The Ultimate Weight Solution by Phil McGraw

McGraw, Phil. The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom. New York: Free Press, 2003.

Psychologist Phil McGraw, television’s Dr. Phil, began to build his national reputation as a jury consultant for Oprah Winfrey when she was sued for statements she made about beef. It turned out his psychological practice was broader than reading potential jurors, and included weight management. McGraw has laid out his approach to weight management in The Ultimate Weight Solution.

McGraw describes seven “keys” to weight management. They seem to cover every aspect of life that relates to food. They can be loosely divided into two categories.

The first category involves discovering and counteracting mental and emotional issues that drive or support become on staying overweight. There are many subtle ways people may be sabotaging their weight-loss efforts. Some may have psychological issues that may require professional help, but many can use McGraw’s strategies to change their thinking and use new ways of coping with emotions that are more consistent with good health.

The second category focuses on behavioral change. In general, the approach is to institute healthy behaviors that will supplant unhealthy habits. Each key contains specific actions one can take to make practical changes. These strategies touch on habits, environment and relationships.

McGraw devotes more ink to the behavioral part. Ultimately, if one is going to attain and maintain a healthy weight, one must behave in a way will result in it.

The overall philosophy is that people behave the way they do for reasons. They may not be consciously aware of those reasons. Those reasons might not make sense if they were evaluated rationally. Even so, in some way a person finds the advantages of their behavior to be greater than the disadvantages. Change involves reevaluating the payoffs and costs of old behaviors and implementing new behaviors that have more desirable and rational payoffs.



A secondary philosophy that comes through is that one shouldn’t rely exclusively on one strategy, or even just diet and exercise, and especially not willpower. The keys touch on thoughts, emotions, habits, relationships, environments, exercise and diet. The more supports you have, the more likely you are to succeed.

As you might expect from a book on weight management, there is also information on nutrition and exercise. Obviously, how much we eat, what we eat, and our level of physical activity is behaviors that greatly and directly affect our weight.

McGraw provides some brief explanations of the science behind his strategies, including a bibliography of the works to which he refers. The book is not very technical, though. It is a practical guide aimed at people seeking to control their weight, not a clinical manual or textbook.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Change Your Brain Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen
How Much Does Your Soul Weigh? by Dorie McCubbrey
I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna

Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It by Gary Taubes

Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It is a follow-up to Gary Taubes’ previous book, Good Calories, Bad Calories. While the first book was aimed at presenting arguments and evidence that might persuade experts to consider new—and revive old—models of nutrition and health, his more recent book is aimed at laypeople who want a more basic understanding of how our bodies manage weight and fat and how we can manage it.

The primary driving force in the way our body uses or stores fat is insulin. Chemicals in our body, primarily insulin, tell our cells when to burn glucose instead of ketones (a product of fat that can fuel our cells) and when to store fat. Though there are various factors that contribute to insulin production, the big driver—one we can control—is carbohydrates. Insulin increases when we eat carbs, instructing our cells to consume sugar (to get our blood sugar levels down) and store fat in the meantime. If we eat too many carbs, we stay in the sugar-burning, fat-storing mode and spend very little time burning fat.

The antidote to getting fat, then, is to eat less carbs. There is a genetic component to this, so how much a person needs to cut carbs to manage weight is individual to them. The upside is that almost anyone can get leaner but cutting carbs; the down side is that your genes govern how lean you can get, which may not be as lean as you want to be.

A more positive upside is that people can lay aside the guilt that come with the association of overweight with overeating and laziness. Appetite and energy levels are driven by the same processes that govern fat storage. In addition to losing weight, a low-carb diet can help one have more energy and less hunger.

Though Why We Get Fat is less reference-intensive that its predecessor, it is still full of references to research. It also covers the history of how the counterproductive calories in-calories-out model came to be dominant in American nutrition and health circles. The emphasis on the book is why.

Though Taubes focuses on why, he does not neglect what, thought the what (cut carbs) is fairly straightforward. He recommends a low-carb diet and includes a model in an appendix, though he also recommends an even simpler list of does and don’ts that goes back to the 1940s, before the calorie counting model took over the medical view of weight management.

