Put Your Life On a Diet: Lessons Learned from Living in 140 Square Feet [Paperback]

Gregory Paul Johnson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 2008

Put Your Life on a Diet: Lessons Learned Living in 140 Square Feet is the ultimate resource for living a simpler life as well as leaving behind a smaller environmental footprint and living a healthier life for you and the planet. In this book author Gregory Paul Johnson guides us in five significant areas-housing, food, technology, utilities, and transportation-teaching us how to create a simpler life, reducing stress in our own lives and harm to the environment. Due to the pressures and complexity of life today, the search for simplicity is being sought after like never before. Put Your Life on a Diet: Lessons Learned Living in 140 Square Feet offers the tools to escape the "cookie-cutter" existence so many are living today and find peace in a simpler lifestyle.
Author Bio: Gregory Paul Johnson is the founder and Director of Resources for Life, an outreach and public interest organization based in Iowa City, Iowa. His study of Urban and Regional Planning with the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs (HECUA) included travel to several South American countries including Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. Today, as a technology consultant, Gregory works for the University of Iowa as well as clients served by his consulting firm, the Technology Services Resource Group.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gregory Paul Johnson is the founder and Director of Resources for Life, an outreach and public interest organization based in Iowa City, Iowa.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith (May 14, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1423603176
• ISBN-13: 978-1423603177
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #201,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #86 in Books > Crafts, Hobbies & Home > Small Homes & Cottages

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Are you really living if you don't have a toilet?, August 21, 2008

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LeeAnn Balbirona (Washington state) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Put Your Life On a Diet: Lessons Learned from Living in 140 Square Feet (Paperback)

I had high hopes for this book as a reflection on living in one of the Tumbleweed Tiny Houses. However, after a brief introduction summarizing some changes his life made after moving into the 150 sq ft dwelling, the rest of the book is mainly a series of guided reflections and questions on how you can pare down your life. I was hoping for more real life anectdotes rather than a self-help book. Anyway, my main criticism is that his 150 sq ft home is not really a home, since he admits he doesn't cook in it (barely ever used the sink, relies on eating out or instant foods) and there's no bathroom! That is called camping, not living. He does have some interesting ideas about using your neighborhood as your living space, but having to walk to your gym to use the bathroom every morning seems a bit unworkable for most. There is a chapter at the end where he discusses his lifestyle as not being amenable to having a spouse (no room for you, honey!) and a page where he briefly wonders how to live such a life with children (he doesn't have any that he mentions). So this book is perfect for an unmarried, unattached city dweller but probably of little use to anyone else.

FYI, all the other models of Tumbleweed Tiny houses do have toilets. Why he chose to live without one I don't know--other than maybe he couldn't get a permit or didn't want to deal with the hassle of emptying a tank.

There is still room out there for a personal memoir of actually living, not camping, in such a small space. I understand the author is trying to redefine what is necessary for living but this reader didn't find his vision completely realistic.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun book on outsourcing your life, September 23, 2008

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Superdog (Fort Worth, TX) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Put Your Life On a Diet: Lessons Learned from Living in 140 Square Feet (Paperback)

This was a fun read about a person that lives in a tiny house and outsources his life. He outsources everything, including the toilet. He lists several good suggestions as to how to liquidate assets and heirlooms. He sold his car on earth day and only uses a bike for transportation. After reading, I thought he is very lucky to be living in a bike friendly town and within biking distance of his office. I wish he had gone into more depth about how he lives in his tiny house. Life experiences including construction on the house, living, towing it to different cities, etc., would be nice. Maybe those will be in the sequel.

At 144 pages it's a quick read (the amazon page count is wrong). My main gripe is the font should have been larger and easier to read. It's a tiny book, with tiny font. It seems they were trying to match the page count to the size of his house.

His website, including his Gregory cam, have become my favorites.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WALKING THE WALK, March 21, 2010

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Avid Reader (NC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Put Your Life On a Diet: Lessons Learned from Living in 140 Square Feet (Paperback)

I read this book straight through and ended up with great admiration for the author. While many of us are drawn to the ideal of simple living, we're more or less at the armchair stage. Gregory Johnson's Resources for Better Living [...] offers a wealth of information for many aspects of this movement. He is extremely knowledgeable in talking the talk -- but he walks the walk as well. I find his work and his example deeply inspiring.