Flip the Switch: Lose the Excuses, Lose the Weight, and Get the Body You've Always Wanted [Paperback]

Jim Karas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 2004

According to Jim Karas—the man who has helped countless people lose weight and literally reshape their lives—it’s none of the above! Nor is it your gender, your age, or any other reason you may have considered. The answer, says Jim, is that you still haven’t mentally “flipped the switch”—that is, reached the point where the desire to lose weight ?nally becomes more important than the desire to overeat and avoid exercise. The biggest hurdle you will ever face in losing weight isn’t sticking to a diet or going to the gym every day. It’s simply this: getting started.

Now the creator of the number one New York Times bestselling book The Business Plan for the Body arms you with the tools that will help you turn your desire for weight loss into reality. Flip the Switch will show you how to:

• Blast through the excuses with a series of revealing self-tests that help you confront, understand, and ultimately overcome your issues of denial
• Slim down with a detailed set of eating guidelines, including a seven-day jump-start diet plan with menus and shopping lists
• Hack through the nonsense (“Only strenuous aerobics will slim me down”) and negative mental graffiti (“I hate my body”; “I’ll never lose weight”) that are holding you back
• Firm up with three quick and simple exercise routines

Jim’s eating and exercise recommendations are realistic and satisfying, especially when you begin to see the results! If you haven’t flipped the switch, then you haven’t taken the most essential step toward weight loss. Let Jim Karas’s Flip the Switch show you how to change your life—today.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This refreshing how-to by fitness expert and best-selling author of The Business Plan for the Body eschews schemes, fads or gimmicks and focuses on the achievement of an internal belief in one’s self, which Karas maintains is the prerequisite for successful long-term weight loss. Drawing on a healthy dose of empathy (Karas is himself a "Lifelong Struggler" with weight) and offering personal stories and pep talks, Karas walks readers through the emotional path of self-examination on the way to that critical juncture where their desire to lose weight becomes more powerful than their desire to eat too much and exercise too little. But the "flipping point" is only the journey’s beginning. Chapter by chapter, Karas, whose high-profile clientele includes Good Morning America’s Diane Sawyer, takes to task the constant excuses or "mental graffiti" that stand in dieters’ way— "I don’t have the time"; "I don’t have the energy"; "I don’t have the right genes"—by equipping his readers with time-management solutions, tips for ordering in restaurants, detailed menus and exercises for both mind and body. He also goes after a number of diet beliefs,, such as that "carbohydrates make you fat," and stresses that strength and resistance training, not cardio, is the key to battling the bulge. With monthly inventory worksheets, a food diary template, illustrated workout programs and a seven-day eating plan, this guide is thorough and user-friendly. 60 b&w photographs.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Here's another way to get in shape: follow Karas's advice about changing your attitude. Interestingly, Karas is no jock; he's got the London School of Economics in his background.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (March 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400049709
• ISBN-13: 978-1400049707
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 1 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #410,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jim Karas is unique in the weight loss and fitness industry because he combines a degree from the Wharton School of Business with over twenty years of unparalleled success as a weight loss and fitness professional. Jim has skillfully blended his business education and passion for helping people look and feel their very best by designing solutions that are meant for our busy and failure-intolerant society. His absolute devotion to bottom-line, results-driven thinking and exceptional ability to inspire people to take action make Jim Karas the expert amid a marketplace saturated with confusion and contradiction.

Jim is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Business Plan for the Body, and, Flip The Switch. His new book, The Cardio-Free Diet, was recently published on April 10, 2007. In this latest, groundbreaking book, Jim presents a research-based solution that challenges one of the fundamental misconceptions facing Americans today. Jim makes the case that to lose weight and get in the best shape of your life, regardless of your age, you should only perform interval strength and resistance exercise and never, ever get on a treadmill, elliptical trainer, bike or stair stepper again. As Jim says quite simply, 'Cardio is a 1970s solution to a 21st century problem.'

Jim is also the Fitness Contributor on ABC's Good Morning America (he helped co-host Diane Sawyer lose over 25 pounds) in addition to being the host of Couch Potatoes on ABC News Now. Jim has served as a Contributing Editor for Good Housekeeping magazine and has written feature articles for countless other national publications, including 'O' The Oprah Magazine.

