Books that have helped motivate you or helped you lose weight
 

I'm looking for a list of books that have helped you either get motivated, stay motivated, and helped you get moving and lose weight in one form or another. Could be fiction or non fiction.

I'm about half way through Half Assed, and so far I like it a lot!

Thin for Life by Anne M Fletcher
Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto
Superfoods Rx by Steven G. Pratt

Gosh, I'm almost embarrassed to admit how many diet/motivation/exercise books I've got. I'm a bit of a junkie that way.

I'm currently reading The Thin Commandments by Stephen Gullo, as recommended here on 3FC by RockinRobin or Meg, I think. I really like it; it's got some very unique ideas I haven't come across before.

Diet Girl by Shauna Reid
Bikini Season by Sheila Roberts

Cooking Thin and Getting Thin and Loving Food by Kathleen Daelemans are combo motivation/healthy lifestyle ideas and great cookbooks. She also has a Cooking Thin Daybook that is a daily diary/workbook type book that I don't have.

Peg

no need to be embarrassed! Let's hear em? I hope to become a weight loss book junkie! Thanks for the books so far everyone. :)

I'm currently reading Eating for Life by Bill Phillips. Good sound advice and lots of tasty recipes.

ooh posting so I can bookmarkt this lol ;)

Thanks for the suggestions.

Play as if Your Life Depends on It!

It's so fascinating!

Also: In Defense of Food

Both are really great, and are not fad-diet types.

Jillian Michaels' latest book Master Your Metabolism is my current read.

I'm a junkie, too. It may seem that I am the ultimate yo yo dieter with my library. But if one of those books will give me one good recipes, one nudge of encouragement or anything, then, I'm okay! That is why I've been looking for podcasts to listen to at work that involve health/fitness/weight loss.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver
In Defense of Food - Michael Pollan
Mindless Eating - Brian Wansink
How to Overcome Overeating - David Kessler
Thin for Life - Anne M Fletcher
Beck Diet for Life - Judith Beck
Such a Pretty Fat - Jen Lancaster
Confessions of a Reformed Dieter - AJ Rochester

Yup, twas' me. I was just going to chime in here with this one. Actually Mandalinn is the one that pointed me in the direction of this book. She thought I might enjoy, because when she read it she said it reminded her of "my plan". I didn't read this book till long after I hit goal, but so much of what he says is indeed "my plan". So much. Right down to recommending that one munch on string beans! I've recommended it to many people.

Oh, yay, Robin - glad you liked it! It was eerie, I was reading the book and it was just like reading your posts. I always love when a book recommendation works out.

I have recently loved:
Animal Vegetable Miracle
Omnivores Dilemma/In Defense of Food
Mindless Eating - Why we eat more than we think
and in a weird, "gardening helps me be more in touch with my food and make healthier choices" way, "Finding God in the Garden" was lovely.

Not to hijack the thread, but Amanda, I apologize. Do you mean I never told and thanked you for introducing me to that book? Apparently not. Well - thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes, it was eerie. It was like I was inside his head and he inside mine, like I said - right down to the string beans. It was nice to hear that a Columbia University man with a PhD and myself think so similarly.

I really like any of "The Biggest Loser" books. And it might be strange, but I love just flipping through and reading cook books. I really like the "Hungry Girl" ones. I don't know, somehow seeing that food can be good and healthy makes me want to try harder.

Has anyone read the "Skinny B*tch" series?

i second the recomendation for Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster. just a fun read about one funny lady's weight loss journey. made me think, if she can do this, then so can i!

Regarding podcasts, I found that Renee Stephens' Inside Out Weight Loss series to be really helpful to me. It's free on itunes. Even though I may not like her personally, she appeared on Wife Swap to disasterous results, this past winter, I still find her message invaluable.

Another vote for Mindless Eating--reading that now. It's really great. Helps you not only realize what triggers you to eat more junk, it helps you learn how to trigger yourself to eat more good stuff!
Also interested in the Skinny B series, if anyone's read them? I've heard that they're extreme and promote an unhealthy diet, but only from one person.
Oh, and, I don't know if it counts but right now I'm reading/doing the 28-Day Yoga Exercise Plan by Richard Hittleman. Not a diet book but very helpful in learning yoga if you're interested.

