This book is great if you are serious about making some serious changes in your life. this book walks you through the principles that you need to understand for not only becoming fit and healthy physically, but for finding balance and well-being in all aspects of your life. The premise is that you need make changes that affect the core of who you are in order to find lasting success in becoming the person that you want to be physically.

I am a nurse by background. While I don't consider myself an expert in nutrition I do have some professional training in that area. Nursing training is also focused on the well-being of the whole person, not just one aspect of the body at a time. Mr. Phillip's "whole-person" approach to fitness is very appealing to me, and, I believe, is a much more correct approach than those strategies that focus only on watching what you eat and what exercises you do.

The authors will walk you through some basic exercises that will assist you in changing the way you look at life and yourself and will help you set goals that are amazing and achievable at the same time. They will then teach you correct principles of nutrition and exercise, and will outline some sample menu plans and exercise plans with recipes and pictorial examples. These are all good, basic principles that can be used by fitness newbies or pros that have studied health and fitness for years. I have read some critics who say that the Body for Life plan is not is not personalizable enough to individual needs. I don't necessarily agree. For the beginner, it is easy to follow what may seem a cookie-cutter plan that is put forth in the book, and that is just what beginners need. For those, like myself, who are ready to take it to the next level, the principles in the book give you plenty of latitude to vary up your routine and fine tune it to your specific needs. The plan is designed to force your body to adapt and change, but the plan is also designed to be changeable to meet your body's changing needs. I also recommend that you visit the Body for Life website where you can find additional resources to help you in making the plan work for you.

The book is also full of amazing real-life examples of people who decided that they need to make some serious changes in their life. Their stories are amazing. Maybe you are someone who knows they need to make a huge change and don't know how. Maybe you've tried a lot of different things with little success. Maybe your just looking for something a little different. Regardless of your situation, I highly recommend that you add this book to your library. But, before you gloss through it and set it on you shelf to catch dust, take a serious look at what the authors are saying and actually try it out. It will make a difference. While I can't claim to have followed the book religiously, I have applied many of the principles and have seen success. I have increased my strength, energy and metabolism and I have decreased my body-fat percentage from an average level to and excellent level. It is a rewarding process. And, should you choose to take on Mr. Phillip's 12 week challenge, you may qualify to win an amazing award which can only be eclipsed by the feeling of achievement and success that you can gain by finding that body that you've been looking for your whole life.

Bill Phillips had been publishing body-building magazines and marketing nutritional supplements for years when he had a weird revelation at a trade show: many of the most loyal and enthusiastic readers he had were totally out of shape. From that uncomfortable realisation came his popular Physique Transformation Contest (top prize that first year: Phillips's own Lamborghini), now world famous, and this book. The three-times-a-week weightlifting program in Body for Life is deceptively simple. If you have spent any time in the gym, you have already done all the exercises. But Phillips includes a couple of high-intensity sets at the end of each exercise that should compound the training effect on each muscle group. Same goes for the cardiovascular exercise he recommends: just 20 minutes, three times a week. But those 20 minutes are spent jacking the intensity up and down, accomplishing more in less time.

Phillips arranges all this into a 12-week programme, along with nutritional and motivational tips. Be warned that the nutritional advice gets a little spacey. For example, he puts "carbohydrates" and "vegetables" into separate categories, and recommends three daily doses of a nutritional supplement called Myoplex, which his company manufactures. (Fortunately, he gives tips on how to make each dose taste different, such as by adding drops of peppermint extract.) Despite this strangeness, Body for Life still motivates because so many others have achieved astounding results in similar 12-week windows, and the pictures and testimonials are here as evidence. amazon.com

I don't think I will be able to convey in this review just how wonderful I think this book is.

Two years ago, I was the fittest and thinnest I ever had been. And, then, lo and behold, I discovered that we were going to be welcoming baby number three into the world! Completely unexpected, and a little older than before, I was terrified I would gain a lot of weight. I managed to keep the weightgain down, but still, after the birth of my happy little surprise, I had 25 pounds to lose and was anxious to get it off.

