Rating: 
Summary: Great book! Something for everyone.
Review: This is truely one of the greatest books ever written on fitness. It has been a #1 Best Seller for quite a while now, for good reason. It gives you good, practical advice on eating right, and working out. You won't spend hours in the gym, nor will you need to buy expensive suppliments to stay on this program (suppliments are recommended). Weight Watchers is a great start, however, counting only Fat, Calories and Dietary Fiber simply isn't enough. Weight Watchers is only good to tell you how much food to eat. Not when and what to eat. Nor does Weight Watchers outline a good workout program. Stop counting silly fiber and fat. Fat in food isn't the problem. The fat on your body is! Buy the book, you won't regret it, and unlike Weight Watchers, all the proceeds of this book go to charity.
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not comprehensive enough to be excellent
Review: I've been reading Bill Phillips magazine, "Mucle Media" on and off since 1996 and it's full of useful information. Here Phillips condenses some exercises with nutrition and mental attitude and makes a useful book. The good points:
Bill Phillips is an amazing motivational writer. After reading the motivational sections in this book your pumped and ready to run to the gym. In fact I would recommend that you reread the motivational sections of the book throughout your training period. Another good point is the excercises that he lists. He gives a good overview of the major exercises for the major muscle groups ( the big muscles) that will show the most gain. He also recommends increasing intensity which is often overlooked. Probably the most important aspect of fitness training that I've learned from Bill would be the 20 min Cardio in the morning and eating 6 small meals during the day. The weak spot.
The only minor weakness of this book is the nutrition area. Don't get me wrong Bill does a good job of telling you what good foods are and even the portion size. However, readers should seek more nutitional information from other sources. Bill needs to place more emphasis on eating a well balanced diet. i.e eating from the four major food groups at every meal. I was fortunate enough to meet one of the original 1997, body for life co-champions, Porter Freeman. He advised that the most important thing was nutrition. I recently went to a dietician and worked on a nutrition meal plan for me. Since then I've used some of Bills suggestions and dropped 15 pounds in 7 weeks. I'm sure further gains could be made if I followed Bill to the letter. However, I don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on his supplements. Over all I'd recommend this book to anyone looking to become healthier, stronger, and more positive.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best programs to help transform your mind & body
Review: If you are looking for a program that covers everything you need to know to get your body looking it's very best then this program is for you. It is excellent for beginners or anyone who is frustrated with using past approaches that haven't produced noticable and measurable results. The program takes work, but the results are well worth the effort. My positive experience with this program is why I have decided to write this review. My 12 week program went from March 14 to June 5, 2001. I went from 11% bodyfat down to 7% and lost a total of 9lbs (8lbs fat mass & 1lb muscle mass). I finished in the top 94th percentile out of all the 2001 Body-for-LIFE challengers. I was pleased with the amount of weight that I lost but what frustrated me was that I lost muscle mass. This program does work, but it produces different results for each person. My goal was to produce the same results as Anthony Ellis (featured in Body of Work) who gained 32lbs of muscle. I've learned that you have to be realistic when setting your goals for this program because very few people will be able to produce the exact same results as the Body-for-LIFE champions. I believe it is possible, but it requires a lot work. The only supplement that I used during this program was Myoplex which Bill reccomends in his book. You DO NOT need any supplements to succeed with this program. Myoplex is convenient when you have very little time to eat and that's why I decided to use it. There are MANY other supplements available that work just as good if not better than myoplex and are much cheaper. If you are fed up with the way you look and feel and are ready to do something about it, this book is one of the best places to start. I reccomend you read a few of the reviews (good and bad) so you get a feel for what people are saying about this book from both sides. There are a lot of really good points from both sides, but don't let any of them stop you from reading this book and putting it into action.
Rating: 
Summary: What a great plan if...
Review: Great plan if you wanna hang out in the gym pumpin iron with guys named "Cujo" and tons of off-duty cops. Great plan if you want your stool to look like Myoplex. Great plan if you have no plan of your own and want to latch onto BP's fantasy of tight black t-shrits and Lamborghini Diablo's and eating dinner with your mom once a week. Great plan if you wanna spend $80 per box for "The best tasting" of all the freaking NASTY protein shakes out there for 3 months, and stuff an extra 1000 calories into your craw every day. Great plan if you're so dim that you don't realize that it says NO WHERE in the book that the "before and after" photos were actually taken close to 12 weeks apart, and that "as little as 12 weeks" does not mean "you'll look like this in 12 weeks." Great plan if you've tried to use religion to answer that feeling of worthlessness in your life, but decided that you just couldn't wait for the results. Great plan if you want to end up boring everyone you know with explanations of why your life now revolves around your diet and these ridiculous shakes that make you feel like you have socks on your teeth. Great plan if you can't just eat sensibly and keep a moderatley active lifestyle. Try something better for yourself... Weight Watchers is an excellent program.
