The Life You Want - Bob Greene

Oprah's right hand man, Bob Greene, is back with his new book The Life You Want: Get Motivated, Lose Weight and Be Happy.

In The Life You Want, Bob teams up with Psychologist, Ann Kearney-Cooke, and Nutritionist, Janis Jibrin to create a plan that seeks to overcome the emotional barriers that prevent people from exercising and eating healthy.

Bob Greene believes that the emotional component to weight loss is of utmost importance if success is to be achieved and maintained.

"The importance of a significant motivating factor is something I've seen again and again among my clients. And the research backs me up. One study from Portugal divided overweight women into two groups. Both received standard advice on diet and exercise, but one group was also encouraged to develop a personal, emotional incentive for staying active. After a year, the group that had incorporated the psychological component had lost an average of 12 pounds of body fat, compared to just under three pounds for the other volunteers. What I find especially interesting about this research is that it shows that inner motivation can be acquired. "

The Life You Want Components

Bob Greene's new book is divided into 5 sections:

1. Rewire your brain to overcome overeating.
2. Conquer exercise aversion.
3. Tame your sugar, fat, and salt cravings.
4. Transform your body image.
5. Increase your happiness.

His team offers many strategies and suggestions in order for the reader to achieve the above goals targeted in The Life You Want. The book also includes exercise and diet plans to help the dieter address the physical aspects of dieting as well as the emotional.

Conclusions

Bob Greene's The Life You Want seems like a good program for those that lack motivation and have emotional eating issues. Bob Greene is well respected in the diet and fitness industry and has helped millions of people live healthier, mostly with the exposure brought by The Oprah Winfrey Show and O Magazine.

Coming from a mental health background, I would argue that some of the book's concepts are a tad simplistic. Many people have deep-seated emotional issues that prevent them from losing weight, let alone being happy.

The Life You Want, will probably lack the tools and support necessary to help those with deeper problems, who would require a therapeutic counseling relationship to see such emotional changes.