Customer Reviews

The Ten Hidden Barriers to Weight Loss and Exercise: Discover Why You've Failed Before and How to Succeed Now

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

If only I read this book years ago! After struggling with my weight for a decade and attempting many diet and exercise programs, I have finally come across the holy grail of diet books! Once I read it, I understood why I had failed so many times before. And, after following the advice for just a few weeks, I am now half-way to my weight-loss goal. I have come to realize that it is not about the food; rather, it is about changing old habits developed over many years. This book offers concrete solutions to overcoming behaviors that have prevented me from reaching my goals.

I appreciated this concise, well written guide to weight loss and exercise. It was especially helpful because it put responsiblity in the hands of the only person with the power to affect change in my life, me. This book helped me pinpoint barriers to exercising regularly and develop startegies chapter by chapter to keep on track. More importantly, I found this book a good tool in identifying and working through barriers in all aspects of my life. I hardily reccommend it.

This book was very helpful to me as it really delved into the motivations behind my dietary failures. I learned quite a bit from the different sections about not taking responsibility for my actions (or inactions) and not putting my needs high enough on my priority list. I highly recommend this book to those who are looking for more of a psychological take on dietary failures.

There are no gimmicks in this book, just good solid advice for the novice and experienced dieter. If you'd like to probe some of the reasons behind your lack of success as a dieter, this book can help in that process. Some of the advice may appear obvious at first, but over time, there'll be themes you turn to over and over again in your specific journey.

There are 10 chapters. My favorites in the book are (in order of my preference):

Chapter 7-- Are Unruly Emotions Ruling Your Life?

Chapter 4 -- Do You Accept Responsibility for the Choices You Make?

Chapter 8 -- How Do You Treat Your Mistakes?

Each chapter deals with a specific behavior or belief system that might be interfering with your success at losing weight. Chapter 3 goes over the possible hidden agendas you may have but may not be aware of. Chapter 1 tests whether or not you are ready for change. Each section has questions you can ask yourself to see if the information may be applicable. Then there are direct, short solutions offered for many of the primary problems as defined in the section.

This is not a book for people who like new gimmicks or preachy writing. It is a guidebook written by two PH.D psychologists who have years of experience. And yet it doesn't read like a dissertation. It has a very practical "hands on" tone. If you want real world advice, this is a good book to read.

I would have given it 4 stars for somewhat condensed writing style (almost abstract-like) had it not been for the nearly universal applicability of the book's ideas to many other areas besides weight loss and excercise: business, career, relationships, housekeeping, etc.

This book might work for someone who has never thought about goals and priorities, who is grossly overweight, and considers exercise evil.

I'm twenty pounds overweight, eat less than a thousand healthy calories a day, and do mild exercise (I'm 57 and have had a heart attack). My doctors can't figure out why I gained weight. My nutritionist can't figure it out. They all just write it off as "Oh, well, you're older and maybe your metabolism has slowed down." Big help.

I thought I'd learn something from this book that might enlighten me, but it's all just dirt-simple basic logic. If you know your motives, have set goals, and are aware of what you're doing and why, this book won't offer anything new. If you're trying to diet and exercise for the first time and are completely clueless, you may get something out of it.