I’ve been cutting back on carbs for a few days. I’ve seen my weight drop, but it is too early to say if it will continue. However, Taubes’ book has given me reason to believe it will work if I stick with it.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

Change Your Brain Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen
8 Minutes in the Morning for Extra-Easy Weight Loss by Jorge Cruise

How Much Does Your Soul Weigh? by Dorie McCubbrey
I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna

Making the American Body by Jonathan Black

The 6 Day Body Makeover by Michael Thurmond

The Ultimate Weight Solution by Phil McGraw

Walk Away the Pounds by Leslie Sansone

Taubes, Gary. Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.

How Much Does Your Soul Weigh? by Dorie McCubbrey

McCubbrey, Dorie. How Much Does Your Soul Weigh? Diet-Free Solutions to Your Food Weight and Body Worries. New York: HarperResource, 2002.

Dr. Dorie McCubbrey calls herself the “Don’t Diet” Doctor. McCubbrey has a real doctorate in bioengineering. She bases her approach to better health and life from not dieting more on her work as a licensed professional counselor.

Success in weight management and overcoming eating disorders is an inside job. Throughout the book, this is contrasted with the external sources of weight problems and attempts to deal with them.

According to McCubbrey, weight problems have their source in trying to fit ourselves to standards that come from the world around us. Even seemingly healthy people can have weight problems and eating disorders that come from this external orientation. To deal with these, people play “games” which are strategies and behaviors for controlling weight that don’t deal with the real problems.



McCubbrey herself suffered these problems and played many of these games. Her struggles with body image and perfection led hear into anorexia, bulimia, excessive exercise and periods of being overweight.

The solution to these issues, and to the broader issue of living well, is intuitive self-care. Practicing intuitive self-care involves getting in touch with one’s inner wisdom about what is good in eating, exercise and living. It is living from the inside out instead of the outside in.

McCubbrey offers strategies for practicing intuitive self-care. She describes them as feeding the soul. This “diet” for the soul involves learning to love, listen to, and express your true self. To help readers practice this soul diet, she offers several recipes, which are exercises to practice. Some of these deal directly with the way people eat and think about eating. Others are directed toward meditation and discovery of one’s true desires.

The book is in many ways more of a self-help book that a diet plan. It doesn’t focus on changing behavior of lifestyles (lifestyle change is one of the games), but on living from the soul.

Change Your Brain Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen

Amen, Daniel G. Change Your Brain Change Your Body: Use Your Brain to Get and Keep the Body You Have Always Wanted. New York: Harmony Books, 2010.


Psychiatrist Daniel G. Amen explores the brain-body connection in his medical practice and in this book. In particular, Change Your Brain Change Your Body focuses on how taking care of the health of your brain can result in better health for your entire body.

In the early chapters of the book, Amen makes the case for brain health and how it can affect the health of the rest of the body. This is enhances by images from SPECT scans, which Amen uses in his practice to measure activity in different parts of the brain.

The subtitle of the book touts the brain as a means to get “the body you’ve always wanted.” For me, that includes getting my weight under control, and several chapters are devoted to the subject. There is no escaping a good diet and exercise, both of which get a chapter. What Amen adds is that an understanding of how one’s brain works can help on curb cravings and address brain deficiencies that may be roadblocks to sticking to a weight loss program. By addressing problems in the brain, one becomes more able to address problems with weight.

Good health is more than proper weight. It includes the skin, heart and glands. Good health is also a full life, which includes relationships, the ability worthy pursue worthy goals and the capacity to remember and savor our experiences. Each of these issues is addressed.

Amen doesn’t prescribe a single solution for everyone. Depending on your brain issues, the solution may be as simple as diet and exercise, it may include supplementation or even particular medications or therapies. Obviously, medical interventions should only be undertaken with the supervision of a physician and you should supplementation and physical fitness programs with yours.

The book doesn’t stick too close to traditional medicine. Amen thinks nutritional supplements can be useful and can reduce reliance on medications, but supplements can have issues of drug interaction and side effects that should be covered with a physician. He suggests meditation for stress management and has used hypnosis in his practice to address several issues including weight loss. (For those interested in meditation, Amen recommends The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson. Hypnosis is recommended in other weight loss books including I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna, which includes a self-hypnosis CD.)

In some ways, the book could say change your body change your brain. Many of Amen’s recommendations, especially related to diet and exercise are good recommendations for physical health. Throughout the book, he says that what is good for the heart is good for the brain. He even mentions a study that shows that physically active children perform better academically.

