Customer Reviews

8 Minutes in the Morning for Extra-Easy Weight Loss: Guaranteed to shed 2 pounds a week (No equipment required, No calories counting, No deprivation)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

By following the techniques in this book, I shed 15 pounds in one month and my daughter lost 20 pounds!! This book is for those who have not exercised or dieted for quite some time. Jorge gives the reader great diet tips combined with exercises that will get the reader's metabolism moving again. This book is highly recommended for those who want the weight loss but can only do minimum exercises.

Remember those Looney Tunes cartoons where a particularly gullible character would momentarily appear to morph into a giant sucker (lollipop)? I think that must have happened to me as I walked by this book on the store shelf....

I'll start with what I hated about this book.

* Jorge Cruise's Cruise Down Plate (R). This consists of the following: "Mentally divide the plate in half. Fill the upper half with vegetables. Then again mentally split the bottom half of the plate into two equal parts. Fill the left side with a high-protein food and the right side with a carbohydrate food. Finally, add 1 teaspoon of fat.... If you ... eat everything on your plate - and you're still hungry - you may dish yourself up another plate of vegetables.... And that's really all you need to know to use my Cruise Down Plate (R) to achieve weight-loss success." Well, no, it's really not. You have to read another 14 pages to get to the bottom of it, which actually turns out to be just another low-calorie diet. The plate gimmick barely enters into it. YAWN.

* "Visit www.JorgeCruise.com...." I was perplexed to find that there is apparently NO content on this website that doesn't require you to pay $3 a week. The one exception I found was a link to My Virtual Body, which is free. One section of the book tells you to go to www.JorgeCruise.com/localclubs to see a list of weight-loss clubs meeting in your area. Unfortunately, nothing exists at that web address. At another part of the book, Jorge encourages you to "share your story" and invites you to weekly online meetings by joining the "online club" at www.JorgeCruise.com. He doesn't mention there's a fee for this extra support. The most irritating one yet was "You can even go to www.JorgeCruise.com/music to hear selections from my personal picks of the most inspiring and moving music." What actually happens when you go to this URL is you find a "Welcome to a JorgeCruise.com Active Link!" page with a "Click here" link. When you click on the link, it takes you to www.JorgeCruise.com/shopping/videos.php. Yes, it's an online store for Jorge's $39.95 VHS tape, or one of his audio kits and books, "Jorge's favorite" exercise tools, and some nutritional supplements. No music whatsoever. While we're on the website, let me point out what the FAQ says about the books:
"Can I use Jorge's 8 minute books in combination with this online plan? Although the books are excellent resources of information -- the plan presented here online is Jorge's NEWEST and might not follow the book's exercise or eating plan exactly. In order to avoid confusion, follow the online plan 100%. NOTE: We are updating all of Jorge's books to match all new materials offered here online." So now that I've purchased the book (which includes online support as part of its weight-loss plan), it's already obsolete? What was it, just an expensive advertisement for the website? Infuriating.

* Jorge's smiling face. I was getting tired of seeing it before I was halfway through the book. Every few pages there's a little sidebar with a Jorge quote, topped by a 2-inch-square photo of the man. By the end, I had difficulty resisting the urge to take up a black Magic Marker and eradicate every one of them. Whose idea WAS that?

* The exercises. Come on - soup can bicep curls and tricep kickbacks? What, have I been lying on the couch doing no heavier lifting than a can of beer for the past few years? I have 15-month-old twins, each of whom weighs about 25 lb. I carry them around ALL the TIME. Lifting one-pound soup cans for strength training is ludicrous. And how about the "lift hold" - sit in front of a table, put your palms under the tabletop and push up on the underside of the table as hard as you can. Well, I don't own a solid marble table, so if I tried this I'd have the table flipped over off its feet before any real benefits accrued to my strength. If you're 70 years old or just have not lifted anything heavier than your purse for the past several years - and I'm not knocking you if that's the case - these exercises might be useful. For me, they're laughable. And I'm not THAT strong.

There's more, but those are the major points.

So what made me give this book 2 stars? Strictly this: It's packed with all kinds of motivational tools. This is something I'd never seen to this extent in a weight-loss book, and I think they might actually help me (with the glaring exception of his online support "club," as I refuse to shell out the bucks for it). There are journaling tips, lists of empowering books, weight-loss websites, motivational magazines, etc. So I think I might actually be able to adapt some of it for myself. It might even be worth what I paid for it, if I can get past my annoyance with the rest of it....

