Customer Reviews

Get with the Program!

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Let's be clear up front: there are no major breakthroughs or miracles in this book. Most every American alive knows what it would take to get fit (exercise) and lose weight (eat less fat and junk). To a certain extent, therefore, "Get with the Program" is just a re-formulation of the hard facts we all know. What Bob Greene has devised is a realistic and relatively painless way of adopting those healthy practices into your life on a long-term basis. There are 4 incremental stages to the program which are simple and designed for each person to follow at their own pace. This means that you don't have to wake up tomorrow morning, starve yourself and run out the door for 2 hours at the gym. Step 1 is simple: start a minimum of aerobic exercise, basic stretches and some abdominal exercises a couple of times a week. Easy enough. Once you've thoroughly incorporated that into your life, you move on to stage 2 where exercise picks up a little. Not until you reach stage 4 do you begin to actively change your eating habits; that can be months or years later. This is a fitness program that isn't intimidating and isn't going to require you to drastically change your whole lifestyle immediately in order to get results and start feeling better about yourself. This means that a lot of people who haven't been successful in weightloss or exercise programs before are finally going to succeed in making long-term changes to their lives. Again, this isn't a radical fad diet (in fact, the nutritional advice is rather skimpy - follow Greene's principals, but don't hesitate to supplement the nutritional info if you need to)- it's about making gradual changes at a pace you can live with.

Greene's concept of physical fitness and health is simple: eat less, move more, and you'll lose weight and feel healthier. It's time to throw away stupid fad diets which cannot be maintained for life. Greene is candid and honest about what it takes to lose weight and increase fitness. This is not a diet, nor a strict exercise plan. Rather, the phased approach to gradually increasing health and fitness makes it easy for even a sedentary individual to make a positive lifestyle change.

Although my level of cardiovascular fitness is decent (I already do the amount that Greene suggests for the final phase), I have always struggled with emotional eating. So much of this book is devoted to simple, easy-to-understand discussion of why people are emotional eaters, and what can be done to change. It has been so helpful; I have completely curbed my emotional binge eating. It hasn't been easy, but Greene's recommendations on a healthy diet have really made a difference.

This book is intended primarily for those who are looking to begin a lifestyle change, but I believe it is appropriate even for those who are already working towards their fitness goals.

Mr. Greene's book is a delightfully low-impact way to improve your health, appearance, conditioning, and weight. The book is built around his experience as a personal trainer and exercise physiologist to get your body moving in more helpful ways.

You set the pace, and you decide how much improvement to make. If you want to make more improvement, the advice is here.

Like most books about health, the "solution" reflects the author's perspective and experience. Mr. Greene knows exercise, so you get a lot of exercise. But he fleshes it out with good information on water, food, and mental preparation.

If you think you would like to exercise more, this book will please you. If you don't think you want to exercise more, then this book may not appeal to you.

In addition, the book focuses on women in the text and in the photographs. So many men won't feel like this book is aimed at them. If you are a man and want exercise advice, try Body for Life which has photographs of women and men.

Overall, I suspect that people with Type O blood will benefit the most from this book, as long as they avoid wheat products.

The book starts with working on having you drink more water, understand your mental attitudes towards making personal improvements, and make a commitment to get healthier. Before you are done, you will sign a contract with yourself. Personally, I thought that the contract would have been more appealing if it had been rewritten to be more explicit about changes in your life other than food changes. So consider rewriting it to make it more powerful for you.

Gradually, you add drinking more water, stretching, aerobic exercise, reducing your alcohol consumption, stopping emotionally driven eating, and finally adopt a better diet and do some light lifting. The whole focus is on increasing your metabolic rate so you burn fat, build some muscle, and get properly hydrated.

My prediction is that most people will at least improve their hydration and flexibility as a result of using this book. That would be a fine result. If you get further, that's great!

I really liked the way the book combined a spiral binding with a hard cover so that it lies flat. As a result, you can study a page without using your hands to hold the book down. There are also lots of logs to fill out so you can keep track of how you are doing. If you are like me, you will do better by writing down how it's going. Every time I measure my behavior, I am astonished at how much I learn about myself. With this book, there's no excuse for not learning about your behavior patterns in ways that will probably improve your habits.

Make progress, one step at a time.

"Get With the Program" is the perfect January book. Buy it, though, not because of a New Year's resolution, but because you want to lose weight. Buy it as if you would have bought it in July.