If your interested in this book, you may also be interested in
The Emotional Energy Factor by Mira Kirshenbaum
How Much Does Your Soul Weigh? by Dorie McCubbrey
I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna
Instant Self-Hypnosis by Forbes Robbins Blair
The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson with Miriam Z. Klipper

8 Minutes in the Morning for Extra-Easy Weight Loss by Jorge Cruise

Cruise, Jorge. 8 Minutes in the Morning for Extra-Easy Weight Loss. New York: HarperResource, 2004.

Jorge Cruise lays out an eating and exercise program intended to help people lose about 2 pounds a week. It also includes steps to take to build up the emotional and social support needed to reach and maintain your ideal weight. Some of the major points of the program appear below.

Exercise in the morning

This is where the book gets its title. Cruise asserts that your morning sets your metabolism for the day. If you kick start your metabolism with exercise in the morning, it will stay relatively high during the whole day. This will help you burn fat all day.

Exercise is essential
Exercise builds muscle. Muscles use energy. The more muscle you have, the more energy you use, even when you are not exercising. The more energy you use, the more fat you burn (or do not put on).

The “Cruise Down Plate”
This is a simple way to measure the right amount of food in the right proportions. Divide a 9-inch plate into three sections. One-half of the plate should be vegetables (or fruit is an option for breakfast). One-quarter should be carbohydrates (whole grains are best). The remaining one-quarter is for protein. The meal can include a teaspoon of fat.



Flaxseed oil

Cruise loves flaxseed oil. It has the right kind of fats (omega-3) and it helps you feel full. It is not suitable for cooking, but the preferred oil for any other use.

People
You will need social and emotional support to be successful in weight loss. Cruise has several tips you can use to build up a support network for yourself and to become a supporter of someone else.

Making the American Body by Jonathan Black

In Making the American Body, journalist Jonathan Black explores the history of health and fitness from aerobics to Zumba. Promotion of physical fitness goes back to the founding of the United States; Black notes that Benjamin Franklin praised the use of dumbbells. Franklin was known to be a fan of swimming, too. It began to gain some momentum in the middle 1800s when German immigrants brought the gymnasium (they called it a Turnverein) to the U.S.

I was draw to the book because it has a touch of Missouriana in the person of Bernarr Macfadden, self-proclaimed “Father of Physical Culture.” Macfadden had a classic story of the early bodybuilder. He was a sick, weak kid from the Ozarks who was transformed into a paragon of masculine pulchritude by his commitment to weight training, healthy eating and clean living. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Macfadden believed clean living included an active sex life and he campaigned against prudery. His magazines, headed by Physical Culture, featured photographs of nearly naked men and women in swimsuits.

Fitness promotion is a small world, and many of its leading figures are connected. Macfadden organized a contest (probably fixed) that crowned Charles Atlas the “World’s Most Beautiful Man.” Atlas’ ads in pulp magazines and comic books are probably some of the most well-known ever, especially the bully of the beach ad. The story of this ad, told in comics form, is based on a real event in Atlas’ life when he was shamed by a muscular life guard for his scrawny form and weakness while on a date at the beach.

Macfadden and many others were inspired by Prussian strongman Sandow. They saw him at the Chicago Columbian Exposition, where his show was produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.

California became a focus of health and fitness trend that would spread across the country. Santa Monica’s Muscle Beach was a place for weight lifters and gymnasts to have fun and show off. Steve Reeves, known for playing Hercules in several films, was a product of Muscle Beach. Jack LaLanne, another wimpy kid transformed, opened gyms, brought workouts to television, and encouraged women to exercise and do strength training.

Other trends gained popularity, especially fitness focused on cardiovascular health. This brought into popular culture Dr. Kenneth Cooper, a physician to astronauts whose 1968 book Aerobics launched an industry. That industry provided a career for Richard Simmons and a second career for Jane Fonda, who was the first to emphasize exercise as a way for women to lose weight (though this was an unspoken appeal long before the 1970s). Bodybuilding made a comeback, though, especially fueled by the popularity of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I’m not especially interested in the health and fitness industry, but I found this book to be very interesting. It provides a historical context for many of the health and fitness trends that are still part of American culture.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

American Nerd by Benjamin Nugent

Empires of Light by Jill Jonnes

The Fifth Heart by Dan Simmons

The Power Makers by Maury Klein

The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson with Miriam Z. Klipper

The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu

Black, Jonathan. Making the American Body: The Remarkable Saga of the Men and Women Whose Feats, Feuds, and Passions Shaped Fitness History. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2013.

