Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength

Rating:
Summary: Best 12 weeks of my life!
Review: This book is so well written and so suprisingly easy to follow. My results were astonishing, i thought the pictures were unbelieveable, then i finished my 12 weeks and was floored. Lost 34 pounds, and i am a new person, defined, lean, stronger, such a great book, anyone, and i mean anyone can do this, and succeed. It is not a diet, it is a way of life, a better way of life. I have given this book to over a dozen friends and would reccomend it to anyone interested in changing thier life for the better.

Rating:
Summary: Move over, Tony Robbins.
Review: Let's be honest with what Bill Phillips is intending to do in "Body for Life": sell more Myoplex. This artificially flavored, fortified, and caloried meal replacement is not real food. It only panders to the root of the obesity problem, which is a growing laziness in Americans to take it upon themselves to look after their health, including preparing their own nutritious meals. And even if this MRP was good for you (discounting its high sugar content, heat and pressure altered amino acids, and oxidized LDL cholesterol) you could easily concoct your own with generic whey protein or a protein blend, and some powdered maltodextrine for considerably less money.

There's Bill Phillips scientifically design exercise program: 2 days upper body, 2 days lower body, 2 days cardio + rest day. Of course, he doesn't tell you much about form on each movement, or the benefit of using certain weight bearing exercises over others in producing functional strength safely instead of just pretty boy (or girl) muscles and risking future joint/ligament problems. All Phillips requires is that you reach some subjectively determined "level 10 output" of vague physiological description.

The dietary plan is wonderfully rich in starches and sugars for the overweight person, increased consumption of which worked so well in addressing our nation's obesity problem over the last 3 decades, as you can read for yourself in USDA published material on both statistics. Simply stay away from all that evil butter, cream, and animal tallows like Bill Phillips says. After all, we see how rampant obesity and cardiovascular illness has become in people who eat these foods, such as the natives of France, southwest Africa, and Switzerland, and how epidemic it was in the buffalo-eating Plains Indians before they were Westernized.

Some of the "evidence" in the book is ridiculous, such as how the bear, an animal that gorges itself instead of grazing, is overweight and slothful. I would laugh myself into a seizure if I ever saw Bill P. try to take on a bear singlehandedly or with a few of his bodybuilder friends. Has he ever watched a single nature show on the species? See one of those creatures run down a rabbit, hook a fish with its mouth or paw, jump, climb a tree, or swim a river and dare to tell yourself that it is a debilitated animal. Naturally Phillips neglects to mention cows, pigs, sheep, and poultry all follow the grazing style he suggests, but fail to assume the enviable physique of the stallion.

And the crowning feature of "Body for Life" is "The Cheat Day". On day 7 of the week, you get to eat whatever you want and park yourself in front of the TV with reckless abandon. This should clue people in to the truth about the regimen, that it is unnatural, uncomfortable, and a form of deprivation. Lasting success, as you can ask those who have kept off their weight, almost always involves slowly but surely changing your tastes and lifestyle habits to more healthful patterns. Phillips is promoting the failed "restrict/binge" approach, merely in a more structured way.

To Phillips' credit however, he has managed to inspire several to pick their fat cabooses off the couch and "just say no" to Little Debbie's. Whether his bodybuilder lifestyle is going to work for everyone in the long term for achieving optimal health is another story. Regardless, all of this information is published on the web for free at bodybuilding.com and in far greater detail with pictures.

I suppose this is the point in the negative review where you expect me to give you THE answer to your weight loss needs. Sorry to disappoint, but I don't have one. My modest understanding of this topic leads me to believe that there are still too many unanswered questions and conflicting theories in applied human physiology for a "one size fits all" approach. Almost everyone willing to offer you "your last diet" will feed you false premises unsupported by repeatable science. Far better to listen to different experts, get yourself educated, use what works, and scrap what doesn't. Consulting a trusted doctor and/or psychologist would be a great place to start since being overweight is primarily a medical issue. Stop lining the pockets of these genetically blessed sensationalist salesmen.