Customer Reviews

The Business Plan for the Body

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4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Like everyone, I, too, enjoy a bargain and The Business Plan for the Body, written by Jim Karas, is exactly that. This guy has been charging celebrities and CEO's $10,000 a week for his weight management expertise - needless to say, I didn't pay anything like that for my copy. The title stems from Karas' business background - a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business, Karas has cleverly used the analogy of a classic business plan to guide his readers along the path to successful weight loss.

One of the components that I found especially interesting was Karas' emphasis on "doing one's own IPO." The author contends that most individuals begin a weight loss program intending to fail. Fail? Yes. They tell few people, if anyone, about their intent to lose weight and when they don't succeed, no one is the wiser. Karas, on the other hand, urges his readers to 'go public". Tell everyone your intent, urge them to monitor your progress (much the same way analysts would with a stock) and use that pressure as a positive in the weight management business.

Karas examines the "competition", and explains why today's so-called hottest diet and exercise programs don't produce "profits" for their users.

I've exercised for years and have done hours of cardio vascular, aerobic work- most to little or no avail. The Business Plan for the Body urges one to cut back on the cardio and increase dramatically the strength and resistance work. I was struck by a passage where the author urged his readers to go into a health club and check out where the most fit individuals tended to spend the majority of their time - I did check it out, and Karas is right, they are in the strength and resistance training rooms, the less fit seem continually drawn to the treadmills, ellipticals, etc.

Karas discusses weight management in terms of numbers, numbers numbers. Forget tyroid, bad metabolism, genes - it's basically calories in minus calories out. Creating lean muscle tissue helps burn those calories to create a caloric deficit.

The book is hard to put down, not what one expects with from a "how to" book. It's an easy read. It's loaded with extremely engaging anecdotes drawn from the author's experience helping the wealthy and celebrated manage their health. Additionally, it is the first weight management book that reads as if it were written based on a common sense strategy for weight control. Upon finishing the book, I felt that at long last I actually understood what weight gain/weight loss were all about. And, more importantly, I felt I had been given some intelligent tools to finally succeed. Would I pay $10K for this information? I'm not so sure, but at $12-15.00 I learned more than I've ever learned regarding weight management from any other source. I liked this book a great deal.

I have tried to continue to stay fit in my 20s and 30s by running and doing aerobics on and off for years. However, I never thought about how I truly looked or felt until I saw Jim Karas on Good Morning America. His question to Diane Sawyer, "Do you really want to look like that?" resonated with me.

I bought Karas' book and read it in one sitting. Though the subjects he discusses--among them, strength and resistance training, calories, food, etc--are not new, his approach is. Food is "revenue." Muscle is "capital." Weight-loss is "profit." Calories out are "expenses." You are "CEO" of your body. Somehow this made sense to me in a way it never had before.

Karas crystalizes the idea that getting fit and taking care of yourself is not something you try for two weeks or two months. It must become part of your life and, as Karas repeats throughout the book, to stay on plan, you must stay focused on "calories in - calories out = body weight". You are either on plan or not on plan--the switch is either "on" or "off." You realize that, like it or not, there is no "in between." Previously, I thought I could exercise when I had time or felt like it, eat like an 18-year-old at age 33, exercise to eat...and still be fit. Not so.

Is fitness and/or weight-loss simple? No. The hard part is flipping the switch, being real with yourself, and staying focused. Karas provides a plan for being "in the weight-loss business" (what I have also termed being in the "fitness" business). He gives terrific examples from experiences with clients and from his own fitness journey. Karas' approach is appealing to goal-oriented people because he helps you establish realistic goals, get on plan, and stay focused. He is also brutally honest. Weight-loss is not magic. You must be ready to embrace a plan and take responsibility for your own fitness.

When I purchased this book, I was just beginning work with a one-on-one trainer at a fitness/wellness center. The book helped me make a connection between my lifestyle (too much aerobic exercise, not enough strength training, too much food/overeating) and why I didn't look the way I wanted. It helped me calculate my basal metabolic rate and the total calories burned each day--something I'd never thought about . Being a woman, I also gained new insight into how much muscle women lose as we age and what we can do about it.

Anyone who is serious about fitness and/or weight-loss but who may need the information presented in a different way to get on plan and stay on plan should give this book a try.

I bought this book right after seeing Jim Karas on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer. She looks amazing and has lost over twenty five pounds with Karas' plan. Once I started reading it, I couldn't stop. I have struggled with weight all my life and, for the first time in 52 years, have finally found a book that, at times, I felt spoke right to me. Yes, calories count. Yes, strength and resistance training is the answer. I always hated the treadmill, so when he said to "throw it out" I was inspired. I bought the SPRI tubing he recommends and found the exercise program easy to execute and it really produced results. I am down almost 30 pounds and my clothes are virtually falling off of me.

Do yourself a favor. Buy this book and throw all your other weight loss books out. This is a winner!

A very unique and interesting way to mentally plan and implement a weight loss program. The author demonstrates that in order to achieve long term weight control one should approach it like starting up and running a business. It makes a lot of sense and he has some very good and motivating ideas.

He debunks a lot of diet myths and relies on the concept of calories in minus calories out to set up a food plan that you can live with forever.

He also stresses the importance of exercise, particularly weight training as the way to lose weight and look your best. I have been weight training for several years and I found his exercise routines were a bit too basic for me. But for someone who has never picked up a barbell this is a good way to begin. He also maintains that cardiovascular exercise is much less important than weight training and should only comprise about 25% of your exercise program.

I picked up a great deal of useful information with this book, especially the sections on exactly how to determine how many calories I need per day to lose weight and how many to maintain current weight.

