Rating: 
Summary: This book will change your life!
Review: "Make the Connection" is an incredible book, not just because of Oprah's inspirational story, but because her trainer, Bob Greene, helps you to understand exactly how your body works and WHY DIETS DON'T WORK!! In fact, if you want to lose weight, you HAVE TO EAT (sensibly) and this book tells you how and why! As Bob explains, the key is understanding your metabolism and the role regular exercise plays in increasing your metabolism and KEEPING it increased. Our bodies NEED FOOD the way a car needs gas in order to perform effectively. Bob tells it like it is, sometimes harshly, and makes it clear that you're going to have to work hard, sweat and be disciplined - but you can still eat and it really works! You have to think of your body like it's a machine - and you want to keep that machine fine-tuned, oiled and full of premium gasoline, otherwise it won't run properly!! I'm in my 30s and was not much more than 10 pounds overweight, but I felt bloated, sluggish, had lost muscle tone and generally felt depressed about myself compared to how I used to look and feel when I was in my 20s. To lose weight, I would deprive myself of food, feel sick from headaches and the shakes when I didn't eat, and then end up bingeing and feel even worse. I could barely make myself exercise more than once a week. Well, this book not only helped me lose the extra pounds, but all my other symptoms have disappeared! I now have great muscle tone, feel energetic and positive, rarely feel bloated (except from all that water you have to drink!) and I look and feel better than I did in my 20s! I feel fantastic and I also sleep so much better!! The quality of sleep now is unbelievable!! "Make the Connection" changes your whole outlook on life and feelings about yourself and food. I LIKE TO EAT and, when you follow Bob's 10 steps, you can eat and still lose weight. It's a win-win situation!! All you have to have is the discipline to stick with it. Some days you fall off the wagon, but you just have to get right back on!! Whether you want to lose a little weight or a lot, or just want to tone up and feel more alive, this book can help you do it!!
Rating:
Summary: If You Do It Most Likely You'll Lose a Lot of Fat
Review: I had to write a review about this book. I was about 40 pounds overweight and jumping from program to program and yo yoing about 10 pounds with no significant results. I found this book in a used book store and kept it in a box for several months before getting around to trying it.
Contrary to the other reviewer, this book is not about common sense and the majority of people need it. It is written by an exercise physiologist who specializes in weight loss and fitness. This man knows what he is talking about. While the specific steps may not seem that different from the mass of ineffective diet information out there, this book actually goes far beyond them. It explains when to exercise, how much to eat, what to eat, whether alcohol will harm weight loss, how intensely to exercise-all things that nobody would know using their own common sense.
My philosophy is that when you need a question answered go to someone who knows the topic. Bob Green (the exercise physiologist) has proven that this program works because Ophra lost a lot of weight on it. Further, the weight loss is very fast, 1.5 to 2 pounds per week.
I started the diet in August at 204 lbs and 44% body fat and am now 184 lbs and 39% body fat. The only additional thing I did was to take a green tea supplement called "Super Green Tea Diet" by U.S. Nutrition to help fat metabolism (very cheap, only $5 per month).
I am amazed more people don't follow this book since it was released in 1996. It would destroy the diet industry.
I am still getting used to having pretty girls check me out but that is the kind of problem that I like to have.
Rating: 
Summary: common sense
Review: I've read this book and it works if you use it but its nothing new. If you want to save yourself some time from buying it drink water eat a well balanced meal, and exercise. Everything Oprah touches turns to gold. If only I could get 14.95 for my advice!
Rating:
Summary: Grimly Ironic.
Review: Ms. Winfrey is famous for experiencing somatic changes as regular and dramatic of those of the fabled Incredible Hulk. For this reason one is tempted to dismiss any advice that she might proffer on the topics of diet, nutrition, or general bodily health. However after going through so many visibly successful "slimming phases," Winfrey has arguably shed more pounds in the aggregate than the ill-fated Donner Party, and her directives should not be taken lightly. I myself followed this wonderful disk's program for several weeks before my second wedding, and was able to wow my betrothed with a slender new physique in time for our romantic yet financially disastrous trip to Petit St. Vicent. Sadly just like its esteemed narrator, I fell into a subsequent bout of severe gluttony that rapidly erased my hard-won gains. However I took heart in Ms. Winfrey's own phoenix-like dieting program, convinced that one day success would again be mine. I found the quiet example of Winfrey's co-reader, Bob Greene, to be no less inspiring. Greene is an object lesson in tenacity and dedication as he daily addresses the Sisyphean task of being Ms. Winfrey's personal trainer.
Rating:
Summary: Still Making The Connection
Review: I wasn't ready early on to Make the Connection but now I am. I bought the CD. Oprah begins the CD talking about her struggles with weight. She takes you on her journey early in her career all the way to meeting Rosie and Bob and includes a lot of the low points in between. I could really relate to some of her stories. Then Bob steps in and gives you his version of meeting Oprah. He then walks you through the 10 steps of weight loss and taking control of your life. I felt like he was right in my living room talking to me! The steps are easy to follow and logically sequenced. He talks about the common errors people make when they exercise and what not to do. He also gives you a really good scale to gauge if you are working out hard enough. He talks about what foods are good for you and how to tell if you are eating out of boredom, stress or other emotions. I was so motivated by the CD, I listened to it again and again. I play it in my car to keep me motivated and focused. If you are ready to Make the Connection, this is the book for you!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: Easy to understand, motivating, touching. Makes me wanna work harder to achieve my fitness goals.You go Oprah!
Rating:
Summary: Oprah rules
Review: I absolutely love this tape. It is the most motivating weight loss tool I have found. Oprah is a hoot, and her common sense approach to battling a low setpoint and low metabolism are so inspiring. This book, narrated by Bob Greene (who was her personal trainer for this journey) and Oprah, documents Oprah's journey to self-discovery and her mastery of the necessary tools to achieving permanent weight loss. In typical Oprah fashion, she dives into the project and emerges victorious. The only caution would be that Oprah exercised vigorously spurred on by training for various races. Since this is not a pace she will maintain for life, she still has ups and downs. Exercise is one of the steps outlined in this program and it advises 20-40 minutes daily at a certain level. Each person needs to decide for themselves what works for them. The 10 steps outlined in this book are relatively easy to achieve and are healthy, being based on common sense. This book is not about dieting down to a certain weight. It is about changing your life. It has changed mine. I keep this tape in my car for constant motivation. I have quit smoking in the last year and this tape is my cigarette substitute. The money I spent for this tape was well worth it. If you love Oprah, you will love this tape.
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