The truth was I didn't know the truth about eating and the truth about exercising. I had never lifted weights and was no longer as physically active as I once was. I bought the Firm and the stick thing that went with it, but the information that program came with didn't go into the whys and the ways. So, even though there was some instruction, and a calendar, I didn't understand about the physiology of eating properly and often and how one must let their muscles rest after exercising.

Bill Phillips' book was the perfect introduction for me. In twelve weeks, just as promised, I was back to my smaller size. And, I learned so much about weight loss and proper nutrition and working out with weights and how to improve my aerobic/cardio routine, as well. His book completely whet my appetite for more knowledge regarding proper eating/dieting/nutrition/etc., and because of Body for Life, I have read so much more about nutrition and exercise and this is now a full-fledged interest of mine.

The only criticism I have now, two years after I have read it and several years after publication, is that it really needs to be updated. The current thought is that one must eat immediately after working out. Body for Life states you should wait an hour. Also, the Body for Life website, which he refers to and recommends throughout his book, is now owned and operated by EAS, a food supplement company, not Bill Phillips, as it used to be.

I'd really like to see something new by Bill Phillips. He's an inspiration.

Bill Phillips instantly turned celebrity with his best-selling "Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength". Bill was famous in the body-building and workout worlds for years, but this book brought him mainstream - and rightfully so - its been a mainstay on the top selling since 1999. And that's absurdly rare for a self-help book - most of which fade in and out with time. But Bill has put together a beautifully simple workout plan that, if followed, will help anyone lose weight and build muscle because it not a gimmick / crash diet.

The fundamental point of Bill's recipe for health is 1) core conditioning and 2) healthy eating. Most people think that cardio and crash dieting are the only way to lose weight - but Bill stresses the power of strength and toning. He also stresses the importance of balanced nutrition - even suggesting Myoplex meals. Best yet, Bill demonstrates core exercises and provides recipes. Additionally, the book isn't written in a demanding or ego-centric manner.

Whether you are a conditioned athlete looking to improve your diet and nutrition or someone looking to lose weight - Bill Phillips has put together a long lasting guide to success that is simple and powerful. Excellent book.

Body for Life is an excellent written book which teaches the basics and fundamentals of nutrition and exercise. This book is for anyone just getting into or considering proper exercise and nutrition themselves. One of the most inspirational books in its class yet one of the most basic books for its kind.

This is not a book for a veteran body builder but simply for someone out of shape, looking for motivation and inspiration while taking control of their unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise.

I like to refer to this book as more of a break-in to exercise and nutrition. The food choices are optimal for packing on muscle and the work outs are great for beginners.

This book teaches the importance of frequent meals throughout the day, Body for Life sticks with six meals, three real and three in supplement form. Because Bill Phillips has been linked with EAS throughout his entire career he likes to recommend only EAS products. EAS products are normally fine selections but are also often on the pricey side. You can add more versatility to your exercise program if you add several different products, versus sticking only to EAS Myoplex shakes.

The weight lifting routines consist of only one exercise per week, for each muscle group in your body. This is not a perfect technique for anyone looking to put on some serious gains, I can guarantee Bill Phillips himself didn't acquire such a great phsysique from this routine. For example, if you're looking to stack on some serious poundage to your pectoral area, only 4 sets of the regular barbell bench press per week aren't going to be adequate. Your body building repertoire will be lacking as this book teaches the most basic and simple exercises, which is another reason why I put this in the beginner category.

