Flip the Switch: Lose the Excuses, Lose the Weight, and Get the Body You've Always Wanted

After following the advice in this book for four weeks, I'm within 20 pounds of my goal weight for the first time in five years. I've done Atkins and South Beach, but my weight loss would always stall after the first two weeks. Jim Karas' approach involves getting you to first believe that you can follow a sensible, effective weight loss program, and then he gives you the diet and exercise guidelines you need. Yes, you will have to exercise, resistance/weight training is crucial, and you will have to follow an eating plan that asks you to burn more calories than you take in. All I know is, I feel and look better than I have in years.

I've tried all sorts of diets in my time (haven't we all?!?!), and for the first time ever I've found someone who really gets what a NORMAL person goes through to lose weight. And even more importantly - how to KEEP IT OFF!! I first picked up Karas's other book, The Business Plan for the Body, which was fantastic; the perfect nuts and bolts, no BS plan for getting yourself on the right track to lose weight. I lost 30 lbs in a little over two months and felt better than ever. But then I fell off course - you know how it goes - and started getting "busier" with work, home life, social life, and pretty much anything I could come up with as an excuse to not have the time to dedicate to staying healthy. I regained most, if not all, of the 30 pounds. But then I saw Karas on Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer talking about his new book. It has truly changed my life. The first time around, I was successful with weight loss b/c of the Business Plan, but Flip the Switch has really taught me how to make the little daily changes that, when you step back and look at them, add up to a comprehensive healthy lifestyle. Before I knew it, I re-lost the original 30 pounds, plus 15 more!! Thank you, Jim Karas, for changing my life and really teaching me how to do the little things that have changed my life forever! It's been almost a year and a half since I first started the Flip the Switch program, and I've lost a total of 45 pounds, and even more impressive, I've kept it off all this time! Thank you, Mr. Karas, you have empowered me to take control of my lifestyle, instead of just playing the victim. Thank you.

I bought this book in hardcover over 9 months ago. I thought it was just great, but I never wrote a review. When I saw Jim Karas, the author, today on Good Morning America talking about this book again, I just felt I needed to say something.I have lost over 62 pounds in the last 9 months. I have never felt so good and my husband tells me that I look better now (at 54) than I did when we got married 30 years ago.When I started the program, the pounds just fell off. Of course, I was sure that it would slow down or even stop (it had on every other diet I have ever been on). On the contrary, in addition to losing the weight, I lost so many inches. I went from a 16 to a size 6. It happened, as Jim explains it, because of the strength training instead of the cardiovascular exercise. Wow, does it work.So, now that you can get this in a paperback, I saw buy it right now. It will be the best $15 you have ever spent. If you want to lose weight, this is the book for you!

I purchased Flip the Switch last month and like most of my weight loss intentions, didn't read it. Over this past weekend, I decided to make an attempt. Well, I couldn't put this book down. I read it all weekend. I've purchased other weight loss books in the past, none of which have helped me. Most of them were either patronizing, or basically silly. This is not the case with Flip the Switch. Jim Karas provides the mental foundation one needs to actually begin a weight loss program. After reading the first two chapters, I was positive that I could motivate myself to actually succeed.I just turned 60 this past month and am shocked at how much weight I have gained. Until I read Flip the Switch, I felt that it was too late for me. Fortunately, that's not the case. Jim makes it very clear that weight loss is possible no matter what one's age.Additionally, he debunks all the excuses I, and probably every one else, has used to either put off or explain why I (we) aren't successful at weight loss.I was very suprised at how well written this book is. I especially liked all the included worksheets. They helped me focus and enabled me to chart my progress.I highly recommend this book to anyone who has tried and failed at weight loss. Jim Karas is a great writer and motivator, I can see why he is the weight loss contributor to Good Morning America

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.