And how this Book Won’t Help you on Your Next One.
What a title, huh? It made me laugh aloud when I read it. So did the back cover with quotes like…
"It’s like a blog, but on REAL paper"
-Some Guy on the Internet"Three thumbs up"
-Combined praise from eight of the authors relatives.
Being someone who doesn’t mind a little self analyzing and laughing at themselves, I appreciated the author’s humor and this book was right up my alley. Charlie Hills seemed like someone I can relate to.
Then I started reading.
"Relate to" is a complete understatement!
I have never met a MAN who shared almost my EXACT diet history. I mean from his experiences on the holidays, to taco nights, his take on diets and the low carb craze I never nodded and chuckled more while reading a book in my life. I mean he even tried bodyFlex! I thought I was the only one that fell prey that craziness! It was as if we lived parallel lives (even though I am a bit younger then him-sorry, had to get THAT dig in ;~P)
And I only emphasize MAN, because I met quite a few women I can really relate to (or that can relate to me), having similar body image issues, and yo yo dieting cycles, but a MAN? I don’t mean to be sexist here, but I never think of men as having similar food issues (go ahead male readers, all three of you, comment away). I guess it’s because I married Mr. HighMetabolism and had a father was so obsessed with the weight of his daughter he’d never let himself put on a few pounds. No, it was the women in my family that seemed to struggle, and let’s be honest here, we are the ones that have more to live up to on the images media tends to put out.
But Charlie had me reconsidering my stance on men and diets. I guess men ARE people too. ;~P They can fall prey to all the food cycles women do.
Leafing through the book as I write this, I must have dog eared about 100 pages that I wanted to remember and share with you. Right now I’m mad at myself for not just taking a highlighter to the darn thing! Here’s a few quotes and insights that just struck me…
Two hundred and nineteen point five! I suddenly found myself pining for the days when I thought 205 was a big number. How much worse could this get? I’m a reasonable intelligent person. I understand the mechanics of caloric theory. But why did I seemingly no control over it.
…
Needless to say, this triggered yet another Day One.
…
On the occasions I am lucky enough to keep [jeans] for longer then a week, I then have to wrestle with the prospect of washing them. I try to put this off for as long as humanly possible, ignoring mustard and grease stains for far longer then is socially acceptable. Laura will sneak into the closet while I’m, asleep, throw them in the washer, and replace them before I’m ever aware of what happened. The next day, in an attempt to put them on, I find I can only get them half way up my tree trunks. "Arrrrgh!" Never mess with a fat guy’s jeans…
I could go on and on. Honestly, this is a great read. It’s funny, it’s insightful and if you have struggled with your weight at all you will relate to Charlie. Plus in the 80′s, he was a big Incredible Hulk fan. That just sealed the deal for me, we are definitely long lost siblings. ;~P
If you are interested in purchasing Why Your Last Diet Failed You and How This Book Won’t Help You on Your Next One click here.
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What's Cooking in my kitchen?
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Finally my first Farro idea! I have to say, I love this stuff! It's chewy and yummy and, well, fun! I tossed it with what I could find in my pantry and it made a wonderfully satisfying lunch. Filling but not heavy, tasty and quite nutrient dense. According to NutritionData.com this [...] -
I've seen it mentioned in a few of my clean eating and healthy cook books but honestly, I never even thought of Farro as an option for me. I refuse to shop at specialty stores and I try to use only common products that I can keep in stock and purchase from a typical grocery [...] -
I've never had a tuna melt. Is that weird? I guess that's what happens when you grow up not liking mayonnaise. I never ate tuna salad or egg salad or chicken salad. Honestly, they always kind of grossed me out. Then I realized.. hey.. why does tuna salad have [...] -
I have no idea where this idea came from. I was hungry. It was lunch. I had Brussels Sprouts. That was all the catalyst I needed.:) I decided to use a slice of real bacon to add flavor and little fat that would help sauté the sprouts. I'm trying [...] -
WOW was this good. I mean seriously good. It's not vegetarian so don't start throwing stones. I'm calling it a Garden Vegetable Burger because I use the new Laughing Cow Smooth Sensations Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese Spread. It was this recipe on Allrecipes.com that inspired [...] -
I drink water 99.9% of the time but every so often it just doesn't cut it. I want something else. Something more. Something slightly sweet. Today was one of those days. I decided to make a refreshing drink based on the famous Arnold Palmer, half lemonade and half iced [...] -
The other day I made a whole chicken on the grill in pieces. It was delicious! Just a little BBQ sauce and an open flame is all I need to make The Husband happy in the dinner department. I also picked up a few ears of corn from the grocery store. They aren't in season [...] -
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I've confessed my inability to follow recipes here on GreenLiteBites many, many times. I don't know why it's so hard for me. I can barely follow some of my own and I wrote the darn things! I think most of my problem stems from not having all the ingredients listed and, [...] -
Leftover brown rice and leftover sauce meet in this quick lunch idea inspired by my favorite food of all time: Pizza. I swear I can turn anything into a pizza concoction. Have you seen all my pizza ideas? I've used everything from pumpkin to zucchini, polenta to wontons. Nothing is off [...] -
This isn't a recipe just an idea I had to share. I can't believe how good it was! I've never had grilled pineapple. Can you believe it? I just never really had the desire to grill it before. When you love something raw sometimes it doesn't occur to you to cook it. [...] -