I rate this book as excellent assuming the people buying are beginners.

it does not teach anyone how to change there lifestyle and how to hold onto lean body mass and lose fat. doesnt tell you how many caloires to eat or how to switch up your meal plan, or show you that there is more than one way to work your body out. because everyone human body is diffrent and needs diffrent things for there own body. i could (i should) write my own book on fitness and health and make millions off it juat like they did. again eas has a great marketing but poor science. i think the owner sold out too. you can make anyone lose fat by eating less and moving more. balance out your protein, carbs and fat in each meal. do cardio 3x a week and a 70% max heart rate for about 15min. do weight traing at least 3x a week and switching it up every time you come in. take a multi, caclium for women, mabey some bcaa, mr bars or shakes, creatine and mabey a fat burner of some sort. then switching it all up .

Another Fad Diet Program? I think not! This program has been around for over a decade and is still expanding quickly and standing strong in the face of new research in the health community. Bill Phillips is not just a fitness expert, he's a writer who can actually speak to the mind of the reader as if he's talking to you in person. I've tried several programs and bought dozens of useless supplements when in reality, Bill showed me that changing the structure of my meal intake was the key to success. The 6-meal a day plan is tough to impliment at first (especially as a college student on a 3 meal schedule) but is well worth the effort. His exercising plan is right on the money with a step by step-picture illustrated guide with commentary on exactly what to do--and what common mistakes to avoid. I give this book two thumbs up and as an athlete and assistant coach I strongly recommend this program to everyone, whether your goal is simply to sculpt your body, train for athletics, or just live a healthier lifestyle.

This book has a lot of what other self improvement books have. What is unique is that I have found out new ways of looking at what I am doing wrong which speaks to me in a way that gives me knowledge that I need to "want" to make the needed changes. Every Time I think I can't eat this way I remember that I have 1 day a week to eat anything and as much of it as I want and my heart quits beating out of my chest, and I know I can stay with the program. I feel there is enough items on the okay to eat list that I can stay satisfied and happy. Now I am ready to take the challenge in the book and you can go online and officially take the challenge. The challenge is a contest the author came up with and the winner will get $25,000 and some other nice gifts. There are about 6 other categories and whomever wins those will get the same as the big prize except the money is only $10,000 and did I mention one of the other gifts is a trip to Hawaii for a week fully paid. So there is an extra motivation besides the normal one that each individual has when they decide to change their life. My doctor is who told me to buy this book because he felt that it offered a real chance for me to make a life change. I think the exercise program is fair and doable. I like this book but I feel trying to eat 6 meals a day is going to be my biggest challenge. I think that any book that gives it's reader a real chance to succeed and want to keep it up for life is a real winner and to me this book is a winner.

This is my second book....I wore out the first one!

Bill Phillips approach to transforming your body is not by any means easy. If you have been a yo yo dieter like myself, then you have probably tried all of the miracle pills, silly soup diets and that sort of thing. You may have lost weight, but then gained back after the diet was over, right?

Well this is a plan that requires exercise 6 days a week....and you say WHAT? WORK......6 DAYS A WEEK?

WAIT! It consists of 3 days cardio and 3 days weight training. I do this at home. I didn't like to exercise, but now I feel great! I am gaining muscle and losing fat. It doesn't work overnight, but like Bill Phillips says......12 weeks to a better body!

TRY IT.......You have nothing to lose but weight....and only muscle to gain!

I love this book and have read it twice. It tells you the true way to lose weight and gave me faith in myself. It also has put an end to my diet pill use as all that was doing was killing my heart anyways. This book is very easy to understand and it tells you the foods that your body needs to consume everyday while working out and the great thing is, they are things we buy everyday. Just more simple. I decided to bu this book because I was watching Montel Williams Show one day.......lol, and there was a woman on there that used to be my size which is in the morbidly obese catagory. And she was so amazing and she transformed herself into a strong healthy fit woman by being inspired by this book. Well her blessing got passed on tho me. And this book has continued to inspire me. I ask myself all the days that I want to give up if I would really be happy with that choice and I already know the answer, "NO!" So far so good for me and I recommend this book to everyone that feels hopeless and can't take the life that they are living anymore due to some kind of unhappiness of their weight, lack of energy, and health.

