Rating: 
Summary: The Business Plan for the Body
Review: It was easy to tell that this book was written by a personal trainer instead of a professional writer. This book was not literature by any means. Although, Mr. Karas offers many great pointers about changing your lifestyle and learning how to manage your "body business" he fails to offer real motivation. In addition, he mentions his ...fees far to often and references a web site that is not operational. If a friend asked me to lend this book, I would gladly give it to them permanently.
Rating: 
Summary: Author Has A Disdain For The Overweight!
Review: I was really prepared to embrace this book. I thought it would be wonderful to have the prespective of a well educated, fitness trainer. Unfortunately, my enjoyment of this book was negatively impacted by the author's obvious disdain and bias for the overweight. I think that someone in the weight loss industry should have a greater empathy and understanding of the complex problem of obesity. Here's a newsflash for you Jim ... not eveyone that is overweight eats copious amounts of food or has one cheek glued to the sofa. Many people, myself included, have developed a weight problem by crash dieting to fit a societal norm. Each successive diet has altered by body composition by adding more fat and less lean muscle mass until I have reached the point that it is extremely difficult (albeit, not impossible) to lose weight. I have compromised my health, I have developed hypo-thyroidism and anemia. Will weight lifting and Jim's program help me ... absolutely! But a little empathy and a more comprehensive understanding of the myriad problems which contribute to weight gain would have been more helpful. Blaming the victim (particularly the buying public) is of no help to anyone! Wise up...
Rating: 
Summary: lost 18 pounds!
Review: this book is amazing. i lost 18 pounds on the plan!... business plan for the body was easy to read, easy to understand, and easy to follow. the author is obviously knowledgable on the subject of weight loss. i highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: Results are amazing!
Review: At 5'4" and 185 pounds, I feared for my life. Hating my appearance became a secondary concern to the health problems I was beginning to face. I had tried so many diet plans, and would lose a few pounds only to gain them right back. I was desperate, and a friend of mine recommeded Jim Karas' book. This book offered a straight forward approach to weight loss through learning how to live a healthy lifestyle. I am proud to say that I have lost 47 pounds so far! I no longer avoid the mirror and I feel great. Jim, if you can read this, thank you- you saved my life.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing but net
Review: Nothing but commonsense advice here. But, motivating. Jim Karas has solid advice.
Rating:
Summary: THIS IS A WONDERFUL BOOK
Review: I got this book in late February and started following his plan (modified as I will explain later) in mid March. Since then, I have lost thirty pounds -- and I estimate I have 50 to go, but with this plan for the first time in years I feel this is an attainable goal! For me, the most helpful item is the food diary, which I have kept every day since I started. Just writing everything down has made me pay a lot more attention to how much food I had been consuming -- and I have been able to cut back a lot in a very sensible and gradual way. Also, he recommends weighing yourself every week and I have been doing it every day and recording it in my food diary -- I realized that part of how I gained so much weight was that I never weighed myself because I would get upset when I did. Weighing myself -- and writing down my weight every day -- has made it very unemotional (although I am very happy I have lost the 30 lbs so far!!). Weight lifting has also helped a lot -- and now I am able to wear a lot of clothing I had outgrown... in short, this is a very straightforward, non-gimmicky and REAL plan. I might have been able to get faster results with more dramatic calorie restriction but I know I would not have been able to maintain such a consistant weight loss for so long that way. BUY THIS BOOK! And thank you Jim!
Rating:
Summary: the only intelligent way to lose weight (and I did!)
Review: For anyone looking for the right (safe) way to lose weight and to keep it off, try this one by more than a personal trainer, but a "life coach." He taught me more than just dieting, but transforming my whole life in preparation for my weight lose. I have tried every fad diet only to see the weight pack right back on. This was different as I learned what my body needs and expects and my friends benefited as well. By assembling my "team" of weight loss buddies, they inadvertently lost some unwanted pounds of their own. Thank you Jim!
Rating:
Summary: Tedium, boredom and a waste of time...
Review: The Business Plan For The Body, is written by Jim Karras, the self-proclaimed creator of the "$10,000-a-Week Weight-Loss Solution," and the book has been "Number 1" on the New York Times "How To" Best Seller List.
Mr. Karras graduated from the Wharton School of Business, attended the London School of Economics and was a personal portfolio manager before creating his successful Chicago-based weight-loss management firm.
As stated in the book, for $10,000 Mr. Karras insinuates himself into every aspect of his clients' life, doing everything from planning meals and implementing training sessions, to speaking with the people that his clients deal with every day so as to explain what the program entails.
Thank goodness that we don't have to pay "Ten Large" a week for this plan. We're only on the hook for fifteen bucks for the book so let's take a quick look at what Jim karras' secrets are.
