Breaking Fat, by Kevin Wichtendahl

If you're an American, odds are you're carrying around more weight that you want to.  In fact, if you're an American, there are pretty good odds that your are downright obese.  According to the CDC, 1 in 3 U.S. adults are.  Kevin Wichtendahl was one of those, until he made some life changes and lost 120 pounds in 18 months.  In his new book, Breaking Fat: Make Five Decisions and Break the Fat Habit for Good, tells his story and share the principles that helped him lose the weight.

Wichtendahl writes not as a dietician, doctor, or scientist, but as a guy who's been there and has some practical experience that he wants to share.  The book is short and sweet, with practical ideas that anyone can embrace, if they want to.  The biggest obstacle for people wanting to lose weight is mental. Wichtendahl writes that "in order to lose weight and keep it off, I simply had to change my mental relationship with food.  I needed to stop looking at food as a lover, a friend, and as a mind-altering drug.  I needed to realize that food was simply a source of fuel for my body--nothing more and nothing less, and that it was I who had made food out to be so much more in my mind."

Easier said than done, obviously.  But he offers some practical ways to train our minds to think differently about food.  When he started on his path to weight loss, he would visit fast food restaurants, buffets, or the food court at the mall and watch people eat.  Compare the ways that fat people and skinny people eat: size of bites, time spent eating, portion size, whether any food is left uneaten.  His observations gave him, if nothing else, a mental picture of what he did not want to be.

Most of his advice is pretty much common sense, and probably things you have heard before if you have ever thought about losing weight: eat more fiber, fruits and vegetables, don't fill up on sugary drinks and desserts, park a couple rows farther from the door and take the stairs instead of the elevator, leave a bite or two on your plate at every meal.  "The reason you are overweight," Wichtendahl writes, "is because you over eat."

I do wish he would have placed more emphasis on exercise.  His experience dictated that: "I lost over 120 pounds and did not exercise for a single minute."  He does discuss the fact that when we exercise our appetites and body's needs change, so that if we exercise to lose weight, adjust our diets according to the increased activity, then stop exercising but keep those new dietary habits, we gain the weight back.  Plus, he would probably acknowledge that most overweight people are not going to become active exercisers, so he focuses on food habits.

All in all, this is a practical, non-technical guide book for people seeking to lose some weight.  There's no magic bullet, no secret plan, just steps and changes anyone can do to lose some pounds.

Thanks to the author for the complimentary electronic review copy!