Customer Reviews

Thin Within: A Grace-Oriented Approach to Lasting Weight Loss

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book has been a godsend in my life. I've lost over 80 lbs. so far following the basic principles of this book - eating anything you want in moderation when you're hungry, then stopping when you're full, while seeking God's help and presence to guide you along the way. What a refreshing difference from judgmental, strict, nearly-impossible to follow programs. When you think about it, if God didn't intend for us to eat and enjoy our food as a pleasurable experience, He wouldn't have made such an abundance of wonderful, deicious foods for us. The emphasis on His grace and love in this book is a comfort and a blessing.Please pay no mind to the negative comments about the spiritual aspects of this newer edition. Leaving God out of the equation would be like buying a TV set without a power cord - it's a vital component to make it work! When we finally realize the truth that we can't do this on our own power, and turn our problem over to Him, is when we can finally succeed in losing the weight. Buy this book, you won't be sorry!

At first I had a hard time with this book because it reminded me of my failures about 5 years ago with Gwen Shamblin's Weigh Down program. I left the book on my coffee table and picked it up about six weeks later with a more open heart and mind.

Wow, am I glad I did. Now I see that before, the focus was on obedience, but I could never quite make the connection and understand how eating when I wasn't hungry was "disobedient". It seemed to be all or nothing in that program.

This book gives me the freedom to change the way I eat in gradual steps. Right now I am waiting until I am hungry to eat, sitting down and eating in a relaxed way, etc. I have not fully learned to stop when satisfied but I am getting there. I feel great about the progress I have made and know the rest will come as I continue. The best part is that almost immediately, I stopped thinking constantly about food at felt at peace with myself and with God in this area.

Rethinking years of wrong habits and ideas does not come overnight by "being obedient". It comes with understanding of ourselves, how our bodies are made and with the loving, step-by-step, grace filled approach this book offers. I highly recommend it!

At 40 years of age, I have been on and off diets all of my life, and I am free from the bondage of "success/failure" from diets, now that I have learned to eat how my body was designed. Thin Within has been an "answered prayer" for me. I do not have to depend on any diet to work...My body works and I can depend on it. Thin Within has taught me how to think, believe and act like a thin person, which is how I was created. I want to say a big "Thank you!!" to Dr. Arthur and Judy Halliday and Heidi Bylsma for writing this book! I am now free!!

I have read many books along the no-diet approach. I've lost count on how many. But this book is out in front. As a Christian I want a book that has scripture involved in it. Therefore, this book is spot on for those of us who are Christians. I have read numerous Christian books along the lines of the no-diet approach, but this one is out in front by miles. If you've read all the other books, and think there isn't anything new to read about, please read this one. It has so many excellent things in it that are not covered in other books. You wil find a Grace-oriented approach and will feel set free from condemnation by a number of the ideas and approaches they give when you have a bad day of overeating. You won't be disappointed with this book. I didn't expect to read anything new, but I was wrong. You will learn you are not a failure, just someone who sometimes fails!!

I am a yoga teacher/personal trainer so I'm in the business of helping people become fit and healthy. Even though I've had all the best diet and exercise advice at my disposal, and I LIKE to eat good food, and I exercise all the time, I still have struggled with my weight (mostly because of emotional eating). It was frustrating that I couldn't figure out why my clients weren't having long term success, even when I thought I was giving them all the help I possibly could. This was the missing piece of the puzzle!!! I wish I could go back and give this book to all my former clients. PLEASE buy this book, it has the answer for you. Pure Freedom! Beautiful Simplicity! Also, I think the majority of non-christians are not going to be offended by it's message.

After trying for 7 years to release my "baby weight" (weight gained during pregnancy), God led me to find THIN WITHIN. And, within 6 months, I'd released 25 lbs!

I love the freedom of THIN WITHIN! No food is "good" or "bad" or "forbidden". I can eat whatever I like, so long as I stay within the boundaries of "hunger" and "fullness" (don't eat until my stomach is empty, then stop before I've stuffed myself).

If you don't want the religious bit, try Jane R. Hirschmann's "Overcoming Overeating". Same premise without the Christianity.

But, it's much more freeing to know a God who will forgive you if you go overboard. You just get up, push "reset" and start again because "His mercies are new every morning"! (Lamentations 3:23)

Excellent book! Highly recommended!

[...]

To the Reader from California who reviewed the book on January 6, 2004, I guess I am equipped to tell you what we were thinking when we put the book together. :-)

Judy discovered that the truth of this approach to eating and your body was devoid of power when the focus was not placed on the One who made the amazing human body! Her testimony is shared in the book very honestly. Apart from God Almighty, who loves us all and cares for us all, we just replace one obsession with another. That isn't productive. It isn't true healing.

What was on the minds of the authors was to share the truth. There is one place to find truth--God's Word! Many authors and diet gurus spout off all sorts of knowledge, but as most of us on the diet treadmill know...give it some time and we have gained the weight back.

There are specific truths ("irrelevant quotes," says the Reader in CA)--bible verses that truly do speak to the issue of how we approach food and how we view our body. To fail to share these, is to fail!

Wishing the Reader in CA and others all the best in their endeavors to release extra weight--in body and spirit.

Sincerely,
Heidi Bylsma

A book built on learning how to lean on God for change, this has "hope" written all over it! I have a compulsive eating disorder and this provided the only tools that worked! This book is for anyone who has gone through the Atkins, cabbage soup, vegetarian, vegan, counting calories, watching fat.... need I go on? It's for those who say "I'll stay on this diet until I reach where I want to be. Then I'll just be more careful as I go back to what I ate before." Thin Within is a book that will make you WANT to change your eating habits because you don't HAVE to give up what you love! It's not a pill, it's not a program, you don't pay hundreds of dollars or go to meetings. You just lean on God and follow His prompting. This book teaches you how to do that. WE CAN'T DO IT, but HE can!

I read both this and Thin Again. While I liked ThinWithin I could not keep up with the "program" on my own. After visiting their website I found a support group close to my house. We are now in week 4 of 12 and it has been an amazing 4 weeks! I would reccomend joining or starting up a group if you need more help. I plan on starting one at my chruch once I finish this 12 weeks. The materials they use (consisting of a weekly lesson and daily homeworks - all doable) are such a help - and makes me have devotional time with God everyday. I feel myself changing inside and out. Visit thinwithin.org

This is a very helpful book. It changed my life. I read this book more than 15 years ago when I was a teenage complusive eater. Within a few years, as I began to implement the way of eating and relating to food this book presented, I was 30 lbs. lighter (my body's natural weight). I am able to maintain my weight comfortably, and at a size 4. There are references to God in this book, but don't let that scare you away. Whatever your religious persuasion is, the message is that of love and compassion, and treating yourself with kindness. That is the most important thing.