Customer Reviews

Eating For Life

5 star:		(203)
4 star:		(39)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

My fiance did the Body-for-Life challenge and lost 40 pounds in 12 weeks! Currently we are 2 weeks in to another Body-for-Life challenge and we've found the biggest problem for us is lack of interesting food to eat. We decided to pick up the Eating-for-Life book to hopefully get some better recipes and all I can say is WOW! Bill Phillips really outdid himself with this book.

This book starts with 70 pages describing many of the ideas about food he covered in his bestselling book, Body-for-Life. As he explains, diets are BAD. They are impossible to maintain, so 95% of people who go on diets end up gaining back everything they lost (and often MORE than they lost). His philosophy is to eat balanced, nutrient-rich meals six times a day. This keeps you full, so you never feel like you're starving, and also signals to your body that its getting the nutrients it needs and can stop storing all the fat.

This is the first time I've seriously done the Body-for-Life challenge and I've already lost 8 pounds of fat! The biggest problem for me, as I said, was how BORING I thought healthy foods were. This book has shown me how wrong I was! The first day I got it, I flipped through it and salivated at all the delicious recipes! There are over a hundred GOOD recipes in here, including shrimp scampi, chicken noodle soup, filet mignon, chicken fajitas and SO much more. There are even several healthy dessert recipes, including fruit crepes, cheesecake and walnut brownies! The recipes are not only healthy, but extremely easy to prepare and very delicious!

A lot of people have said that Bill Phillips plan takes a lot of dedication and hard work, and that's true. But there is no "easy" diet out there. I've tried some of the "fad" diets, including low carb diets and diet pills. While they sometimes work, I found them impossible to stick to and maintain weightloss on. With Body-for-Life, and especially now with this AMAZING cookbook, I can eat healthy, delicious meals AND lose weight. Plus, with Body-for-Life, you have a free day every single week (usually Sunday) where you can eat whatever you want in whatever quantities you want.

I highly recommend checking this book out, even if you aren't interested in the Body-for-Life program. The recipes are better than I've seen in most diet books.

I have been doing the BFL plan, and lost over 30 pounds. The problem I had was finding ways to have variety with my eating plan. The food list is small, but after a while you ran out of ideas for meals.

This book is perfect, and I'm so happy he put it out. I really enjoy this cookbook. The title of the book says it all. Eating for LIFE. This is NOT a diet, but a way of life. Diets do not work, they are temporary solutions, and you don?t want a temporary solution, but a lifestyle solution. If you want to win the battle of the bulge, this book with the BFL book is the perfect lifestyle solution. If you exercise and eat the recipes from this book you will lose weight. You can?t do one without the other. Exercise and proper eating go hand in hand, and Bill stresses that. "Eating for life takes the guess work out of eating right.", and it really does.

There are some really easy and very satisfying recipes in this book. My favorites:

1. Taco pasta salad
2. Turkey Rueben
3. BLT wrap (I especially enjoy the mustard/mayo spread I make from another BLT wrap recipe!!!)
4. Zesty Italian Chicken
5. Grilled Salmon
6. Spaghetti and Meatballs
7. Balsamic Salmon Salad
8. Baked Chicken Parmesan
9. Sloppy Joes
10. Spicy buffalo chicken sandwich
11. chicken noodle soup
12. chicken tenders
13. strawberry cheesecake
14. berry parfait
15. Spanish omelet
16. ham & Egg sandwich (I don?t eat ham, so I use turkey)
17. Turkey bacon melt (this is simply delicious and easy!!!)18. eggs Florentine
19. turkey sandwich
20. chicken Caesar
21. chicken pita pizza
22. cilantro burrito
23. chicken quesadillas
24. mile high baked potato
25. turkey burgers
26. BBQ chicken pita pizza (I love this pizza, healthy and very tasty!!!!)


As you can see my list is long, and I just love this book. You can find something different to eat daily if you plan, and shop for everything you need.

