Weight Loss Books

I am 37 and am loosing my hair, The information in this book has made me aware of all the reasons women can loose their hair. Many of the reason have the same symptoms. Which at first is frustrating until you realize more reasons means more possibilities to get it back even if only part of the hair. If you are considering hair transplants read this first, please.
I read other parts of the book that would be relevant to some friends this book is a great one, I have 3 more books about hair loss one is pretty good but abit out dated, the other is OK , and the other I will use to start a fire.

I went to Dr. Redmond over three years ago with a whole host of female problems that were preventing me from feeling good and enjoying my life. All that has completely changed due to his expert medical care. When I read his book, I knew that I had to buy copies for all my female friends! If you often feel that something is just "not right" with your health...then you owe it to yourself to read this book.

This book is a must-have for every woman and teenage girl. Provides a wealth of info about female hormones & physiology in an easy-to-read format. Dr. Redmond is a leader in his field, and his depth of knowledge and compassion emerge effortlessly from the text.

This is an excellent book on the subject of hormones! I highly recommend that every woman read it.

If you are a woman suffering with unexplained hair loss on your head, hair growth where you don't want it, irritability, constant fatigue, dry skin or other skin problems and you are starting to feel generally more like a man than the beautiful woman you used to be, this book is for you. There ARE medications that can help you although most doctors will ignore and dismiss you. I went to see Dr. Redmond and he was able to help me, it was worth the trip into NYC and every penny. I feel like myself again and that is a miracle.

Finally, a book about diet that isn't a diet! Instead, it's a compilation of all the information about losing weight and keeping it off through lifestyle changes. Easy to read, nicely presented, this book set me on a one-year plan to lose those last 10 pounds -- one habit at a time.

If you're looking for a gimmick, a quick fix, or a flashy fad diet, keep looking. 10 HABITS THAT MESS UP A WOMAN'S DIET is a book based on solid nutritional research and the author's interviews with people who have done a lot of thinking about women and weight.

Elizabeth Somer, RD, has a funny and engaging style, but she's not afraid to serve you the facts straight up. The result is one of the smartest guides to nutrition for women that I've come across in years.

I enjoyed this book because it was not specifically about weight loss. The focus was on nutrition and it really made me want to be healthy!

The author explains the situational, chemical and emotional contributors to overeating or poor eating. She recommends different strategies that fit the different triggers or causes. Read this book to get the right tool for your situation. Maybe it will be a food journal, healthy munchies, calorie tracking, ways to love veggies, but it definitely won't be a fad diet.

Habit 1: Mindless Eating
Invisible Calories
Eating on Auto-Pilot: The Down-Side
Nibbling Is OK
Mindful Breakfasts
Kick the Habit
Choose a New Habit
Mindful Eating
Habit 2: Putting Other's Needs Ahead of Our Own
Love 'n' Marriage: Together in Eating
Babies and Weight Gain
Mealtime Peer Pressure
Dining Out Can Do Us In
Kick the Habit
Keep Your Diet in Perspective
Habit 3: Not Being Honest
Fessing Up Is Hard to Do
Portion Distortion
Kick the Habit
How Much Exercise Is Enough?
It's Within Your Grasp
Habit 4: Skip the Broccoli, Eat the Fries
Nothing Is Better for You than Produce
How Much Are You Eating?
Which Ones Are the Best?
Produce to Avoid
Kick the Habit
Ya Gotta Love 'em
Habit 5: Setting Off Without a Plan
Kick the Habit
Outside the Box
Two "Must-Have" Habits
Practice, Practice, Practice
The Only Way to Get Better Is to Change
Habit 6: Excuses, Excuses, Excuses
You Can Change
Kick the Habit
Take Responsibility
Habit 7: I'm Moody, Let's Eat!
Food for Solace or Sustenance?
Food and Mood
Dieting = Weight Gain
Kick the Habit
Your Mood Is More than Just Diet
Habit 8: Give Me the Quick Fix, Now!
Tell Me Again Why Diets Don't Work
Diet Myths Debunked
Kick the Habit
Commit to Health
Habit 9: Drinking Away Our Waistlines
Silent Calories
Cola Calories
Josephine Six Pack
The Dark Side of Alcohol
Kick the Habit
Think Moderation
Habit 10: The All-or-Nothing Approach to Dieting
Why the All-or-Nothing Mentality Fails
All-or-Nothing and Your Weight
Self-Talk: The Inside-Your-Head Chatter
Kick the Habit
Give Yourself Some Slack

