cover image Flip the Switch: Discover the Weight-Loss Solution and the Secret to Getting Started

Flip the Switch: Discover the Weight-Loss Solution and the Secret to Getting Started

Jim Karas. Harmony, $24 (336pp) ISBN 978-1-4000-4595-2

This refreshing how-to by fitness expert and best-selling author of The Business Plan for the Body eschews schemes, fads or gimmicks and focuses on the achievement of an internal belief in one's self, which Karas maintains is the prerequisite for successful long-term weight loss. Drawing on a healthy dose of empathy (Karas is himself a ""Lifelong Struggler"" with weight) and offering personal stories and pep talks, Karas walks readers through the emotional path of self-examination on the way to that critical juncture where their desire to lose weight becomes more powerful than their desire to eat too much and exercise too little. But the ""flipping point"" is only the journey's beginning. Chapter by chapter, Karas, whose high-profile clientele includes Good Morning America's Diane Sawyer, takes to task the constant excuses or ""mental graffiti"" that stand in dieters' way- ""I don't have the time""; ""I don't have the energy""; ""I don't have the right genes""-by equipping his readers with time-management solutions, tips for ordering in restaurants, detailed menus and exercises for both mind and body. He also goes after a number of diet beliefs,, such as that ""carbohydrates make you fat,"" and stresses that strength and resistance training, not cardio, is the key to battling the bulge. With monthly inventory worksheets, a food diary template, illustrated workout programs and a seven-day eating plan, this guide is thorough and user-friendly. 60 b&w photographs