I?ve noticed some people complain that the recipes are bland. I have not tested any of the dessert recipes mainly because I eat fruit when I want something sweet. But for a lot of the meals I use my own special touches by adding spices to snazzy up my recipes. You can do some amazing things with basil, oregano, and other spices. For instance I added more pepper to the spread used for the BLT wrap, and it came out excellent! This is a great addition if you are following the Body 4 life fitness plan, but at a loss of meals to eat. This book has a lot of variety, so if you try something new you will never run out of meal ideas.

I bought this 405-page book by Body For Life guru Bill Phillips, sight unseen via the internet, because I'm a fan of the BFL exercise/nutrition philosophy - although, sadly, not faithful follower - and I enjoy cooking. I've made quite a few of the recipes and can report they are easy to follow, reproduce good results and give budding BLF types some badly needed ideas for sticking to the nutrition part of their Challenge. Several recipes are outstanding; my personal favorites being Mom's Chicken Enchiladas and Turkey Sloppy Joes, while some are unappealing to my taste which is par for the course with any cookbook. One unique aspect for BFL buffs are 69 useful pages in the front that explain "Eating for Life Facts", and in the back are another 54 pages with a section of recipes and comments from typically inspiring BFL Challenge winners, two weeks of BFL meal plans using recipes from the book, and some useful basic cooking tips for neophyte chefs.

Now, three warnings: First, quite a few "recipes", perhaps 5%-10% of the total, are really BFL meal/snack suggestions that don't need a color page of instructions (e.g., half a cantaloupe and cottage cheese or two sliced hardboiled eggs with a sliced orange). More problematic is that there is absolutely NO nutritional data - e.g., calories, protein/carbohydrate/fat mix, etc. - for the recipes. This is particularly disappointing because even cookbooks that don't claim to support a physical transformation program often have this information. Yes, I realize BFL emphasizes controlling portion size rather than calorie counting, but I'm a little suspicious that many recipes are heavy on the carbo side of the protein/carbo equation because so many have bread, tortillas or pasta which Mr. Phillips normally discourages. Along this same line many recipes are "comfort-food" to most Americans that rely on some form of cheese, sauces or dressing; without taking GREAT care to use fat-free ingredients these will easily become comfortably negative component of one's physical transformation.

I recommend this book to people looking for recipes that combine the BFL protein/carbo philosophy with basic American-palate-friendly family type home cooking. But to avoid blowing your BFL Challenge you'll need to be VERY careful about ingredient choices and focus intensely on portion control, which is the ultimate key to BFL nutrition success.

More reality for the obese, over-weight, and health-weary American public. There are no shenanigans here, just straight talk and common sense--that happen to work.

After all the workout videos, metabolic drinks, Hollywood diets, fitness-gurus-cum-salesmen, "don't eat before noon" diets, and "only eat peanut butter" mantras, we are once again hit with what we don't get hit with enough: common sense.

Eating several properly portioned and balanced nutritious meals over the course of the day will keep one's metabolism moving, provide energy, and improve and maintain mental and physical health. We are also reminded of a very important factor in improving and maintaining our weight and health: The more muscle we have means our ability to burn calories increases. More muscle speeds up our metabolism. Eating smaller meals more frequently increases metabolism. Our bodies are natural machines and focusing on metabolism is just as important as placing emphasis on what we put in our mouths (what we eat).

This book is not for the sedentary, lazy, beer guzzler, fast food addict, or office-worker who comes home to watch TV at night.

Worth noting is that Phillips does promote his supplements in the book and that's fair enough. If you're serious, get this book. It has helped me in several areas of my life.

When it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle, I am the type that needed to find a structured program. Bill Phillips Body for Life program was EXACTLY the instruction that I needed. This cookbook was absolutely essential to me meeting my goals (from 195 to 175 in twelve weeks).

