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Body For Life Low Price CD

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"Body for Life" is an excellent book if you're a fitness beginner who's trying to figure out how to get in shape and stay in shape or, perhaps, someone who's been working out and/or dieting for a while and doesn't seem to be making much headway towards losing weight and getting in shape. Phillips does a good job of explaining the basic building blocks of fitness and of debunking a lot of the more prevalent fitness myths. He covers the proper way to exercise, both aerobics and weight training, proper diet, not some fad diet but rather how to eat real food in a healthy way, and how to motivate yourself and keep yourself motivated to stick to your goals.

There are a few caveats, however.

This is a very basic book. Don't think you're going to read this book and then know everything you need to know about fitness. It gives you a good foundation to build on but it doesn't go much beyond that. In my opinion that's a good thing given the book's target audience of fitness beginners. It gives you enough information to get started but it doesn't overwhelm you with data. Be aware that once you get into the program and have a better feel for your specific needs, you may find yourself seeking other books for more information but with the information you get from "Body for Life", you'll be able to make better selections of what type of books to look for. If you're already in good shape, chances are you already know everything that's in this book and if there is something you don't know, it won't be worth the price to find out.

Phillips owns a company which manufactures nutritional supplements. Not surprisingly he pushes the use of supplements in this book. There's nothing wrong with using supplements but they're expensive and not really necessary. They may accelerate the process but you'll still get into shape following the program without them.

Fitness is a lifelong commitment. Don't look at the title of the book and think you're going to get into perfect shape in only 12 weeks. Phillips' program is about using those 12 weeks to develop a fitness program you can stick to for the rest of your life. Ideally, when you finish one 12 week program you'll immediately begin another 12 week program and so on until it's not a 12 week program but a way of life.

If you're a fitness beginner and not certain where to begin or someone who's been working out for a little while but doesn't seem to be making any headway towards your fitness goals, this is the book for you. It offers good solid information on the basics of fitness and how to set and achieve your goals. I highly recommend this book.

I have been on the program for seven weeks now and results are good; 10 pounds lost, body fat down from 22.5% to 19%. The beer barrel is on its way to becoming a six pack. That was my primary motivation.

The book has changed my life and perspective on health and nutrition. I'm sixty now. I plan to continue with the daily workouts and small (but frequent) well balanced meals for the rest of my life. I don't see any point in stopping when 12 weeks are up. I don't think I'm going to win any prize from the EAS folk, but I have won already. I don't cringe when I look in the mirror anymore.

When I hear people lament about their lack of success with diets, I want to tell them to drop the "diet" stuff. Change your eating habits and exercise pattern ala Bill Phillips advice and you will lose weight. But more importantly, you'll just plain feel better.

By the way, Myoplex is not expensive. It can be purchased at nutrition stores (brick & morter and on-line) for approximately 60% of what EAS charges. That makes it about $1.50 per serving. I challenge you to show me where you can get 42 grams of protein, 24 grams of Carbohydrates and only 2 grams of fat for only $1.50. I think it's the cheapest way to get that amount of nutrition.

This is NOT a "quick-fix" program, it is meant to be a new way of life. If you do not have the motivation or the willpower, it won't work. But for me, it has made me a new person. I have so much more confidence in myself and am so proud of myself that I have the discipline to do this and I am seeing such fantastic results. I have gone from 22% body fat to 16% in 5 weeks. My cellulite on my legs is GONE.

