The Four-Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace [Paperback]

Martha Beck PhD (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2008

The woman Psychology Today calls "the best-known life coach in America" shatters the myth that willpower is an effective weight-loss tool and introduces a revolutionary approach to lifetime leanness based on a series of "4-day wins" that work with any weight-loss program.

This paperback edition includes an appendix where readers can complete the book's many exercises, making it even easier to follow the program!

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

MARTHA BECK, PHD, is a life coach and monthly columnist for O, The Oprah Magazine. She is the author of the bestsellers Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live and the memoir Expecting Adam.

From AudioFile

The premise of this appealing lesson is that early wins (such as noticeable weight loss after four days of calorie reduction and exercise) can breathe fire into anyone's desire to lose weight. Sounding determined but not fanatical, the life coach and media celebrity references almost every aspect of personal change known to man and offers many useful suggestions. Illustrated with short case histories, the book has something for everyone--from the latest neuroscience discoveries to what works for everyday people at Jenny Craig. Beck's likable voice becomes even more endearing as she unfolds her ideas intelligently and with reasonable optimism. One of the CDs has helpful forms and information that can be printed. T.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Rodale Books; 1st edition (March 18, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594868123
• ISBN-13: 978-1594868122
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (75 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Martha Beck is a writer and "life coach" who specializes in helping people design satisfying and meaningful life experiences. She holds a bachelor's degree in East Asian Studies and master's and Ph.D. degrees in sociology, all from Harvard University.

She worked as a research associate at Harvard Business School, studying career paths and life-course changes in today's economic and social environment. Before becoming a life coach, Dr. Beck taught sociology, social psychology, organizational behaviour, and business management at Harvard and the American Graduate School of International Management. She has published academic books and articles on a variety of social science and business topics.

Her non-academic books include the New York Times bestsellers "Expecting Adam" and "Leaving the Saints", as well as "Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life You Were Meant to Live", "Steering by Starlight", and her newest book, "Finding Your Way in a Wild New World: Reclaiming Your True Nature". Dr. Beck has also been a contributing editor for many popular magazines, including "Real Simple" and "Redbook", and is currently a columnist for "O, the Oprah Magazine".

More information can be found at marthabeck.com, including Dr. Beck's lively blog posts and video blogs, books, speaking appearances, and life coaching strategies and suggestions.

Dr. Beck lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

195 of 197 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Smart advice I've never read anywhere else, January 5, 2007

By 

Native New Yorker - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace (Hardcover)

I'm a huge fan of Martha Beck's life coaching column in Oprah's magazine, so I grabbed this book to help me lose those last ten pounds. It definitely isn't the same old plate of beans--put your fork down after every bite! Use a smaller plate! Instead, it explains the latest findings in brain research, and how we're hard-wired to respond to dieting the way our ancient selves responded to any other kind of stress--by storing fat. No wonder the usual dieting always fails. Martha shows you how to "retrain your brain" with different exercises that won't make your body go into that stress response. She teaches you how to talk back to those voices in your head--the Dictator ("You WILL lose weight!") and the Wild Child ("Yeah, MAKE me!"). She shows you how to SIN (substitute inedible nourishment), so that every time you don't eat, you have to do something else small and nice for yourself, so losing weight doesn't feel like punishment. I've never seen this kind of advice anywhere. Plus the book is really, really funny.

133 of 134 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Could be life-changing, July 6, 2007

By 

K. Hill (Mesa, Arizona) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace (Hardcover)

I've never written a book review before, but this book has seriously changed my life -- and I've never had reason to say that. As silly as this may sound to some, I can now keep forbidden foods in my house until they go stale. I eat only when I want to, where I want to and whatever I happen to feel like eating -- no restrictions at all, only sanity. I have reached my goal for the first time in my entire 55 years on this planet without dieting, without binging, without ANY food-frantic behaviors. In fact, I now have to remind myself to eat at all; I am too busy being happy.

After reading some of the negative reviews here, I almost did not buy this book. But now, I have to suggest that perhaps anyone who has something flippantly negative to say about this book might not have actually read it, might not have applied any of the many wonderful and insightful suggestions. I've read many spiritual books on being the "observer", none of which have in the least affected my eating behaviors. This book is so much more than that; it's silly to suggest otherwise.

I'd like to say thank you, Ms. Beck, for taking those turtle steps towards getting this book published. You have truly made a difference in at least one person's life.

110 of 116 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, somebody who gets it!, January 3, 2007

By 

Girl in the Mirror (Baltimore, Maryland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Four Day Win: End Your Diet War and Achieve Thinner Peace (Hardcover)

Thank goodness, somebody who gets the concept that there's more to getting thin and staying thin than just eat less/move more. Sure we all know what to do, but we don't do it. Thank you Martha Beck for showing us how to heal our brains and bodies. This is the best weight-loss book I've ever read and I've read 'em all.