Customer Reviews

The Solution: For Safe, Healthy, and Permanent Weight Loss

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been reading this book, and find it very helpful. The idea that there are six causes to weight problems...only two of which have to do with food and exercise, is very interesting. The author believes that it has to do with not being taught how to effectively take care of ourselves when we are children...mostly because our parents probably didn't have the skills needed, either. Which is why you see obesity run in familys...not because it's genetic, per se, but because we are passing our weak skills on to our children. And so they cope with problems the same way we do, or our parents do, etc. The Six Causes are:

1. Weak Nurturing

2. Ineffective Limits

3. Body Shame

4. Poor Vitality

5. Unbalanced Eating

6. Stalled Living

The idea is to work toward learning and using effective ways of taking care of ourselves and our emotional and physical needs. The author believes that learning to become strong in these areas will eliminate our need to overeat, or eat the wrong foods. That rather than having to fight to lose the weight, our bodies will naturally and slowly get down to the perfect weight for us, according to genetics, bone structure, etc. The author has tested this with a lot of people, and found that it really does work. I believe that it would, because if you think about it, for most of us who are struggling with a weight problem, food is more than just food to us. It's comfort and love and acceptance...because even if no one else seems to care about us, at least the yummy food is always there. It gives us something to do when we're bored, calms us down when we are stressed, etc. We use it for much more than just fuel for our bodies, or even just as something enjoyable. After all, there are other things we enjoy, but we don't have to have them in vast amounts.

The book goes through ways of learning the skills you need to have strong nurturing, effective limits, body pride, good health, balanced eating, and a mastery of living. I haven't started with the skills yet, but I believe it could really help me. I really believe the author is on the right track, because when we just diet and exercise, and not take care of the root problem that's causing us to overeat in the first place, then we are only treating the symptom, not the problem. We all no that if the main problem remains, we can slip back into the symptoms at any time. But, if the problem is removed, then the symptoms will go as well.

The other thing is that the author doesn't just deal with obese people...some people are just a few pounds overweight, but still unhappy with their body, etc...and she's worked with them, also. The interesting thing is that the people who've worked through the skills say that their entire life is better...not just because they've lost weight, but because they are dealing with life more effectively. I think it is very interesting, and could be helpful to anyone struggling with a weight problem.

This book received a positive review in a popular fitness magazine so I decided to check it out. It provides an approach that has allowed me to lose weight in a very personalized manner. It may not be for everyone since it is based on taking quiet time to getting to the heart of why you feel somehow compelled to eat when you aren't really hungry. This introspection takes many forms including writing, talking and thinking about your own deepest/toughest challenges in life.

I have lost 40 to 50 pounds several times in my life and am usually, in my head, on some sort restrictive diet that I seldom follow-through on. When I began this work I immediately lost 8 pounds and then stayed steady as I built up my ability to face things as they come. I have now started losing again in a way that is almost effortless because I am eating much more often simply because I am hungry or for the pleasure of something incredibly tasty but not because I am trying not to think about things that have made me uncomfortable/anxious during the day or in the past.

Before I bought this book I read the reviews here that said it was an expensive process but there is no organized support for this program in my area so my costs have not been that high.So far, I have spent around $200 for 6 months of materials ( journals, tapes, web site access) and one session of telephone coaching. It is worth it. I easily used to spend this much over a 6 month period on extra food.
The language used in the book can be a little off-putting ( e.g. the cures, tender morsels, hamburger sandwich) and the ideas are sometimes fairly complex, but if you are motivated and committed my own experience is that it really achieves results and helps provide a sense of balance in many aspects of daily life.