Robin, of course you thanked me...you thanked me just now! :)

you can heal your life - louise hay

for all of us with low self esteems, and who feel worthless in this world, and terrible about the way we look.. this book has been helping me ALOT ALOT ALOT .. please try reading this... the exercises it has in the book are really eye opening.. it made me realize alot of the things I think about myself are because OTHER people told me so.. this book helps you erase what other people told you as your beliefs, to creating your own beliefs about yourself...

my yoga teacher suggested it to me because i kept being too hard on myself when i couldnt do the postures, and i kept hating me, and in result i would get dizzy in class.. it has def helped me alot with my confidence and believing in me.. and my weight loss.

I just read a great emotional eating book called, I think, "Life is Hard, Food is Easy". If you struggle with emotional eating it might be really helpful for you!

FYI - The Thin Commandments by Stephen Gullo sounded very interesting to me and my local library does not have it. I pinch pennies so I hated to order it through Amazon without being sure that I wanted it. I found it on Google books and started reading it while eating my lunch. The entire book will not be online but a large selection is.

Just thought that I would share.

Not a book, but watching the training scenes in Rocky III (and Rocky I) always makes me want to get out there and workout hard. I have both movies and have watched those 10-15 minutes thousands of times to get myself going.

I have SO many motivational and books about dieting that I can't even think of them all.

Lately I am really enjoying books on eating more mindfully. Like the "Martini Diet" and "French Women Don't Get Fat". I also just ordered "Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat" and just got out my old "The Okinawa Program" to read again.

I go thru stages and re-read them all the time.

I was excited to find this thread because there are books mentioned I Have not read!

I think for me constantly reading keeps me focused and motivated.

Finished Half Assed, and LOVED it. Now I'm reading Fat Girl by Judith Moore. I don't like it as much, he mother ( if you can even call her that, was awful to her ) I have about 100 pages left, then I have Skinny B*itch lined up and Moose. Anyone read any of the 3 I just mentioned?

Skinny *****

i browsed the skinny b*tch book. i didnt read the whole thing, but i did read the chapter on not drinking milk. i little too much 'tough love' if you ask me. i dont need to spend 15 bucks to be berated about being fat. i can get that for free in the outside world.

I just finished Moose, as a long island girl it was all very dead on for me although the sleep away camp I attended was not a fat camp, I found it extremely relatable. I definitely recommend it.

Also "confessions of a carb queen" was truly extraordinary

Loved, loved, loved Skinny Bit*h and Jen Lancasters Such a Pretty Fat...like DD said...I think she stole our lives, lmao!

My two favorites are

Beck Diet Solution by Judith Beck--lots of good stuff about sabotaging thoughts that contribute to weight gain. Can be used with any eating plan.

Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink--fascinating studies about what in our environment stimulates eating--and how to use this information to modify our environment.

I don't know if this is true for anyone else, but if I have several self-help books stacked up by the side of my bed, it's usually a sign that I'm obsessing! A signal to back off on the reading and do something active.

Ok, yes, she is way outdated now but I read her book a few years after it came out. Susan Powter's Stop the Insanity and the one after it. I think there is another one too..?? Anyway, go read it. Everyone. It tells you that you don't have to drown yourself in water to lose, just when you do drink, try to always drink water, drink it more than you used to, etc. She also says eat as much as you want of allowable type foods, veggies, grains, all with sauces like soy, bbq, steak sauce, etc. So you won't be hungry. But you are still eating healthy.

She has a great analogy about ball point pens. She says if someone told us we couldn't have them .. then slowly we would become obsessed with obtaining them, stealing them, hiding them, using them in secret, etc. Anything you package up with a big pretty bow and say don't touch, then we want it. So when we do that with sweets, etc. it sabotages us because human nature makes us want what we can't have. So let yourself have a set amount of chocolate or whatever but don't eat a plate of chocolate for dinner. :)

I like this thread. I'm going to look for more books I need to get on here. :cp:

Thanks, Selina

In the 20+ years that I was obese, I actually don't recall reading a single, solitary "weight-loss" book. That began well after I hit my goal weight. Now that I've gotten to where I want to be, I find it interesting to hear other perspectives on and it helps to keep weight loss and health on the forefront of my mind.