I checked this book out at the library and liked it so much I puchased it. Not anything I don't already know, but to see, in actual print, all the reasons why and how you cheat on a diet is much more motivational than you would think. Ouch! The truth really hurts but it's also really helped.

This is a must-read for those who want a fresh, new perspective on weight-loss and "permanent fat removal"! I recommend it all who are looking for a new way to love ones self.

Janice Taylor is simply delightful! She is cheerful, creative, and super-spirited about her work...and all of this comes across in her writing. There is no way to look at, listen to, or read Janice Taylor and be unhappy. No way! I am not on a personal quest for weight loss but "All is Forgiven", I have discovered, encompasses so much more - it's about renewing your outlook on life, your journey and, most of all, your esteem. It is the type of book that I like to take a little bite out of everyday - just for a boost of inspiration or a little yummy food for thought. The art work (graphics as well as Janice's artwork, present throughout the book) is an added boon. Even if I'm not reading, it's fun to just peruse the pictures, marvel at Janice's art, and enjoy how beautifully formatted the book is. If you are battling with your weight however, as many of us are, this book is a MUST READ before you even THINK about starting another diet! Everything about "All is Forgiven" will make you feel good, and better about what might have seemed an impossible journey to "Sveltsville." Sometimes you simply need a change of perspective :-)

I am in the middle of this book and I can't put it down. I am enjoying it so much, I just ordered her first book as well.

This is one of the best books I've read. Kept me laughing whole way through.I'm not your "typical reader" but this book I could read. Janice is such a delightful, charming Weight Loss Coach. I admire her style and just found this book to be so enjoyable. Janice Taylor, is so down to earth, and REAL, about weight loss. It's the kind of book you could read more than once. I ordered several of them and gave them to all my friends for their birthdays!! Now I just have to get them signed by Janice herself!!! Congrats to Janice for such a superb book. I commend you!! From Holly V. Long Island

Witty, heartfelt and truly inspirational! Janice Taylor teaches us how to silence that self-defeating inner voice and replace it with a confident one that envisions success and prosperity in all areas of one's life. Highly recommend!

I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed The Complete Idiot's Guide to Weight Loss. I believe that your book makes so much sense! I have already lost 10 pounds in a month's time by adopting many of the principles found in the book--eating 0-5, avoiding artifical sweetners and fake fat, and incorporating
more protien and less carbs into meals. I enjoy a small amount of dark chocolate every day or so...and I do not feel deprived at all! I am also exercising more, mostly cardio and yoga. Like many others, this has been a longtime struggle for me. I have tried Weight Watchers several times and found that I was more obsessed with food than when not on the program. In any case, I could go on and on like so many of your readers probably do. I just wanted to thank you and let you know that I loved your book, completely agree with your sensible approach, and will recommend it highly to others. Thanks!

