Customer Reviews

Shrink Your Female Fat Zones: Lose Pounds and Inches--Fast!--From Your Belly, Hips, Thighs, and More

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book features a comprehensive approach to fitness...cardio, strength training, stretching and healthful eating. Each body type has a slightly different recommendation, in order to target (with toning exercises) particular problem areas. Denise's manner of writing is informative, friendly and encouraging.

What I liked best:

The cardio workout recommended is walking, which is nice because it can be done any time, anywhere. There are four walking workouts per week: an endurance walk, an interval walk, a walk with toning exercises incorporated and a combination interval/toning walk. Every two weeks the length of the walk is increased so that if you follow the schedule you will be walking 45 minutes/walk four times a week at the end of six weeks. There is a modified schedule for those who are quite out of shape, starting out. The fact that there is variety in the workouts makes it more interesting and less likely to result in a fitness plateau.

There is a wonderful chapter on emotional eating. Basically, Denise's suggestion is to keep a "hunger" journal...noting down what time you eat, how hungry you were (on a scale of 1 to 5) and what the surrounding circumstances were. I have tried this myself and keep going back to it occasionally as a touchstone. I've found this a very helpful tool as far as modifying my habits.

There are three eating plans along with suggestions for which would be most appropriate: a 1,400-calorie-a-day plan, a 1,600-calorie plan and an 1,800-calorie plan. Denise also has suggestions for modifying them. As one example, Denise explains why some women might find it most successful to alternate between the 1,400-calorie plan and the 1,600-calorie plan.

The food on the included menus has lots of variety and is delicious. I don't think anyone would feel deprived. It's also quite flexible, making it user-friendly. For instance, the shopping lists note which foods not to buy if you're planning to eat out on a given day during that week.

Finally, following her three-times-a-day stretching routine has been one of the best things I've done for myself. I've always stretched before and after workouts, but never throughout the day, every day. In the past month or so, little aches and pains that I used to have by the end of a day in the office have melted away.

As I get older, I find myself less concerned about a number on the scale, per se, and more concerned about maintaining strength and flexibility so that as the years go by I will continue to be able to do with ease the activities I love. I found Denise's advice in this book fit right in with my goals for a lifetime of fitness.

I had always dismissed Denise Austin as nothing more than frothy beauty queen fluff. Usually, I would ignore her books and videos - I am just not one who likes those perky cheerleader types. How could a workout coming from someone that peppy and cute really work? But boredom with my current routine caused me to actually pick up this book and give it a real glance over. Wow.....was I ever wrong about her. I haven't put this book down since I bought it. The information is written in an intelligent and user friendly way - the pictures are clear and the instructions are easy to understand. And the workouts......let's just say I am feeling the burn big-time! They work, plain and simple.

I like the fact that she includes specific workouts for your trouble spots (my abs!), but she also encourages you to work your other parts for a completely toned body. The walking information was excellent - I usually walk every day but don't think much about it. Her tips are making my daily walks more effective and fun too! And the nutrition information is solid and well researched. She doesn't advocate dieting - just making good choices and developing good habits.

Could it be that I am now cheering for Denise? You bet! But don't call me perky just yet!

I'm 5'4" and have always weighed 115-120 lbs. After giving birth to my daughter, I weighed 147 pounds. I didn't exercise during my pregnancy, and I didn't start trying to re-gain my pre-pregnancy figure until after my 6-week postpartum check-up. The first time I went to the gym, I came home crying, because I was very much out of shape, and unable to accomplish anything on familiar weight machines. Instead of heading back to the gym, I ordered this book, and now I'm back down to 115 lbs. My friends and family keep telling me how great I look for someone who just had a baby three months ago.
This program has been great for me, as a new mother. 1) The exercise program includes a lot of walking, which my baby loves!
2) The recipes are quick and easy to prepare. 3) Denise has written out grocery lists which save me tons of time.
This book is great for busy new moms who want to shed pounds from pregnancy.

this is probably one of denise's most thorough books that i have ever read. it explains why women usually get more fat cells than men, but how to successfully outsmart them.

she suggests a walking program for cardio, and even tells you how to pick out a walking shoe. however, almost any cardio workout could be substituted if you'd rather do that than walk.

next, she explains the "fat zone" areas. she gives sample workout weeks, based on your fat zone. for two weeks, you do the same lower body, upper body, and midsection exercises. you switch to a new set for weeks 3-4, and for 5-6. all the exercises are listed under the appropriate fat zone area, and give thorough instruction and pictures.

she offers a variety of meals, and every week, you learn a new habit such as portion control, eating enough fruit, good fat/bad fat.

there are also daily worksheets(you have to make copies for each week, since there is only one for each week in the book.

it stresses the importance of not hopping on the scale every day, and to take measurements since you could be gaining muscle weight but still losing inches.

this program is very effective by switching up the routine every two weeks. i've already lost 8 inches, and i'm not even to week 6.