Rating:
Summary: Simple advice with dramatic results
Review: I have personally done this program and achieved dramatic results. I also know several people that have transformed their bodies using his plan. This program works but you actually have to work to get the results. It IS NOT a get thin quick scheme. It is a "work your butt off and see amazing results in 12 weeks plan". They don't call it a challenge for nothing, it is a challenge but if you want to change your life then follow his advice. A friend did this program and had results similiar to those pictured in the book. He was a finalist in the BfL challenge.... I was very skeptical when I saw the book then I emailed "MrMom" to find out that he is a real person and I followed him through his program. Bottom line..if you want to have a body builders body and you don't know how to do it, this book gives you a step by step approach.
Rating:
Summary: A total waste of money and shelf space
Review: I purchased this book thinking that it would provide a guided program for working out and body building. The author wrote much about the concepts and the theories but failed to provide the promised program. He kept encouraging the reader to start the program which he promising to talk about later in the book, but he never got to talking about it. I flipped the pages back and fourth and found no concrete program to follow. Concepts and promises of providing the program later is all you get. If you know that muscles are good for you and can be built by working out three times a week for twenty minutes and doing aerobics in between, you already know most of what this book has to offer. If not, you know it by now!
Rating: 
Summary: Not too great for "women".... aimed at men I think!!!
Review: I bought this book because my "inlaws" are big fans and have been very successful with the "Body for Life" program and philosophies in the past. Personally, though, I found it to be a bit intimidating and the recommended starting weights were too high for me. Also, it really took a "body building" type approach to the workout. As a woman, I want a tight little toned and firm body, but this workout takes a more tradtional turn. Longer rests and higher weights than we need for that purpose.
Also, I found the eating program to be way too much food for me to maintain my weight. Yes, I understand I was gaining muscle, but I was stuffed! I know being stuffed is not a good way to feed your body in any case.
I did not stick with this program long enough to see real results......because I really wasn't that crazy about it and felt that it was for men. I'd recommend any of Joyce Vedral's workouts instead. Or Denise Austin's strength training videos. They give you tight& toned and don't encourage massive amounts of food SIX TIMES A DAY!! (no....I do not undereat, I am 160 pound and 5' 11".....and that's where I would like to stay!!!) :)
Rating:
Summary: Do not buy this book!
Review: It was the biggest waste of 12 weeks ever! I lost maybe a total of 5 lbs and toned up a little bit. For those of you with binge eating problems like myself the free day looks heaven sent, but it cost me my sucess. The book is not oriented for people with our mentality. Also, I found articles on the internet that claimed the photos are retouched and some of the people are not even part of the program. This book tells you what you already know. Eat healthy and exercise. My advice... their is no better weight loss coach than yourself.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Exercise/Diet/Lifestyle Plan
Review: This book is really the only training book you need. Over the years I've bought tons of exercise books but this book is far and away the best. Why? Because the average person does not want to look like a competative bodybuilder. The average person wants to be lean and aerobically fit. This book lays down a clear,consice, and effective plan to achieve optimal health. It is extremely easy to read, logically laid out, and supported by scientific facts. This book takes all the training knowledge out there and whittles it down to what really works and is effective. It is not a quick fix scam program. You will work on this program! But what makes this program great is that it shows you that you really only have to SLIGHTLY increase your level of activity and SLIGHTLY modify your diet to see very fast results. The best book of it's type out there. The best money you will spend. If you follow the plan results will come. It's basic science,training and nutrition...perfectly explanied.
Rating:
Summary: This actually works!
Review: My husband and I are both currently completing this 12 week program and have both seen fantastic changes in our physiques. We look better, we feel better and we feel more self-confident in our "new bodies". The Body for Life plan is easy to follow and requires only a few minutes of planning each day. The cardio and weight workouts are flexible to accomodate different strength/ability levels and contrary to some ..., there are no restrictions on what time of day you can work out, or which machines you can and can't to use. Only suggestions for what has proven to work the best for others. This plan also has a built-in free day once a week so you can indulge your cravings. And even with that, the results are amazing! If you are truly serious about losing fat, getting in shape and making a permanent lifestyle change for the better, then this book is for you! The plan does not suggest that you complete the 12 weeks and then go back to old, unhealthy habits. The idea is that once you create your ideal body, you won't want to go back to the "old" way, you will continue to eat intelligently and work out regularly to keep your great new body. The author is very inspiring and sincere in his efforts to motivate people to get off their couch and get in shape!
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