Books

Lose It!: The Personalized Weight Loss Revolution Book is my current FAVORITE weight loss book of ALL time...for now. I'm a flirt when it comes to weight loss books. I'll embrace one for a few months, then another, and another. I just can't decide on ONE. I vowed last year after spending over $100 on The Biggest Loser Quick & Easy Cookbook and journals that "NEVER AGAIN."

But with the rest of the Lose It! program working so well, I bit the bullet and ordered this book. Sigh. I wasn't disappointed! The hardest part of this journey for me is finding great recipes and great advice and this book has it ALL! I figured that because the APP was FREE and it is FREE to join the website (http://loseit.com) that the least I could do was spring for the book.

The other book that is critical to my healing is: Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life,   Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend have a whole Series of these books, including Boundaries with Teens and Boundaries in Marriage and so on. He recently changed the book covers so they look like the ones on the left, but in different colors and different markers (I think the Boundaries with Kids: How Healthy Choices Grow Healthy Children is yellow, with a crayon drawing the line.)

Anyway, if you don't know how to set boundaries for yourself, you WILL NOT succeed at weight loss. You just won't. Boundaries are CRITICAL in taking care of yourself. Part of being fat is, you never learned how to listen to your body's needs, your emotional needs, or how to let others around you know what you needed to take care of yourself. Chances are, you don't know what you need to take care of yourself. You probably don't even know how to say "no," and mean it if you do know what you need!

If you have family members or friends who try to sabotage you (and they WILL!) then being able to recognize those attempts and confront them in a loving way is critical to your weight loss success. When, as several friends of mine have done, someone says, "Are you sure you're eating enough? You should treat yourself for all your good work. Let's go get ice cream, or I'll take you out to dinner," they're sabotaging you. It may or may not be deliberate, but what's happening is they are uncomfortable with the skinnier, happier YOU and that's how they deal—they get you fat again so THEY will be happy!

When you learn to set boundaries you say, "Thank you for your concern. It's so good to hear. But I'm doing fine and I've learned not to use food as a reward. If you'd like to celebrate my success, why don't we go to a movie, or go for a walk and talk, or do something non-food related?" That expresses YOUR boundaries, allows you to take care of yourself, and provides them with other options and ways to experience you. 

If they say, "But we always used to love sharing meals together. I connect with you over food," then you say, "I loved that time. We can still connect over food, but over healthy, portion controlled meals." IF they can't deal with that boundary, then maybe they aren't the best friend to have. If it's a spouse, then you have to go a different route, but keep your boundaries. It's not easy, but it's healthy. Do it FOR YOU!

I have a LIBRARY of weight loss and recipe books. My first weight loss book EVER in my entire life was Bill Philip's book, "Body for Life " I drooled over the pages and before and after photos for years. I even worked out and lost 45 pounds in 12 weeks! But then an injury and my emotional eating kicked in and I stopped and gained the weight back. It sucked. But I STILL love the photos and love the book. Bill has some of the best recipes on the planet. They're low calorie AND they taste good too!

It's hard to go wrong with recipe books. One of my favorite books is The Biggest Loser Cookbook. If you don't cook, you can still use this cookbook. If you DO cook, you'll love this cookbook!

They have like a dozen varieties of this cookbook, like one for families, one for desserts and one for vegans or one for carnivores (like me). One of the things about books is that you have to keep referring to them. IF you do, they can be SUPER inspirational. If you don't, then they quickly fade from mind and when you feel discouraged you forget how great they can be at motivating you.

Yes, even recipe books can be inspiring and motivational! Just looking at all the healthy, and good tasting food can motivate me in a heartbeat! I have several recipe books, but the primary Biggest Loser Cookbook and the The Biggest Loser Quick & Easy Cookbook "are the only two I use regularly...but now I'm tossing the Lose It!: The Personalized Weight Loss Revolution Book into the mix! The  The Biggest Loser Quick & Easy Cookbook is awesome if you live alone or are only cooking for one. If you feel like spending some serious time (20-40 minutes) in the kitchen making really wonderful meals then the The Biggest Loser Cookbook is your best bet. I love them both.