I agree with another reviewer here -- I typically shrug Denise off as I view her as annoyingly "perky" and cannot bear to watch her videos with the sound on. I believe that she knows what she is doing in regard to exercise and that is to her credit, but the "rah-rah cheerleader" delivery is not my cup o' tea!

At the bookstore the other day, I came across this title and to my sheer amazement, found it well-researched and completely thorough. I was very impressed at how Denise gives you all the info. that you need to succeed in the weight loss war - menus, 6 weeks of varying exercise programs and specific exercises that focus on your trouble spots, to name a few of the tools she provides. Denise really did her HW with this one.

If you are looking for the least painful, most effective way to trim down - this is the best book I have found out there!

I am on week 5 of this plan, and have lost 12 lbs. I have completely taken off the weight of both babies, and I'm within 5 lbs. of my wedding day weight. This is a great total program. The eating plan is very logical, with a good balance of nutrients. The recipes have all been good so far (except one), and relatively easy to prepare. The walking plan is nothing new since I already walk 5 days/week for 45 min., but the "fat zone" exercises that you can do while walking are helpful. I love her idea of "fidgetcize," and try to do tummy tuck, butt squeezes and waist twists in the carpool line. I don't do all of her exercises in the book as prescribed, but I work out to videos (including a couple of hers), and I'm taking a yoga class. I am in my 40's and thought my body would not respond well to this plan, but she has my metabolism cranked! Definately a good common sense approach...and I say this as a woman and a cardiac nurse!

Denise has been around for almost 20 years and is still going strong (you can't say that about too many other fitness veterans). What I like most about this diet is that it's really not a "diet". It's a lifestyle change. She shares solid, true information about nutrition, fitness, and healthy fat loss. She gives you the facts, and allows you to create your own diet of various foods just as long as you stay within the calorie range (1400 to 1800 calories per day).

I honestly didn't even use any of her food recipes (although I've heard from other sources that they are really good) and I still lost an average of 2.5 pounds per week. This is what I do:

1)Monday, Wednesday, Thursday - 1400 calorie diet and 45 minutes of cardio.

2)Tuesday, Friday, Saturday - 1400 calorie diet and Denise Austin's resistance training techniques (it only takes about 15-20 minutes per workout)

3)Sunday - Eat whatever I want (pancakes, bread, etc.) and no workout (this concept is not in the book, but I customized this into my own plan)

Doing this, I lost about 20 pounds in 2 months.

I have always loved Denise Austin she looks fabulous at 40 plus yrs of age. I just got my book today and it has a wealth of information. I like the fact that it's geared for women and womens needs such as p.m.s,pregnancy as well as menopause. She has sound advice as well as when we stress out and what it does to our bodies while we are tyring to loose weight. I am so grateful for this book, the advice, the success stories as well as denise's motivation. You go girl! I am so proud of this book it's a must read for any woman that is thinking of starting a weight and or excersie program and how she defines things and explains to us how our bodies and hormones play a key role in weight loss. Thank you Denise Austin for encouraging me to take one step further in my goals to loose weight. Ladies you will NOT be disapointed!This book is fabulous

I cannot refer to this as a 'diet' book, because that can give it negative connotations, and it's really not about 'dieting.' You aren't given a target weight...you aren't restricted to nothing but meat patties and eggs, carb rationing, etc. Denise takes an approach in this book that is based largely on female physiology and just good, plain sense.

One of the things I REALLY loved about this program is that it is about 'retraining' your body to eat and to excercise. Her food program emphasises different aspects of healthy eating every week...so at the end of six weeks, you have retrained yourself into eating healthier, and, subsequently...letting the calories take care of themselves. One week emphasises portion control...another high fiber...etc. So, with each week, you can easily apply the lessons from other weeks into your daily eating/workout plan. Another HUGE bonus is she incorporates restuarant/fast foods into the program. She gets modern life!

One of the reasons I have always been a huge Denise fan is she 'gets it' when she realizes people have busy schedules that can't always sandwich in an hour for a work out. now, her program does include excercise, as any healthy lifestyle should...but it's incorporated in a way that doesn't mean you need to schedule it in your day planner. she recommends X amount of time in the morning, but also provides you with the workout segmented so you can fit 10 minutes here....5 there. She really respects the demands that modern life can put on a woman.

Finally, what I really appreciated most about this book was that she explains very well the differences in female body composition, and how our fat is stored, why it is...and what you should expect, realistically, from weight loss. She gives you the 'why' behind what she does, which I think just bolsters her credibility.

This book is an amazing find for anyone who wants to get healthy and not rely on 'dieting.'

I read the book in a couple of days while nursing my second baby. I can do the workout with my baby and toddler. It is four days of walking and four days of toning muscles using wieghts. I finished week 1 : portion control on the diet plan. I can finally fit into my jeans while doing the strength toning (not recommended). I loved the DVD. The eating plan in the book is just as wonderful. And I can do it while nursing a seventeen pound baby. I love it!