Keep the Connection: Choices for a Better Body and a Healthier Life [Hardcover]

Bob Greene (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 5, 1999

The trainer who helped Oprah and millions of others, make the mind-body connection now shows readers how to keep their bodies looking and feeling better than ever! In Make the Connection, millions of readers joined Oprah Winfrey and Bob Greene in their groundbreaking and highly successful campaign of weight loss and exercise. Now Greene helps readers take the important next step, keeping the weight off and developing and maintaining great muscle tone. In this series of step-by-step instructions for firming up those hard-to-change body parts such as thighs, hips, abdominals, and upper arms, Greene offers the same no-nonsense and highly manageable strategies that made Make the Connection a godsend for so many struggling dieters. Each exercise in the book is illustrated with photographs of Greene and his clients, allowing readers to work out safely and effectively. In addition to his exercise tips, Greene provides motivational techniques on looking and feeling great, as well as delicious, low-fat recipes that are easy to prepare. By showing readers that it is possible to achieve their goals without fads or quick fixes, he offers the tools to reach a whole new level of health and well-being.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Bob Greene is best known as Oprah Winfrey's personal trainer and coauthor of their bestselling Make the Connection, which is about taking your first steps to fitness and weight loss. Now he's back with the next phase: elevating your fitness program, staying motivated, and creating permanent change. "You create yourself through choice," says Greene, and the way to overcome old habits or laziness is to make every choice conscious, whether you're opening the refrigerator door or deciding whether to skip your workout because it's raining. Keep the Connection is, as you'd expect, full of exercises--but many of the exercises are mental. Greene holds that you can't change until you understand yourself, so he offers several mental exercises to help you become more self-aware. After you've had your mental workout, Greene describes the four components of fitness: flexibility (with photos of stretches), cardiovascular power and endurance, abdominal and back fitness (with photos of a variety of crunches), and muscular strength and endurance (illustrated using Cybex machines). Greene also outlines a sensible nutrition plan based on the food pyramid, and gives 18 recipes.

The book is filled with anecdotes about the people Greene has trained. (Judging from the number of his clients, this man must never sleep!) If you're ready to make changes that will improve your body and enhance your life, this book will help you do it. --Joan Price

From Publishers Weekly

Exercise physiologist, certified personal trainer (to famous client Oprah Winfrey) and coauthor (along with Winfrey) of Ten Steps to a Better BodyAAnd a Better Life, Greene encourages readers to maintain a lifetime commitment to health and fitness. Eschewing fitness fads and guru didacticism, Greene advocates a common-sense approach to nutrition and fitness. As he candidly notes, "People, for the most part, know what to do to stay healthy. Let's face it, most of us know that we should eat sensibly and get some regular exercise. It's not a news flash anymore!" In the chapter entitled "Motivation," Greene takes a strong philosophical stance, addressing the psychology behind motivation and drawing a distinction between those who merely talk about change and those willing to effect change in their lives. He defines "the connection" as making choices based on love as opposed to fear. Emphasizing the association between self-awareness and positive self-esteem, Greene provides a series of exercises and questions to help readers get in touch with themselves. Subsequently, he offers general guidelines for a well-rounded fitness program that includes flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, abdominal and back fitness and muscular strength and endurance. While Greene prods readers to forget about dieting, he recommends seven practices (such as eating three meals and two snacks a day and limiting the amount of fat in your diet) for improved nutrition. In promoting self-choice and responsibility, Greene takes an encouraging, roll-up-your-sleeves approach to weight loss, healthy eating and exercise.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion; 1st edition (May 5, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786865342
• ISBN-13: 978-0786865345
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,254,286 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bob Greene is an exercise physiologist and certified personal trainer specializing in fitness, metabolism, and weight loss. He has been a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show. He is also a contributing writer and editor for O, The Oprah Magazine, and writes on health and fitness for Oprah.com. Greene is the bestselling author of Get With the Program!, The Get With the Program! Guide to Good Eating, The Get With the Program! Daily Journal, and The Get With the Program! Guide to Fast Food and Family Restaurants.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I disagree with the bad reviews...., May 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Keep the Connection: Choices for a Better Body and a Healthier Life (Paperback)

Like the others, I read MTC several times. Yes, if you just want instruction on the 10 steps, you don't need this book. However, if you've tried to follow them but just can seem to stick to the program, this book is for you.

His 'exercises' on self-awareness was written for me and was only hinted in the first book. It literally changed my life. For once, I have been able to stick to the 10 steps for 7 months now, have lost 30 pounds and am a much happier person in general. Oprah's story was nice, but I often wish I had Bob around to talk about ME for a change. This book does that.

Like I said, if you just want instruction and already have MTC, don't bother. But if you can't seem to stick to the program and can't figure out why, buy this book! You may learn something about yourself!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You CAN make the connection!, January 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Keep the Connection: Choices for a Better Body and a Healthier Life (Paperback)

Thats what this book should have been titled! I disagree. It's not just the same as make the connection. I found Make the connection just plain ole' diet info. Great info, but nothing new. This book's section on motivation was astounding! What an eye opener for someone who has struggled with the mental part of making the decision to finally change my life. This book is definately something to pick up for anyone who has had it with diets. There's so much more to it! Life changing!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a perfect completion to "Make the connection", February 8, 2001

By 

A. Weckmann (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Keep the Connection: Choices for a Better Body and a Healthier Life (Paperback)

It is true that the steps towards weight loss are no different than in "Make the connection". But I think this book complements the first one perfectly. For the chapters on motivation alone, this book is worth buying. It explains the motivation issues of certain typres of people and why it can be damaging to your self-esteem to attempt dieting when you are not ready in your mind. This book also helped me to stay motivated whenever I had a low, and to keep going. I haven't regretted for one second that I bought this book.