Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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375 of 380 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Weight loss and increased energy, April 17, 2005
This is a great book. I have seen Michael Thurmond on Extreme Makeover and his infomercial for the Six Week Body Makeover. I thought this book would be a great way to sample his ideas. In the six days since the book arrived, I am down a size, and more importantly, I'm not hungry and have more energy. The book has you take a quiz to determine if your body type is A, B, C, D or E. Then it recommends an eating plan for your body type. The eating plans have you eating five or six small meals a day, combining measured portions of protein with certain vegetables, fruits or carbohydrates. The book also recommends daily long slow distance exercise, like walking for 45 to 60 minutes. Then he tells you how to modify the eating plan after the six days by adding additional fruits, vegetables and carbohydrates. He also includes modifications to his plan for certain health problems. I have been doing Weight Watchers, but without much recent success. I find that this works well with Weight Watchers. This past week I lost several pounds, and more importantly, gained energy. I just feel so good when I follow this plan.
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238 of 243 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent resource, April 18, 2005
I've admired Michael Thurmond's work since I first saw him appear on Extreme Makeover. I purchased this book soon after it was published, excited to try out his plan for myself. The book is well written and well organized, offering a personal body type test in order to identify the correct six day meal plan for each individual.
I didn't expect to lose an entire dress size at the end of the six day period (I'm not overweight, but I'm trying to lose about 10 pounds and tone up for the summer). As I expected, I had not lost a whole dress size at the end of the six days, though I did lose 4 pounds, and more importantly, I learned some excellent eating habits and workout tips. For the past two or three years, I've consumed more frozen meals than I can remember. I always find myself starving about two hours after consuming one, however. Michael's book promotes a very "whole foods" approach to eating, offering recipes with virtually no sugar or salt. I can honestly say I was not hungry one time during the 6 day period (I did tire of chicken breast and turkey breast from time to time, but I did not follow all of the recommended recipes).
All in all, I believe that this is a great read for anyone that wants to learn more about health and finess, metabolism, and a healthy approach to eating.
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182 of 187 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Common Sense + Some Drawbacks, August 24, 2006
Though it did have some good ideas about diet and eating healthy it does also have some drawbacks that people should know about.
The menus advocate drinking lots of water (no juice), eliminating added sugar, consuming low salt, whole foods and eating 5-6 times a day. Sound advice.
The book is a volume of common sense but it may be difficult for people just starting to eat healthy. For example, all dairy, breads, no nuts, and pastas are eliminated from the program. Some critics say this is reason enough for concern. However, dairy is not a necessary part of the human diet, it is a convenience for many but is an allergen for many more. So its elimination is beneficial as it is taking away a potential allergy source and extra calories since many people consume too much dairy. It is a misconception that you can't get enough calcium without dairy products. However you will want to choose vegetable sources with high levels of calcium and do NOT use this plan for a long-term diet. Many plans are very high in protein and this can deplete stores of calcium. Many people live quite happily without copious amounts of bread or pasta and the sample plans give a quite nice 35-40 grams of fiber, which is far more than the average American eats.
If you already eat low dairy, breads, and pasta, you won't miss anything. If you make these items a large part of your diet, you will go through some withdrawls. Nuts should be eaten in moderation as they are high in fat and often high in salt if you can't get them unsalted and eliminating them for 6 days is no sweat.
Metabolism types (A-E) are emphasized in the book and you will not be using half of the book for this reason. Some say that there is no such thing as eating for your "type". And those who oppose the book cite this as a reason to dismiss it entirely. However, it is absolutely true that people react to foods in different ways and it is wise for certain people not to eat large amounts of certain foods. Some people do well with meat in their diet and some get very ill. Keep this in mind.
Be warned, this is a LOW CALORIE PLAN. The menu plans (for men and women) total exactly 1200 calories for women (I didn't evaluate the man but it is probably 1500) and the book DOES NOT take into consideration age, current weight, or activity level. A larger more active person should consume more than 1200 calories a day. There is no harm in upping the vegetables and recommended fruits if you still feel hungry or light headed. It is easy to overeat chocolate cake, not so easy to overeat a bowl of mixed vegetables or grapefruit!
This book is ONLY meant to be used for 6 days so consider it a mini-fast which is not harmful in such a short period of time.
If you eat the average amount of salt that Americans eat and are in the American perpetual state of dehydration, women especially will loose excess water weight quite quickly when they start hydrating with the 10 glasses of water and eliminating excess salt. This is the cause of the initial rapid weight loss and is not fat (this is not a bad thing). With the large percentage of proten, some exercise is a must as that is the reason why the percentage is so high (this doesn't mean killing yourself--just get moving--start somewhere). Without beginning to exercise and having a commitment to eating good whole foods this "kick start" will not benefit you.
If you already eat quite well, drink plenty of water, and have just been over eating calorically, you will NOT see the dramtic results promised and this book is not for you. If you want to use this program longer than 6 days, then this book is not for you as in that context it would be just another severely calorie restricting short term diet and you will be setting up yourself for failure (the menus are extremely monotonous).
Use herbs and spices generously with NO SALT added (no cold cuts). This will give the turkey, chicken, beef, fish, eggs, tofu, beans more flavor and you won't miss the salt. Critics of the books complain that they are encouraged to eat meat all day. Yet the average American already eats meat all day (and they aren't always lean). People will ofen have bacon for breakfast, turkey cold cuts for lunch and then go out to a restaurant and think nothing of ordering the prime rib, chicken parm, or salmon and eating it all in one sitting (depending on the restaurant that is 2-4 servings on a plate and a serving is 3oz)! The book advocates eating lots of lean protein (protein is in more than meat) throughout the day rather than all at once.
The fact is that the majority of the BUYING public eats meat.
I would not reccomened this book to Vegetarians and Vegans, however, if one feels that a 6 day mini-fast would be beneficial to them, substitute 1 to 1 the meat items with tofu, beans, TVP and egg whites (if not vegan). Be very careful of processed veggie product which can be very high in sodium content and should not be eaten in large quantities. Pescetarians will have no problem, just substitute fish and the recommended items for vegetarians for all instances of chicken or beef.
I can not emphasize enough that this is a 6 day, kick-start, mini-fast plan not a long term solution. After the six days is up, consume more calories so that you can up your exercise routine, add more carbohydrate foods to balance, add more variety of fruit and vegetables, and make salads more interesting with a small amount of nuts. Learn what a portion size is so that you can enjoy, for example, some WHOLE WHEAT spaghetti with no-salt added tomato sauce (or make your own) with your vegetables without over indulging.
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