Living Low Carb y Johnny Bowden

If you are overweight and having trouble losing the extra pounds (or keeping them off), there is a good chance that carbohydrates are your problem. In Living Low Carb, nutritionist Johnny Bowden describes the link between carbohydrates, insulin and fat storage. (I previously summarized this relationship in my review of Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes.)

 Bowden lays this information out very thoroughly in a way that will be accessible to most readers. What he adds is a lot of information on how to implement a low-carb diet that works for you.

 One way he does this is by reviewing 23 diet books and programs. Not all are strictly low-carb, but all limit carbs more than the typical American diet, and Bowden feels they are good blueprints for generally healthy eating. He rates most of the programs highly. The book has been through several editions, so he has weeded out the lesser programs.

 Part of his review of each is his ideas about who might benefit most from the program. Everyone is different, especially in their lifestyles. An otherwise sound program that is a poor fit for your life and personality is going to fail. Bowden’s advice will help you had off a false start.

 He provides a lot of advice that will be helpful for any low-carb diet you may pursue. In addition to the books reviewed, he provides a lot of other references. Some of these are cookbooks. I think this is great. If you want to eat differently, you need ideas about what to eat. I intend to check out some of the cookbooks he recommends.

 Bowden pulls his information from a lot of nutrition and medical research, but his style is conversational and easy to understand. Readers can expect to be informed about carbohydrates and how they affect our bodies and health, especially related to weight., without being overwhelmed by technical terminology and figures.

 Bowden, Johnny. Living Low Carb: Controlled-Carbohydrate Eating for Long-Term Weight Loss. New York: Sterling, 2013.

Walk Away the Pounds by Leslie Sansone

Sansone, Leslie. Walk Away the Pounds. New York: Warner, 2005.



Leslie Sansone says people can improve their health and lose weight without changing their eating habits. They have to exercise, but it’s mostly putting one foot in front of the other.

The opening chapters deal with the benefits of exercise. There is a particularly focus on the benefits of walking.

This leads to a description of the exercises that are used in the program that makes up much of the book. It walking and several moves that can be done while walking to mix things up. It also includes resistance exercises that can be done with light dumbbells, weighted balls or bands. There is also a chapter devoted to shoes and other equipment to help you get off on the right foot.

The middle of the book lays out a 6-week program of walking. It starts out with a mile of walking (about 2,000 steps) and builds of up to 4 to 5 miles (8,000 to 10,000 steps). Along the way, it adds periodic resistance exercises. Following the program, you’ll walk 64 miles in the six weeks. The pages make a diary for keeping track of your progress through the program.

From there, walkers can keep going. Sansone devotes a chapter to continuing the program, ramping it up, and overcoming plateaus.

What about eating? Though Sansone says it’s not a necessary part of the program, she suggests that you’ll probably want to improve your eating habits as your health improves and your body demand nutrition to support its new level of activity. She discusses this in a chapter that includes a nutrition primer and several tips on better eating habits.

Sansone also devotes chapters to dealing with stress and having a balanced life. Exercise can alleviate stress and its negative effects, but there are other things busy people can do to reduce stress, make life less hectic, and find more balance.

The book wraps up dealing with motivation. Proper motivation is needed to stick to a healthy lifestyle and Sansone discusses perspective, habits, and environmental changes to help walkers stay on track.

The book is written to a female audience, though program is probably just as suitable to men. Several short success stories appear throughout, briefly discussing the success of women who have tried the program.

A DVD is included with the book. It is a walk-in-place program that leads the viewer through a 1-mile walk in about 18 minutes.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
The 6 Day Body Makeover by Michael Thurmond
8 Minutes in the Morning for Extra-Easy Weight Loss by Jorge Cruise
How Much Does Your Soul Weigh? by Dorie McCubbrey

What's New March 2, 2011

Aging Infrastructure
Blizzard Costs Missouri $7.7 Million in Highway Clearing
Book Review: The Ultimate Weight Solution by Phil McGraw
Continuing Resolution Moves to Senate
Engineers Week Lagniappe
House Passes Appropriations Bill
The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in active life
National Engineers Week
The Night Eye (2)
The Ultimate Weight Solution by Phil McGraw
What's New Feb. 17, 2011

150 Book Reviews Posted on Keenan’s Book Reviews

We’ve posted reviews of 150 books on this blog so far. The most recent 50 are listed below in alphabetical order by title.