It is also not a "low-carb" diet. You get plenty of food, and yes, the supplements are expensive, but you don't have to use them. I usually choose to because I don't want to fix 6 meals a day, but there are times when money is tight and I don't buy them for a while. You can also use nutritional bars for people whose work schedule makes it difficult to have a shake or a meal every time. The thing is, this is how you SHOULD eat, whether you like it or not. And I have saved money, even with the cost of the supplements, by not buying any junk food and not going out to eat as often. You can have delicious meals--it's not like you are deprived at all. Just no 2nd or 3rd helpings, which you shouldn't be eating anyway if you are trying to get into shape! It has truly changed my life as I start my 6th week on the program and I could not give this book any higher recommendation. It makes the whole thing so easy to follow the way it is explained--I call it my "bible" now! The book tells you exactly what to do and will motivate you to no end. And for the people who say the pictures are fake, they are not. I have my own "before" pictures as proof compared to what I look like now. Buy this book--if you are ready to do it, it will change your life. I cannot imagine sitting on the couch and eating a bag of potato chips ever again. I don't even have any desire to. For the people who are complaining that you have to belong to a gym or buy a lot of equipment--the fact is, if you don't incorporate weight training along with aerobic activity, it is not going to work. You might lose weight, but at the expense of your muscle mass, which you will also be losing. But actually, all you really need is a few sets of dumbbells and a barbell with some weight plates. You don't have to go out and buy a treadmill and a universal gym. I have tried every diet known to man, and I used to run 3 miles every day without fail, and I have never seen results like I have with this. It is wonderful to feel the same way after doing 20 minutes of intense cardio as I did after slaving for an hour at it like I used to. 20 minutes is nothing! No, it's not really *easy* to do, but who are all these people that expect getting in shape to be easy? Although for me, it is much easier than anything else I have ever tried because for the first time in my life, I actually look forward to working out. The nutritional plan is not difficult for me because I know at the end of the week I get a "free day" when I can eat whatever I want to eat. I have not cheated one time--not even a jelly bean--and I feel perfectly satisfied. Like I said, I don't want to eat junk anymore. And I had a sweet tooth that wouldn't quit before. As a matter of fact, I don't even look forward to my free day as much as I used to because I feel so much better eating healthy the rest of the week. I also have 10 times more energy than I used to. I highly recommend this book, and this way of life, to anyone who is ready to totally commit themselves to being fit. You will not believe the results and you will be glad you did it.

Let's be honest. Every one of us wants to look like somebody else. But seasons of failed programs, both diet and exercise regimens, have convinced most of us that we'll never do it--and we'll never hang on to whatever meager results we get.

So, I, like most of you will, approached this book and program with a healthy dose of skepticism--which was about the only healthy thing left in my life after thirty years or so of alternating between overeating and starving myself, between laying around all day, and frenetic exercise activity which wore me out.

One thing made me a believer, encountering a guy in my home town who had won a grand prize as a result of just twelve weeks of working the Body for Life regimen. So, I tried it. And here's what it did for me.

Transformed my cholesterol level in eight weeks from 200 to 133. Changed my body fat level in eight weeks from about 24% to 14.5%. Gave me an exercise program that is safe, not time-consuming, and that can be done at home with minimal equipment. And that exercise program has given me a body that is materially different from the one I started with.

Yeh, I know. All I've talked about is the plan--not the book. But the book is the plan, and the plan is the book. The book is well-written for the most part. (A few too many "you see" phrases in there for me)The exercise illustrations and the "tips" are absolutely excellent. Worth the price of the book by themselves. The stories of the changed lives are good too, though they all begin to sound alike after awhile. Read them and you'll find yourself in there somewhere.

A great read, a simple program (though certainly not easy) and tremendous results are in store for everyone who picks up the book, picks up themselves, and picks up the weights and gets to work.

I am writing this review for the benefit of anyone contemplating this diet and exercise regimen. In addition to reading the book, I read almost every review on Amazon both good and bad because committing yourself to this diet is not as simple as joining weight watchers or some other diet plan. First, let me cut to the chase and tell you that it works incredibly well AND you will probably feel the best you have ever felt in your adult life. I am probably the average guy in terms of what shape I was in. I am 39 years old, 6 feet tall and weighed 199 lbs. I am currently in my seventh week of the program and have lost 17 lbs! The program is amazing. Like anything else, success is not easy but it is absolutely attainable.