Mellin's system is the *only* one that has achieved a 77% longterm (more than 2 years after her 12 week program ended) success rate, at a study done at UC of San Francisco's School of Medicine, where she is currently an associate clinical professor of family and community medicine. As a fat self-esteem coach, it pleases me immoderately to read a book that is founded upon achieving permanent slim as a result of increasing one's awareness in crucial areas, and being responsible for acting upon that new awareness productively. Within Mellin's schema, unresolved lifestyle issues set up stresses that are experienced as "hunger" for the obese, thus overriding the perception of one's own bodily hunger. That is why her book is about performing the fairly subtle, often invisible, actions that satisfy a wide variety of needs, from sensing one's emotions of the moment, to knowing how far to pursue any one desire generally, to asserting oneself at work or with the doctor, eating a "balanced" food intake and exercising. Journals and "feeling" letters help deal with the repression of feeling associated with any compulsion. The first thing that sets Mellin's book apart from the tens of thousands of competing books and articles on this subject is a sense of comprehensiveness. In her beginning pages of "acknowledgments," Mellin has reached out to medical doctors, psychologists, the American Cancer Society, and the US Department of Health. She has made a serious effort to embrace all the leading opinions of folks who are alive and working in a field related to permanent weight-loss-and that effort *shows*!! There is a unique clarity and creativity to her thinking that seems based upon the fact that she made a good-faith effort to consider every important variable when making up her system to achieve permanent weight-loss. One example: Instead of coming up with a low-fat, moderate carbohydrate diet as God's gift to the obese, Mellin sees the necessity of shifting gears from eating "healthy" to eating for pleasure solely! The person who gets to determine when to shift gears is the *reader*, though Mellin is there in the background, supplying principles and examples that help clear the path ahead. In her unique way, she gets to combine the idea of low-fat eating (one moment) with the idea of eating hedonistically for pleasure alone (the next moment). I should mention that, as a self-esteem coach, I do not agree with a number of her ideas in this arena, tending to side more with Dr. Robert Atkins' ketone theory when I would regulate my appestat and with the Leonard and Lillian Pearson's pleasure-and-emotion-enhancing approach to eating when it comes time to eat pleasurably. Disagreements aside, Mellin's approach is both creative and grounded in the realities of day-to-day eating that beset dieters constantly. As a personal note, I have been obese from the age of 8. I began Mellin's program about 1 month ago. During that time, I created my own diet that matched my personal eating history, and promptly lost 10 pounds. I consider myself most definitely to be a *student* of her work, however, since I currently weigh 300 pounds-and believe I should weight about 150-160 pounds. Since each 10 pounds lost tends to be achieved via self-transformation, I have A LOT of learning left to do in this area. However, I am deeply impressed with it, sufficiently to want to use it as a foundation for my coaching skills in the future. Steph Silberstein has, with my coaching, begun Mellin's book a few weeks ago and, without *any* planned diet of any sort, taken off 5 of the 35 pounds she would lose. I hope that all interested folks give Mellin's wonderful book a serious try. While I suspect that many will need support, perhaps active coaching, while applying that book (and some, with serious mental or physical health problems would, undoubtedly serve themselves best by seeking out medical doctors, psychotherapists, or dieticians as additional guides), I think that anyone who is overweight should gather up one's courage in hand and tackle *super*seriously the tremendous challenge implicitly offerred by Mellin, the challenge to be more aware of one's feelings and needs in a number of vital areas and be responsible step-by-step for incorporating that increased awareness into one's behavior.

I have read this book and not only used Laurel's ideas about weight loss and eating to help control my eating habits from the inside, but I have also used Laurel's ideas to aide me in dealing with personal problems in my life. Laurel's book took me to the depth of my problems and is helping me deal with them in a mature and controlled manner. I would recommend this book to anyone seeking to cure a weight problem for life and also to help deal with everyday life issues. This book get's an A+ in my book for finding the root of all problems and then finding out ways to solve them. Definitely a must have!!!

Can you think of a weight-loss method that makes you happier while you practice it, even if you never lost a pound? This is it. Turning off the tendency to overeat is an inside job. As a biochemist, I am usually offended at the propaganda I see in weight-loss books. I purchased this book at a local bookstore because of its provocative title. I was so impressed with the book that I joined a group and after only 4 weeks of practicing the nurturing methods, I had successfully turned off my drive to overeat. I have not modified my diet, I only exercise 3-4 days per week, and so far I've lost 12 pounds (10 weeks). The difference is I'm no longer numbing myself with food, regularly and unconsciously. I can now figure out how I feel and what I need anytime of the day which obviates the need for excess food. Understanding my needs allows me to advocate for myself and a happier life. This is not therapy, it is a daily skill I had never mastered. Life is truly much easier to handle now and I'm steadily losing weight as a side benefit.