I'd highly recommend this book for anyone who wants an ABC roadmap to getting fit. I read it twice the first week I got it, joined a gym and started eating clean, that was Feb 1. Today is March 10 and I am on the way to being in the best shape of my life having already lost several inches around my midsection. My energy level has skyrocketed and my strength has ramped up considerably. I have tried the (optional) supplements and do like them, at the very least you should buy some whey protein powder. With all the competing and often contradictory fitness/diet plans available the Body for Life plan provides common sense direction that will get you healthier, fit, and...better, in only 4 1/2 hours of workouts per week.

I've followed the training and the eating plan for the suggested period and I saw visible gains both physically and mentally. I was able to follow the program layed out on the "Body For Life" website. I recorded daily my training and diet plan. I believe the key is to record everything as difficult as it may seem. Writing was probably the easiest part of this whole thing. It is advisable to photo copy the pages you use to record the data and create your 12-week log as you will most likely do the program again and again to see further gains. The concept or training principles make sense. You can train as hard or as easy as you like and can alter the training enough to keep it interesting. Try it and you will understand what I mean.

I have confidence this book will allow me to fine-tune my workout regimen and diet plan by providing detailed ideas that I may have overlooked on the website.

This is an excellent guide for exercise and eating right. I have not bought any of the supplements recommended but even so I have lost fat pounds and trimmed down. I've just finished my first month and I have lost 5 of the 20 pounds I'm looking to lose. Yes, it's a slow loss, but the muscle and curves I've gained in the process are well worth the 'slow.' I have bad days but I love how the book encourages you to look past them and not let them get you down.I am a human, after all, and it's inevitable that I will not follow the program perfectly. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to feel better about themselves and increase their metabolism. I can literally feel my metabolism burning the food I eat. That is an incredible feeling! If you're looking for a common sense approach to getting in shape and feeling better, Body for Life is certainly a great option.

I purchased this book because my general practice doctor recommended it for weightloss/maintenance. I liked the book because the principles are simple to follow, it addresses the the core reasons of why you may be having problems, and the exercise program is different from the norm and make sense to me. The author seems to really have a passion for helping people to change.

My only complaint is all the protein you have to eat. I know that most of us are carbo junkies but all the protein seemed excessive.

Overall, it is a healthy way to lose weight and maintain it. You rarely feel hungry and the healthy eating and exercising helps you feel great.

The book is incredible. On the contratry to the review written stating that this book is only for begginers, its not. Yes, Phillips does an awesome job of breaking everything down into dummies format. Making this one a perfect buy for begginers. But it goes over a full body workout that cuts more "elite bodybuilders" work outs in half, and the muscle keeps on coming. Sure somebody thats been Truly bodybuilding for years doesn't need to know that proper nutrition is 90% of working out. But so many myths have flooded the gym that even the best of us have been effected. Phillips book goes over these myths and debunks them for what they are. I had been body building for 7+ years before reading his book, and was real happy with my build. This is my 4th year using his methods and let me tell you, I NEVER thought I would be able to look like I do today unless I was using steroids or something. Thanks Bill, you're the man!

Oh and FYI, the methods used in the "Body for Life" book are the same methods Bill Phillips uses himself to look like he does.

I purchased this book on the recommendation of my chiropractor. It was a quick and easy read, but it ends up feeling like the book is a commercial.

I am pretty sure the diet and exercise program described in the book will work, but I don't feel it's realistic for most people to accomplish. (Unless, of course, you buy the author's nutrition supplements!)

However, if you look past the sales pitch, the book does discuss sensible eating habits. It also describes a lot of good, simple exercises. And the way the book explains how to go about exercising makes a lot of sense and really does make a difference.

