Rating: 
Summary: very pleased!
Review: I have bought this curves book and bagan going to curves 2 and a half weeks ago. I am a person who has NEVER EVER excersized in any way! I found out I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, ect and I was close to 50 pounds overweight when I began. I have lost about 6 pounds nice and slow since I began. I see a difference in my strength and appetite already. Curves is a fun, safe place to work out and the book has very good advice about food and dieting. I tried atkins and it was too strict with the low carb idea. curves seems to take a less drastic approach, for more permenant weight loss. I beleive this because i am losing the weight slower, which means I will keep it off this time! I also originally thought I had no time for excersize..boy was I wrong! 30 minutes, 3 days a week is a peice of cake for people like me who have always been on the go with work and college. I do need to get in more cardio as someone else suggested on here, but I am taking it one day at a time. I plan to increase my excersize slowly, so that i get used to it since I have been so out of shape for 33 years!
Rating: 
Summary: Curves Fitness Center: Beginners ONLY
Review: I have not read the book therefore cannot rate it, however I can rate the Curves facility fitness program as I have join and cancelled my membership within one day. The program, in my opinion, is for the beginner/shy execiser. It is not a challenging routine because you are allowed only 30 seconds to utilize each hydraulic machine. According to certified exercise experts (and general knowledge) this is hardly enough time to fatigue the muscle you are targeting. Another set back is that you cannot determine how much weight your body can take. The machines are preset, which means as your body becomes stronger you cannot add any additional weight. You have only 30 seconds to utilize each machine and the musical recording tells you when to switch. At that point, you do your own light cardio. I think it is a great idea for those who are not used to a challenging workout. However, I suggest trying the week free pass before committing to this.
Rating:
Summary: Thank you Curves!
Review: I have two friends who go to the Curves gyms but I can never seem to make it. They love it so much that when I saw this book in the bookstore two weeks ago, I snatched it up and read it right away. I am so grateful that I can give up dieting for good! I've started the exercises and can already notice a big difference! And I have much more energy now. The exercises are so easy and fun that once you begin them, you won't want to quit!
Rating:
Summary: Finally something that works!
Review: I joined Curves and lost 10.5 inches in a month. I just went 3 times a week. Then I picked up a copy of this book...ALL THE excersizes are there for you in the book so you can do it from home. The diet plans are concise and easy to follow. The recipes are delicious. What's great is that the book doesn't talk down to the readers. I love it!! It's been a life saver!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: A Book That is Different From the Rest....
Review: I swear that I have at LEAST 50 "diet books" on my shelf. I have literally bought some of these books and eaten candy bars while reading them! I am here to tell you that "Curves - Permanent Results Without Permanent Dieting" is different from all the rest.This is a book that FINALLY makes sense. It does not offer glib promises and it is EXCELLENT for both individuals who work out at Curves and those who don't as well as for individuals who have a lot of weight to lose and those of us who have 10-20 lbs. to lose. It is geared for women (and men) who are both middle-aged as well as those who are younger. It offers basically three nutrition plans: Calorie-Sensitive Individuals; Carbohydrate-Sensitive Individuals (so followers of Atkins will do well on this); and a combination Calorie-Carbo. It truly will show you HOW to incorporate a combination of strength training and aerobics exercise into your life without overtaking your life. The book is great in that it includes shopping lists, meal plans, food guides, and charts to track your progress. There are also questionnaires to help you discover if you are calorie- or carbohydrate-sensitive (or a combination) so that you can choose the meal plan that is best for you. It is well written and easy to follow and definitely worth buying!
Rating:
Summary: A Book That is Different From the Rest....
Review: I swear that I have at LEAST 50 "diet books" on my shelf. I have literally bought some of these books and eaten candy bars while reading them! I am here to tell you that "Curves - Permanent Results Without Permanent Dieting" is different from all the rest. This is a book that FINALLY makes sense. It does not offer glib promises and it is EXCELLENT for both individuals who work out at Curves and those who don't as well as for individuals who have a lot of weight to lose and those of us who have 10-20 lbs. to lose. It is geared for women (and men) who are both middle-aged as well as those who are younger. It offers basically three nutrition plans: Calorie-Sensitive Individuals; Carbohydrate-Sensitive Individuals (so followers of Atkins will do well on this); and a combination Calorie-Carbo. It truly will show you HOW to incorporate a combination of strength training and aerobics exercise into your life without overtaking your life. The book is great in that it includes shopping lists, meal plans, food guides, and charts to track your progress. There are also questionnaires to help you discover if you are calorie- or carbohydrate-sensitive (or a combination) so that you can choose the meal plan that is best for you. It is well written and easy to follow and definitely worth buying!
Rating: 
Summary: Don't expect an exercise book
Review: I'd heard about Curves, and decided to check out this book from the library to decide if I wanted to try out the Curves system. As other reviewers have said, this is Atkins all over again. More than 2/3 of the book is about diet. While there is a SMALL section about the exercises, to be honest, I didn't see an exercise in there that was particularly original. Since I thought this was an exercise program, I was disappointed in the scanty amount of exercise information in the book. I was also disappointed in the Phase III. It requires you to weigh yourself every day to make sure you're not gaining back too much weight, and you go back on a low carb/low calorie diet as soon as you're 5 pounds over what you want to be. I understand the idea, but being chained to a scale is not what I had in mind when it said "without permanent dieting". I know there are people at a healthy weight who don't weigh themselves every day, and I don't think getting fixated on a magical scale number is healthy either. While the metabolism section was somewhat interesting, I just can't get excited about this program.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good!
Review: I've been following the plan for a month and I can say that it does work! Of course I have more than ten pounds to lose. And I have to say that the diet is easy to follow and does not deprive you. You don't even have to join the gym to do the plan which is great if you're on a budget. The book itself is common sense and easy to follow. So I do reccommend this book, though not to everyone. And of course see a doctor before starting the plan (By the way my doctor did reccomend the plan for me).
Rating:
Summary: NOT the average diet plan - see Phase III
Review: I've had firsthand success with the metabolism-raising last phase of this diet and think that, if nothing else, everyone should do Phase 3. It's really amazing how, slowly but surely, you get to eat more without gaining weight. Ultimately, this means no more dieting! This is something other weight loss plans DON'T teach you and makes Curves unique.
Rating:
Summary: Give it a try
Review: Some people have said that this does not work. I dissagree. You need to give a program a chance and not give up on it. If you are already on a program or you are only looking to loose 10 lbs then this is not for you. These exercises are for people who can not lift a lot of weight. I had people in other exercise classes who were much more physically fit then I, and they claimed that the weight I was using was not enought to affect anything. This program is to help you start getting into shape. If you want to keep yourself in shape then you need to do it yourself.
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