Thin for Life: 10 Keys to Success from People Who Have Lost Weight and Kept It Off [Paperback]

Anne M. Fletcher (Author), Jane Brody (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 1994

Whether you want to lose 10 pounds or 100, Thin for Life will help you master your weight problem once and for all by sharing the techniques of the real experts: hundreds of people who have succeeded in keeping weight off for good. Thin For Life refutes the popular notion that losing weight permanently is hopeless. Along the way, nutritionist Anne Fletcher also dispels the following myths: Myth #1: If you have been overweight since childhood, you're doomed for life. Myth #2: It's hard to lose weight after age 40. Myth #3: You have to eat like a bird to lose weight. Myth #4: You have to become an exercise fiend to lose weight. Myth #5: There's no hope for yo-yo dieters. Thin For Life offers all the tools necessary to help you lose weight forever, including: --How to believe in yourself. --Finding your own 'right' way to lose weight. --Getting more out of life. --Preventing relapses. --Getting support when you need it most. --The 10 keys to permanent weight loss. --A "Jump-Start Diet" an

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What a novel idea: if you want to know how to successfully lose weight, study the real experts--the people who have done it! Registered dietician Anne Fletcher did just that. She surveyed 160 "masters" who succeeded in losing at least 20 pounds and keeping the weight off for at least 3 years. This was the minimum; most lost far more weight--an average of 63 pounds--and more than one-third have kept the weight off for a decade or more.

How did they do it? Thin for Life presents their success stories, strategies, motivation, inspiration, and tricks. Most had tried "many times and many ways" to lose weight before discovering what worked for them and how to prevent and recover from relapses. Some techniques worked for many--such as keeping a food diary and increasing exercise. Others were highly individual and will spur you to do your own creative thinking. Fletcher compiles the "10 keys to success" that emerged most often, lets the masters speak for themselves throughout the book, and fills in additional, valuable information and resources. Whether you have 10 pounds to lose or 100, this book will help you do it--safely, effectively, and permanently. Highly recommended. --Joan Price

Review

"A must-read for anyone struggling with a weight problem." (Good Housekeeping )

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (March 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1881527603
• ISBN-13: 978-1881527602
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,368,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anne M. Fletcher, M.S., R.D. is a nationally known, award-winning health and medical writer, speaker, and consultant on the topics of weight management, lifestyle change, and recovery from addiction. She is the author of seven books, including the award-winning national bestsellers Thin For Life: 10 Keys to Success From People Who Have Lost Weight & Kept It Off and Sober for Good: New Solutions for Drinking Problems - Advice From Those Who Have Succeeded. Anne is currently writing a book on addiction treatment for Viking Penguin.

Anne's latest book, Weight Loss Confidential: How Teens Lose Weight & Keep It Off - And What They Wish Parents Knew, was featured on the Today Show, on the CBS Early Show, and in The New York Times, USA Today, US News & World Report, and USA Weekend. She has been recognized with a dozen prestigious awards, and all of her current books are published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

A frequent guest of the national media, Anne has also appeared on The View, the Today Show, Donahue, Good Morning America, CNN, National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation, and The Larry King Radio Show.

As a registered dietitian with a B.S. degree from Cornell University and an M.S. from Drexel University, Anne has counseled hundreds of people with weight problems. She is a former executive editor and chief writer of the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter and was a contributing editor for Prevention Magazine. Her articles have appeared in Good Housekeeping, Vogue, Shape, American Psychologist, Cooking Light, Bottom Line Personal, Readers' Digest, Restaurant Hospitality, Parenting, Journal of Food Science, Eating Well, The Humanist, American Psychologist, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, and Obesity Management.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The good, the bad, and the ugly, January 2, 2006

By 

jaedworks - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thin for Life: 10 Keys to Success from People Who Have Lost Weight and Kept It Off (Paperback)

The good: The advice here from successful weight-losers is wide-ranging, generally useful, and presented in context so that you know something about the person's weight history and particular circumstances. Not all of it is going to be useful for any particular person, of course, but the perspective of successful people is, as another reviewer remarked, like gold.

The bad: About half the book (scattered throughout plus a section at the back) consists of the author's own weight-loss advice and diet program. This is very much oriented toward fat-as-dietary-demon. If you're using a high-protein/low carbohydrate approach, this part obviously won't be applicable for you; if you're following a conventional low-fat/limited-protein/high-carbohydrate diet, you'll find it more useful. HOWEVER...

The ugly: Be careful about the particulars of the diet advice here. The book advises use of margarine instead of butter in the meal plans, which was conventional thinking in 1994 (when the first edition was published) but is inexcusable in a book published in 2003. The author recommends using sweet snacks such as jelly beans, licorice, marshmallows, etc., and says "Sugar and low-fat sweets per se don't concern me too much as a dietician" so long as they don't contain fat. Sugar candy may have zero fat but that doesn't make it a good thing to encourage people to snack on. A dietician writing in 2003 should know better.

Summary: by all means read the book, but get it for the stories of the "masters", not the diet advice. Just about all of the "masters" had at least one thing to say that I found useful and insightful.

59 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Possibly the best book ever on the topic of weight loss., January 8, 2004

By 

Sheri in Reho (Rehoboth Beach, DE) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Thin for Life: 10 Keys to Success from People Who Have Lost Weight and Kept It Off (Paperback)

I have been heavy pretty much my whole life (I'm 51) and have dieted and gained countless times. I've read MANY books about weight loss and have found some helpful, but I have never felt such a profound benefit as I have gained from Thin for Life. This may not be the perfect book for someone who needs an extremely prescriptive plan...every step written out for you, every morsel of food planned and scripted. But, if like me, you are mostly going it on your own and you are looking for tools and resources to help you, this is THE PERFECT BOOK.

What could be more motivational than a bunch of people who have not only lost weight but kept it off? I don't agree with every single person's methods of either getting it off or keeping it off; however, COLLECTIVELY, their advice is gold. SO helpful. If you are looking for that elusive key to doing this RIGHT for once and for all, READ THIS BOOK. If you just want validation that you're already on the right track, READ THIS BOOK!

Thank you to Ms. Fletcher and to all the "masters"...you have touched me, inspired me and shown me that thin for life does not have to be a fantasy. And for that, I am forever grateful.

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Listening to this Tape started my Success Story, March 17, 2000

By 

Drew "Drew" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Thin For Life (Audio Cassette)

10 months ago, I found this tape, by accident, in our local library. Having just started to focus on losing weight through eating right (NOT dieting! ) and exercise, I took it on a trip with me.

To this day, I remember first hearing parts on this tape like it was yesterday - the stories shared are inspiring, and common sense information that Anne shares is so to the point.

I can say without hesitation, that I've listened to this tape (I've since bought it from Amazon for myself) over 20 times since I began my weight loss. It stays in my car and I listen to it once or twice a month as time allows.

Since last summer, I've lost over 100 pounds, and attribute my success in large part to motivational books and stories, and this book is at the very top.

This is NOT a "do this and you'll lose weight" plan. It's about people who have been where I was, and how they, through common sense and sheer determination, were able to overcome their weight problem. This is more about motivation than mechanics.

Anne Fletcher, if you're out there, I've been looking for you on the Internet to thank you - post your e-mail, mailing address, whatever!