Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength by Bill Phillips and Michael D'Orso (1999, Hardcover)

This book is great if you are serious about making some serious changes in your life. this book walks you through the principles that you need to understand for not only becoming fit and healthy physically, but for finding balance and well-being in all aspects of your life. The premise is that you need make changes that affect the core of who you are in order to find lasting success in becoming the person that you want to be physically.

I am a nurse by background. While I don't consider myself an expert in nutrition I do have some professional training in that area. Nursing training is also focused on the well-being of the whole person, not just one aspect of the body at a time. Mr. Phillip's "whole-person" approach to fitness is very appealing to me, and, I believe, is a much more correct approach than those strategies that focus only on watching what you eat and what exercises you do.

The authors will walk you through some basic exercises that will assist you in changing the way you look at life and yourself and will help you set goals that are amazing and achievable at the same time. They will then teach you correct principles of nutrition and exercise, and will outline some sample menu plans and exercise plans with recipes and pictorial examples. These are all good, basic principles that can be used by fitness newbies or pros that have studied health and fitness for years. I have read some critics who say that the Body for Life plan is not is not personalizable enough to individual needs. I don't necessarily agree. For the beginner, it is easy to follow what may seem a cookie-cutter plan that is put forth in the book, and that is just what beginners need. For those, like myself, who are ready to take it to the next level, the principles in the book give you plenty of latitude to vary up your routine and fine tune it to your specific needs. The plan is designed to force your body to adapt and change, but the plan is also designed to be changeable to meet your body's changing needs. I also recommend that you visit the Body for Life website where you can find additional resources to help you in making the plan work for you.

The book is also full of amazing real-life examples of people who decided that they need to make some serious changes in their life. Their stories are amazing. Maybe you are someone who knows they need to make a huge change and don't know how. Maybe you've tried a lot of different things with little success. Maybe your just looking for something a little different. Regardless of your situation, I highly recommend that you add this book to your library. But, before you gloss through it and set it on you shelf to catch dust, take a serious look at what the authors are saying and actually try it out. It will make a difference. While I can't claim to have followed the book religiously, I have applied many of the principles and have seen success. I have increased my strength, energy and metabolism and I have decreased my body-fat percentage from an average level to and excellent level. It is a rewarding process. And, should you choose to take on Mr. Phillip's 12 week challenge, you may qualify to win an amazing award which can only be eclipsed by the feeling of achievement and success that you can gain by finding that body that you've been looking for your whole life.

Bill Phillips had been publishing body-building magazines and marketing nutritional supplements for years when he had a weird revelation at a trade show: many of the most loyal and enthusiastic readers he had were totally out of shape. From that uncomfortable realisation came his popular Physique Transformation Contest (top prize that first year: Phillips's own Lamborghini), now world famous, and this book. The three-times-a-week weightlifting program in Body for Life is deceptively simple. If you have spent any time in the gym, you have already done all the exercises. But Phillips includes a couple of high-intensity sets at the end of each exercise that should compound the training effect on each muscle group. Same goes for the cardiovascular exercise he recommends: just 20 minutes, three times a week. But those 20 minutes are spent jacking the intensity up and down, accomplishing more in less time.

Phillips arranges all this into a 12-week programme, along with nutritional and motivational tips. Be warned that the nutritional advice gets a little spacey. For example, he puts "carbohydrates" and "vegetables" into separate categories, and recommends three daily doses of a nutritional supplement called Myoplex, which his company manufactures. (Fortunately, he gives tips on how to make each dose taste different, such as by adding drops of peppermint extract.) Despite this strangeness, Body for Life still motivates because so many others have achieved astounding results in similar 12-week windows, and the pictures and testimonials are here as evidence. amazon.com

I don't think I will be able to convey in this review just how wonderful I think this book is.

Two years ago, I was the fittest and thinnest I ever had been. And, then, lo and behold, I discovered that we were going to be welcoming baby number three into the world! Completely unexpected, and a little older than before, I was terrified I would gain a lot of weight. I managed to keep the weightgain down, but still, after the birth of my happy little surprise, I had 25 pounds to lose and was anxious to get it off.

The truth was I didn't know the truth about eating and the truth about exercising. I had never lifted weights and was no longer as physically active as I once was. I bought the Firm and the stick thing that went with it, but the information that program came with didn't go into the whys and the ways. So, even though there was some instruction, and a calendar, I didn't understand about the physiology of eating properly and often and how one must let their muscles rest after exercising.

Bill Phillips' book was the perfect introduction for me. In twelve weeks, just as promised, I was back to my smaller size. And, I learned so much about weight loss and proper nutrition and working out with weights and how to improve my aerobic/cardio routine, as well. His book completely whet my appetite for more knowledge regarding proper eating/dieting/nutrition/etc., and because of Body for Life, I have read so much more about nutrition and exercise and this is now a full-fledged interest of mine.

The only criticism I have now, two years after I have read it and several years after publication, is that it really needs to be updated. The current thought is that one must eat immediately after working out. Body for Life states you should wait an hour. Also, the Body for Life website, which he refers to and recommends throughout his book, is now owned and operated by EAS, a food supplement company, not Bill Phillips, as it used to be.

I'd really like to see something new by Bill Phillips. He's an inspiration.

Bill Phillips instantly turned celebrity with his best-selling "Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength". Bill was famous in the body-building and workout worlds for years, but this book brought him mainstream - and rightfully so - its been a mainstay on the top selling since 1999. And that's absurdly rare for a self-help book - most of which fade in and out with time. But Bill has put together a beautifully simple workout plan that, if followed, will help anyone lose weight and build muscle because it not a gimmick / crash diet.

The fundamental point of Bill's recipe for health is 1) core conditioning and 2) healthy eating. Most people think that cardio and crash dieting are the only way to lose weight - but Bill stresses the power of strength and toning. He also stresses the importance of balanced nutrition - even suggesting Myoplex meals. Best yet, Bill demonstrates core exercises and provides recipes. Additionally, the book isn't written in a demanding or ego-centric manner.

Whether you are a conditioned athlete looking to improve your diet and nutrition or someone looking to lose weight - Bill Phillips has put together a long lasting guide to success that is simple and powerful. Excellent book.

Body for Life is an excellent written book which teaches the basics and fundamentals of nutrition and exercise. This book is for anyone just getting into or considering proper exercise and nutrition themselves. One of the most inspirational books in its class yet one of the most basic books for its kind.

This is not a book for a veteran body builder but simply for someone out of shape, looking for motivation and inspiration while taking control of their unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise.

I like to refer to this book as more of a break-in to exercise and nutrition. The food choices are optimal for packing on muscle and the work outs are great for beginners.

This book teaches the importance of frequent meals throughout the day, Body for Life sticks with six meals, three real and three in supplement form. Because Bill Phillips has been linked with EAS throughout his entire career he likes to recommend only EAS products. EAS products are normally fine selections but are also often on the pricey side. You can add more versatility to your exercise program if you add several different products, versus sticking only to EAS Myoplex shakes.

The weight lifting routines consist of only one exercise per week, for each muscle group in your body. This is not a perfect technique for anyone looking to put on some serious gains, I can guarantee Bill Phillips himself didn't acquire such a great phsysique from this routine. For example, if you're looking to stack on some serious poundage to your pectoral area, only 4 sets of the regular barbell bench press per week aren't going to be adequate. Your body building repertoire will be lacking as this book teaches the most basic and simple exercises, which is another reason why I put this in the beginner category.

I rate this book as excellent assuming the people buying are beginners.