Jim is widely sought after as a keynote speaker for many of the country's most prominent corporations, trade associations, small businesses and special interest groups because his common sense approach lends clarity to many of the complex issues facing America today that could be solved by simply making smarter, healthier choices. Among some of these organizations are the Federal Reserve Bank, 'O' The Oprah Magazine, Health Care Service Corporation, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Beam Global Spirits & Wine, the World Presidents' Organization, Leaders Magazine, Coldwell Banker, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Lake Forest Hospital.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

129 of 133 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flip the Switch, January 2, 2003

By 

David Flack (Indianapolis, IN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flip the Switch: Discover the Weight-Loss Solution and the Secret to Getting Started (Hardcover)

At last I have found a weight-loss book that makes sense. Everytime I'm in a bookstore I cruise the weight-loss section. When I skim through the books, I always see advice like, never eat white flour, don't have a bite of food after 7:30 p.m. and never have a cocktail or glass of wine. Honestly, how can an individual live a real life with this kind of advice!

Over the hollidays at a party, the subject of weight-gain, weight-loss came up and a friend mentioned Jim Karas' The Business Plan for the Body and said that Karas had a new book that had just come out.

I looked for Business Plan but the store was sold out but had just received Karas' new book, Flip the Switch. I bought it and have read it from cover to cover. This is an intelligent piece of writing! One aspect of the book that really grabbed me, was the part where Karas points out that we have all been successful in so many areas of our lives in part because we believed in our ability to be successful. I know I believed I could be an attorney. I didn't approach law school with the attitude that I would flunk out. I never never thought to approach a weight-loss strategy in this manner, but it certainly makes sense.

Furthermore, Karas explains that weight-loss is about assuming responsiblity for our behavior. Too many times we try to blame our genes, our schedules, our gender, our jobs. Jim makes it clear that none of these are germaine. We control our behavior.

And finally, this guy lets you have a life. It doesn't matter when you eat, and in many cases, even what we eat. It's numbers, calories in, calories out. I recommend Flip the Switch to anyone who lives a real life and wants to lose weight.

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Works For All Ages, April 14, 2003

By 

loise dede (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flip the Switch: Discover the Weight-Loss Solution and the Secret to Getting Started (Hardcover)

I purchased Flip the Switch last month and like most of my weight loss intentions, didn't read it. Over this past weekend, I decided to make an attempt. Well, I couldn't put this book down. I read it all weekend. I've purchased other weight loss books in the past, none of which have helped me. Most of them were either patronizing, or basically silly. This is not the case with Flip the Switch. Jim Karas provides the mental foundation one needs to actually begin a weight loss program. After reading the first two chapters, I was positive that I could motivate myself to actually succeed.

I just turned 60 this past month and am shocked at how much weight I have gained. Until I read Flip the Switch, I felt that it was too late for me. Fortunately, that's not the case. Jim makes it very clear that weight loss is possible no matter what one's age.

Additionally, he debunks all the excuses I, and probably every one else, has used to either put off or explain why I (we) aren't successful at weight loss.

I was very suprised at how well written this book is. I especially liked all the included worksheets. They helped me focus and enabled me to chart my progress.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has tried and failed at weight loss. Jim Karas is a great writer and motivator, I can see why he is the weight loss contributor to Good Morning America

63 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY - someone who gets it!!, August 4, 2004

By 

Jerome Cottonwood "JC" (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Flip the Switch: Lose the Excuses, Lose the Weight, and Get the Body You've Always Wanted (Paperback)

I've tried all sorts of diets in my time (haven't we all?!?!), and for the first time ever I've found someone who really gets what a NORMAL person goes through to lose weight. And even more importantly - how to KEEP IT OFF!! I first picked up Karas's other book, The Business Plan for the Body, which was fantastic; the perfect nuts and bolts, no BS plan for getting yourself on the right track to lose weight. I lost 30 lbs in a little over two months and felt better than ever. But then I fell off course - you know how it goes - and started getting "busier" with work, home life, social life, and pretty much anything I could come up with as an excuse to not have the time to dedicate to staying healthy. I regained most, if not all, of the 30 pounds. But then I saw Karas on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer talking about his new book. It has truly changed my life. The first time around, I was successful with weight loss b/c of the Business Plan, but Flip the Switch has really taught me how to make the little daily changes that, when you step back and look at them, add up to a comprehensive healthy lifestyle. Before I knew it, I re-lost the original 30 pounds, plus 15 more!! Thank you, Jim Karas, for changing my life and really teaching me how to do the little things that have changed my life forever! It's been almost a year and a half since I first started the Flip the Switch program, and I've lost a total of 45 pounds, and even more impressive, I've kept it off all this time! Thank you, Mr. Karas, you have empowered me to take control of my lifestyle, instead of just playing the victim. Thank you.