I found this book to be thoroughly enjoyable and even hilarious at times when the author relates his experiences in dealing with his overweight clients. (He is a personal fitness trainer.) He has a no-nonsense, common sense approach to the business of losing weight and maintaining that loss and expounds on it in a clear and delightful way.

Anyone who has had difficulty in losing weight in the past and wants to know why should read this book.

Without doubt, this is the clearest, most rational, ands convincing explanation of what it takes to get and stay in shape... and control your weight. No fads, no gimmicks... just sane advice and practical "instructions". I have already been following the author's personal advice for more than a year, prior to his book's publication. Jim Karas's "Business Plan for the Body" is indeed guaranteed to bring you results. My own plan has been good for 40 lbs so far, and it has been "easy"... because it is so logical and understandable. Just do it!

Since part of what I teach in business management is how to develop a written business plan, the concept outlined in "The Business Plan for the Body" certainly caught my attention. It is not a book merely for losing weight, but one that you can use to maintain your weight and keep fit.

Like a business plan, you will find the book revolves around number crunching - calories in, minus calories out, comparable to money in, money out. Your body's metoblism rate is the key. As I point out to my students, do not expect to sit down and undertake a complete business plan in a few evenings, a well-developed business plan simply does not happen that way. The same principle can be applied to this book. First you must do your research and find out what the need and demand is. In this case, what your body needs for food and exercise. If you are using the book as a means to lose weight, remember, you did not put the weight on in a few days, do not expect to take it off in that period either. However, if you have the commitment to follow through, you will be very pleased with what you learn in this book. The book, also, contains some fascinating facts on the myths of exercise, nutrition and weight loss.

Would I pay $10,000 a week as some celebrities and CEO's pay Jim Karas to keep fit? Definitely not, even if I had unlimited financial resources. I would be extremely desperate, no matter what my financial resources were, to pay $10,000 a week to keep fit. After all, what it really comes down to is proper exercise and eating the right foods for your metabolism. If you are paying $10,000 a week, week after week, to have someone plan your exercises and watch over your shoulder as you eat, I question if having a personal coach is a necessity or... a status symbol. The book, however, is certainly worth the price you will pay for it, especially if like most of us, spending $10,000 means blowing your entire food budget for the next year!

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.

This is a straight forward, no-nense approach to dieting and exercise. His nutrition principles are simple: drink lots of water, eat five servings of vegetables, 3 serving of fruits every day and record every caolorie you consume.

His exercise theories are a little more circumspect. He argues that a person can get by with exercising 3 times a week for one hour but 75% of that exercise should be strength and resistence training-with 2/2 of that time devoted to the back of your body. This adds up to only 45 minutes of cardio per week, which I think misses the mark. A person looking to lose weight should get at least 25-30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise more days than not-4 times a week is a good thumb rule for me. Although he does make one very strong point for strength training. He suggests you go to a gym and look at the people on the cardio machines and then at the people in the weights area. Where do you find most of the fat people? Where do you find most of the fit people? Look for yourself. It will make you lift some weights.

But I really liked his straight forward prose style. The mantra of this book is "Calories in- Calories out= Weight Loss (or gain)." It is nice to read someone who is not hung up on the Fad diets or who place undo emphasis on either fat or carbohydrates.

And just for the record, I've been following these principles for 3 weeks. (With the exception that I've greatly increased the cardio vascular time, but still put in the suggested strength training.) I can honestly say that I ate more fresh fruits and vegetables in January of 2002 than I did in all of 2001. And so far, I have lost 9 pounds. : )

The Business Plan for the Body is a wonderful book for anyone who is serious about losing weight. Karas cuts through all the weight loss myths and fads and gets down to the business of explaining the calorie and its role in weight loss/gain. He really sets the reader straight about what's involved in losing weight - from the ways we must change our diet to the necessity of strength training and resistance exercises in order to create muscle. Karas tells us that having more lean body mass (muscle)is the key to longterm weight loss - and the way to really rev up our metabolism - even when we sleep.

I enjoyed the section where he blows the lid off a myriad of excuses for being overweight - having identified a few of my own.

Watching Diane Sawyer inspired me to purchase this book (she recently went through a training program with Karas) but it is not for the faint-hearted. You have to be ready to commit and do what it takes - but if you're ready, Karas will show you the way.

Like many people, I've always been suspicious of the dozens of fad diets that come and go every year. Really, do people think they're going to build a healthy body by eating only grapefruit? Is it realistic to expect humans to cut out bread and other staples of life?

That's why I LOVED THIS BOOK. There are no gimmicks here -- just back-to-basics logic. For two years, I've been trying to lose 15 pounds that have crept up on me over the last decade, but nothing has worked. I thought I was stuck my new "more mature" body... until now. Karas provided me with advice and simple diet and exercise tools that fit easily into my life. I drink more water. I stock my fridge with fruits, vegetables and lean proteins. I don't even feel like I'm on a diet at all.

And let's talk about exercise. Like most women, I've always been intimidated by the weight room, so I relied on the stairmaster and the treadmill. But then the book suggested I compare the physiques of the people in the weight room to the people on the treadmills, and I changed my mind immediately. It's absolutely true: the weight room is a much prettier sight. I honestly can't believe I hadn't noticed it before.

After six weeks of a healthy, balanced diet and a simple weight/resistance training regimen (exercises from the book that I can do in my living room), I've lost 7 of those 15 pounds. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants a healthier body and lifestyle. On top of the great advice, Karas' writing is full of personality and humor. Makes getting in shape much less of a chore!