At last I have found a weight-loss book that makes sense. Everytime I'm in a bookstore I cruise the weight-loss section. When I skim through the books, I always see advice like, never eat white flour, don't have a bite of food after 7:30 p.m. and never have a cocktail or glass of wine. Honestly, how can an individual live a real life with this kind of advice!

Over the hollidays at a party, the subject of weight-gain, weight-loss came up and a friend mentioned Jim Karas' The Business Plan for the Body and said that Karas had a new book that had just come out.

I looked for Business Plan but the store was sold out but had just received Karas' new book, Flip the Switch. I bought it and have read it from cover to cover. This is an intelligent piece of writing! One aspect of the book that really grabbed me, was the part where Karas points out that we have all been successful in so many areas of our lives in part because we believed in our ability to be successful. I know I believed I could be an attorney. I didn't approach law school with the attitude that I would flunk out. I never never thought to approach a weight-loss strategy in this manner, but it certainly makes sense.

Furthermore, Karas explains that weight-loss is about assuming responsiblity for our behavior. Too many times we try to blame our genes, our schedules, our gender, our jobs. Jim makes it clear that none of these are germaine. We control our behavior.

And finally, this guy lets you have a life. It doesn't matter when you eat, and in many cases, even what we eat. It's numbers, calories in, calories out. I recommend Flip the Switch to anyone who lives a real life and wants to lose weight.

Finally, a book and author that give us a plan we can follow for life. I've tried every program and diet ever invented only to see my weight fluctuate between 270 and 160. Only until I read Jim's first book, Business Plan for the Body, did I find an intelligent author who lays forth a plan for the "everyday" person. His new book gives a "mental push" to anyone in this weight loss yoyo. Not having the time, money, or energy are only excuses we use to keep us from failing. Jim Karas addresses these issues (and more) and gives us a platform from which to start losing weight. I highly recommend his eating and exercise prescription as a plan for the "everyday person." His follow up to Business Plan is even better than the original as it speaks to us mentally and emotionally (two factors every other weight loss book fails to mention.)

The title of my review sums up my feeling toward this book. I had heard of Mr. Karas' earlier book, The Business Plan for the Body and had intended to buy it but like most of my good intentions, never got around to it.

I frequently read his column in Good Housekeeping magazine and this week happened to see him being interviewed by Diane Sawyer. He has done a terrific helping her lose weight. Anyway, I bought Flip the Switch and immediately started reading it. This book makes sense.
Also, Karas can write. The first two chapters on believing in your ability and the second, visualizing yourself successful at weight loss were extremely helpful to me. Also, they weren't silly overly Oprah pop psych. Karas gives his readers realistic advice.

He then details all the excuses we humans use to avoid facing reality when it comes to weight loss, and he not only refutes them, he outlines how to overcome them.

I began my weight loss program two days ago. I've had it with the excess weight and this time I going to make weight loss a priority, I'm fliping the switch and that switch is staying on for the rest of my life.

I've lost 50 pounds this year after getting sick and tired about my weight. Make no mistake about it folks, this book or any other book/weight loss program won't help you long-term. The long-term success rates dealing with the obese and their success at keeping off weight are in the vicinity of 2-3%. This book gives you information, which is a tool for attaining success but until I got off my butt and exercised more and stopped eating the junk food all the time it wasn't going to go off.

This book will help you if you truly are "sick and tired" or being "sick and tired." What I loved about this book is its simplicity. He knows how to lose weight and hits all the basic principles down cold. If you follow what he recommends doing you will probably lose weight.

Here is the problem. From my extensive reading in the past 2 years I have learned that most weight issues tend to deal with inner issues about pain/pleasure and self-motivation, not about lack of information. The information is out there. I personally like Bill Phillips' Body For Life book more than Mr. Karras book because it is easier to read and deals with more of the inner issues and motivational tools that people can use to succeed. What I didn't like was Mr. Phillips pitching of his product throughout the book but his plan works phenomenally. Additionally, Mr. Phillips lifts weights and practices what he preaches. While Mr. Karras certainly looks like a healthy guy do I want to look like him or Mr. Phillips?

There is no magic pill, no secret food, no magical combination of foods that causes you to burn fat immediately. It's just calories in vs. calories out. More importantly, it is a lifestyle, not a diet. If you want to live a long-time, see your kids grow up, meet that special someone in your life, have more energy, get promotions faster, etc I would encourage you to use something like that as a motivational tool to get you going and to KEEP YOURSELF GOING long-term. Whether you pick Mr. Karras' book or Mr. Phillips book the choice is yours; they are both good books.

Forget all those quick-fix weight loss programs out there. The Business Plan for the Body offers the reader the only true method for losing weight and keeping it off: monitoring calories and including exercise in one's life. I had forgotten this in light of all those fancy programs that promise you the world. Even some of the point-based programs give you too many calories; though I stayed within my points, I wasn't losing. It was frustrating, to say the least. I stumbled upon this book and have been delighted with its easy-to-read format and sensible suggestions. I lost 52 pounds in my early 20s using a very similar behavior modification program, but somehow I lost sight of the importance of "calories in--calories out." Jim Karas has reminded me of that, and has also given me a solution to the muscle loss that I am sure I am now experiencing in my late thirties. I only have ten pounds to lose, but I know this will do it for me and keep me on track. I've been on the plan for a week and though I only lost about a pound and a half so far, I can already see a difference in my body. I can get into a skirt that I couldn't two weeks ago! That works for me! I fully plan to incorporate this program into my lifestyle. Yes, it may seem simple and elementary, but we've forgotten the critical importance of the lowly calorie in favor of monitoring fat grams, sugar, carbs, etc. Get this book! It could change your life! (By the way, I ordered three starter products from SPRI and it only cost me $17--hand weights and the exercise ball were at Target for just $10 and $17 respectively. Not bad for a beginner's home gym!)

After reading "The Business Plan for the Body" by Jim Karas and following the guidelines, I am convinced that his healthy approach to dieting is the most effective. I stand five feet two inches tall and in my forties had managed to climb up on the weigh scale to 132 lbs. I had weighed 105-108 forever through my mid thirties. Even though I am a runner, for the last 13 years, the weight still crept up on me. By writing down the calories for every morsel of food that went in my mouth on a daily basis, and implementing weight lifting, particularly for the upper body, on the opposite days I ran, the weight just fell off me. I lost a little more than a pound per week and within three months I weighed 18 lbs. less. Using the formula in the book helped to custom build a plan suited just for me to determine how many calories I could consume daily to lose weight. By continuing the healthy lifestyle I lost another 4-5 lbs. without effort. Eliminating sodas and high calorie fruit juices, and drinking primarily water was another key factor. I am a Registered Nurse and had been worried about gaining weight like many of the women do in my profession, since much of the free food at work consists of donuts, bagels and lots of birthday cakes; not to mention high stress in this field makes everyone turn to food for comfort. Jim Karas, in his book, does warn of some of the negativity that can occur when you start to look really great. Men take notice and the women get jealous. Once you get passed all that, it's hard to come down off the high. Thank you Jim Karas. You got me back on track.