Body for Life for Women: A Woman's Plan for Physical and Mental Transformation

As a life long athlete and body builder I am well aware of the Body for Life program. I stepped down from competitive body building, and have since been a strength and fitness trainer. Over the years I have had the pleasure of training men and women who really want to get in shape and achieve some optimal level of wellness. The guys have always gotten the "go hard or go home" message and welcome the sweat and intensity and therefore resonate with the original program. My frustration has been finding a way to reach most of my women clients and get them to push the envelope, get intense and transform. Most are so motivated and then run into problems with how to balance their workouts with caring for so many others in their life, and then there's the ups and downs with self image and moods, tough times with eating right and finally what's up with their hormone status. I got Dr. Peeke's book Body for Life for Women and after scoping it out, there's no question I personally have a better understanding of how differently women are hard wired when it comes to approaching their transformation. As a trainer, I want to be there to guide each woman in a way that respects their unique needs. This book nails it. I now recommend all of my clients read it. I really think it gives women a blueprint that's reasonable and realistic. None of my women clients want to look ripped and pose in bathing suits. Instead they so want to achieve the best body composition they can and know that they have to have a healthy and focused attitude to make it all happen. I really like Dr. Peeke's phased in approach to the workouts. Many of the women I train are obese and very out of shape, and frequently with medical conditions, and there's no way they are attacking a high intensity workout to start. I like the 12 week Weight Removal segments. They make realistic sense. I see these women get hung up on feeling bad about themselves if they aren't perfect. Dr. Peeke's principles teach women it doesn't have to be that way. So, I say if you're a trainer out there this is the book to give your women clients who aren't natural athletes but wonderful people who just want a chance to achieve their dream of a mental and physical transformation in a patient and realistic matter, that doesn't end after 12 weeks, but is a program for a life time. Eric Eckenrode 1991 IFBB Mr. North America-m/w

I'm a 45 year old woman who, like so many women out there, is constantly struggling to find some kind of balance in my life while I'm care giving the world. Since I turned 40, I've gained 30 pounds on top of the 20 I already had on board. I've tried everything. What else is new? I've just picked up Dr. Peeke's new book Body for Life for Women last week and it was like she was speaking to me. She totally gets it. Her Power Mind Principles nailed it with me. I found myself smiling as I read about how women are hard wired so differently than men when it comes to taking care of themselves. I see that I am a stress overeater and a ruminator. My husband doesn't do either. I have always been frustrated with how much easier it is for him to get in shape. It's always seemed like such a mission impossible for me. I love the power in her cover picture and the fact that she walks the talk. I can trust her since she is a doctor who is recognized as a leading authority on women's health. I'm tired of people witih no credentials telling me which way is up with my fitness and nutrition. I'm not a gym rat and with 50 pounds to drop, I'm sure not going into a gym and hitting it hard. I need a program that patiently phases me into the cardio and weights. I don't feel comfortable in a gym yet and so I use her exercises to get in shape at home. And it's working! I love her whole concept of Woman Food. I've been eating like a guy for too long. I really like the way she allows me to customize what I need as a woman who is well into my perimenopause. I have tried her shakes for my mid afternoon snack and they work like a charm to cut carb cravings and I am less prone to overeating in the evening. Finally, I was never built like an athlete and I have no goal of looking hugely muscular and parading around in a bathing suit. I just want to be as mentally and physically fit as I can be. That would be my gift to myself and my family. In my first week I have "removed" four pounds, feel energized, and happier with my life and have hope that I too can experience the transformation. Victoria Segal

This book was written for all my women friends who did not get the original Bill Phillips Body For Life, gung-ho approach to working out till your muscles quiver to failure before you can transform. Many women thought BFL was just for body builders! Don't get me wrong, I loved the original BFL and became a Champion in the year 2000. But my frustration was trying to help all my girlfriends who did not "GET IT"...but wanted to. Dr. Peeke's book explains why my approach was more like an engineer, analytical, using a spreadsheet to follow the BFL program exactly. But some women need more. Peek's BFL for Women does not replace the 1st one but translates the program into a language ALL women will truly relate to. Dr. Peeke is all about body comp not weight. This book promises to succeed where all others have failed. I would buy them both!

I went to Dr. Peeke because of her incredible reputation, her academic credentials and because she is one of the most respected experts in women's health. As a wife, mother and full time professional I was always struggling with the classic problem shared by seemingly all women -trying to maintain a healthy weight and some level of fitness while managing my professional life, taking care of a family and maintaining a personal life. Meeting Dr. Peeke was in and of itself a transformation - she spoke to me in a way that made the usual stresses and challenges of being a woman seem less insurmountable and she made me believe I could achieve my goal of a fit mind and body. She gave me the tools to make this program work and she explained why I have not been successful in the past. I have followed Dr. Peeke's program for 5 years and it has worked for me. I am now a size 6, I have lost over 30 pounds and I have the strength, endurance and flexibility that I never dreamed was possible not because I wanted to be a body builder or fitness fanatic but because I wanted to just be healthy and fit. I transformed myself through finding the right formula and changing who I "was" into who I "am" now - a woman who has lost pounds, inches and the mental attitude that had kept me fat, unhealthy and unfit. I love the Mind Mouth and Muscle Template and the 10 Power Mind Principles - they make sense and I use them every day. As a woman over 40 facing hormonal issues, stress, overeating and a woman's metabolism, I found that the programs that work for men just don't work for women. If you are serious about changing your life and learning how to deal with all the obstacles that get in the way of a successful weight loss and exercise program - stress, hormones, family responsibilites, exhaustion, fear of failure, and lack of belief in yourself - please buy this book- read it- try it and I promise it will work for you. I am a veteran of the Cabbage Soup diet, the Rice Diet, the Grapefruit Diet, Atkins, Sugar Busters, Weight Watchers - you name it - I tried it. I lost the weight and gained it back over and over again. I was miserable, deprived and angry with myself and resigned to a life of yo yo dieting and sporadic bursts of exercise. I needed a life plan. I needed a women's plan. I needed the right information and the right attitude and the tools to make the plan work for me. I found it and you can too. Dr. Peeke helped me change my life. She can help you too.

I am just your average woman...5'4", 152#, 8 1/2 shoe, size 12 dress, BMI 25 and 44 years old. I look middle aged and want more for myself. I received Pamela Peeke's book "Body For Life for Women" and read it all in one night. I had just finished her "Fighting Fat After 40" and thought her ideas and medical information made sense, so was anxious to read this new book especially for women--maybe for an "average woman". It is interesting, clear, informative and easy to understand. I had been putting some of Dr. Peeke's information in the "Fighting Fat" book to work and lost 8 # in two weeks. For the first time I am thinking about what I should be eating, not just making food for a meal to feed my family, but what foods will help me be the best I can be. I can really see a difference and more importantly, feel a difference. My face looks more angular and not so puffy. My clothes already feel looser and more comfortable. I feel better about how I look and more importantly, how I feel. This isn't a fad diet that you need to try to "stick with"-it is a reasonable way of life. I am teaching my three teenagers some of the principles of Dr. Peeke's and am encouraged to see that they like what they see at home. We have fresh food around the house, we have healthful snacks available, we are not all loading up in the car for another dinner out, but are enjoying meals together after busy days because meals are thought about and planned. I am taking time to take care of me, which of course, trickles down to my family in many ways. So while I may be an "average" woman, I feel like I am so much more than that and worth the time it takes to become the best I can be. With help from "Body for Life for Women" as a point of reference and guidance, I feel like it is my turn.