Customer Reviews

The 30 Day Total Health Makeover: Everything You Need To Do To Change Your Body, Your Health and Your Life in 30 Days

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Having always eaten healthy, but never quite ready to give up dairy, this is the book for you. As a novice cook, the recipes, particularly for fish, are great. The initial couple of weeks are tough, but the remainder is almost too much food. Food combing makes it easy to judge what to eat at a particular moment, you don't get caught up in the question-is it low fat, low carbo, low sugar, negativeness of diets. Even "cheating" a little I lost 7 lbs within 2 weeks. There is lots of time spent preparing veggies, but that's the point, right? Replacing your afternoon snack of chips with some green munchies. Plus its learning to love food again in its simplest form. Most recipes have few ingredients and are ready in 15 minutes. There is an adequate substitution list for the days you don't have time to prepare the more complicated recipes. The feel good motivational tips are excellent. Reminds me of the simple abundance kind of stuff. The typos and lack of index for the unusual ingredients is the only reason its not 5 star. Oh yea, my husband finally agreed to give up dairy and follow the book,too, and he now weighs what he did nearly 15 years ago.

I DID IT !, I AM ON DAY 30 OF THIS PROGRAM,AND I FEEL GREAT ! MARILU REALLY OPENED MY EYES TO A NEW WAY OF EATING. THIS IS NOT A DIET, AND THAT IS WHAT'S SO WONDERFUL ABOUT IT ! THIS PROGRAM HELPS YOU REALIZE THAT YOU CAN GET YOUR NUTRITION FROM FOODS OTHER THAN MEAT AND DAIRY ! WITH MARILU'S HELP I HAVE DISCOVERED FOODS THAT I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD EVER BE EATING LET ALONE ENJOY! I MUST SAY THAT SOME OF HER RECIPES ARE A BIT TOO TIME CONSUMING FOR SOMEONE THAT DOESN'T HAVE TOO MUCH TIME FOR COOKING .SOME OF THE INGREDIENTS ARE NOT EASY TO FIND AT YOUR LOCAL GROCERY STORE, AND HEALTH FOOD STORES ARE NOT ALWAYS IN EVERYONES NEIGHBORHOOD. ALSO, I NOTICED SOME CONTRADICTIONS IN THE RECIPIES THAT MIX HER FOOD COMBINING BELIEFS. YOU DON'T NEED TO FOLLOW EACH DAY EXACTLY TO WHAT SHE SAYS TO EAT, BUT IF YOU STICK TO THE GUIDELINES YOU WILL SEE A GREAT IMPROVEMENT AND FEEL INCREDIBLE ! I THINK MARILU DID A GOOD JOB WITH THIS BOOK. I WILL DEFINITELY STICK TO THIS HEALTHY NEW WAY OF LIFE !

Dieting trends these days tend to be about carbos and fats and proteins. There are a million diets out there, but no one has written a book about a health makeover that brings it down a notch. Marilu brings it down the the common person and shows just how easy it is for you to incorporate simple changes in your eating habits.

This book literally goes day by day, week by week, offering you food tips, exercise tips, beauty tips, spa-on-a-budget tips and more.

I hesitantly started this health makeover, and you know what...I lost 17 pounds and was able to keep some of the tips incorporated into my daily life. No other book made it this easy.

Marilu's health books are a must for anyone who has tried unsuccessful diets and is about fed up with the whole dieting thing. I highly recommend this....Dr. Paul

Marilu's first "Total Health Makeover" book was a revelation to me, and I have changed my eating habits ever since. I stick to almost all of her steps, but not all. When this book came out, I ran out immediately and bought it, but found it a bit disappointing. Although I do enjoy her organizational and spa tips, I find the 30-day program to structured for me to follow. I do incorporate many of her guidelines into my daily life, but just can't stand to be so regimented, with daily recipes to follow, etc. I have lifted some of the recipes, but overall, I find her "Healthy Life Kitchen" book a more enjoyable read with better recipes. For those interested in the background and rationale behind Marilu's eating program, I recommend her first "Total Health Makeover" book, unless you are a diehard Marilu fan.

This book was just the perfect follow-up to her first book, because although I understood her principles I need help on exactly WHAT to eat! It is just what the doctor ordered. I ultimately have 20-34 lbs to loose, according to my doctor, and found this to be a perfect lifestyle change for me. I identified with Marilu's personal story in the first book. I have always had that layer of chubbiness and didn't realize that the dairy products were keeping me feeling and looking bloated. When I started reading her books I didn't feel like I had enough willpower to change my lifestyle enough to loose the amount of weight I needed to. This book has helped me find the motivation and discipline I needed. I have lost 8 lbs in 24 days.

I am single and cook for myself. I am a working girl who finds time to workout, even if it means going to the gym at 6 am before work or 6 pm after a hard day. Yes- this lifestyle (not a diet!) requires self control. This is not a quick fix. Yes, the food is expensive. I have spent around $200 on each grocery list for the week, but I know that many of the items will last me months because I won't have to rebuy everything.

Yes, you do eat fish. Marilu is a vegetarian, but this book is not called "How to Be a Vegetarian." If that was what you were looking for than you should read more carefully. She never professes that everyone should become a vegetarian. Each of us have to adhere our diets to suit our bodies. Hey, some people are unaffected by dairy and want to keep it in their diets. I found that eliminating it was key FOR ME. This is your body and you have to learn to manage it yourself. Stop whining.

