Customer Reviews

Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell: The First Weight-Control Program Designed Specifically for Women

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She states in the book that, "the typical American woman today eats 200 calories less then she did in 1960 and weighs about 6 pounds more." Wonder why? Read the book!

This book is for the person who wants to make very simple changes to their life which will allow them to eat the foods they love - in moderation. You never feel deprived or guilty! And you will lose weight - if you are honest with yourself. I was working out 4 to 5 days a week and was still gaining weight. After joining weight watchers the amount of food I ate was diminishing, but I only lost 4 pounds in the first two weeks then 4 weeks went by and I lost nothing. It seems that I wasn't eating enough for my body to release the fat! After reading this book, 4 meals a day is helping the weight loss. I decided to track my points with the Weight Watchers to see what I was eating. I am eating beyond my 35 flex points per week - which equates to over 1600 calories a day!!!

I picked this book from my personal shelf a year after buying it. A year into a successful change of life which resulted in a new way of eating. What I discovered is that this book thorougly explains how to control fat by keeping fuel in the furnace. Biggest lesson to be learned: NEVER SKIP MEALS. You don't save calories, you pump up your body's natural fat storing activity. Great book with lots of practical advice. You need to read through it, though. It's worth the effort.

Debra Waterhouse provides a way to lose weight permanently through life-long eating and activity changes rather than dieting, per se; her recommendations are fairly standard in terms of aerobically exercising 4-5 times a week at a moderate level and minimizing fat intake. What is particularly nice about her approach, however, is that she does not outlaw any foods per se; simply suggests lowering fat and eating only when hungry, until satisfied (rather than full), thus encorporating several small meals rather than a few large meals into the eating plan.

What doesn't work in this book are the scientific rationales behind her approach. She claims you cannot starve a fat cell; you must exercise it off. Unfortunately, this is not really true because one of the reasons we evolved to store fat was to use it in times of starvation. Also, she suggests finding the appropriate level of exercise through a singing test to see if you are breathing hard enough; this however will vary from individual to individual based on lung capacity and breath control.

Therefore, while I think her suggestions overall are sound and practical and almost do-able, if she is going to try and give scientific rationales, she should provide footnotes to support them. (She does provide a reference list in the back, but does not specify where she got each piece of information.)

Read it, but take it with a grain of salt.

Debra provides a common sense approach to weight loss for women that you can stick to. After all, a woman'a body is different than a man's. After completing the book, I have been educated on how my female fat cells work. Because of this knowledge I am more willing to give them a challenge. Debra's OFF steps make sense -- exercise and eating when you are hungry. Of course she gives you tips to stay motivated, but you'll have to read the book to get those! I highly recommend this book for women who have struggled and failed at diets. This is not a diet -- a lifelong, sensible commitment to a healthy lifestyle. As she says, there is no bad food if you don't overeat it.

This book is great! So many women (and men!) really don't understand how a body works. This book explains it clearly. It's not overwhelming, it doesn't ask for huge lifestyle changes all at once. It DOES NOT call for "dieting." The main message of this book is probably PLEASE EAT! Not eating is probably the worst thing one can do for one's body. Waterhouse explains that the important thing is HOW you eat, NOT what you eat. There are no formulas. There is no calorie counting. This book explains metabolism, fat cells, and all that "scientific" stuff no one bothered to tell you. It's simple, it's realistic (even the exercise portion starts you with 10 minutes of walking!), and it's interesting to read. You will not regret reading this book. It might even save your life. If you follow the sensible ideas contained therein, you can do nothing but succeed in your efforts to be healthier, lighter, and happier.

This is a great book for the fight that most women encounter. Women criticize themselves unmercifully and it's a shame. They get put in a position where they seem to be required to be perfect but given little but their own resources to get to that point.

The best thing about this book that I see is that it is aimed at reducing the amount of stored fat. I doesn't aim at a scale, which is a useless device for this kind of change and doesn't require a starvation diet. She has solid ways to burn fat and to keep it from storing again.

Good work Debra.

This is an excellent book and I would recommend it to all women who are fed up with diets that don't work. I am a personal trainer and I have used the information in this book to help many of my clients, with successfull results. This isn't a quick fix plan - it teaches you good eating habits for life and also stresses the impotance of exercise, which is essential for maintaining fat loss.

It has been approximately 4 years since I've read this awesome book. I've learned so many things from this book, so much so that it has changed my life. I've lost approximately 60 pounds using the principles covered in Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell. It's not a diet or weight loss scheme but guidelines on how to live healthily.

I have read many books on weight loss and management. I have tried all the fad diets and exercise machines. This is the first approach to understanding how my body works that actually effected me and didn't scare me away. It is not an overwhelming approach to a lifestyle. It seems so natural and makes so much sense. I finally feel like someone understands me and isn't expecting too much from me. It has really changed my life.

If you are ready to get off the diet-train and do something that actually works, READ THIS BOOK. Easy-to-read information with a fresh perspective on why we as women have a more difficult time losing weight than men. She will teach you how to EAT and lose weight. I've lost 10 pounds so far, but more than that, I feel great. Like a lot of women, I have tried every kind of pill, diet craze (remember the cabbage soup diet?), Atkins, Weight Watchers...and on most of them you lose a little, gain back a lot, and are hungry, miserable, and frusterated. This is the first program created for women to teach you how to eat, move, and live for life. This is not a diet. It is a program you do for life, and it truly do-able. No crazy counting, measuring, or supplements. It's easy. This book gives you an honest approach to working with your female body to lose weight, and it's not hard to follow. I'm doing it, and so is my mom and sister, and we all have busy lives and stubborn metabolisms. If we can, you can!