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss
8 Minutes in the Morning for Extra-Easy Weight Loss by Jorge Cruise
Acres of Diamonds by Russel H. Conwell
Attitude is Everything by Jeff Keller
The Beethoven Factor by Paul Pearsall
Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
Changing for Good by James O. Prochaska et al
The Christian’s Secret to a Happy Life by Hannah Whitall Smith
The Club of Queer Trades by G. K. Chesterton

The Complete Verse and Other Nonsense by Edward Lear
Copernicus’ Secret by Jack Repcheck
The Dangerous Duty of Delight by John Piper
The Dain Curse by Dashiell Hammett
Descarte’s Secret Notebook by Amir D. Aczel
The Difference Maker by John C. Maxwell
The Elements of Technical Writing by Gary Blake and Robert W. Bly
The Emotional Energy Factor by Mira Kirshenbaum
Fathered by God by John Eldredge
Follow Your Heart by Andrew Matthews

Genesis
The Golden Age of DC Comics by Les Daniels et al
Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
The Hunter adapted by Darwyn Cook
Idea Mapping by Jamie Nast
The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton
Instant Self-Hypnosis by Forbes Robbins Blair
The Invention of Air by Steven Johnson
Keeping a Journal You Love by Sheila Bender
Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

Language and the Pursuit of Happiness by Chalmers Brothers
The Man Who Loved Books too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett
Mastering Fiction Writing by Kit Reed
Maus by Art Spiegelman
The Mindful Way through Depression by Mark Williams et al
The Numbers behind NUMB3RS by Keith Devlin & Gary Lorden
The Numbers Game by Michael Blastland & Andrew Dilnot
The Once and Future King by T. H. White
Peace of Mind through Possibility Thinking by Robert H. Schuller
The Private Investigator’s Handbook by Chuck Chambers

Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary
The Richest Man Who Ever Lived by Steven K. Scott
The Secret of the Ages by Robert Collier
Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck
Triumvirate by Bruce Chadwick
Water by Marq de Villiers
The Way of the Wild Heart by John Eldredge
When the Rivers Run Dry by Fred Pearce
You Can Write a Column by Monica McCabe Cardoza
Your Intelligence Makeover by Edward F. Droge, Jr.

Additional or expanded reviews have been posted on these books:
The Amazing Adventure of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
The Big Necessity by Rose George
Blink by Macolm Gladwell
The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril by Paul Malmont
The Emotional Energy Factory by Mira Kirshenbaum
Epic by John Eldredge
The Ghost Map by Stephen Johnson
God Wants You to be Rich by Paul Zane Pilzer
The Gospel of Luke
Gratitude by Melody Beattie
The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis
His Excellency by Joseph J. Ellis
How to Write Mysteries by Shannon OCork
The Joy of Supernatural Thinking by Bill Bright
Mastering Fiction Writing by Kit Reed
No More Christian Nice Guy by Paul Coughlin (see comments)
The Numbers Behind NUMB3RS by Keith Devlin & Gary Lorden
One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Robert Maurer
The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization by Anthony Esolen
Proverbs
Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett
The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson with Miriam Z. Klipper
The Spirit by Darwyn Cooke
Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose
The Unfinished Game by Keith Devlin
Walking with God by John Eldredge
The Water Room by Christopher Fowler
Why Good Things Happen to Good People by Stephen Post & Jill Neimark
Wisdom from the Batcave by Cory A. Friedman

Additional reviews:
First 25 Reviews
Reviews 26-50
Reviews 51-75
Reviews 76-100

Secrets You Keep from Yourself by Dan Neuharth

Neuharth, Dan.  Secrets You Keep from Yourself: How to Stop Sabotaging Your Happiness.  New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2004.

Why is that we sometimes, maybe often, find ourselves doing things that are not truly in our best interest?  Why do we undermine our success?  Are we just messed up?  Sort of.

Psychotherapist Dan Neuharth, in his book Secrets You Keep from Yourself, finds the answer in fear.  Especially, it is fear of emotional loss.  As he puts it, “Bottom line, fear is why we get in our own way.”

Much of the book is directed toward helping readers identify their fears and confront them.  As Neuharth points out, there is a lot of false logic in fears.  For instance, he says that our fears make us feel that a situation will go on forever, that feelings are innate within ourselves and that they are totally pervasive.  He responds that in truth most situations change (emotions are especially fleeting), our feelings are often triggered by external events or even random and our problems don’t affect every part of life (or don’t have to).