Greene's phased approach keeps things realistic. While it is true that your lifestyle must change, it is also true that even if only phase one is complete, you'll be better off. However, each phase not only adds to the previous phase, but multiplies the effect. Intensity increases, and the quality of fitness will increase.

Starting is easy. Finishing is hard. Greene is positive and honest, and recognizes that there is more to fitness than eating right and exercise. He avoids the self-help mantras that most of us have mumbled in futility. His system of tracking results will encourage you as you see things improve.

I fully recommend "Get With the Program." And when you buy it, follow-through. In July, you'll be recommending the book!

Anthony Trendl

I've been on Weight Watchers for 13 weeks and have lost 27 pounds but I needed a program to get me "going" again because I have reached a plateau. Having seen Bob Greene on Oprah I decided to try his book. I started reading and couldn't put it down. I've never read a "self-help" book that I didn't get totally bored with after the first chapter. This book explains why my body functions as it does, why I gain a couple of pounds after loosing 4, etc. I have a much better understanding of my body and my emotions. I am also a smoker and I feel that this book will be the catalyst I need to stop the nasty habit once and for all. Thanks for such an eye-opening and informative book and thanks to Oprah for really putting it out there.

Common sense, no gimmicks and a way to make healthy eating and exercise into habits! This is one of those "he's talking to me!" books. I read the book, THEN the reviews to see if I agreed. And I did...with the 5 star ones. The written exercises helped me to think, and think through, what has caused me to overeat and what makes me sabotage myself when losing weight. One reader said "Who wants to write down dress sizes and weight loss?" I do! When I see it in black and white, I can't avoid it anymore. Great way to face your problems head-on! Great, great book. I carry it with me all the time and am starting Phase 2.

This is in fact a applicable book and does service the reader well. I was impressed with the simple psychology of mental hungar, I'm one of those people that has to eat something when I watch a favorite program thinking this completes my enjoyment of the time in question. Now I have from this book found enjoyment on being focused in on the things I want to enjoy without the compliment of over eating. The physical routine of the book is fine and works. The book reads very well and was edited for the reader to better interpret Bob's solutions. Books like this don't make it to number one generally, unless there is a health crisis, or the book is good, it is excellent and will get you with the program even if your not to motivated, it will motivate you. I am pleased I bought this one.
Amazon recommends we recommend other good books from the rules guidelines, I strongly recommend reading a book that really puts the motivation accross especially for America in this time of crisis, SB 1 or God By Karl Mark Maddox

In a world overcrowded with self help books, this one stands apart. Instead of gimmicks, obvious advice, and shortcuts, this one offers a sensible combination of real work and no nonsense discipline It doesn't offer quick weightloss by eating banana kiwi shakes or something equally absurd, but rather gradual and lasting improvements in weight and fitness through serious exercise, more sensible and balanced eating and, perhaps most significantly, dealing with PSYCHOLOGICAL issues that lead many of us to overeat. Don't waste your time with the "get fit in 10 seconds a day while eating as much as you want" books. Get real with this one.

Bob Greene's book should not be labeled a diet book, so much as a book about changing one's lifestyle. Using his four-step process, I was able to rejuvenate my exercise and diet regimen and managed to lose about 20 pounds. Much of this was fat, as the fourth phase of Greene's plan emphasizes muscle building.

This book is probably best suited for beginners. Greene's message addresses losing weight, improving cardiovascular health, understanding why you eat (emotional eating, ala Dr. Phil), and improving self-esteem. Greene also advises people not to eat after 7pm, which I believe may be based on the false premise that a person's metabolism shuts off during sleep. According to Greene's plan, you should change your lifestyle in fours phases: 1) find out where you are at, what got you there, and what you want to achieve; 2) implement an aerobic exercise routine; 3) get to know what emotions are working to cause you to eat in excess of your body's needs; and, 4) build muscle with anerobic exercise.

If you already exercise regularly and are knowledgeable of sound nutrition concepts, you may not need this book. However, if you're like me, you may find Greene's book motivational and thus worth the money and time.

I just started on this program but after years of battling with my weight I feel good about myself and my clothes are getting loser. I just started Phase II and I am so happy to not be constantly counting points or carbs or 40-30-30 this etc. It is not revolutionary but put in the format it is in, it makes it doable!