Product Description

"Groundbreaking . . . the first book to address all--and we mean all--of the mental and physical obstacles that prevent people from getting in shape."

--Body and Soul

This groundbreaking book includes a comprehensive test to help you identify which of the 50 common unidentified fitness obstacles (UFOs) are preventing your success; before-and-after photos and journal excepts from real-life project participants; an extensive diet and exercise program; and advice from an expert makeover team, including Oprah's Life Makeover expert Cheryl Richardson.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #552522 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Amazon.com
Nutrition and exercise are only two pieces of the puzzle of how to get fit and lose weight, writes Michael Gerrish. The other "UFOs" ("unidentified fitness obstacles") are barriers to getting fit. These might involve sleep, work addiction, food allergies, or a number of medical or emotional conditions or lifestyle issues.

Gerrish, an exercise physiologist, personal trainer, and psychotherapist, gives a self-test to see which of the 58 UFOs are yours and describes how you can conquer each one. He includes exercise information, with descriptions and illustrations of recommended strength training and stretching exercises, and a general diet plan. He also describes energy block acutherapy, a self-help breathing and tapping sequence to treat fears, addictions, cravings, self-sabotage, and post-traumatic stress.

More than one-third of the book is devoted to "The Makeovers"--stories of real people who "stumbled, fell down, and got up many times, transforming themselves as a result." We get to know these people through their journal entries, photos, and communications with Gerrish as they progress through their 12-week program.

Gerrish is married to personal coach Cheryl Richardson, author of Take Time for Your Life and Life Makeovers. The Mind-Body Makeover Project is recommended for people who struggle with weight loss and are ready to look at the bigger picture. --Joan Price

From the Back Cover

Discover the hidden obstacles sabotaging your fitness goals

"If you want to get your health and fitness back on the right track, you couldn't ask for a better guide."
--Experience Life

"Groundbreaking . . . the first book to address all--and we mean ALL--of the mental and physical obstacles that prevent people from getting in shape."
--Body & Soul

"This book will help you create and maintain a strong, healthy body and mind with loving kindness and skill."
--Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of the New York Times bestsellers Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause

"If you're tired of the multitude of advice books that over promise and don't deliver, here's one that just might work."
--FrequentFlyer.com (The OAG, Official Airline Guide)

"Gentle, positive, and full of good, sound advice."
--The Compulsive Reader

Discover the real, hidden problems sabotaging your fitness goals and learn how to overcome them to achieve optimum health for life. The Mind-Body Makeover Project will show you exactly how. Featuring a groundbreaking test that will help you identify your top ten unidentified fitness obstacles (UFOs), this book also includes journal entries from real-life project participants, before-and-after photos, an extensive diet and exercise program, and innovative new techniques to overcome cravings, self-sabotage, procrastination, stress-related eating, and much, much more!

About the Author

Michael Gerrish, M.S., is an exercise physiologist, a personal trainer, and a counseling psychotherapist.He lives in Boston.

Customer Reviews

Inspirational and "How To" Live Healthfully Manual for Life
As a daily athlete for over thirty years who took to the roads to run long before women's running shoes, I have seen and read it all regarding books and theories on how to get fit. Michael's book is the real thing. That's because Michael is the real thing--a well-educated, thoughtful expert who lives what he preaches. He walksthetalk and that comes across in this book which should be mandatory reading and a life manual for people of ALL ages and ALL abilities. It is well-researched, well-written, and a reading experience that can provide each of us with the skills and knowledge to change our own lives.

Few books speak to such a wide audience from exercise hopefuls to exercise hounds. This book is for beginners, resistant exercisers and long-term fitness fans. Combining well-researched wisdom with inspiration, Michael's assessment tool enables any person to identify the physical and emotional health issues (UFOs) that can get in the way of getting to the gym or taking to the road. So it will help you learn how to start up with health-promoting exercise.

Recognizing that a person's response to exercise, the ability to reach your top potential, is not one-size-fits-all and changes with time, Michael's assessment tool is also an amazing way for people like myself, who have pursued health-promoting movement and playing with weights for decades, to identify factors and health changes that may be impairing top enjoyment and performance.

More than identifying obstacles, Michael Gerrish provides actionable solutions. As a psychologist working with people competing on life's fields of sport and work and people dealing with genuinely extreme challenges like life-threatening illness and disability, I know that an assessment is only as powerful as the recommendations that it generates. The Mind-Body Makeover provides customized recommendations that you can implement daily to improve the quality of your workouts and, more importantly, the quality and enjoyment of your life.

Buy this book. Keep it by your bedside. Use it today and through your lifespan to identify and solve your current obstacles to being the best you can be. Each time you read it, you up the chances of optimizing our health through your life's stages. And you increase the chances that you will learn to love playing in the gym and eating in the way that is healthful for you. With this book, you can learn to inspire your self to promote your physical and emotional health throughout your lifespan so that you can fully experience life's wonders and deal effectively with its curve balls.

Inspirational
I found this book to be very inspirational. I've tried to lower my bodyfat in the past but after a few weeks I would feel deprived and frustrated. The Mind Body Makeover Project gave me several ways to identify how I was ruining my own success. I've been on track and getting leaner every week for the past 14 weeks! When I need extra inspiration I simply read one of the stories of the people who have followed Mr. Gerrish's advice.

A refreshing approach to weight loss that really works
As someone who has spent most of her life bouncing from one weight loss plan to the next with little success, I was delighted to find that this refreshingly holistic program finally had the answers I needed. The author's amazingly accurate self-diagnostic test helped me to identify the real physiological, nutritional and emotional issues that were preventing me from losing weight. Once I understood the role that attention deficit disorder, hormone imbalances, weak boundaries and self-defeating beliefs were playing in my life, I was able to address these problems and select the diet and exercise program best suited for my unique needs. Following the progress of the book's seven makeover candidates gave me the encouragement I needed to stay on track. Best of all, I got honest-to-goodness results!