I have read this book several times. Over the years, I have gone back to re-implement various strategies she outlines here. Beck writes first about the willingness of the subconscious mind to participate in the “eat less move more” diet mantra. Basically, you have various levels of acceptance towards losing weight and all in all, you need to get in touch and get agreement from your Inner Self to actually diet and finally move more and eat less. It’s not about finding more willpower. As a matter of fact it is about the opposite. As Back says in the first chapter of the book,
If you think this means the 4-Day Win will give you more willpower, you’re wrong; it will just help you need less. Believe it or not, your willpower is one thing that can’t keep you thin. Basing a weight-loss effort on willpower does the very things to your mind and body that are virtually certain to make you fatter in the long run. The more time you spend doing traditional dieting, the more trouble you’ll probably have keeping weight off, which is what makes it even more vital to undo the physical and psychological damage so that you can be thin and happy. Oh, yeah, did I mention that? If you do this program consistently, you’ll end up happy, and not just because you’ve lost weight.
It’s an excellent hands-on book about balancing your mind and subconscious with the actions you desire to take. As long as that inner self says, “NO!” you cannot lose weight. She spends her time writing (in her witty and tongue-in-cheek signature style) about how our brains are programmed, studies supporting various theories about the brain and her own personal experiences as well as case studies from her clientele. So there is variety to her writing.
I recommend this book to anyone who’s been trying to lose weight and just can’t seem to get anywhere. It’s an ideal read for anyone who needs to understand how the brain and subconscious mind function. For those of you who don’t realize the importance of getting happy first, starting within to get better results on the outside, then this read is for you.
Beck doesn’t give her own specific diet to follow, rather she let’s you choose the one that you think fits you best. She even has a system to decide which diet programs already on the market will best suit your type of personality. So if you don’t know where to turn for weight loss and you are feeling burned out about the whole dieting dilemma, then begin with this book.
I highly suggest that you read through it completely and acquire some of her strategies in the first half of the book before actually getting into diet mode (such as meditating, getting into Watcher Mode and lists of gratification). Beck has a short cut route to read and diet at the same time, but this isn’t good if you feel “you have tried everything and nothing has worked”. It would be better to read this with an open mind and ask how each of her strategies might actually work for you.
The book is a journey to a better you, not just a better diet so be aware that you’ll need to do some soul searching while you’re preparing to shed the weight. It’s grounded in the science of the mind.
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