I had been on weight watchers for approx 8 months and had lost 20 lbs. I could not get beyond that initial loss of 20 lbs. My opinion is that Weight Watchers is a great diet for the average person but Body for Life is more of a regimen and it gives you a thorough plan for exercising. I broke down the rest of my review into 4 categories:

1. PREPARATION - The key to success, as Mr. Phillips points out, is planning. You need to plan every aspect of this diet or else your risk of failure will be high. This diet is not for last minute planners. Give yourself time every day to plan the next day, especially during the first couple of weeks.

2. FOOD - Many of the reviewers complained about the book implying that you need to buy the nutritional supplements. Ignore them. The book is not a sales pitch. I gave into one shake per day and a "carb lite" bar a few times per week. The shakes take some getting used to but after a while I actually enjoy them. It also takes the pressure off of having to plan 6 mix meals a day. A pleasant surprise was how good egg substitutes could be. The best thing about the diet is the free day because there is a tremendous psychological advantage knowing that if you crave something, you can have it on your free day. I have used that free day to eat the meals that I really enjoy. Going off the diet actually rejuvenates you because you feel guilty at the end of the day and you can't wait to get back on the program on Monday morning. I always taken advantage of that free day and was still able to lose weight every week. I want to emphasize though, that I did not binge on anything. I ate 3 meals that I really like and had dessert but did not eat to the point where it was binging. Do not view the day as a free-for-all.

3. EXERCISE - I do not like working out in a gym. I would much rather work out in the privacy of my home. Therefore, for approx $200 I was able to buy a bench and a couple of dumbbell sets. The reason I bought two sets of dumbbells is that you only have 1 minute to rest between sets and you need the time to rest. Look through the book before you buy the bench and decide which exercises you are going to do.

4. MISCELLANEOUS - Buy and utilize his Success Journal. Every morning after I workout I plan out my meals and record other data as I am cooling down. Utilize the Body for Life website. Not only is there an expanded food list, but you can submit questions that get answered in the same day. Make sure you take the "before" pictures of yourself. You will not be sorry at the end of the 12 weeks.

As I was reading the amazon reviews I did sense that some reviewers read the book and critiqued it without actually doing the diet. This book cannot be properly reviewed unless the reviewer follows the plan for 12 weeks. No diet program is perfect but this one has dramatic results. In summary, I feel the best I have ever felt in a long time. It is also an incredible feeling actually having tightened-up my body to the extent that it shows. Let's not forget that there are many ways to lose weight and get in shape, but this book had the best results. Also, the major aspect of this plan that attracted me to it is that it is not a radical plan. He really does not eliminate anything from your diet 100%. You still get proteins and carbs but just in moderation. I had read, for example, Dr Atkins' book. To me, that is not a diet that can be maintained long-term. And, I know two people who were on Atkins and lost a significant amount of weight. Within a year or two they were both fatter then when they started that diet. I hope this review encourages at least one person to start this diet because it truly is life changing without being unrealistically restrictive.

I'm on the 11th week of this program and while I'm not in two weeks going to look like the photos inside the book--those are the champions of the Body-for-LIFE challenge--it will probably only take me a month or so more to get there. This is not bad considering prior to this I had more-or-less given up on being much more than thin, since muscle-building programs always seem to take hours. And I have built more muscle working with weights for 45-minutes a day, three times a week, than I have in any previous program I've tried, no matter how lengthy.

The thing to keep in mind, if you use Mr. Philips' system, is that you will be gaining weight as well as losing it. I've only netted about a pound a week weight loss--but I've lost much more than that in fat, since I've gained considerable muscle mass. This is a good thing unless you're obsessed with the numbers on the scale.

The system for eating isn't a diet in the traditional crash-weight-loss sense. You don't measure stuff out with scales and tape-measures; you do have to maintain your integrity when picking portions for yourself. (There's a simple guideline.) You eat six meals a day from a simple menu. (Philips recommends a powdered drink mix but I don't care for those, and the program still works for me.)