I know everyone else is raving about this book, but I just don't see the big deal. In that it's one of the "complete idiot's" series, I was expecting something a little less "gimicky." However, these authors' diet recommendations remind me so much of The Zone, i.e., protein/carb/fat combo meals where the carbs are in the form of fruits & veggies. They note that our ancient ancestors didn't eat grains and suggest that we limit our consumption. I agree on the limits and like the new food pyramid where the grains are not the foundation; however, I do think eating whole grains shouldn't be discouraged to the extent that the authors discourage it. After all, barring those ancient ancestors, our more recent ancestors (i.e., those in the last few hundred years) have been eating grains, and America's obesity problem is just getting out of hand in the past 30 years, so we can't blame it on grains. The authors do have some common sense advice in the part of the plan that advises readers only to eat when hungry and to eat only until satisfied, not full (e.g., a portion about the size of your fist). The authors say that this is the way thin people eat, and we should emulate that if we want to be thin. I agree with that part. However, I was annoyed at the contradictions in the book. The authors continually suggest that we act and think "thin," but then they make suggestions for eating in a way that I've never seen any of my thin friends do. For example, the authors say that you can eat those cheeseburgers and that pizza, but when you do, eat the burger without the bun and the pizza without the crust. I've never seen a thin person do that unless for some odd reason that person didn't like bread (I don't know anyone who doesn't like bread). I think that suggestions like these perpetuate the dieting mentality. I would have prefered them to suggest eating a smaller burger or just one piece of pizza.

All in all, I don't think the book is harmful, but it didn't measure up to my expectations of books in the "complete idiot's" series. For those who like the concept of eating only when hungry (a concept I highly recommend), I suggest Seven Secrets of Slim People. This book advocates that type of eating, but doesn't suggest any food restrictions. The only aspect of the COMPLETE IDIOT'S guide that I prefer to Seven Secrets is their recommendation to eat breakfast even if you're not hungry. I believe this is necessary to get your metabolism moving in the morning.

I have been doing Weight Watchers off and on for about three years. I have gained and lost the same 10 pounds, and I have gotten nowhere near my "goal weight". Why not? No one mentioned the common sense guidelines that I got from this book in the first five minutes of reading it: eat according to your appetite and eat balanced meals that satify (rather than stuff) you. FINALLY! Very very great information about nutrition (with no hocus-pocus studies or extreme recommendations) and about how each meal should be balanced for maximum satisfaction and metabolism, and how to increase your physical activity (moderately) to support your weight loss. After only a few days I feel, for the first time in my life, a) satisfied after every meal, b) the excess weight coming off (already!), and c) completely confident that I can meet my goal weight without completely disrupting my life or suffering at the hands of the dreaded "WW points". I can do this for the rest of my life. Buy this book!

This book is really terrific! After over two years of living a "controlled carb" lifestyle, my husband and I began to get concerned about our health. Even though we lost loads of weight and kept it off all that time, we felt we may be doing our bodies long-term damage. So we tried low-fat for a bit, but started gaining weight and so we went back to low carb. Desperate to find a way to lose weight and eat healthy, we bought this book. In a nutshell, it shows you how to balance it all out. Through educating you about metabolism and even how to "get in tune" with your own body, this book puts it all in perspective. No fad dieting ideas, no gimmicks, just REAL answers to why we eat the way we do and how to eat right for the rest of your life! Exercise and stop being afraid of food! Eat when you're hungry! Enjoy real ice cream, butter and mayonnaise! Just do it right. This book shows you how.

This book is excellent. Written in easy-to-get language it manages to be both simple and yet detailed enough to go into a wide range of weight-management topics in significant depth.

I think books like this should be at least tax-free if not entirely free, as they are beyond being just self-help in the sense that they can potentially help relieve the burden that overweight/obese/unhealthy people have on our society. don't get me wrong - I mean no judgements there - I've been overweight and unhealthy myself and it's a problem which is still very much on the increase, both sides of the pond.

It's very educational and based on sound science yet you will hardly ever feel that you're 'in class' or studying; that said your knowledge of biology and the human body will definitely increase as a result of reading this book.

The real question - will it help me lose weight? Well, the answer is perhaps obvious - the book itself won't help you lose weight: your choices and behaviour will help you lose weight, but this book will definitely help you to understand how to lose weight (and why).

Buy it if

- you need to lose weight (duh)
- if you've lost weight with fad/crash-diets but know you're going to put it back on again
- want to learn more about the human body and basic nutrition
- want to teach and guide others in the subject (e.g. if studying nutrition/health on a medium level course)
- want to support someone who you know wants to lose weight effectively, safety and for good.

