"Body for life" by Bill Philips

Body for life by Bill Philips 
This book came to my attention in the year 2001 when I was sitting in Borders in Chicago drinking coffee loaded with sugar and cake on the side while looking through the book. The first thing that struck me on this book that I have not come across in other nutrition and fitness publications was the amount of space dedicated to the images and stories of people who transformed their health and bodies by the eating and exercise plans described here, which were really inspirational and pulled me right into the book. While this program is designed for 12 weeks (used by some brave ones to compete for a prize based on amount of progress and physical transformation), in reality it is meant to encourage a life time commitment to yourself and your well-being.
    The basis of the exercise plan is only 20 min of aerobic first thing in the morning for 3 days and weight training 3 times per week. The instructions for the exercises are very clear and mostly could be done with variety of dumbbells in the comfort of your own home especially for beginners and ladies who would not need to work with heavy weights in the beginning. The eating plan is very simple and clearly described with "all you want to eat Sundays". Over the years I have read many books on fitness and nutrition but the "Body for Life" stands the test of time with its common sense approach, clarity in the description on plans and instructions and the sheer motivational power it conveys through the true stories of people that actually executed the program with great results.
    My only issue with Body for Life at the time was the outright advertisement of the nutritional supplement products by the author's company - At another time I would like to review various supplements including the products advertised in this book - so stay tuned!

O.S.