Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: total health makeover, food combining, chewing your food, Mariiu Nenner, New York, Rice Dream (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Marilu Henner, known as Elaine on TV's Taxi and star of the musical Chicago, was once very overweight, with sallow skin and a weak immune system. She waffled between starving herself and gorging herself. Since cutting dairy products and caffeine out of her diet, adopting a food-combining plan, and following a program that's code-named "BEST"--for balance, energy, stamina, and toxin-free--she's shaved nearly 100 points off her cholesterol count and 50 pounds off her frame, and she looks younger at 45 than she did at 19. If you don't count her pregnancies, her weight hasn't changed by more than 5 pounds over the past 11 years.

Henner's 10-step health program outlined here is strict, but she offers tips for getting your feet wet. Start by cutting out caffeine one day a week, she advises, instead of going cold turkey, and make just one meal each day dairy-free, so the change doesn't come as a shock to your system. Her "anti-milk manifesto," which reveals exactly how milk is produced and how it negatively affects the human body, is quite a stunner. Her plan offers sound advice for becoming more mindful of how you treat your body, how and what you eat and why, and how you react to stress, along with how to make improvements in all these areas. Henner's especially trustworthy because she's been through the wringer: "After nineteen years of experimenting, a thousand mistakes, over 400 books (read, not written), at least 200 bad diets over my lifetime, five doctors, two physical therapists, three nutritionists, two personal trainers, one therapist, and a partridge in a pear tree, I have found what I believe are the best answers this planet has to offer about living a healthy, happy, and balanced life." And she holds nothing back as she passes on her hard-earned knowledge about nutrition, digestion, exercise, preventive medicine, detoxification, and stress reduction. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"If changing your body and looking great are qualifiers, then Marilu is definitely qualified to write this book." -- -- Tony Danza

"Marilu is my mentor. Her philosophies about health changed my life as well as my figure." -- -- Fran Drescher

"Marilu is the healthiest person I know ... she makes me sick!" -- -- Carol Burnett

"Marilu--you have done the world a tremendous service." -- -- Rosie O'Donnell

"Nobody does health better." -- -- John Travolta

"The best-organized and best-written book of its kind," -- -- Peter Bogdanovich

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (December 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060988789
• ISBN-13: 978-0060988784
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (129 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #259,754 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

95 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just a diet book, a nutritional bible., June 22, 2000

By	Alexandra (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover: Ten Steps to Your BEST Body (Hardcover)

The first time I read this book and was introduced to the concept of food combining, it sounded unrealistic and impossible to follow. I tried it for about 2 days and gave up. About a year later, when diagnosed with an internal Candida imbalance that was causing lots of chronic health problems, my doctor suggested I follow a special diet that included food combining. So I got out Marilu's book and read through it again. This time I stuck with it and found that much of her nutritional suggestions mirrored that of anti-Candida plans; i.e., no dairy, food combining, no sugar or artificial sweeteners, etc. I was a fairly healthy eater to begin with but of course a major change in diet takes determination and time to adjust. Let me assure anyone out there that this book is full of good information to start you on a path to total wellness, inside and out. While some of the presentation is a tiny bit corny, it's also approachable and it's interesting to see the road she, herself, was on in terms of bad health and where she is now.

Since making the decision to stick permanently with food combining (which can be complicated but she presents in a very easy to follow, organzied way) and eliminating sugar (about as hard for some people to do as quitting smoking or drinking) I have never felt better. My Candida is under control, my chronic ailments (asthma, allergies, rashes, joint pain) have all but disappeared, I have tons of energy all the time, I sleep better, I look better (better skin, hair, body) I feel consistently in a good mood and a nice side benefit was dropping from a size 12 to a 6.

After nearly a decade of struggling with my weight and being "sickly" I am now strong and truly healthy and found that only when I focused on my health rather than my size did I lose weight. I am now going back to college to obtain a degree in Kinesiology specializing in Athletic Training, a lifelong dream I never would have thought I could pursue in my prior condition. You need to be inspirational to train others and certainly you have to walk the talk.

With all the other fads being tauted out there, like the Atkins diet which is completely nutritionally unsound and puts people at a risk for renal failure and serious dehydration, I can tell you that the reason plans like Marilu's aren't as popular is ause they are more difficult initially to get accustomed to and don't allow for taboo foods as much as the hi-pro/hi-fat phenomenon. This may be a tougher challenge at first, but the long term health benefits are limitless.

I have read and reread everything from the Zone, Atkins, macrobiotics, sugar-busters and the blood type recommendations (which are actually very similar and is also a great book to keep as a nutritional bible) and it's Marilu's book I find myself whipping out for reference or review.

If you buy this book and stick with it for a month (it takes at least that long to remove prior waste product from your blood stream, tissues and organs) you WILL feel a sense of total health and well being that will amaze and surpise you. It's a great investment in yourself and the better your body functions, the better the quality of your life.

47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I could give this book more than five stars!, November 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover (Mass Market Paperback)

I've been doing the program for over six months, and I agree that the most compelling evidence is Marilu's own transformation. She explores a new path to health; this isn't a fad, it's a permanent approach to the way we eat and how we live.Even doing just one step or two of her program will recharge your energy and take off the pounds. I swore I could never give up red meat, but it's gone from my life. I never in a million years thought I could say no to dairy -- also gone. I'm fighting right now to get off sugar, and it's shocking how poisoned the foods are at the supermarket with the stuff. I've lost 23 pounds so far, and my skin looks fabulous. My allergies are not as severe and I rarely get sick. (I used to be chronically ill with colds and bronchial problems) Through Marilu's book, I'm now reading a lot of material by Michio Kushi. Again, it's a life changing process, and you have to be committed to make it work. And given the poor health that Americans are in today with obesity, respitory and circulatory problems, it's about time somebody spoke up and kept speaking up until the message was heard.Thank you Marilu!

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Negative reviews stem from denial & lack of trying, June 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover: Ten Steps to Your BEST Body (Hardcover)

I purchased this book approx. 3 1/2 weeks ago and gradually started applying the changes in my eating habits along with the overall knowledge that Marilu provides here. I've found the transition to be simple and truly beneficial in how I look & feel. I've lost 11 1/2 lbs in 2 weeks and I don't feel deprived. Someone had commented on the extreme cost - Granted rice and soy milk may be more expensive. However, I no longer purchase all the junk foods and garbage I used to eat which has resulted in a drop in my grocery expenses. If you truly READ this and FOLLOW THROUGH, you will see & feel the results. Buy it and USE IT. "USE IT" being the operative word. I don't think Marilu could have spelled it out any clearer - Yet she does with her book "The 30 day Total Health Makeover" which get's 6 stars!