I am - or was - an overweight teen. I really love the show Growing Up Gotti and once I heard that Frankie had a diet book comng out I thought that this would be a perfect oppurtunity for me to loss the weight for good. I ordered the book and it exceeded my expectations. Frankie is truly a great writer. This book encouraged me to follow his diet steps! Now, only half way through my diet, I have lost 24 lbs. And it is thanks to Frankie! So thank you for helping me and others lose extra weight for good.

I wish there was more publicity on this book. I had watched the show and goggled the show for images and came upon a picture of him before the show and was shocked to see his weight and even more shocked at what he is today. After viewing the sample pages provided by Amazon, I knew I had to grab a copy. I am 10 years older then Frank but he touches the core of my problems. He is an admirable writer that can be respected by all ages. I really appreciate his honesty, sincerity and encouragement. He taps into emotions and experiences that I have yet to see in any book, and for it to target the young generation is phenomenal!! Thanks Frank :)

The author of this book was just arrested for drug posession. Diet and exercise, or was there something more?

Lies and scandals.

i love the growning up gottie show
it of the chin, but anywayz, hi frankie, i just wanna say that u look soooooo fooooone,now we girls can see ur the real frankie
u look amazing

Frank Gotti's diet and exercise book really reveals the trauma of being overweight as a kid/tennager. I couldnt believe the before and after pics! And the heartfelt text inside. Frank was not afraid to show his sensitive side, in an effort to help others lose the weight as well. I applaud him--he has guts!....(and he's gorgeous!)....Katie Ross

This might be considered a diet if you've been eating unhealthy and unaware of the basic tenets of good nutrition, however to us, it was a re-configuaration of much of what we already knew and were doing, but in a way that has helped us to drop excess weight and feel like our old bright and bouncy selves!

There are companion books you can get from the Mayo Library of Books. I suggest getting a few if you love cooking and want kitchen excitement. However, this book is much more than excitement. It is a simple and common sense approach for PEOPLE.

People like us. We love NFL games! We support our local high school's and our local university's various sporting and arts events. We like big bright holiday celebrations, we love to grill and entertain. We are not athletic, but enjoy fun exercising. We might not walk our neighborhood, but we will walk in botanic gardens or bigger city parks with lots of things to interest us.

This is a motivational book as much as anything. It really is geared to just plain ol' people! It isn't written for the froo froo people of the world, or the natural wanderers of the mountains and national parks, or the bean sprout organic types, it is for ALL of us. From the most picky irritating people who are so fussy you wonder if they can smile unless it is alternative organic and natural, to the most coach potato cheese curl eating beer guzzling take a bath once a week types, to EVERYONE else in-between! (Psst.. I lived in WV for about 8 years, I have seen the later description as common place, and I lived in Boulder, CO for 22 years, and have seen the former description all the time too! Give me a balance please! LOL)

Enjoy making your life being just that.. enjoyable. You will find a new self confidence and cheerfulness deep within your own spirit. It comes with my highest praise and recommendation!

I have found this book helpful for reworking my eating plans and just improving health. It is fairly comprehensive and I think it is probably the kind of material you would get if you went to a nutritionist. If you want to lose weight sensibly I would recommend it.

I can't say enough good things about this book. I had tried everything. I was fairly successful on the Body for Life program, but it took too much time. All I did on that program was eat and workout. I have a life. I need time for my family, work, continuing education and other activities. When I saw my life suffering at the expense of my body, I had to compromise the Body for Life program. I then ballooned back up to being obese. My doctor tried to talk me into a gastric bypass because my weight was getting so bad. This book from the Mayo Clinic gave me a diet that was very easy and had a lot of great food. I haven't even been tempted to wander from this program at all. The variety of food has filled my food addiction while also taking the weight off of me. I have been continually losing weight and my doctor is not worried about me at all now. She even just filled out a physical report stating that I am in very good health.

