them would get value from seeing how women need to train differently than men. Women are NOT small men! So we need to stop training like them.
• 
  Jessica Larsen

  Ordering my own copy! So much good stuff in here.
• 
  Max

  Kind of mixed feelings about this book. It does have some great insights and the idea is great for a book: there are a lot of differences between women and men and most research is done on men. There are some conflicting advices in this, and the recommendations of taking certain supplements and aspirin all the time need some extra research backup, because I don't think that doesn't have side effects. The structure of the book doesn't make sense to me, and I lacked a conclusive end. In all, it has some nice new insights, but it's not perfect.
• 
  Erica

  Great for female athletes - even recreational
  
  Absolutely loved the science and advice in this book. I was impressed by the authors ability to write about science accurately in a way that is easily understood
• 
  Hanna

  I enjoyed this book and was surprised to discover that it was written well before Lyle McDonald wrote his 400 page 1st Volume of the Woman's Book. A lot of the topics he touches, were already wonderfully explained here. She goes into detail about not only how to work with your menstrual cycle, but also what exactly is happening during menopause and pregenancy as well.
  Her dieting advice is also good, even with an example for a vegan diet and how vegetarians need to make sure to be getting in enough Leucine. However, saying that "the quality of food is far more important...than the number of calories contained" can be misleading for some. We can eat the healthiest food, but if we eat too much of it, we might not see results if weight loss is the goal. I think perhaps she didn't want to dish out the typical 1200 kcal limit and help women get away from this mindset that we need to eat very little. Regardless, calories are still a topic and shouldn't be ignored when it comes to weight loss.
  Admittedly, it's somewhat discouraging reading her book in the sense that you feel that women's physiology works against them in so many ways. I like the positive attitude of the book, and the focus on hydration and electrolyte intake for women, since women store electrolytes differently than men but the topic is rarely discussed, if ever.
  I was a bit surprised that she addresses somatypes, as I understood that this has been debunked scientifically several times. Those are my only two slight "beefs" with the book and reason for a star deduction. Other than that, fantastic book with good recipes and insightful information.
  
  
• 
  Amanda

  There is some very good information here about women and how their bodies work. I felt like although I’m pretty Fit this book wasn’t geared to me. There was far more information for those training for marathons or triathalons. Not much practical for the everyday fitness enthusiast. I would like to see a book like this more geared to the everyday woman. Still 4 stars though because like I said there is good information here if you can weed through what you don’t need.
• 
  Adelaide

  I loved this book, it was super eye-opening for my wellness and activity with everything from headaches, GI issues, performance, strength training, improvement in athletic performance, etc. I listened to the audio book and will likely buy a copy for reference (hydration, recovery, and GI issues during performance specifically).
  
  One star off because of the brain chapter; a bit antiquated. The body type section which everyone seems to be up in arms about didn't really seem that significant to the book as a whole, I wonder if publishers force authors like this to include that so reach the weight loss audience. Seemed like an after thought.
  
  I'm surprised by all the negative reviews, a lot of them seemed to fixate of trivialities from the first few chapters, and the rest seem to be complaints about how this book doesn't tell you how to get skinny. My favourite chapter was the one regarding preparation for altitude and heat shifts, I'm susceptible to both, and this was the most in-depth research I've read on the topic, I'm stoked to have this as a reference for improved training.
• 
  Caitlin Schmidt

  I listened to Stacy Sims speak on a podcast (The Proof with Simon Hill) which prompted me to pick up this book. I was really interested in her female-specific approach to training. Women are not well represented in exercise physiology studies due to the complexity of our hormonal shifts and historical misogyny. While the first part of this book was very interesting to me, the second half was geared toward elite, not recreational athletes. I still learned so much about how the different phases of our menstrual cycle affect training efforts and how to optimize training by working *with* our physiology. But overall, I don’t think this was the book I was really looking for. I am glad I read it because now I know which topics I want to dive into a little more. Also, some of the ways she presents the science reads a little more speculative. I think her casual tone and attempts at humor lend to this, but the scientific community might have an issue with it.
• 
  Maya Senen

  The main idea here is most of the sports training and nutritional guidance is built around men. The test subjects and historical dominance of high performance athleticism has been very male since forever. If you’ve never really thought about that before, this book is a great on-ramp. Stacy will talk you through the menstrual cycle, hormone phases, and other key distinctions in the female physiology, and how to parse those against all the male targeted advice (for instance, ladies, we can’t be intermittent fasting, we just cannot). That being said, some of the statistics and explanations in here are a little weak. Take the main ideas and if you need to go deeper, definitely consult your doctors and coaches/trainers.
• 
  Meg

  This book is fully geared towards women doing endurance sports. It's got some interesting stuff on how menstrual cycles + hormone stuff can affect the body and postmenopausal considerations. I was annoyed throughout after the weight training debacle, the fatphobic stuff, some boring gender generalizations, and why the heck was all the dairy products mentioned were specifically low-fat? I also wanted a clearer citation style, there are some resources listed for each chapter but in the text it was just "and this one study..."