Another way our fears trick us is through false accounting.  Our internal accountant hates emotional loss, and so will put great weight on even the slightest potential for loss.  In addition, he discounts potential gains, making them seem less worthy and valuable.  When he weighs the costs and benefits, he keeps his thumb on the scale so the costs always outweigh the benefits.  Because of this, fear can freeze us in inaction or prompt us to take action contrary to our interests; the internal accountant has no interest in taking risks.  As with other feelings of fear, identifying what we fear losing and taking a balanced look at potential losses and gains can help us take reasonable action.

I took a lot of notes while reading this book.  I normally take a few notes while reading nonfiction books to help me write reviews for this blog.  In this case, however, my notes are mostly exercises and personal insights from the book.  It prompted me to spend some time thinking about what I fear, what I want and what I can do about it.  I was surprised to see some of my unproductive behaviors identified and explained.

These exercises can help you identify specific fears and desires.  Neuharth categorizes the most common fears and wants and provides simple tests to help the reader see which ones apply.  You won’t be left hanging with vague feelings of unease; you’ll be able to put your finger on specific fears.  Armed with that knowledge and with other tools from the book, you’ll be able to confront them.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel

Google

Stop Whining, Start Living by Dr. Laura

Schlessinger, Laura.  Stop Whining, Start Living.  New York: HarperCollins, 2008.

We make ourselves crazy.  We can stop doing it.  That is the message Laura Schlessinger, popularly known as Dr. Laura, present in her book Stop Whining, Start Living.

So much of how we make ourselves miserable is how we look at things.  Life is difficult, for some people more than others.  If we focus on difficulties, problems, and situations we don’t like, we’ll feel the weight of them.  If instead we focus on the things in life we enjoy, that encourage us, and the people we love and who love use, we’ll feel the lightness of it.  Perspective doesn’t make problems go away, but a good point of view can keep us from ignoring the good things in our lives.

Relating to this is the need for action.  Our complaints don’t change the situations we complain about.  Action, especially acts that help others, make the world better and help us feel better.  As Schlessinger puts it, “ultimate meaning fullness in our lives comes from fulfilling our obligations to others.”

Stop Whining, Start Living presents variations on these two themes, focusing on different areas of life, especially relationships.  She devotes a chapter to marriage.  Even here, a happy marriage is largely a matter of looking at the things you love about your spouse and not accentuating the negative.  Act lovingly toward your spouse.

As the title “doctor” implies, Schlessinger has academic training and is licensed in marriage and family therapy.  Her book is not academic or professional in tone.  She is conversational.

Schlessinger draws many examples from communication she had with listeners of her radio program.  Sometimes she refers to difficult and emotionally charged situations.  These examples make her advice more powerful and approachable.

On that radio program, Schlessinger developed a reputation for being confrontational.  It comes through in this book, too.  I don’t think this comes from meanness.  She’s out to expose the thinking that underlays complaining and present an alternative.  Even in the nicest exchange, that is a little confrontational.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in

The 4:8 Principle by Tommy Newberry

It’s Not About Me by Max Lucado

Google

I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna

McKenna, Paul. I Can Make You Thin. New York: Sterling, 2009.

This is not a diet. Paul McKenna believes they don’t work, so he won’t be recommending one for you. He won’t even be taking much of your time. He says you can read I Can Make You Thin in two hours, and that’s about right.

McKenna dislikes diets because they tell you what to eat and not eat and are prescriptive in other ways, in addition to them just not working. People have trouble with their weight because they’ve become disconnected from their bodies and their natural senses of hunger and satiety. Diets perpetuate this disconnection, so they don’t have lasting results.

What McKenna offers instead of a diet is four simple rules. In fact, he suggest that you may be able to get by with just one rule, and it has nothing to do with what you eat. In fact, the entire system is more about the way you eat that what you eat.

You don’t even have to memorize the rules. One of the back pages has a punch-out card with the rules on it so you can review them every time you eat or want to eat.

The book isn’t quite as short as just four rules. It includes some information to help you stay on track by dealing with cravings, emotional eating, self image and getting back on the system when you fall off.

Included with the book is a self-hypnosis CD. McKenna recommends using the CD to help change your self image and solidify the new habits you’ll be developing as you follow the four rules.



