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Slim for Life

Slim for Life

Jillian Michaels' newest book offers guidance for simple, fast, lasting weight loss.

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BACKGROUNDBACKGROUND Start the Diet Now Advertisement

Star trainer and bestselling author Jillian Michaels has said she decided to write another diet book because she realized that she “and all the other ‘weight-loss gurus’ had said too much, making things overcomplicated, confusing, even conflicting.”

Michaels, famous for her weight loss training tactics on The Biggest Loser, created Slim for Life, a diet and exercise plan that claims to cut out the confusion. The plan is divided into varying sections that altogether focus on diet and exercise, health and hygiene, and lifestyle and support. From grocery shopping and reading food labels to cardio and strength training, Michaels’ Slim for Life provides a piece of advice, called “tips,” for every diet and fitness question an individual could think up.

The Slim for Life plan is based on a point system. People who follow the plan rack up “slim” points from the Hierarchy of Slim. Each tip is valued from one to three. Tips valued at three points are essential to the Slim for Life plan. Tips valued at two points are not essential, but are often extremely helpful in creating a diet and exercise plan for lasting weight loss. Finally, tips valued at one point are considered helpful add-ons that may or may not be required for the plan to be effective. The more points, the better the weight loss result. Michaels wants people who follow the Slim for Life plan to mix and match the tips to create a weight loss system they can incorporate into their lives for the rest of their lives.

Some of the tips sound pretty standard, and some seem to exist just to exist. The Slim for Life plan is also made up of so many tips it might in and of itself become confusing for people who really do just want the "simple, fast" approach her book cover promises. None of the tips are numbered, which makes them even more difficult to reference later.

Many of the diet and exercise tips outlined in Michaels’ latest diet book might seem like “no-brainers,” but they do build basic health knowledge. She covers the basics, and then expands on those through areas of life, such as the home, work, and leisure.

Slim for Life reads less like a traditional diet book filled with rules, equations and charts and more like an advice menu where readers can pick and choose the diet, exercise and lifestyle choices that best fit their weight loss needs – with Michaels’ required recommendations, of course. It’s a book about changing your lifestyle in each part of your life so you can, in effect, become slim for life.

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PROPRO
  • Written by a bestselling and renowned fitness expert
  • An easy read that serves as an excellent healthy living reference
  • Weight loss tips are simple and straightforward, nothing too extraordinary
  • Basic diet and exercise are the most important aspects of the plan
  • Presents the how of losing weight as well as the why
  • All tips and tricks are fully explained
  • Addresses true hunger and cravings
  • Inspiring guidance for those who need it most
  • Guidance fits in to real life situations
CONCON
  • Tedious point counting
  • Not all pieces of advice are awarded points
  • Plan assumes readers will be able to perform exercises; no progression for beginners
  • Plan does not provide meal and workout planning materials
  • Some information is repetitive
DIET and NUTRITIONDIET and NUTRITION

While the Slim for Life plan includes an occasional recipe, it does not include weekly meal planning, menus, or grocery lists individuals might typically find in a diet book, especially one by Jillian Michaels.

The book’s diet and nutrition tips can be summed up like this:

  • Eat whole, real food.
  • Do not eat processed junk.
  • Meal planning and recipe creation and testing are left largely to the individual following the Slim for Life plan.
  • Diet should consist of greens, grains and protein.

Michaels’ tips do advise individuals about how to grocery shop, how to read food labels, and how to cut excess calories and fat out of their diets. Her recommendations discuss the total calories men and women need to consume and burn, as well as what Michaels believes are proper portion sizes and eating times.

The Slim for Life diet and nutrition tips do not create a framed diet and nutrition plan, but do create and promote basic diet and nutrition knowledge for individuals of all levels of health and wellness. Based on that, readers can form more realistic approaches to nutrition and eating on their own and that makes the guidance in Slim for Life more sustainable.

For instance, she'll tell you that when cooking you should cut fat in half, sugar in half, and salt in half and progressively continue to reduce that sodium. Simple food swaps are explained to help get the most out of your home cooking, like replacing sour cream with yogurt.

For a more step-by-step diet, subscribe to JillianMichaels.com, the trainer's online diet and weight loss program.

EXERCISEEXERCISE

Exercise is an important aspect of the Slim for Life plan, but Michaels does not include fitness routines and workout plans for the long term. An occasional circuit workout will make an appearance. But, throughout the text, Michaels highlights exercise moves or types of workouts, such as squats and HIIT, but does not provide direction to follow a certain fitness routine.

Michaels does not describe these different workouts and types of workouts in one section for easy reference. Instead, exercise and fitness tips are scattered throughout the text. For example, Play Cards is one workout tip, which advises individuals to buy a deck of cards at an airport while traveling and use them to create their own workout by assigning an exercise to each suit. Individuals could perform the card-playing exercise routine anywhere at any time, but, they have to be in the travel section to learn it.

In addition, Michaels makes the assumption that individuals following the Slim for Life plan will be physically able to perform the exercises she mentions in the text. There are no stepping stone fitness ideas for beginners or individuals who are badly out of shape – which is not unlike her training tactics featured on The Biggest Loser. Again, the exercise tips add up to basic fitness knowledge.

For those looking to follow a true Jillian Michaels workout, check out any number of her DVDs.

CONCLUSIONCONCLUSION

Michaels’ Slim for Life leaves no diet, nutrition or exercise question unanswered. The book includes advice on every aspect of weight loss in a one-stop-shop format, making it an excellent reference book. However, this is not a standard diet and exercise plan but more of an advice book written by Jillian just for you. It's a "conversation," she calls it. If you're the individual who wants to follow an exact diet and exercise plan, you will not find that in Michaels’ Slime for Life. However, Slim for Life is a great reference tool with expert advice on how to stick to a sustainable healthy eating and fitness regimen.

Common MisspellingsCommon Misspellings

Slime for Life, Slims for Life, Slim Life, Jillian Michaels New Book, Jillian Michaels Slim for Life Diet, Gillian Michaels, Jillian Michael

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