Rating: 
Summary: A True Body For Life
Review: I was given this book as a gift - After two weeks I was the one giving it as a gift. I have lost 17 lbs in 5 short weeks - my secretary whom I gave one as a gift has lost 12. I have a very demanding job and the gym is not open when i leave for work. I spent $50.00 on a set of dumbbells and a straight bench. I work out every morning and use the tae bo and buns of steel tapes for my aerobic solution. If I can do it you can too - remember a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Take it. E-mail me at tater2325@aol.com
Rating: 
Summary: A book for beginners
Review: Phillips, a great motivator, details EXACTLY what to do and how to shape a quality physique. Although the information about training and diet is elementary to experienced trainers, the goal setting and motivation techniques are very applicable. Mind set and motivation are the most important protocols in any endeavor, so it only makes sense they are the core of the program to go along with a precise diet/exercise strategy. Training and eating strategies in this book are easy to follow and are detailed in full. It would be hard NOT to get good results following this book to the word.
Rating:
Summary: Do Yourself a Favor.
Review: If you have been on every diet under the sun, do yourself a favor and purchase this book. You won't just read it once, you'll keep it close by for constant reference and inspiration. I also purchased the audio and find it well worth the money.This mans message is clear and concise and totally makes sense. There is no way you can follow this program and not lose weight and feel great. Proceeds from this book go to "Make a Wish", I was impressed with that. I also dontated $5.00 a pound for weight I lost on this program. For Life,
Rating:
Summary: Cheaper Supplement
Review: I wrote a review earlier here about this book and just came by to see some of the new reviews. People here are constantly talking about how expensive the supplements are. They are expensive, especially purchased through EAS directly. I get mine through vitaminshoppe.com and they are typically 30-40% cheaper. About $1/bar, $1.00-1.50 per myoplex deluxe shake. That is tolerable. Especially considering what you spend if you run to KFC and get a chicken sandwich no sauce for 3 bucks (one of my lazy ff meals.) plus one or two of the 79 cent corn on the cobs of course. Thought I'd share. My actual review is back a ways dated 10-7-00 I believe...
Rating:
Summary: Perfect Plan
Review: This is the perfect program for anyone who wants to make excellent progress with Physical and nutritional goals in mind. The world is full of experts in this field and we are certainly not short of opinions on the subject either. With all of the programs out there, we are told to do this or that which usually throws our nutrition extremely out of balance. Our bodies need the right kind of nutrition to perform at the level we expect. The ahtlete requires different nutrition and anyone who decides to do this program will now be on an athletes level of performance. Your starting performance doesnt matter because you will begin out at your own level. This means that anyone can do it and make super progress! You must prepare the fuel to feed the new high performance engine (you). This is simple but requires dedication and discipline. The neat thing about this is that you are not told what to do and left out there to fend for your self. This is all set up for you. All you have to do is follow the steps. Alot of people say its too hard to keep records and eat the way this program describes. The difference between these people and those who are successful with it is discipline and dedication. If you are wishy-washy and a complainer about how you cant do something then you have failed before youve even started. The program is not hard at all, its just a different way of doing things. We as adults dont like change because we must step out of our comfort zone to do so and alot of us dont like to do that. Lets say you change jobs but stay in the same field. Your new employer will have you do things differently than your old employer and you might not like it cus "I used to do it this way at my old job". Well your not at your old job anymore. You either do it this way or dont do it at all. So you decide to change your way if thinking and the way you do the same job. When we decide to change our way of eating, we find after a while that its not as hard as we thought. Our eye is on the prize. If you were told that if you complete this program you would get a million dollars would you do it step by step? Well, what price would you put on your health. The money doesnt matter if youre dead does it? We think we will find happiness if we could only have something that we cant. We are very selfish people. How about doing this program for our husbands or our wives or our children. If you are dead, your family will wish for something they cant have which is you! Its not too late, start now and live your life with zest and vitality! You dont have to use the Myoplex outline in the book. Its really overpriced. There are other products like Metabalol II made by Champion Nutrition which is an excellent choice. What ever you do, dont wait, start now. This is the best thing you could do for yourself and your family, it really is!