If you want good food, good health and time for a real life, this is the only book for you.

I've fought my weight my whole life. I've always been afraid of "fad" diets or diets that exclude one particular food. I think they are not a healthy way to lose weight. Everyone kept telling me to "eat a balanced diet" but no one explained what that meant. People talk about saturated fats, trans fats, etc and I felt like they were speaking a foreign language. My friends would count calories or carbs and would become frustrated. I didn't want to do any of that.

I bought the "Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for Everybody" when we moved and I had plenty of time for a "project". It is a 12 week program designed to get you into the habit of eating healthy. The first three weeks were a lot of work and took a lot of dedication. I had to weigh and measure everything. After the first three weeks, my eyes adjusted and were able to do the measurments without the scale and cups. Some of the recipes are a lot of prep and there is a lot of cutting of vegi's and fruits. My husband and my 2 teenage kids didn't mind the changes (except brown rice) so after the first 3 weeks "learning curve", it all worked out well. I lost 25 lbs in 12 weeks and I never even got into the exercise part. After the 12 weeks, I stopped tracking my number of servings for 3 months. I still ate the same foods and made sure I didn't eat "A LOT" or high calorie foods. I stopped losing weight but I didn't gain it all back either. I have started tracking my servings again and have started working on the exercise. I have set my goal to lose another 25 lbs in the next 12 weeks.

I agree with everyone else here that the information is presented in a way that is easy to understand and explains it all. The book gets indepth but it is presented in a way that if you don't care what "trans fat" is, you can skip that part. I've even gien this book as presents to friends and family. I bought the cookbook too but I don't like that one.

Whether or not you need to lose weight, this book is an excellent guide to healthy eating for life. The recipes are so easy that we're able to incorporate them into our everyday menus easily. We're all getting out 5-a-day, and then some! For weight maintenance, all you need to do is add a few more portions of some food groups. Even without reading the book, you can open up to the menu pages and start right away. You can also follow this plan on a tight budget since there aren't any hard to find or expensive ingredients. Between the eating plan and very helpful exercise goals, this has got to be the easiest way to get or stay healthy I've ever seen.

Great book. Great thought process and it works. I am dropping pounds without paying any attention to what I am doing. Change your thoughts, change your weight!

This is a truly wonderful book. I am so pleased to find a book that addresses weight issues in a holistic manner with a goal of health and well-being. It is written in a very accessible manner. In addition, it is not a rigid program, but rather full of encouragement and choices. I highly recommend this book!

This book focuses on the fact that anyone's weight problem is only a *symptom* of a deeper imbalance. This holds true regardless of why you're overweight -- whether you think it's obecause you overeat or because it runs in the family or because you have an underactive thyroid.
The only way to lose weight FOR REAL is through a holistic approach. Every other way simply does not work because evey other diet tries to treat the SYMPTOM of your deep imbalance -- the weight. But the way to lose weight is to completely rebalance your entire body. Along the way, you'll lose more than just pounds -- you'll lose many of your health problems and cravings and unhealthy habits. The more holistic measures you implement in your life, the more you'll WANT to implement. And the funny thing is, you'll also lose this unhealthy obsession with losing weight -- you'll want to become healthy FIRST, and you'll be able to let your weight loss be a SIDE EFFECT of becoming balanced.
Eventually, your attitude will change. You won't even WANT to pollute your body with junk food, so you'll opt for a healthy snack because you will WANT a healthy snack, not because you SHOULD have it.
Anyone who is tired of all the fad diets and not-so-fad diets and is looking to lose weight for real, improve your well-being, moods, and everything else, you can begin with this book and see where it takes you! Good luck!

I have read many weight loss books and this one really is the best. I first checked it out at local library and after reading it, decided that I must own this book for keeps! It's definitely worth reading...more than once!

This book is not just about Weight Loss, it's about Total Wellness!! As it was mentioned several times in the book, the focus is on getting healthy and that will trigger the weight loss by itslef.