IS THIS ECONOMICS 101?!? After reading the Table of Contents in this book I broke out into a cold sweat. For a brief instant I thought I was back in college trying to decipher the foreign language of business jargon during my first Eco class. "The Mission Statement", "The Competition", "Going Public", "The Management Team", and "The Financials" are the titles of the first five chapters in this book. Ugh!
I checked the cover...yes it is a weight loss/health and fitness book. But on the back cover I'm told that I'll get to use the "principles found in a classic business plan" to help me lose weight. Oh, goody!
So what do you think you get when you cross the exciting elements of developing a business plan (sarcasm) with the scintillating basics of building a diet program (more sarcasm)? Unfortunately for us readers, The Business Plan For The Body is an exercise in tedium that reads and looks like a boring business textbook.
Mr. Karras fills the book with a decent amount of reference material, but the good stuff gets lost due to the overwhelming amount of business jargon and the constant comparisons between proper diet and exercise and the business world. For anyone who wants or needs basic info there are far better sources to use than this book.
OK, I HEARD YOU, $10,000 PER WEEK! Mr. Karras has the incredibly annoying habit of constantly telling us that he gets paid $10,000 per week for his guaranteed weight loss program. After reading about this "$10,000 Program" for the 10,000th time I was really impressed. Yawn. Apparently Karras thinks this program is effective because people will spend a lot of money for it.
Actually, this is a book that hopes consumers are impressed by the fact that some people are able and willing to pay $10,000 a week for a diet and exercise program. Increasingly, the American public is enamored with the rich and famous, from the cars they drive to the clothes they wear to the places they go for dinner and drink. If it costs a lot, it must be good...Right?
Wrong! Be wary of any program, good or service that brags about how much it costs. Be extremely wary of celebrity endorsements for any diet or exercise products. Don't be impressed by people who advertise themselves as being a "trainer to the stars" or advertise how much money that they charge...these things are meaningless.
This book is extremely boring and offers a convoluted and needlessly complicated program. The Business Plan For The Body offers nothing new and isn't worth the fifteen dollar investment.
Hook: Learn the secrets of the program that costs big shots $10,000 a week.
Gimmick: Apply the structure of creating a successful business plan to a diet and exercise program. A lot of business jargon.
Inconsistency: Karras admits that the prescribed caloric levels for weight loss are tough to adhere to and recognizes that people don't eat like this in the real world.
Glaring Omission: Anything interesting, motivating or appealing. A sense of humor.
Annoying Feature: The constant reminders that Mr. Karras is paid $10,000 per week to work his magic.
Most Outrageous Claim: That people need to spend $10,000 for a program that "fitness trains" clients for 10 hours a week for 10 weeks, includes daily consultations and plans all client meals, for a guaranteed weight loss of 10 pounds.
Say Something Nice: Serves as a decent reference for some basic nutritional and exercise information. Does a good job of debunking some of the most popular excuses and misconceptions regarding diet and exercise.
Bottom Line: This book takes a relatively simple and sometimes boring subject and makes it way too complex and extremely boring. Tries to impress by constantly telling us that people spend $10,000 a week for his help.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: I bought this book a few months ago as I began to get back into my exercise regime after a layover. Yes, much of the information here can be found in other places, but Karas pulls everything together nicely and his writing style makes for an interesting and entertaining read without scolding or preaching. I have always balked at the idea of keeping a food journal, which is one of the activities Karas highly recommends, but I decided to try it for once. It was an eye-opener and I've taken more care with my eating. I don't diet but I've always exercised. I bought the Spri bands, which I use in conjunction with hand weights. I don't know how many pounds I've lost in the past 3-4 months but I've dropped around 3 pants sizes. I feel much better. My clothes fit better. And my running (which is my main exercise) has improved greatly.
Rating:
Summary: Common Sense Plan That Really Works.
Review: I have been looking for a book like this for years. Business Plan For The Body is, simply stated, a no nonsense plan, spelled out in detail with medical backup for losing weight. There are no gimmicks or freaky diets. Karas just spells out in easy to follow steps what one must do to lose weight and keep it off permanently.
I especially enjoyed the chapters in which the fad diets were discussed and debunked. Other "freaky" diet books can actually seem to make sense while reading them. The foundations on which they are built seem sound until you really stop and think about them. Atkins made sense to me for a while, until I saw what happened to some folks who used it for extended periods of time.
Karas even tears down the food pyramid, one of the most universally accepted dietary recommendations out there by making one simple observation. The Department Of Agriculture created this model. Are there any doctors on that panel, or are they the folks whose job it is to sell foods made in America?
If you are taking your health seriously and want a book that will open your eyes and really make a difference, pick this one up.
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