I won't tell you the twelve weeks was easy, but Eating for Life cookbook helped immensly. Each Sunday, I planned out the weeks meals and went shopping. Twelve straight Sunday's to the grocery store. This book has some lousy recipes, but my wife and I found at least 15 of the dinner recipes to be in our rotation, as well as a few breakfasts and lunches. Just good, simple recipes that anyone is capable of making.

I want to be a witness that you do not have to buy the shakes and bars to do this. The cookbook provides many snack ideas if you are not wanting to drink the shakes. Personally, I hated the milkshakes, but did eat one of the Myoplex bars for my afternoon snack each day. Also, the free day is no joke. I ate freely whatever I pleased one day a week. Honestly, as the weeks went on, I didn't want to "pig out" on my free days. But I wouldn't hesitate to eat fast food, pizza, ice cream, whatever. I earned it.

The key to all of this is to PLAN both your workouts and meals each week. This book will bring you some variety for some very good meals each week, and I would recommend it to anyone who is realistic about wanting to lead a healthy lifestyle.

One reviewer asked if anyone else is reminded of a used car salesmen when they see Bill Phillips. Well, as a car salesman, I resent that comment. But, as a car salesman, I also must agree. Is he trying to make money? Yes. Is he entitled to? Why not? Four years ago, after reading Body for Life (BFL), I said, "Man, wouldn't it be great if they had a cookbook to make this easier? The 'Nutrition for Life' section of this book needs fleshing out." Never came about but nonetheless, I did the routine and managed to lose a lot of fat and put on a lot of muscle. But year after year passed with no cookbook. Sure the Web site had recipes but they were kinds of cheesy half-assed user-posted recipes. Many of them were redundant and many of them were just plain nasty. One day I said, "I'll bet he's gonna' wait for the popularity of BFL to wane and then make some comeback with a more detailed workout book or nutrition book." Sure enough...here's Eating for Life.

But...the guy is entitled to make money so why complain? So what if he waited for book sales of BFL to die off before releasing this (which basically just expounds upon the Nutrition for Life section of the BFL book)? That's smart business. He'll sell 4 million of these and another 2 million of his first book. Who's better than him? I say stop your whining. Bill Phillips does give a lot to charity. And even if it is just for favorable tax status, the money does a lot of good. And of course his fitness ideas (while nothing new) have changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people--including myself. All my life I'd read Muscle & Fitness, watched Bodyshaping, accumulated nutritional articles and knowledge...for naught. I was probably eating Twinkies while doing all that reading. BFL was the only book (which regurgitated all the basic concepts I had been bombarded with over the years) to challenge me and inspire me. And I got in shape. So what if the guy was out to enrich himself with that book as he is with this book? Enron execs and televangelists gave nothing back to the people who enriched them. At least Bill Phillips sells knowledge. Frankly, I was more suspicious of his motives when I bought BFL than I was buying this book. At the time he was owner of the nutritional supplement company EAS. Whenever he mentioned "Myoplex shakes" (their biggest seller) in that book, I felt like I had purchased a 200-page commercial and was being brainwashed into buying more of his stuff. On the plus side, I sent away for the kit to enter his yearly BFL Challenge and got tons of free stuff. Three free videos, the book on audiocassette and more. So I felt like less of a rube when buying my Myoplex--I guess I had been brainwashed :-)

So anyway, my review. Great book. Just what I had dreamed of all those years. This is a must have if you own BFL. It makes things so much easier. It's not a piece of crap like his "Body for Life Success Journal" was. I mentioned above that it just expounds on the Nutrition for Life chapter in BFL. While that's true, it's definitely a chapter that needed to be made into a book so get this one. It has helped me get back on track (as my healthy eating has leaned toward the unhealthy side of the spectrum over the years). It has appetizing, colorful pictures and they all taste good...so far. Way to go Bill. You may an opportunist as well as being cocky and narcissistic (just read the "interview" in Jan 04 Muscle Media magazine. It sounds like Bill is the interviewer as well as the interviewee. The questions and answers are so phony and contrived as to be laughable) but you provide the spark that so many people need. And for $35 minus 30% right here on Amazon.com, I'm willing to buy that spark. I'm sure in 4 years when things start to get slow again we'll see "Workout for Life" with more exercises, sport-specific routines, stretching regimens, etc. And you know what? I'll buy it.