The book is very well written and structured with clear explanations of everything.

The book offers the program of total wellness combining all the revolutionary methods. I was coming up with some kind of the same health program for myself and I found everything I wanted to know in this book. Note that I don't have any weight problem and still this books makes a difference and it will make a big difference in your life getting you were you want to be in terms of not only the wellness but your life itself! Whether you have a problem with your weight or not, whether you consider yourself healthy or not, buy this book. It costs only couple bucks but contains million dollar information for you to be the one you want to be. The book is full of knowledge that is not easy to find! I just want to thank the authors for sharing this kind of knowledge.

I picked up this book in Shoshanna's Wellness Center after first acupuncture treatment. I am just fortunate to live in the same area where she has an office and receive acupuncture treatments. Not to mention that I received one treatment so far but felt amazingly much better already right after the first treatment.

Again, the book is full of knowledge authors are sharing with us and it amazes me that you can get this kind of knowledge for only ... bucks!

Be well...

My husband was told to lose weight after knee surgery, and I was told in December that I was borderline Type 2 diabetic. We bought this book (I also recommend 'The Wisdom of Menopause'), and Dr. Strand's knowledge of my situation and his solution makes total sense. Since January, my husband has lost 55 pounds, and I've lost 35 pounds. It seemed effortless, and both of us have no intention, desire or craving to go back to our old ways. I have purchased over 10 of these books from Amazon for friends. So many of them have seen similar results from the book and the usana.com nutritional supplements. [...]

The whole idea behind this book is wonderful and helpful. I will re-read it and use it as a reference book because this is a subject I really need help with. The only thing that was surprising, and it is an important observation, is that there were so many grammatical and spelling errors. This always gives me a negative response to a book, especially since the author is a doctor. Then I have the tendency to doubt his or her credentials. Maybe we are entering an age when grammar and spelling are not as important as they used to be.

This a wonderful book for anyone who wants a healthier lifestyle and for anyone who wants to lose weight permanently! It is an easy read and everything is explained in simple terms.

This is a well researched approach to losing weight in a more permanent fashion. It gives hope to all those people who have been dieting forever and not getting lasting results. Excellent read.

I read a borrowed copy of Releasing Fat: Developing Healthy lifestyles that Have the Side-Effect of Permanent Weight Loss. It wasn't until after I ordered a copy for myself AND and copy of Healthy for Life... that I read the blurbs about them on Dr. Strand's website. You can't tell on the Amazon site that the books are virtually identical. The only difference is that Releasing Fat includes Usana products (meal replacements, snack bars, and vitamins and minerals) in its meal plans. Healthy for Life just has low-glycemic foods in its meal plans. If you want only one copy, you just need to get one or the other, not both. HOWEVER, I wasn't bothered by having two copies of what amounted to the same book because I've learned so much about insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, killer (abdominal) fat, carb cravings, cellular nutrition, and the benefits of a low-glycemic diet that I wanted to recommend it to all my friends and relatives.
There are a lot of low-gycemic diet books out there now, but this is the only one I've seen that goes into such detail about the specific negative health effects that result from the way most Americans eat and how a change to a low-glycemic diet will counteract those health problems.

I own the book, I've read the book, I'M IN THE BOOK!

I echo the sentiments of I believe all of us who were honored to share our story with everyone, and, if this helps just ONE person achieve the inspiration to help themselves defeat this 'enemy' called weight control, then what we endured was worth the journey.

Thank you, Dr. Rankin, for allowing me help not only myself, but those fortunate to purchase this great book.

I found this book to be exactly what it suggests.....INSPIRING. I liked the stories of what finally motivated these men and women to start to lose weight and how they succeeded in making it work for them. I am in Weight Watchers now, and like it very much, and I find that this books goes along very well with what I am learning in my WW meetings. It's the kind of book I'll pick up over and over to reread and keep me motivated. Anne Fletcher's books are in my "motivation basket," too, but I'm happy to find this one, and wish there were more like it.

