Customer Reviews

Robin McGraw's Complete Makeover Guide: A Companion to What's Age Got to Do with It?

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I was rather disappointed with this book. There isn't much content...I think I read through the entire guide in 2 hours, and that was while being distracted by my 2 year old son.

Most of the information is basic common sense, and has been around for a long time. There is no new information in this book. It is a companion guide to What's Age Got to Do with It, which I must admit I have not read (and will probably never read after going through this companion book).

Mostly the book tells you to read chapters from the other book, then fill out checklists. Most of these consist of really simple things, such as "I eat a lot of sweets, I am a smoker, I drink alchol, I am overweight, I eat a lot of green leafy vegetables, I am a happy person," etc.

She has a basic fitness log, where you can track your measurements and workout progress, a weekly sleep journal, a daily food groups consumption sheet, weekly meal planner, 7 pages of skin care logs, 3 pages to put in pictures of hairstyles you like and 4 blank lined pages for you to talk about your faith. The only really useful thing in here is a questionnaire regarding different hormone issues, and I'm not sure how accurate that is (apparently, I answered yes to enough issues that all my hormones are out of balance!)

There is nothing here you can't easily create on your own. There is also a lot of old or misinformation. She recommends 6-11 servings of breads and grains, which most doctors and nutritionists will now tell you is too high (especially the cereals, pastas and bagels that she recommends as part of this group)

She also recommends that you eat or drink low fat or non fat dairy products for the calcium. Again, most doctors and nutritionists will tell you that green leafy vegetables, broccoli and other healthier foods are a much better souce of calcium than dairy. Many of the experts tell people to avoid dairy altogether. Another issue with this is that recent studies have proven that women who eat or drink full-fat dairy products are healthier and have fewer fertility problems than those who choose skim or low fat options.

She also gives a warning about eating too many nuts, because they are calorie dense. She ignores all the current research that shows the fats in nuts are very healthy for you, and can reduce your risk of heart disease. They are also a great source of trace minerals, including selenium. Most nutritionists recommend a handful of tree nuts per day.

Bottom line: If you want to get healthy, don't bother reading this book. I highly recommend the 150 Heathiest Foods on Earth by Jonny Bowden, The China Study, and In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan.

This is a companion to the first book but it's a totally useless book and I can't believe it cost $9.99 and it only has 114 pages. There is nothing new in this book, same old stuff you read in all this type of books. The author didn't put much effort into it in my opinion. You have to read the first book or this one means nothing. Each chapter corresponds to that book. All these chapters are just brief outlines of the chapters in the first book. You could write this book yourself by simply reading the first book and writing a brief report on each chapter. The charts, questions, work sheets, etc in this book are so simple, you could make a better one yourself.

I was able to get a copy of Robin McGraw's book and thought it might be interesting. I know I am not a woman and therefore am not really part of the target audience. However, I am approaching middle age, on the fat side, and my wardrobe consists of T-shirts and jeans, so I thought maybe I could learn something from this book.

The "Complete Makeover Guide" is intended to be a companion to "What's Age Got To Do With It?". I must admit I did not read the author's other book, but I thought this guide was able to weakly stand on its own. The book basically consists of 8 topics covering nutrition, fitness, skin care, hormones, makeup, hair, fashion, and faith.

The fitness chapter was basically OK at best. It does not give much detail about anything. It gives a few tips on staying motivated and some charts that are very cramped and awkward to write in.

The nutrition chapter is the best chapter in the entire book. The chapter talks about nutrition basics like the food pyramid, calorie counting, menu planning, and a bit on planning for weight loss. Again, the chapter has charts and tables to fill out that are poorly designed.

When reading the skin care chapter, I thought I misplaced the book and was reading a pamphlet written by the cosmetic industry instead. While the chapter does briefly discuss different cleansers, creams, and other things, the bottom line of the chapter is basically go to the cosmetic counter at a department store and ask them for help.

The chapter on hormones is about the most pathetic thing I have ever read. As with many middle aged couples, my wife and I are going through emotional, physical, and health changes. When I saw some check lists that showed what could happen if this hormone is imbalanced or that hormone is deficient, my wife and I thought it would be interesting to go through the lists and check the appropriate symptoms for her. After reading through the lists, she is pretty much out of whack on every hormone. Pretty much the symptoms for every lists seem highly similar if not exactly the same. For the record, my wife's hormone levels were normal the last time they were tested. The chapter offered poor insight at best.

Want me to sum up the hair chapter? Find some hair-styles you like. Cut pictures out of magazines or take pictures of people whose hair you like and paste them in the book. Find a professional salon (the yellow pages is a good source if you do not have a regular salon...great tip there). Take the pictures and discuss potential hair cuts, coloring, and styling products.

What can I do with make-up after reading this book? Not that I wear any, but I learned to find a friend whose make up I like, ask them what it is, and write their name and product information on the lines provided. Whoa! When in doubt, go visit your professional make-up person at the salon.

The fashion chapter could be useful to most people. Basically, the chapter says to buy clothes and have them tailored. However, there is some good information giving people an idea what to wear based on body type.

Finally, the faith chapter. Yeah... The reader is asked 2 questions and given 3 blank pages to write your answers.

Ignoring the lack of content, I had mixed feelings when reading the book. The book is written quite ingeniously. When I read the book, I almost felt like I was talking to a friend. Despite the excellent narrative in the book, I really did not know if I was in grade school working on a workbook, back in my high school health class, being lecturef by my parents, or watching a Maybelline commercial. It seemed the book was really all over the place when it came to the format.

