Customer Reviews

So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds

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Shiho Torii is a Japanese manga (comic book) author who decided to keep a running blog for 5 months on her attempts to lose 15 pounds. This ends up to be a very funny look at how universal weight loss and stress really are.

So first - to be clear - this is NOT an expert guidance on the best ways to lose weight. It is not a seriously written tome about diet A vs diet B. It is one woman's fun, stressful, detailed journey through a wild variety of attempts, all told in comic book format. She definitely has misperceptions, which is fine! She complains that she "only" lost 2 pounds in a week, when this is healthy (and over 5 months would have her lose 40 pounds, far more than the 15 she was aiming for). She repeats outrageous, 1800s era advice about "don't bathe during your period".

She even states that taking a 20 minute bath burns 100 calories - when everything I've read says taking a bath is NO DIFFERENT than watching TV and that's only 68 calories an hour (i.e. 23 calories for 20 minutes).

But for all of that, Shiho is delightfully fresh and frank in her willingness to try *anything*. She tries hypnosis. NASA steam machines. GI diets. Enemas. Various exercise systems. Along the way she learns what works well for her, what is ridiculous, and has a lot of fun.

It's fairly clear why some of these diets will NOT work. One diet says to load your plate as high as you want, but never go back for seconds. That's a clear encouragement to gorge! Another diet insists you not drink water, which will dehydrate you.

Shiho provides a lot of information that is useful no matter what your health choices. If you get into a weight plateau, don't stress about it. Keep eating healthy, exercising regularly, and your body will take care of it. Incorporate hot baths and ginger tea into your diet. They help with stress, digestion and hydration.

It's important to realize that this book wasn't fact checked. There is blatantly wrong information in here. However, there's also fun stuff to enjoy, and some good tips. So the key is to read this like a light summer romance. It'll pass the time, give you some insight into another person and leave you with a few tidbits. Just don't take anything said here too seriously.

It's very funny. Comical weight reduction challenger's story. good for those who is going to start losing weight or has given up.

Good summer read! People who have a good sense of humor about struggling to lose a few pounds will appreciate this book.

I think this must be the first manga style weight loss book out there. Innovative, fun and light-hearted! Takes the pressure off of weight management and makes it a more enjoyable process.

So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds is absolutely hilarious. As one of the many who probably takes weight loss and dieting too seriously, I really appreciated this book's lightheartedness and laugh-out-loud illustrations. There is something especially great about being taken along for the ride as the author shares her dieting highs (and lows.)
A great gift, and the perfect book for anyone who is looking for a good chuckle.

The content is serious, losing weight! But having the humor and using the manga style, this book is surely a funny book that you can read through.
It also does have a good amount of information on which diets were effective for the author.

Some one that likes nonfiction style manga like The Manga Cookbook will surely enjoy this book.

I will be honest that I was pretty skeptical of this book. In fact I didn't even buy it myself, but read a copy of my friend's. Being a 24 year old guy, I'm not so interested in either weight loss or Japanese comics, but this was just too funny. Now I have bought two copies, one for my girlfriend and the other for my sister (my girl friend thought I was subtly trying to call her fat, but once she read it she loved it too!).
A lot of these diets are too ridiculous to be anything but entertaining, though there were quite a few that seemed more than credible!
A big recommendation, if not for the information, than just for the fun.
The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite

Enjoy

A hilarious light read and a look into Japan, this comic book was something new. I must admit that I am not too into dieting. And to be honest I am not much of a manga fan either. But this book was entertaining and fun to read regardless. And if I ever start thinking of going on a diet... This book would be a good place to start. Because it gives you a very general overview of a lot of different diets. It lets you know just how wacky the wacky ones are and just how practical the practical ones are.Eat This, Not That! Thousands of Simple Food Swaps that Can Save You 10, 20, 30 Pounds--or More!

So I Need to Lose 15 pounds
Shiho Torii
One Peace Books (2009)
ISBN 9780978508432
Reviewed by Paula Gardner-Porter for [...] (2/10)

Shiho Torii is a Japanese author and manga illustrator who was approached by an editor intrigued by a blog that Shiho maintained. Shiho was hesitant at first but then became ecstatic about the chance to work on a project as an illustrator and writer. After some discussions and many revisions, they finally agreed upon a subject -weight loss.

What is intriguing and emphatically cute about this self-help book on weight loss is that it is written in an emerging and popular sub-genre of manga called "comic essay". This genre features anecdotes and illustrations stemming from the authors life centered on a specific topic.

This book is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a medical notebook or dieting methods comparison with numbers and statistics. It is, however, a well documented, non-fiction weight loss journey on display recounting the authors real life struggles, victories and moments of insanity as she tries her luck with 27 different dieting/weight-loss methods. If you are looking for weight loss tips and lots of humor and if you are lover of manga - or just comic books in general--this book is for you.

During the first month of her five month documentary, she starts off with simple renewal and cleansing methods. Many of us will identify with the 'excitement turned to shock' experience of her first trip to the gym and the buff, non-human work out instructors. Then, no diet would be worth its salt without feeling like your being starved to death and tasting things that should be illegal to concoct. The cartoon about the colon-cleansing enema made me squirm, yet, laugh out loud. Yuck!

Month two dealt with the ever popular plateau phase. Surprisingly, it was not glorified and taken as a complex situation. The way she handles it is both encouraging and informational. Month three she tries her hand at natural whole foods and exercises that were on fire! During month four she is blown away by gadgets and wraps followed by the final month of easy-going massage and meditative methods like Tai Chi.

Overall, this book is funny and deals with the real-life struggles of dieting women around the world. Although some of the points and tips are culturally specific and/or not factual -perhaps factual only in the authors ill-advised mind--you will learn a few tips about weight loss that you didn't know. Most importantly, you acquire permission to laugh - at yourself.

This would make a great gift for the diet-guru neighbor that lives next door or the calorie-counting co-worker that has become a walking fitness encyclopedia. Better yet, purchase this book for your coffee table or side table at your local gym. It is okay, we have all been there!

So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds was originally written in 2006 and sold 31,000 copies--a Japanese best seller. It has now been translated into English and recently marked in the U.S. in 2009.

Dieting and weight loss is always a strange adventure in itself. "So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds" is a diet book with an original approach. Written in a manga style that was originally published in Japan, Shiho Torii demonstrates that crazy fad diets and weight loss ideas are not strictly an American thing, showing her own adventures in Japan. "So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds" is an endlessly entertaining adventure for those also on the tough road to weight loss.