Dr. Rankin captured real life in these stories. Readers can relate to these stories. Some of them are beyond what I am going thru and but after reading them I realized if they could lose their weight, so could I.
The book is an easy reading book, and you won't want to put it down once you start reading it.
A wonderful book of what TOPS (Take Off Pounds Senisbly) is all about. Thank you Dr. Rankin.
Diane H. Urbaniak

On too many occasions, books that are dedicated to helping people lose weight are too full of the basic "I ate less and started exercising more" stories. How boring (even though it's true). I want to hear about people that will INSPIRE me to keep going when all I want to do is quit. We all love to hear about how someone triumphs over adversity to reach their goal. Weight loss is no different. If it were truly that easy to lose weight then there would be a lot less overweight people in the U.S. And I doubt most overweight people would agree that the reason that they overeat is so that they can be treated poorly by society or to set themselves up for having a weight related disease such as heart disease or diabetes. Losing weight is a complex issue. It takes more than just eating less and exercising more. The stories that Dr. Rankin has insightfully included in his book deal with people who have low self-esteem, were abused as children or were just raised in families with skewed eating habits. It takes a very courageous person to get through the underlying issues and make their health a priority. Dr. Rankin sensitively approaches the many challenges that overweight people face. After reading this book, you will not only have more empathy for yourself if you are overweight but also for any other overweight person.

In this book the author summarizes the stories of people who struggled with their weight i would say mainly people who are over 300lbs. I have a lot of respect for the people who decided to share their stories in this book. At the same time i was hoping to read more about people who were not over 300lb but still struggled with eating healthy and exercising. Sorry to say but I found the stories very depressing and for some reason i wasn't able to finish the book and i put it away. It is very touching but it was not the type of motivation that i was looking to read. What's amazing is that these people were overweight but managed to fall in love and get married...how insecure could they have been? It proves to me that appearance is not everything because someone had noticed them and overlooked their weight problem and at some point they felt comfortable enough to feel attracted to someone...which for me is very difficult to even think about dating anyone when i am overweight.

For those frustrated with off-the-rack diets and an apparent inability to lose weight, this is the book for you. Refreshing, honest, and empowering.

this book is rather complicated to follow, and i was not real thrilled with it.

I read this book after realizing that the weight wasn't just going to fall off after having kids. Jonny has a different approach than many of us have heard over and over. His writing is so personable and I laughed out loud quite a few times. Many of us know people who have done great on diets. Many diets haven't worked for us. Most of us have the wrong idea of the word 'diet'. Jonny helped me figure out what worked for me and I had a lot of fun in the process. I definitely recommend this book for anyone interested in their health.

I've recently completed reading Shape Up and was really inspired by the approach taken by the author. He really nails it on the head with his observation that one diet/healthy lifestyle program does not fit all. Our bodies are different, our lifestyles are different and our preferences regarding food, exercise and life goals are different. It therefore makes sense that any health program needs to be developed on an individual basis by the person him- or herself. I know what I 'should' be eating and what exercises I 'should' be doing (from the dozens of other books I have read). This book made me feel like I want to do them - it honours choice and is firmly based in reality and a wholistic approach to wellness. I recommitted myself to a healthy body and have lost 4 pounds in the last week. And I'm not feeling under the whip of any diet/exercise regime. An inspiring, informative and sensible book.

Mr. Bowden's "Shape Up!" Plan makes *intuitive* sense. Simply put, the person on the plan creates his or her own strategy to lose weight. His tool is information, and he provides great frameworks for continuing your path to good health, *as well as for creating a sound mind.*

One drawback is that, although I generally enjoy an informal writing style, I find myself annoyed at his. The text also contains way too many typos. (...Maybe it's just my edition? Is there more than one?).

I give the book 2 crooked thumbs up. Regardless of his or her weight, every person should hear what this man has to say.