A Thinking Person's Step by Step Guide to Weight Loss & Exercise Program

About the Book

This book presents a groundbreaking approach to keeping up with weight loss and exercise plans. The method described - and shown to work based on empirical results - is radically different from traditional methods that single-mindedly emphasize personal motivation. Instead of promoting the establishment of overly ambitious goals, the selection of diet or workout "buddies," and the pairing of idealized outcomes with guilt trips as an ultimately destructive carrot - stick combination, the book sets out effectively to demolish these common and frequently toxic approaches. In a calmly reasoned, analytical way, the authors identify decisive elements in each person's environment and show how seemingly small changes in our surroundings and habits lead to lasting results.

Among the many innovative angles presented in the book are recordkeeping tools that bring out patterns hidden in our lifestyles and help us distinguish between real improvement and insignificant blips. After walking the reader through the steps of their unique strategy, the authors offer a full case study that brings the facts and figures to life. The book closes with a discussion on the pitfalls of the self-improvement movement when taken to unhealthy extremes and reiterates the sensible approach that defines its entire content.

About the Author

Farrokh Alemi is a System Analyst working in healthcare industry and teaching health administration at various organizations. His Ph.D., from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is in industrial engineering (system analysis). His research has focused on quality improvement, technology assessment, program evaluation, and life style management. He applies system concepts to health care issues. He is the author of a book on health care policy and more than 80 peer-reviewed journal articles.