If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
How Much Does Your Soul Weigh? by Dorie McCubbrey
Instant Self-Hypnosis by Forbes Robbins Blair

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. Here are some links that might help you get 2012 off to a good start.

New Year's Resolutions For Your Favorite Super-Heroes (By Their Writers)
Make Miracles in Forty Days by Melody Beattie
The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel
The Ultimate Weight Solution by Phil McGraw



New Year Links 2011

200 Books Reviewed on Keenan’s Book Reviews

First Time Reviews

365 Thank Yous by John Kralik
The Abolition of Man by C. S. Lewis
Acts
American Splendor by Harvey Pekar
Batman created by Bob Kane

Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov
Change Your Brain Change Your Body by Daniel G. Amen
The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics by Dennis O’Neil
The Drunkard’s Walk by Leonard Mlodinow

The Essential Engineer by Henry Petroski
Exodus
Finding Your Writer’s Voice by Thaisa Frank & Dorothy Wall
God’s Secretaries by Adam Nicolson
The Gospel of John

The Gospels
Have a New You by Friday by Kevin Leman
Histories and Fallacies by Carl R. Trueman
How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life by Alan Lakein
How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster

How to Write & Present Technical Information by Charles H. Sides
How to Write Horror Fiction by William F. Nolan
I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna
In the Beginning by Alister McGrath
Jonah Hex created by John Albano and Tone DeZuniga

Judge Dredd created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra
King James Bible
Little Shifts by Suzanna Beth Stinnet
Love and Respect by Emerson Eggerichs
Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson

Numbers
On Becoming a Leader by Warren Bennis
Our Cancer Year by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner
Paperboy by Henry Petroski
The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan

The Procrastination Equation by Piers Steel
Romans
Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World by Bryan Lee O’Malley
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore

The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu
Thanks! by Robert A. Emmons
True Blood by Charlaine Harris
The Ultimate Weight Solution by Phil McGraw
Vital Friends by Tom Rath

Walk Away the Pounds by Leslie Sansone
War Against the Weak by Edwin Black
Wide as the Waters by Benson Bobrick
Writing for Comics with Peter David
Zorro created by Johnston McCulley

Additional and Expanded Reviews

The Holy Bible
Into the Depths of God by Calvin Miller
The Road to Serfdom by F. A. Hayek
Simple Pictures are Best by Nancy Willard, illustrated by Tomie de Paola

Continuation of list of 200 books reviewed

First 25 Reviews
Reviews 26-50
Reviews 51-75
Reviews 76-100
Reviews 101-150

The Faith of JFK edited by T. S. Settel

Settel, T. S., ed. The Faith of JFK. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1965.

The Faith of JFK is a compilation of segments of John F. Kennedy’s speeches and writings and related material, mostly from the time of his presidency. One might hope for an analysis of his faith and its influence on his public life, but perhaps it was too early for such considerations in 1965.


The segments of Kennedy’s speeches and proclamations gives one a sense of his espoused views on the subjects of his religion, American government and foreign affairs, which he sometimes presented forcefully. On a few occasions, the quotes are so short as to have almost no context except to show that he quoted some source. Generally, the edited segments strike a nice balance between being representative and brief.

The largest segment of the book juxtaposes parts of Kennedy’s speeches in which he quoted scripture with the verses from the Bible. Sometimes they show a thoughtful reflection on how biblical ideas applied to the issues at hand (probably this was something of the intent of the collection, to demonstrate the president’s adherence to both Catholic and American ideals). Often, the biblical quotations are selected to support a point in the speech, but when one reads the passage from which it is taken it appears to be at best tangentially related or actually related to another subject altogether. This is far too common even today. Even in this second case, this chapter is illuminating, because seeing the sometimes tenuous connection between the Bible and the speech that quotes it can help one more clearly see what each is really addressing.

The best parts of the book are those that don’t relate to Kennedy’s quotations of the Bible, poems or other literature. Kennedy seemed to express his ideals and policies most eloquently when he was not leaning on other sources. In those times, he might have most clearly expressed his true views, without obscuring them with quotes that carry their own weight and meaning.

If you’re interested in this book, you may also be interested in
Common Sense by Thomas Paine
God and Ronald Reagan by Paul Kengor
His Excellency by Joseph J. Ellis
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization by Anthony Esolen