I love that this program eliminates additives and junk food and allows you to get your fat from natural "good fat" sources that your body can actually use. You need fat for bodily functions. Marilu makes that clear.

What foods do I love? I love the whole grain sprouted bread w/soy margarine in the morning. Some of the recipes are GLORIOUS. I love the corn muffins. I am not missing chicken, which I ate ALL THE TIME. It's all about new experiences, right?

I only have a problem with some of the brown rice dishes. They are just now satisfying enough for a meal, especially since the batch should serve four. I have had to add a salad to it. But everyones body has different needs- I reiterate.

The grocery lists are essential. Definitely a plus. Yes, you will have to go to the health food store for some of it. The next step would be to tell us how many of each item we need so we don't have to go through all the recipes tallying it up before shopping. Efficiency, again.

Because I cook for myself only, I freeze meals or do the same day two or three times until the food runs out. For that reason I am on day 15 but I started 24 days ago. It actually helps me, though, because I am busy and grateful to already have meals waiting for me at home some days. I have even had to use easier recipes to improvise when time was an issue. If you are whining about having to be creative, then stay unhealthy. You are obviously happier that way.

On the hunger tip, 95 percent of the time I am not hungry, but if I workout I might be hungrier. She CLEARLY says you can't allow yourself to get hungry, and reccommends a soup recipe to tide you over. Again, this is an opportunity to PLAN snacks ahead and BE CREATIVE. This is YOUR body. Adjust it to your needs while staying within her guidelines.

I found Marilu's organizational tips let us into her world, and brought some fun to the book. If you are a busy working girl like me, having an organized home saves time. I can use some of that time to be more efficient overall. Inefficiency breeds stress and stress causes overeating for many of us. If you are unwilling to do anything that is outside of what you have grown accustomed to, can you really expect to change your health? If you are saying, "I don't want to grocery shop, I don't want to cook, I don't want to have to PLAN...etc." that is EXACTLY why you are fat right now.

I started the 30 day program described in the book. I quickly found out this was the wrong approach for me (I became too preocupied with what I was suppossed to eat and at what time). However, I have lost 20 pounds (all the weight I needed to lose) easily by eliminating dairy products and red meat from my diet, by drinking 64 oz. of water per day (hard to get used to but not impossible) and by applying the concept of food combining presented in the book. I still prepare many of the foods I used to eat, I simply follow the chart on pages 60 and 61. In my opinion this chart makes the book worth every penny. Thank you Marilu Henner, your book helped me get back in shape after having 3 children.

I actually loved this book as entertainment and as an addition to my cookbook collection, but I found it nearly impossible to follow all the guidelines Marilu provides. Everytime I wanted to eat something, I would review the ten steps in my head, and I couldn't eat! Well, that didn't seem very healthy. It was also hard to eat at friends houses. But I really liked alot of the recipes, and I did give up red meat and limit dairy and sugar. Plus I enjoyed the spa and beauty tips. I think Marilu probably has her life very together, and I admire that. I'm not as diciplined as she is!

I followed Marilu's plan for about a month, and I did lose weight. It was wonderful! It was a bit difficult to find some of the ingredients used in the recipes, but worth it. I had more energy and felt healthy. Giving up dairy was the best part of it. And then I went on vacation. I found it extremely difficult, if not impossible to dine out in a foreign country and continue the plan. If you at least cut out dairy, you will notice a big change. I don't really have time required to prepare the meals, but I loved the book. Thanks Marilu.

I have just read this book as well as Suzanne Somers' Get Skinny on Fabulous Food. In some ways they are similar: both feature beautiful, healthy, glamourous, rich, 70s-sitcom-starring celebrities. Both claim to have discovered the secrets to health and vitality and slimness. Both are enjoyable to read and seem like someone you'd like to have as a friend. But the food...there's the big difference. Being an aficionado of the famous Eat Right 4 Your Type way of eating I have discovered that as a type O+ I feel much better on a protein/veggies/fruits regimen versus an almost vegetarian (fishaterian?) grains and veggies approach. I spent 6 years basically doing the Henner approach but found a much higher energy level and ability to maintain a healthy weight AFTER I quit eating so much starch and started eating meat again. As I read this book I couldn't help but notice that it is very close to what Dr. D'adamo recommends for Blood Type As in his book; lots of soy, grains and legumes, avoiding dairy and meat and keeping fat intake low. I am convinced that this is the best approach for some people, probably the Type As! Suzanne Somers' book which allows meats, dairy and fat (properly combined of course) works really well for me and probably other type Os who really do need protein to maintain their health and energy. Speaking strictly as a cook and an enthusiastic eater, the Somers book is much more fun. I found recipes in her book that I will definitely use. Therefore, my advice to these readers is: If you are a type O, then check out Suzanne's (and Peter D'adamo's ER4YT of course!) book and enjoy a tasty dinner!!!

Some people just don't get it. This book is not just about dieting, but improving your life and living healthy. Like Marilu said "Everything is connected to Everything". I never believed in this theory, but after reading the book.. I have definitely changed my mind.
All I have to say is that this book has definitely made a difference in my life. I am much more organized now. I hear people complaining that who needs a lesson in how to organize your closet. Well, seems like I surely did.

And for those who don't like the food.. hey you don't have to follow the program to the T. Listen to your body and see what's best for you. I made some changes since I don't like fish that much.. and it works.

Thank you Marilu..