This is the real genius of the diet though: One day a week, you can eat whatever you want, however much you want. In the book, Mr. Philips says that you'll be happy to get back to your regular eating pattern after your "free day", even after only six days on the diet. I didn't believe it when I read it; I was astounded to experience it for myself. (I'm a binge eater, normally: I eat one or two huge meals a day, easily go 15 to 24 hours without food, enjoy fasting. This program changed that, quickly and rather easily.) I've enjoyed my free days, and some weeks I've looked forward to them more than others, but I'm glad to go back to (my new) normal diet afterward, every time.

This really =is= something you can do for the rest of your life without completely organizing your life around exercise and diet. The exercise routines are quick and remarkably effective. The diet is flexible enough to where you never have to cheat. What more do you want?

Well, if Amazon would let me, I would knock a half-a-star out for a few annoying things: The graphic design of the book is not helpful. (Even the typesetting of the title is obnoxious.) The graphics for the workouts communicate the concept, but don't really help you if you're sweataing through one. And why is it that the three groups of foods (proteins, carbohydrates, vegetables) have exactly the same number of entries in the table? Seems like the list could be expanded a bit.

And, let's be honest: the number one source of philosophers in America are diet/exercise gurus. This book is no exception, being filled with insights and philosophies of how to live and take control of our lives and so on. I don't have a problem with this (and Mr. Philips' philosophy is fairly workable) but the sheer amount of it can make it difficult to just =find= the meat of the program (the exercise and diet patterns).

I also always get a chuckle out of specious analogies like "grazers are horses" where "bingers are bears", so which do you want to look like? Oh yeah? How about cows (they graze) and lions (who binge)?

But these are minor points. (Like the editorial review that thinks it's weird that carbohydrates and vegetables are listed separately--well, the vegetables are all of the low-cal variety and it wouldn't do to replace lettuce with a plate of pasta, would it?) The major point is that it works, and is manageable.

for reassessing your health and fitness goals. I know people from all life stages and circumstances who have used this book to identify and begin a comprehensive plan to improve their health and fitness levels. What I have found after reading the book and following the principals are as follows:

Positives:

* Descriptive, well planned, informative work out plan. Nothing fancy here folks. Some rather elementary weight routines that can be done for the most part at home; a few will require machines. Pictures provide clarification

* Encourages healthful eating: no complex combining, restrictions, etc. You cant have Big Macs every meal, but the menus (with exception of the Shakes-more on that in a moment) are real life, easy to prepare, and easy to live with.

* No overkill on cardio. The program has a realistic incorporation of the significance of cardio and offers several choices, underscoring the inclusion, but not exclusive use of running, biking, or stair climbing as a means to lose weight. You do not do weights and cardio on the same day.

* Work out schedule is do able: no two hour routines here, folks. You can complete each of the work out requirements within 30-40 minutes. A caveat: Mr Phillips suggests working out first thing in the am, prior to eating. As a healthcare provider, I cannot say that I agree with that. But it is easy to keep with this program since you do not have to commit to 90 minute work out routines. Also, you can do this for the most part in the privacy of your own home if you choose to do so.

Negatives:

* Use of shakes: if you read more of the reviews, you'll notice disagreements on this controversial topic related to the book. However, I must state that I find this to be an unappealing feature for me. First, the shake are expensive. You will still have to purchase food, so those claiming that the shake is cost appropriate need to recheck the values. I recommend that anyone considerring this program check the price of this product before you start, and calculate how much a months supply will cost you. Further, I don't find it appropriate to replace meals with shakes from a dietary viewpoint; also, it will be difficult to begin eating regular food for breakfast or snacks in place of the shake and maintain weight-at least it was for me.

* Supplements: I find these recommendations a bit excessive. Others will disagree, but a multivitamin has worked for me.

Compared to some of the extreme diet and fitness regimes out there, this is definitely do-able. Modifications may be necessary in terms of the diet portion from my experience. But the author seems to be knowledgeable about physiology, does a fantastic job at inspiring the reader to achieve their health goals, and provides examples of how the program works. Good luck!

I was sceptical, but did find the before/after pictures to be motivating. I stuck to the program "pretty well" for 12 weeks with no use of supliments. The result was: I lost over 30 pounds, went from a size 40/42 to to a size 34/36, my cholesteral went from over 360 to 204, etc. Definitely worth it!