Personally, I feel that books are sacred vaults of knowledge or gateways to vast worlds unexplored by me. It is very rare that I find a book I do not like. I really did not like this book. The tables were poorly formatted and difficult to photocopy. While there is a bit of brilliance behind the writing, the whole thing felt like reading a terrible high school essay. The useful content there is is not worth the $10 for the book. If you really have to get this book, I would highly recommend trying to check it out from the library, buying it used, or finding it in a second hand store. I could use this book as a fire starter and feel it was put to good use. I do not recommend getting this book.

For the record, when I asked my wife what she thought of the book, her response was a very hesitant "It's just OK."

There's nothing in this book. I mean literally nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Squat. Zero. At 100 pages of double-spaced type, lots of white space taken up by checklists, and get this, places to *paste* screen shots of products from Web sites and pictures of friends, this book, if you can call it that, has less content than a single health publication from the National Institute of Aging's Publication page (and they're all free).

That said, if you need structure in your life, can't think for yourself, or are unable to cohesively assimilate data on your own, go for it. Otherwise, I'd recommend avoiding this (scrap)book, written by someone without any (obvious) curriculum vitae other than being married to a TV personality.

For me the best thing about Robin McGraw's Complete Makeover Guide is the cover with its top to bottom photograph of the perfectly coiffed, attractive author. The reader sees a slim bodied woman on the cover with a figure, look, and presence that seems ideal. It might motivate readers to reach for the same perfection, the same confidence, the same look and figure. Go figure.
The book's unremarkable content is full of fill in lists, charts, to-do lists and check lists very similar to those in the Scholastic books many of the middle school girls in my classes used to favor. This "companion" to Ms. McGraw's "What's Age Got to Do With It", assigns readings in the aforementioned book to coincide with the workbook segments. This little book filled with tedious charts and plans contains advice gleaned from the author's experience and other expert sources. Neither Mrs. Spudman or I found anything noteworthy in this book. It's the same old, same old self-help mantra.

I find it scary that I could check off so many of the "going through the change" signs.
Things like :
My face is a mess.
I'm so exhausted.
Where's all that facial hair coming from?
I can't seem to concentrate.
Sometimes I skip a period (I find myself leaving out all kinds of punctuation marks these days.)

This appears to be quickly written to cash in on the success of the first book. Very thin, consisting of mostly fill in the blank charts. I really couldn't see anything useful in it.

Robin McGraw's Complete Makeover Guide is a fill in the blank workbook companion to "What's Age Got To Do With It", unless you are buying these books as a set this is not a complete book. She continually references the WAGTDWI throughout her workbook.

I am not a nutritionist or a fashionista but I found errors in her advice. For beautiful hair she recommends eating carrots and spinach, adding that these are foods rich in protein and hair is 98% protein. Carrots are a protein rich food?

Her clothing essentials page for building a working wardrobe made me wonder if she just lost interest and wandered off while making the list. She suggests black dress, black shoes, black pants, white oxford, white silky shirt. If you want to add more pieces she suggests white slacks and grey slacks. That's it.

That made me laugh. In fairness, you can refer to the cover photo of her in her black pants and black shirt and take the liberty of adding "black blouse".

In terms of makeover books, not so good. Even as a workbook this was not good as it was bound like a book and the pages were small and the paper was not great quality. You would do better watching What Not To Wear and Oprah because both of those shows are more in-depth than this book.

Contains info(?) on basics

Age, Fitness, Nutrition, Skin Care, Hormones, Hair, Makeup, Fashion and Faith are the main 'chapters'.

But sadly little is said on the topics, instead you are given
'Fill in the blank" and charts...and there isn't even enough room to write for more than a month at best unless you make copies of the charts et al.
Like the fitness section

Example

Hair section. No face shapes and what styles look best on the face shape (yes, most already know , but even THAT is not in here) She gives a few simple facts , asks questions and then she
tells you to cut out your favourite hairdos and paste them in the book for future reference. WHAT??? I do not fathom how this helps one iota.

Makeup sections doesn't even give you the usual are you a Summer, Spring, Winter, Fall checklist to discover your colours and look your best
It's a bunch of questions on what you like.....thats NOT advice...I may love orange but I look AWFUL in it and I may like deep burgundy lipsticks But i look AWFUL in those as well

Faith section is 2 TWO questions....and you write the chapter by default !!!!

Essentially, after a few facts are given , the whole book is questions
Heck YOU are the author...you need to write more than MS Mc Graw did !!!

Only slightly positive portion is on hormones...but the library, online sources and grocery store checkout magazines tell you more (Prevention )

Reading how to make change happen and wanting to change is one thing. Being able to devleop concrete step by step plans on how to make that change happen is something else

Robin McGraw's gide book for What's Age Got to Do with It?: Living Your Healthiest and Happiest Life? Provides excellent structure to help make change happen. It provides a structure for looking at what is happening in your life today and how to informed plans to make change happen.

This book helps fill the gaps where most self help books fail.

I was really looking forward to this book. As a 'companion book' I thought it meant it could be used in addition to What's Age Got to do With It? Unfortunately, that couldn't be further from the truth. While the guide looks like it would be quite beneficial, it is USELESS if you don't actually own What's Age Got to Do With It? I don't, so this book will sadly collect dust.