1-The eating plan: simple and easy to follow. I think most
nutritionists would support the Cruise Down Plate method.

2-The exercise: very simple. If you are already an exerciser you
may find these strength training moves too simple and will need
to do some alternative moves (if you have already been
exercising I suggest you might want to use the website instead
of the book).

3-The book itself: it is colorful, well written and easy to
follow. The advise is sound.

The results: I lost 3 pounds in 1 week. Then 2. Then "that time of the month" and I maintained (which was a miracle). Week four I gained one pound but I only did the exercise and was way off on my eating for my own emotional issues.

I am starting week five and I know I will continue to live healthier. I strongly suggest this book for beginners and the Jorge's website is a good resource to develop a support community. I know, for myself, that talking to people face to face about my weight is stressful but online is a godsend.

Good luck!

If you look past all the pics of Jorge and just stick to the motivational tips and stories, it will keep you going. I just started the fourth week and I have lost 7 pounds already. I'm not thinking about calories, because the suggestions are already there for me and I don't feel deprived. The exercises are very simple; a great way to get started for your first month of weightloss. I don't use the "online tools" because I think the money I spent on the book itself is sufficient.

The book is geared toward people who have not exercised in a VERY long time and are quite overweight. However, I was following another exercise and "diet" routine and only maintaining the weight I started out with. In 3 weeks, my stomach is flatter and I can fit into smaller sizes again.

I only gave it 3 stars, despite my results, because of the "Jorge product hocking."

If you are serious about weight loss, you are probably looking for a program that works with your real life. Jorge Cruise offers that. Your actual weight loss might be more like a pound a week -- but remember that you are turning fat to muscle while you lose. Also, the eight minutes is more like 15 when you do legwork and add the cool-down stretches, and that doesn't count whatever you do (like walking) for your warm-up. There is a lot of encouragement in these pages, stories from real people who have lost real weight. I've just started my second 28-day cycle and find the simplicity and variety fit with real life.

I Love this book. I can really handle the 8 min a day. But do not blow off the beginning of the book. It is a great way to set yourself up for success! It guides you through getting mentally prepared to succeed as well as help you to set yourself up with a support system to succeed. The exercises are very easy and you do not need any equipment. I'm on my 3rd week and actually lost 4lbs this week - YAHOO! I would recommend this book to anyone who is serious about losing weight. It is fantastic!!!

So, if the previous reviewer is correct and this is simply a paperback version of 8 minutes original, why not call it that, or the 4 other books out under this franchise all with a slightly different twist.

I read this book, cover to cover. My review is accurate and fair. This book is little more than an advertisment to sign up for his website weight loss program, thus generating MORE revenue than just the cover price of this latest blockbuster book.

I am not saying Jorge's methods aren't sound...they are. BUT to say on the cover of your book "NO deprivation, NO calorie counting" but then to give a day by day DIET for the reader to follow.....NEWSFLASH Jorge, if I want a cheeseburger and it isn't on your menu.....that is deprivation to me! AND, why would I have to count calories if you did it for me and are telling me what to eat to stay under 1200 calories a day.

8 minutes to another fad....that is all this is, plain and simple! I hope your 15 minutes are up soon Jorge.

This book's a joke. It should be called the Jorge Cruise book since his photo appears practically on every page. He's a little too much into himself. There's no new info in this book I haven't already read somewhere else. Body for Life is much better. I wasted my money on this one. If you're a woman looking for a great book on exercise and nutrition to lose weight- I highly recommend Body for Life for Woman.

This is a great book for anyone who hasn't exercised in sometime. It is not over exerting but yet beneficial.

This book worked for me. I am 42, in a sedentary job, not really overweight but was beginning to feel flabby and was tired all the time. I did the exercises and kept to the diet 80% of the time and four weeks later feel great. A month ago I was asking my daughter to fetch things from upstairs for me because I was too tired at the end of the day. Now I have the energy to run up those stairs and race her to the mail box and back. I didn't lose much weight --- could have stuck to the diet part better, but I lost an inch off my bust and hips and 2.5 inches from my waist and my clothes are loose. This program got my energy back and it's maintainable for my life style. I've just started my second 28-day cycle with Jorge's original book and I am looking forward to it.--- Also I like the photos. I think he is trying to be encouraging. Like I said, it worked for me.