Rating:
Summary: Good for the rudiments; but not a "Bible" by any means
Review: Most of this book is motivational, which I find useless because Bill is suggesting that what works for his mind should work for everybody. Clinical social workers would be out of business if mindset were that simple. And then just a few pages of the book are dedicated to a very rudimentary (and rather good) introduction to bodybuilding technique, such as I have seen in many bodybuilding magazines, usually under the title "Bodybuilding 101" or something. All too often I see somebody who follows this book and is afraid to experiment in any way. For some people, a 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein is best and for some people a 1:3 ratio is best. Phillips takes the conservative middle route by suggesting 1:1, and the few who grace the championship pictures are probably those who, like Bill, are best suited by this ratio. Also, the book does not mention how much fat a person should consume, and many assume that fat intake should be as low as possible. This is not at all true. Fat intake should be around 15 to 35% of calories, depending on who you are and should come from the healthy fats, such as nuts, avocadoes, olive oil, fish oil et cetera. The only kind of fat to avoid is hydrogenated fat or fat that is damaged in some other way, such as that from homogenized dairy products. I suggest that people accept that not all bodies are the same and make it your intellectual endeavor to design a program for your own body, which will probably take more than twelve weeks to do but fortunately you have more than twelve weeks. This book is a great starting point. Bill is, from my experience, pretty much right on about eating frequent small meals, never eating carbs without protein to slow down the glycemic response, getting the essential fatty acids, how often and when to exercise, how to do cardio, and training for women. I don't like the way this book doesn't even try to explain the science behind the ideas the way many other books do, as if Bill is assuming the reader might not understand it. Also, his program suggests a "free day." The free day can be good for you or bad for you, depending on what you do during it. On that day you must raise your metabolism and oversaturate the muscular repair process. On the free day, do not decrease the frequency of your meals, only increase the portion sizes and stick to healthy foods. Don't kid yourself about this free day. Margarine eaten on the free day will damage your heart just like on any other day, and an absolute binge fest will cause you to put on fat. To refine the technique for yourself, I suggest that you get <<A Practical Approach to Strength Training>> by Matt Brzycki, and ignore his advice about diet and about machines being just as good as free weights--they aren't. But his advice involves fewer sets and more intensity than the Body for Life book and I think it is better. And for refining your diet, the two best books I have seen are <<The Schwarzbein Principle>> by Diana Schwarzbein, which gives a very good explanation of insulin management and discerning healthy from unhealthy ingredients. Also, perhaps the best book on individualized diet is "Eat Right for your Type" by Peter J. D'Adamo, which is usually for the most part correct and will help you determine what foods to eat. And, in general, a reduction in carbohydrates is the best way to tip the balance toward losing fat, and the severity of this should depend on your body type. My advice on supplements is that vitamins and minerals, creatine monohydrate, HMB, and L-Glutamine will help you, but you can get them for much cheaper than what EAS charges.... The myoplex shakes are good for some people, bad for others. They contain small amounts of hydrogenated oil, which should be avoided by anyone. But for some people, whey protein powder is very beneficial in muscle building, and if you are one of those people I suggest that you buy eleven pounds of it for $50.00 from www.supplementdirect.com and save a ton of money, and then eat grapes or apples or something with your protein powder to get carbs. The original EAS physique transformation challenges left the participant to design his or her own program, and I think this is the best approach. The most dramatic before/after photos actually come from the original contest, not the contests where people follow the Body for Life program, back when the programs were not forced into a "one size fits all" structure. A guy in there named Everett Herbert went on a diet that had 300 grams of protein per day and 100 grams of carbs per day, and it worked wonders for him. A skinny guy named Anthony Ellis, while putting on muscle, omitted cardiovascular exercise to maximize his muscle gains. Don't be afraid of experimenting. Muscle Media magazine, published by Bill Phillips, is probably the best source of these little tips, but lately it has started to become mostly motivational. Whenever somebody tells Bill Phillips that they aren't losing as much fat as they should on his program, he busts out the line that "this is not about having a perfect body, it's about LIFE" and suggests that they do the same thing they've been doing and, inevitably, get the same results they've been getting. Don't be afraid to experiment with foods and training, and do not fall victim to ANYBODY's "one size fits all" approach. And of course I consider getting in shape one of the greatest things you can do for yourself. For motivation just think, "I could starve myself for a week if I had to" (and you can) and then sticking to any plan that includes food seems easy. Good Luck!!
Rating:
Summary: Great Program, but watch the push for supplements
Review: I dove into the body for life program with both feet, and am one of the small percentage who actually followed through and finished it. I was pleased with my results, though by no means do I look like anyone on the cover of the book... The book itself gave me the information I needed to get going, and I still use it regularly to follow my workouts. The one drawback I find in the book is with the push to purchase supplements. I did use some of the supplements in my first challenge, but found that they were far too expensive to continue with. I have also found others which are less costly than the EAS touted in the book which are likely equally as efficient with the program if you choose to use supplements. As I say this, I still enjoy the shakes and recommend that if you do have a hard time sticking to the eating program that you do look at shakes or bars as an occasional meal replacement. The program works - my results were not the picture perfect ones on the cover, but that is not what I expected in 12 weeks - after all, it says body for life, not body for 12 weeks. This is a lifetime program that make sense, if you can motivate yourself to stick to it.