Body for Life has some very sound, scientific information for dieters. What it does not have is fresh or extraordinarily original dieting concepts. The age-old maxim: eat less, weigh less still holds true. Body for Life simply reconfirms what professional dieters already know: putting less food into our bodies and getting a bit more exercise will shave pounds. Dieters will find very nice before and after photos in this book. However, is one more bikini-clad, sucking-her-gut-in-till-her-bo​nes show model really going to inspire us to shed excess weight? If inspiration and motivation are what you need, look elsewhere. Just ignore the nameless fatty two-by-four who, thanks to Body-for-Life can slip beneath closed doors!

In this book Bill Phillips helps everyday people create a healthy lifestyle that they can maintain for the rest of their lives. He stays away from fad diets and exercise programs. His emphasis is on practical foods that will be convenient and tasty. His exercise routines are quick and effective. You will see and feel results quickly, but more importantly you will stick with the program you begin. Bill inspires readers from the inside out, which is the only way to have a happy body for your entire life.

This is book is quite excellent. It gives you a weight loss plan that is both easy on the body when it comes to the physical conditioning and it boosts your inner psyche, so it encourages you, not demeens you into a weight loss program. The whole plan makes sense and does not cause you any harm because of malnutrition or overexerting the body to the point where you have to stop exercising because of injury.
My only quam that was hard for me was setting all of the monitoring for the program. Carrying a log book is not the easiest thing to do when you are sticking to a strict workout schedule and only have so much time. Also, keeping records of what you eat in the course of a day is not as easy too if you do not have your log book with you and you are on the go.
All in all, this program is probably the best program I have been on, because it is safe, it works, and there is noticeable change right off the bat.

The only reason you would not by this book is lack of motivation and believeability. You will look at the pics and ask, "Is this stuff really real?"
"Can you change in twelve weeks?" "Do I have the motivation to follow this for twelve weeks" The answer to all is yes! I lost 30 pounds and 10% bidy fat in 12 weeks.

My best advice to you is this!! Check out the VHS video made by the same company that Bill Phillips runs. It is called "Body of Work" It got it free from the company EAS. I have also seen it at second hand stores. It follows ten people who followed this new lifestyle and it is INSPIRATIONAL. When I watched the video I was motivated and and the same questions as above.

IT WORKS!!!

Thanks
littlesons_shop

I liked the diet and the workouts, but there is a lack of cardio in the workouts. I could never reach a feeling of satisfaction with the 20 minute sessions, even though they use levels of perceived endurance. I would rather do the workouts and then add another session of cardio that would help me sustain the body fat processes at their peak.

This is a great read and is chock-full of great advice and inspirational stories. However, I think that people would lose more weight and learn to keep it off longer if the cardio sessions were explained in more depth.

THIS IS ONE OF THOSE BOOKS YOU WILL RECOMMEND TO OTHERS! I LOVE IT!

IT GIVES TIPS ON PRACTICAL WAYS TO GET OUT OF YOUR SLUMP, OR PLATEAU!

Bill covers both aspects of the health/weight management game workouts and
nutrition so you really cant go wrong. There are enough good practical tips that you will go away with a treasure box! I have given away so many copies of this to friends trying to lose weight.

I have 5 listed in my store now! Buy it... you will be thrilled! and he aint bad looking to stare at between pages!

I have followed the advise from Body for Life for over 3 years now. And I am not surprised the book is still so popular.

Bill covers both aspects of the health/weight management game:
a) workouts and
b) nutrition

The one concept of workouts - about changing the intensity from 6-10 and repeating this every 5 minutes - was by far the most powerful. I am surprised a simple thing as that can make so much difference. Very easy to overlook - but it's an INNOVATION!

Thanks Bill for this wonderful book!

I have bought this book before and lent it to a friend. I am now on the journey back to ultimate fitness and needed the book for guidance. After having my 2nd child I did this program and followed it to a "T" and it worked fabulously!! Lost 25 lbs of fat and was at my ultimate fitness level. Now after having baby #5 I am ready to start the journey again.

Highly recommend this book to people wanting to get into shape and live their true life!!