Hail Bill Phillips. I began a year ago with his best-seller, Body for Life, which is incredible in itself. His new cook book is an amazing supplement to that program and truly supports a manageable lifestyle, not a fad diet.

Bill's philosophies are realistic, pragmatic, most of all effective. Being single, in Manhattan, I don't have the time or the patience for complicated, time consuming food preparations, that's why this program has been so effective for me, it's the exact opposite. I've lost almost 30 lbs and managed to keep the weight off now for almost a year.

This book is filled with great recipes and the simple program is explained in an easy to read format. No gimmicks, just balanced meals with real food, that promote a healthy, active lifestyle.

I'll just add to the glowing reviews of this book. I have followed the principals of BFL for 3 years now. The biggest issue my wife and I have had is that you run out of ideas for food, and begin to burn out on the same things. This leads to straying away from balanced meals.

This book should solve this problem. Yes, we've only used it since Christmas, but there are so many recipes here that it should be much easier to follow. In addition, these meals are fantastic! The Chicken Enchiladas are great. The Chili is great. And as someone else mentioned, they have ideas for in-between meals that are so simple yet never occurred to me. Also, for a cooking novice such as myself, the recipes are incredibly easy to follow. I do wish the would have provided a nutritional breakdown per meal, but I can read lables and calculate that on my own.

I also like the fact that this book doesn't push the EAS products at all, my only complaint with the first book, because you can achieve outstanding results without all the supplements or Myoplex.

While some don't like the ripping on low-carb plans, I think they are totally justified. I nearly passed out trying to work out during the first 2 weeks of South Beach. You NEED carbs for energy!

As for the ripping on Bill Phillips for trying to make a buck? Get over it. This is capitalism, Bill can make millions and I don't resent it a bit, he put out a GREAT product. This book has me re-energized on the BFL plan.

Rating System:
1 star = abysmal; some books deserve to be forgotten
2 star = poor; a total waste of time
3 star = good; worth the effort
4 star = very good; what writing should be
5 star = fantastic; must own it and share it with others

MY FEEDBACK:
1) If you can't eat dairy then this cookbook isn't for you. 90% or greater of the recipes require skim milk, cottage cheese or some other dairy product as a primary ingredient...especially the desserts.

2) The preperation time for many of the meals is 45min+. Not many quick meals here.

3) In general, nice pictures of the meals. Some aren't very flattering to the dish and thus doesn't make me want to make it

4) Interspersed are pictures of the ingredients used...I thought this was very helpful especially for some "unfamiliar" ingredients (i.e. special soy products, etc)

5) Recipes are nicley written out and easy to follow

OVERALL: It is a good book that I found sparked ideas that could be prepared quicker and just as loaded with protein, carbs and low fat. If you don't want any quess work and you can have dairy as a main staple of your diet and you have the time to prepare the meals...then this book is for you.

This book is the bomb!! Totally awesome and put together so well...Bill Phillips starts by telling his own weight probelm story and explains in detail how going on a low carb diet can make things worse and you will gain your weight back within weeks. Its okay to eat carbs that your body needs as long as its in moderation. He goes through steps to teach you what foods to buy for each meal, which is so afordable, helpful, and not to mention...delicious!!! I have been using this book for three weeks now, and I am loosing weight and feeling great!!! I am getting healthy by not starving myself. Bill Phillips concentrates mostly on trying to eat your 6 small meals a day, so that you don't feel starved at dinner time, which makes you eat less! Logical...isn't it??? It really works!! It is well worth the price for a stronger healthier life!!!!! BUY IT!!!