Book Review: Lose It! The Personalized Weight Loss Revolution

I bought this book shortly after starting to use the Lose It app on my iPod.  While I didn't expect it to shatter any beliefs I had, I did expect a bit more from it than it delivered.

First of all, it is a "pretty" book to read.  Rodale put a lot of thought into laying it out nicely and making it look nice.  There aren't distracting photos - it's just nice to  look at. 

The information within, though, is lacking.  Considerably.   It feels like it is trying really hard to not push the app or the website.  It spends a great deal of time telling the reader how to do the math manually that the app/website will do for them for free (and a lot less frustration).  They could have just included a chapter on how to set up your account and left it at that.   Instead it came across as being an advertisement that isn't actually an advertisement.

The content is laid out around 5 principles that the Lose It approach works on:

1. Embrace mindful empowerment
2. Track your calories
3. Track your habits
4. Track your exercise
5. Benefit from peer support

Sure, it's a formula that works.  It's pretty common sense (though we all know that the thing about common sense is that it isn't terribly common).  Each chapter is supported with a liberal sprinkling of testimonial.   

I don't want to say that the book held nothing helpful in it...it did have some very specific examples of how your choices at restaurants can be altered in a better way and demonstrating what you could choose instead to help you meet your goals.  This would be super helpful...in a pocket guide (not in a trade paperback sized book).  The charts would actually make a nice addition to the app so users could have them on the go!

I finished reading the book about a week ago and, honestly, nothing really stuck with me.  I just keep using the app and making sure I don't go over the amount of calories in my budget.  It's a super short lesson that was reiterated in the book, but the book seemed to be just a way to make up some of the extra profit they could have made on the app if they'd decided to not have it be free.   Good on them for capitalizing...after all - I bought the book.

Just my 2 cents, but I'd save the money and just get the app or set up an account on the website.  The book is likely headed to the used bookstore.