By Tom Venuto
336 pages; Penguin

Author

Tom Venuto is a competitive bodybuilder, a personal trainer, and a motivational coach.

The Appeal

Offering the opposite of a quick fix, Venuto is honest about the effort it takes to drop a significant number of pounds. This is the book for women ready to tackle long-term weight loss.

Standout Section

Chapter 5—"Mental Training Solution"—makes a case for changing your mental habits before you tackle the physical ones. There's good advice about getting your brain on your side.

Eye Opener

Venuto says you can still eat out at restaurants two times per week—if you take care when ordering.

Caveat

The book contains more motivation than concrete information.

Fitness Plan

Offers five warm-up moves and two alternating plans made up of strengthening exercises broken into "supersets"—two moves that you do in a row, without taking a break, to increase intensity.

— Polly Brewster