Rating:
Summary: Bottom Line
Review: If anyone out there is looking for a "Turn Key"program to change your mental, physical and nutritional needs for thebetter this is your last stop! Dont listen to those who try to teardown Bill Phillips for what he has done in his past. Not one of us isso pure that we have the right to throw the first stone! How many ofthese people have gone through the grueling work to write and publisha book and to market a fitness system to help the masses make lifechanging results? How many of these people would donate the proceedsto the "Make a Wish Foundation" and bring happiness to veryill children? How many of them would allow anyone to download all ofthe information, forms and many other things needed to be successfulfor free?. . . . Well? ... ... .... One of the greatest reasons fordoing this program is that it works. I will agree with all that saythat the Moyoplex supplements are overpriced. The good news is thatyou can get the same type of supplements at half the cost at the sameGNC or whatever store you use for these products. You can do thisprogram at your own fitness level and make great improvements fromthere towards whatever your goal may be. If any of you have children(I have 3 boys under the age of 5)you know how precious time is andlets face it all of us only have 24hrs. in a day. I`m up at 6 to6:30am every day and in bed by 1am. I am very busy too! This is whythis program is so good. You dont have to spend all day at the gym,but who would want to anyway. I have a life with my family that is soimportant to me which is why I decided to do it. My cholesterol was268 and I was 30lbs overweight. There is a reason why cholesterol iscalled the silent killer no matter if you are thin or overweight, itdoesnt care. I took the advise of a body builder friend of mine whoput me on the typical program, work hard and long. Ive seen moreresults in one month with the Body For Life program than in one yearwith the other. Phillips explains why this happens in his book. Lookat it this way, if you are going to work out anyway, what have you gotto loose by doing this program? NOTHING! We are not short of expertsout there and thats why the BOTTOM LINE is and will always be themeasure of truth. Does it work or doesnt it? Follow the program 1 23. Its like putting a model together. With all its parts, its nothingbut a bunch of parts. But when you follow the instructions 1, 2,3. . . . . it becomes something to be proud of, something that youbuilt from just a bunch of parts. Were the instructions good or bad?The results are the bottom line. You do this program and you will getdramatic results, you really will! Oh, and stay away from negativepeople! They will make you miserable just as they are.
Rating:
Summary: A coordinated, whole body program
Review: Bill Philips has given us a very good basic program. It combines the 2 essential types of exercise (aerobic and resistance) along with a diet program that is fairly simple to follow. I have been doing the exercise portion of the program for about 1 1/2 years. I have not seen the results that many others have, but then I'm probably not as motivated as they are. But I have seen results -- I have lost some weight, gained some muscle, and have some muscle definition for the first time in my life. It has also helped me resolve some back and neck problems. Although I'm not as strict as I should be with the diet to lose more weight, I find it is an easy diet to follow, and it is helping me maintain my weight and feel better. The small meals are great for me because I tend to get bored at work and then look for a snack. Now, I can have a small meal instead of a high fat or sugary snack. I am willing to pack up a bunch of little containers of food every day -- it would be much harder or not possible if I ate out. I do NOT do the supplements. I've tried Myoplex, but it has nutrasweet in it. I think the program covers the key aspects to having a strong healthy body. It may not be a perfect program, but it is certainly a very good basis for one. For many of us who were floundering around trying to figure out how to change our bodies, this book is an excellent start.
Rating:
Summary: a worthwhile purchase
Review: I am a former gym junkie. So I was rolling my eyes at myself when I bought this book. Here we go again...I mean, I had burnt out on bodybuilding and aerobics years ago for several reasons. I hated the gym atmosphere, I hated aerobics and I wasn't seeing any great results for all my hard work! And believe me, I did work hard. But I have since returned to dance and particularly in Jazz class I have been srtuggling due to lack of strength and stamina. So,that's why I got this book. And I am happy to say that I am very glad I did. It's not only TIME efficient, but efficient period.It's simple and straightforward. Phillips has developed a strength routine and aerobic routine that will have you continue to make progress. You start at YOUR level of fitness and provided you are consistent, you will improve. I find I don't dread the workouts because they are short. But I will confess that I ignore the diet advice. After the low fat/high carb diet obsession that swept the country and nearly ruined my health- I do NOT rely on books to tell me what to eat.Not to mention just the word "diet" makes me cringe.But that is my decision and not a reflection on this book. I gave the book 4 stars only because I was disappointed with the small amount of strength building exercises he showed that can be done at home as opposed to in the gym. Fortunately, I finally have use for all those bodybuilding books I bought years ago, because I look in those for additional exercises.
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