I first learned about this book when I saw the author on the last 90 seconds of a...show related to childhood obesity.
Based on what I heard, I found and purchased this book through Amazon[.com].
I have read the book twice in the last month. It is a Compelling Solution for weight issues although, not a quick fix.
The book offers a way to learn to nuture ourselves from the inside so we don't feel the need to provide external solutions such as food to nuture ourselves.
I am now reading the authors newest book, The Pathway, and I am starting to use the skills day by day. I am hopeful to find a permanent solution (over time) to my weight issues that I have carried all my life. It's been my experience that good things do often require that I be willing to do daily diligence and then earn the rewards over time. Good things do come to those who wait (and take action while they are "waiting")!!!
I highly recommend this book if you have weight issues and feel like you have tried everything but have not yet found a lasting solution. What do you have to lose?

I found this book to be riviting as well as a practical approach to weight loss that works. I've already lost over 20 lbs. using the method with the support of a solution telegroup.

Thanks to Bob Green, Oprah and Dr. Phil, everyone must know by now that overeating or other excesses rarely come from physiological needs. Indeed, they are driven by emotional needs and those mentioned have come up with outstanding "self help" plans for addressing these complex issues. When I read the underlying research, academic credentials and other reviews of "The Solution", it seemed to be the mother of all self help approaches. I would like to make other potential buyers aware of what happened when I paid $100 for this product. First, what you receive is "Kit 1" -- there are five more that you'll need to buy sequentially to make it through to a "total solution". Second, when Amazon "recommends" that you also purchase the book, "The Pathway", that is misleading. These two products are not "better" when purchased together -- the fact is you cannot USE the Solution very effectively if you have not read the Pathway. Third, because The Solution Kit cannot stand alone without the book, it refers to processes you need to engage in but no where in the book or on its website does it tell you how to do so. Fourth, the website is a disaster. Every click leads to either a total dead end or an opportunity to spend more money with their organization. Fifth, The Solution is not "self help" -- for it to work, you almost have to sign up for group therapy sessions, either on line or in live workshops at a cost I do not know but I'm sure it is not free. Finally, and probably because they intend for the website to only serve as a marketing tool and not a helpful portal, you will get no assistance by going to the website. The content of the Kit 1 is valid, and if followed, I do not doubt that it could be extremely effective. I just believe that readers that prefer a "self help" approach should fully understand that that is NOT what this product is about.

(I read the previous edition.) The information in this book is VERY VERY VERY VERY POWERFUL! Everyone who struggles with weight should read this book! This book is not another diet. It doesn't propose a solution that is that simplistic. This book provides a method for getting to and dealing with the ROOT of why many people overeat (I've known for years that I don't overeat because I'm hungry, but I never had tools to deal with why I do overeat). Besides the specific lessons and techniques, I found the examples from other peoples' experience were very helpful for me to actually recognize what is going on inside me. I think doing the work this book calls for will not only change my weight, but will also make an important improvement in my life. (I'd also suggest this book to anyone dealing with other compulsive/addictive problems.)

When this book first came out a few years back, I bought it, impressed to see an emotional approach towards weight loss, outside of diet and exercise prescriptions that we have all read. I have struggled (for what seems like) forever, with my weight and I had some success at the time when I worked through this book. I liked it although some of the language is a bit 'gimmicky' which for me was a turn off.

Recently I bought another book called the Quest for Peace, Love and a 24-Inch Waist by Deborah Low, and have been really excited to see a complete spiritual, emotional approach that again, makes you work through certain 'exercises' but gives the reader a deeper insight into our weight loss desires and failures. Plus, teaches us to make peace with ourselves along the way. They are very inspiring to do, and you get excited working through them. No matter how you look at it, losing weight for life can be tough. The Solution may not fix all your problems but with 'Quest', you've got an incredible start.