I whipped this up for lunch on a whim today because, well, I have a baby who's obsessed with three things… Cheese, Beans, and Avocado. No, really. Look... It's my go to meal for him so I find myself with beans and avocado readily available. [...] -
You know that tradition 7 Layer Mexican Dip? The one with the cream cheese, guacamole, salsa, lettuce, cheese, green onion and olives? Yea. That's the one. Well I had a craving for it the other day. Well, not exactly for it as I can never make anything the way it's suppose [...] -
If you go through the archives of GreenLiteBites I have about 5 total beef recipes. Five. Compare that to the 80+ I have tagged with chicken/turkey there's a clear winner in the meat department on my blog and in my home. I don't have a beef with beef (omg The Husband [...] -
I'm a kitchen sink smoothie maker. Whatever I have on hand goes in the blender and viola! A quick breakfast or a healthy snack. Last year I posted an "Elastic Approach" to how I make smoothies but I still like to share specific combinations that worked really well. This was one [...] -
The other night it was just the kids and I home for dinner and I decided to make what I wanted to make no holds barred. Without The Husband home it's much easier for some reason. Hmmm wonder why? Ok, not here to husband bash.. really.. I'm not! I'm here [...] -
*sigh* I was really hoping to share an awesome turkey burger idea. I had grand plans for my leftover ground turkey. The results was alright but they could have been so much better. I added diced pineapple, red pepper, green pepper, oats and soy sauce to the meat and formed 2 patties. In hindsight I [...] -
I made this on a total whim yesterday having no idea if it would work. To my surprise it did AND the husband actually said he liked it... UNSOLICITED! Here's the story. I had only 4 tilapia fillets defrosted for dinner. I knew it wasn't going to be enough for us [...] -
This is a slight reboot of a recipe I posted last year simply called Sweet Potato and Black Bean Chili. Staying true to my use-what-I-have-on-hand roots I, well, used what I had on hand and made a similar dish with a spicy twist. Topping the result with avocado added a cool creaminess that [...] -
Did you hear? The Laughing Cow recently launched Smooth Sensations a line of 5 cream cheese spreads. There's Classic Cream, Classic Cream Light, Strawberries & Cream, Garden Vegetable and my favorite… Cinnamon. It's a sweet wedge of creamy goodness! Today I decided to use my new favorite flavor [...] -
Confession time, I recorded a 30 minute video making this with both kids (partally) 2 nights ago. I miss videos. I really do but they seem so much more difficult with 2 children. I'm also having technical difficulties with my video recording and audio syncing making it VERY time consuming to edit. [...] -
A couple of years ago I shared a modified version of Sloppy Joe's I made for a party. Everyone loved it but I've been wanting to try to make something similar for the family on a smaller scale and without the pre-made canned Manwich sauce. I don't particularly have any issues [...] -
Yesterday I was dreaming about a salad. Not just any salad, but a chickpea filled, cucumber, and red onion salad with a fun, tangy dressing. Unfortunately, I had no cucumber or red onion. Well, that's a lie. I had a half of cucumber but it was a mushy mess and [...] -
Dinner meals are getting harder and harder for me to share lately. I've gone back to just whipping things up without really measuring anything (this meal was going to be one of those until I realized I still had enough light to take some photos.) I've also instituted a few brainless meal nights [...] -
Three years ago I posted a video called "Makin' Hard Boiled Eggs" where I shared my system for, well... making hard boiled eggs. Genius name, I know. I'm smart like that. Anyway, since then I've gotten tons of feedback and comments thanking me but all the information is locked in a long winded 10 minute [...]
About Roni
Roni started this blog in '05 to journal her weight loss. 70lbs later, she's committed to living a conscious, healthy life and hopes to inspire others along the way. Read more on the about page.
OMG at that Body Flex video…I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in 2 minutes EVER!!!! This book actually sounds great…I’m going to check it out!
this book sounds great, and now i have a new blog to subscribe too. thanks for the review, roni, i’ll have to pick it up!
Check out Laura Brandons last blog post..I’m One Of Those Whiny Blogs
Sounds like a great book…..I will have to pick up a copy!
Check out KK (Running Through Life)s last blog post..A Belated 7 Month Recap
sounds very cool!!!! I need something funny in my life at the moment besides 2 yr olds putting toys in their ears :)
Check out Annettes last blog post..6 Months~~~~~A Practical Benefit of Weight Loss
yep…i bought body flex back in the early 90′s too…(((PAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!)) Ok, those of you who bought it, know what that was- LOL! And I know other people in real life who did too….I wonder where that Blake (wasnt that her name?) is now….:)
I checked out Charlie’s site. Thanks for the link. It’s great. I love a little humor with my diet!
Check out Christies last blog post..Eating Together as Husband and Wife . . .
Went to his blog and loved it!
Check out Jens last blog post..Turkey Tostadas
It’s great to read some excerpts about the weight-gain/weight-loss roller coaster coming from a male perspective. Thanks for this book review!
Check out Lizs last blog post..Winds of Change
This book is way too funny to have been written by a man… I think Charlie is a nickname for Charlene! ;)
Great review!
Check out MaryBs last blog post..Charlie Hills
cool charlie wrote a book! he definitely has the talent to! =P
Check out Madison (FollowMyWeigh)s last blog post..shabu shabu
Love it! I recently heard, somewhere, that boys are facing the same problem as girls with body image. The men on our movie screens that are so buff! When will it end?
Check out Natalia Burlesons last blog post..The day ended well. :)
Charlie’s blog is great!! I had no idea he wrote a book- good for him!
Great post Roni! Charlie is my brother, and even if he weren’t my brother, this book is really funny!