This book is a comprehensive, step by step, structured program for achieving a positive body transformation in a specific amount of time. And that was exactly what I was looking for. Afterall, what is less than 3 months to finally get back into shape? But make no mistake, there is loads of discipline and hard work involved with this if you intend to go the distance. So, who said losing fat was easy?

This book sets up a program for the reader to follow, day by day for 12 weeks; including food and exercise routines. Every 7th day is a day off, both diet and exercise. All routines are trademarked by Bill Phillips and he suggests that you must follow the program "to a T". All meals (and there are 6 a day) are precisely combined protein and carbohydrate based on portion sizes and he advocates using his company's liquid meal replacement for 3 of those "meals", which I did not do. You cannot eat all you want at one meal. There is a heavy reliance on animal based products for protein of course, and he categorizes vegetables as it's own food group. However, all that seems trivial considering the results you'll get if you follow this method.

There are no exercise videos to buy or follow other than QuickTime demos for exercises available on the website, so this may seem awkward to anyone with an aversion to learning exercises quietly through text. (The old fashioned way). The weight exercises are simple and dull, and most can be performed at home if you have a good range of weights and a bench, but you must follow the rep routine as outlined in the book. "Aerobics" are short, intense 20 minute sessions 3 times a week. Believe me after doing at least 4 hours of cardio per week previously, this was a big selling feature! Also, you exercise, preferably, in a "fasting" state, ie. first thing in the morning, to burn fat. This definitely was a new way to do things for me and took some adjusting to, but the weight training component alone was worth the trouble.

Overall, I consider this an excellent program to follow for anyone who wants to get back on track with fitness and eating and to find muscle you never knew you had. Also, the Free Day every 7th day is the most fun of all! What other diet and exercise program gives you that? But I would suggest to anyone reading this that you may not get the Championship results advertised in the "before and afters" with this book program alone especially if you don't use the liquid supplementation or if you binge on 10,000 extra calories every Free Day. But, you will get fit and get leaner and you will be able to throw out your "fat" clothes.

Want to wake up with a smile? Get "Body For Life" and do the program. Personally, I don't care what my cholesterol levels are or what my percentage of body fat vs. lean muscle mass might be. I just want to know, "Do I look good or not?!" Surprisingly, I'm starting to see and believe that I am. Without giving too much away, here's what I think of the program:

Training for Life -- I didn't think I'd ever find the time or energy to work out 6 times weekly. But it turns out to be less than 4 hours a week and the weight/aerobic routines are simple and specific. Not that it's easy by any measure, but at least you won't feel like you've been left out on the cold gym floor to figure it out for yourself.

Eating for Life -- I thought I was eating too often before, but Bill Phillips explains that I was just eating the wrong junk. He's created a practical guide to nutrition -- nothing really radical, yet it seems to be working so far. Other reviewers here are complaining about the way he peddles his Myoplex supplements (which I am using, by the way), but heck, they're a lot less expensive than lyposuction!

The 3rd aspect here is for feeding and working out your brain. Bill Phillips is a great motivator and talks plain good sense to prepare you and keep you on the path. He points out a lot of health myths and explains his own truths like "Fact: Too much exercise prevents results" and "Fact: Overeating is a natural instinct." Pretty powerful stuff if you ask me.

Unfortunately, I've bought lots of other health and diet books that now gather dust on my shelf because they've never really helped me. So far, for me, "Body for Life" has proved to be far more effective. I finally know what to do after wasting nearly 4 years on a gym membership. My only criticism of Body For Life is that Bill Phillips doesn't fully explain how to know when too much is too much for your joints and back. He just kind of says, if you get hurt, keep going.

Anyway, I say, get the book. Do the work. Step by step, day by day. I've been building and firming like never before in my life. It's definitely noticeable to me, to my friends and, interestingly enough, complete strangers seem to have noticed, also. Go for it! I hope you can wake up every day and start liking what you see in the mirror, too!