Weight Watchers Start Living, Start Losing: Inspirational Stories That Will Motivate You Now

The books reports over sixty success cases of losing weight by various people (mostly women). When reading the stories one realizes how important is the real commitment to losing weight. Believing in yourself and your ability to succeed is very important but equally important is supporting environment. The reports are from people who lost as little weight as 20 pounds and as much as 100 pounds and more. What I particularly like about the book is the fact that it is not a promotional book for Weight Watchers, as it also presents critical reports of people who were critical of Weight Watchers. I think this book is indeed valuable for people struggling with weight problems as it gives the reader real accounts of real people with their successes and sometimes failures. Unlike many other books dealing with the issue, "Weight Watchers Start Living, Start Losing" does not glorify any particular diet. Being real and down to earth, it will still inspire and motivate the reader to try his own program enriched with the wisdom of over sixty others who did the program already. There is another important title that needs to me menioned. In my opinion "Can We Live 150" is probably the best book ever published on the topic of weight control, longevity and health in general. The chapter about Obesity in that book is probably all you need to know to keep your weight in check...

I have read just about every diet book ever written. In fact, I consider myself somewhat of a diet scientist. I can explain in detail why (or why not) many different diet plans work. Despite this, people will fail over and over because something most diet books don't address is the emotional side of eating. This book includes over 60 short, 2-3 pages success stories written by weight watchers members in their own words. The stories are grouped into various categories such as, "Family Matters", "New Brides, New Moms", "Working Nine to Five", "It's a Guy Thing", and many more. I believe that most people will be able to closely identify with one or more of the categories. Each person sets up their story with when their weight battle began, when their moment of inspiration to start Weight Watchers occurred, how they felt at meetings/after meetings/doing ww online, and closes with how the weight change has impacted their life. Tidbits of their obstacles and how they overcame them are interspersed with great advise for anyone wanting to live a healthy life. Throughout the book people share their insights and wisdoms that helped them to become successful with their weight battle. My favorite was when someone called their food "a bowl of calories". Wow, it's hard to look at food the same after you read this book. I can see this book being used as a wonderful tool to keep dieters and members of weight watchers on track by being able to read a short success story in just a few minutes and knowing that they can do it too. This book is an easy read in 3 evenings, or readers could read an inspirational story or two a day while applying the wisdom gleaned from these weight loss success stories.

. . . for both my wife and myself. We have found the stories contained within its pages to be inspiring and encouraging. What I particularly appreciated was the concentration not just on celebrities (celebrities can and do endorse pretty much anything) but by the everyday sort of people like my wife and me who are looking for the encouragement and support necessary to drop those unwanted pounds! Both my wife and I noted that while Weight Watchers is based on a "point system" like many other weight-loss strategies, it is the support above and beyond the "points" which seem to have made a difference to many people. I think that many would find this book to be an encouragement.

I loved the stories in this book. The people who wrote their short, personal stories are so real that I actually shook my head and agreed with them while reading. Some had 10 pounds to lose and some over 200. Most of the people in this book are maintaining as opposed to losing. Each story has a theme that is reinforced at the end of that particular person's chapter (about 1 1/2 to 3 pages each) Also at the end of the story, there is an motivational statement from WW, giving you a helpful hint or strategy to help with your weight loss journey. These statements are very useful to any dieter, WW or not. I attend WW meetings weekly and we always have theme each week to motivate us and give us a focus for the upcoming week. I think that if you are an online WW dieter, this book would be very useful as a weekly motivator and to give you a focus for the week. There is so much useful and interesting information in this book that it should be a permanent addition to the library of any person losing weight. No fast fixes, just real advice from real people.

"Weight Watchers Start Living, Start Losing" has over sixty stories from men and women who successfully lost weight. Although some of the essayists are well known, most of them are ordinary people who needed to lose weight for one reason or another. The book covers four major themes throughout the stories: 1) I Need to Change; 2) I Can do it; 3) I Need to Create a Supportive Environment; and 4) I Changed My Life. The chapters in the book cover issues such as changing your relationship with food; how your family affects your eating habits and dieting; body-image issues; eating and work; embracing challenge; seeking good health; life-altering transitions like being a new bride or mother; men's journey to weight loss; and the power of team work. At the end of each story there is a quote from the story and a thing called "Take-Away" that highlights the helpful hints in the story. At the end of each chapter there is a small journaling space where you answer questions and write lists to help reinforce what you learned in the chapter. I liked "Weight Watchers, Start Living, Start Loving" for a number of reasons. For one thing, while most of the essays do mention Weight Watchers (both on and off-line) and the POINTS system, the book isn't used to push Weight Watchers. In fact, some of the essays don't mention Weight Watchers at all. While some of the people in the book have lost a lost of weight (over 100 pounds) other people needed to lose as little as twenty pounds but still struggled to take the weight off. Also, most of the people mention how exercise is as important as dieting while trying to lose weight. The stories also mention that it is important to set small goals for weight loss (trying to focus on losing five pounds instead of fifty) because it takes time to lose weight and it can be frustrating to see the pounds come off slowly. The stories also don't make Weight Watchers seem like a miracle cure - several essays mention that the author "failed" Weight Watchers at one point or another before sticking to it. The essays are all well done and feel like the author is sitting in front of you telling their story. While the celebrity stories were interesting, I especially enjoyed the stories from "ordinary" people. All of the essays were interesting to read especially the motivations for weight loss - whether it was because of health issues; self-esteem issues; a new job; getting married; or running a race in honor of a deceased loved one. "Weight Watchers, Start Living, Start Losing" is an inspirational book to read.