But I do get your point. All the reading in the world isn't going to get the "job done". It's putting those thoughts, ideas and strategies into play.

Okay then....
 

So I combed through my bookshelves and, in no particular order, here's a sampling:dizzy: In my defence, most of these were bought at the second-hand bookstore...;)

The Thin Commandments/Gullo
South Beach Diet/Agatston
New Rules of Lifting for Women
The Eat Clean Diet/Tosca Reno
The Eat Clean Workout/Tosca Reno
The GI Diet
Potatoes Not Prozac
Foods That Cause You to Lose Weight: The Negative Calorie Effect/Barnard
Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat/ Moriyama
The MacDougall Program
The Metabolism System/Landry
Eat to Trim/Vedral
Eat More to Weigh Less/Ornish
Thin Within/Halliday
Dine Out and Lose Weight/Montignac
Your Fat is Not Your Fault/Simontacchi
Skinny B****/Freedman & Barnouin
Thin Tastes Better/Gullo
Life is Hard, Food is Easy/Linda Spangle
Laurel Mellin/The Solution
The Zone/Barry Sears
Feed the Fat, Burn the Muscle/Tom Venuto
All the “Fit or Fat” series/Covert Bailey
The Aitkens Diet and Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution
Protein Power/The Eades
Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet
Pritikin Diet
Thin So Fast/Dr. Eades
Thin for Life/Anne Fletcher
When You Eat at the Refrigerator Pull Up a Chair/Geneen Roth
Such a Pretty Fat/Jen Lancaster
Dr. Phil’s Ultimate Weight Loss Solution
YOU – On a Diet/Dr. Oz
SuperFoods RX/Stephen Pratt
Secrets of a Former Fat Girl/Lisa Delaney
Strong Women Stay Slim/Dr Miriam Nelson
Body for Life/Bill Phillips
Stop the Insanity/ Susan Powter

ETA: My current favs are The Thin Commandments and The South Beach Diet. Covert Bailey just makes sense. Didn't like Skinny B**** too much. Such a Pretty Fat was a really entertaining read.

I haven't read that many; I am trying to get my hands on some popular library books like In Defense of Food.

I did enjoy French Women Don't Get Fat, for what it is -- I mean, it was cheesy in the way you'd think, and it is for people who need to lose a lot less than I'm doing (just "take the stairs" once in awhile, etc). But I took some comfort out of it -- like that it's not freaky or anorexic to have a yogurt and a peach for lunch on a leisurely day. Just that things don't have to be big ... and in fact, shouldn't fill up a plate. Helped my mindset in a healthy way and I appreciate that.

Oh, and I'd love more podcast recommendations. Going to look up the Inside Out one.

I loved Skinny B. I have been vegetarian on and off my entire adult life, but this was the book that helped me go all the way! I am happily meat free and decreasing the amounts of egg and dairy, but not quite vegan yet. It is a process. I re-read this book whenever I am feeling sorry for myself or internally whining about not having meat.

Actually, reading is a lot more helpful to me now than it used to be. I used reading self-help books(of all kinds, not just weight loss) as a way to confirm my sense of being "broken"--that I needed fixing. I've done a lot of work on realizing I'm not permanently broken or defective, that I can change and heal. And with my OCD, reading was a way to ward off anxiety of obsessive thoughts about needing to do things perfectly. It's a relief to be able to go ahead and try some of the things in books, and learn to tolerate the anxiety that I wasn't doing it perfectly.

I didn't like Skinny B****, all I got from that book was how disgusting it is to be fat and how horrible it is to consume animal products and if you're fat you're weak and gross. No thank you!

The Beck Diet Solution Weight Loss Workbook.
The Beck Diet Solution.
The Complete Beck Diet For Life.

By Julith Beck.