If you couldn’t tell by my DVD review’s yet I’m a hard core Jillian Michaels lover.

With the exception of one (Killers Abs) I have absolutely loved every thing this woman has ever done. She’s motivational and encouraging without being annoying and, most importantly, her methods work. The very first workout DVD I bought when I was morbidly obese was her 30 Day Shred and I can 100% credit it with helping me on my journey to lose 50 pounds. I put in the hard work of course but that DVD helped me realize I can do this.

A few weeks ago I was contacted to see if I’d be interested in receiving a complimentary copy of the book to review. Uh, of course! I had previously read her book Master Your Metabolism and after finishing it did a drastic overhaul of my diet to focus almost entirely on eating only real foods.

Overall, I loved Slim for Life. There were parts I didn’t love (which I’ll get to in a moment) but, just like my life/diet, it fell perfectly into the 80/20 rule. 80% of it rocked and 20% of it was meh. The book is broken down into 8 Chapters:

1. Eating: Cracking the Diet Code

2. Moving: Cracking the exercise code

3. At Home: Grocery Shopping, Cooking tips and Clean Products

4. On the Go: Party time, Restaurant Survival, At Work & Travel Secrets

5. Staying Motivated: Motivate, Inspire and Incentivize

6. Evading Pitfalls: Handling Hunger, Cravings, Stress, Affording a Healthy Lifestyle, Time Constraints and Plateaus

7. Supercharge your Slim: Slim Life, Slim Trickery and Fashion Statements

8. The Final Coundtown

Pros: This book covers everything. As you can see in the topics above it goes way beyond just what to eat and how to exercise. I loved that it brings in psychology topics like how to stay motivated to eat right and exercise (topics I’ve covered on here!) The majority of the book is good, honest, research-based information on how to stay slim for life without being trapped into some ridiculous diet and how to exercise as efficiently as possible. She talks about eating mindfully, living clean and how to still have a life while being healthy (which can actually be quite challenging at times!) I’ve referred back to the book at least a dozen times since reading it while coming up with new meal plans or exercise routines for myself.

Cons: If you already know a ton about health/fitness you may not learn a lot from this book. I’ve been ‘in the industry’ for a few years now, constantly educating myself on everything related to health, so most of the information was not new to me. Also, I rolled my eyes a few times at some of her ‘tricks/tips’ like lying to servers at restaurants about having dietary restrictions to get them to make you a healthier meal (which she even said sounds kind of crazy.)

Who should buy this book?

- If you want an all-in-one kick ass ‘bible’ to healthy eating and exercising this would be a great start.

- If you don’t know what muscle splits are or how to calculate your AMR (at least before my post on the topic!)

- If you don’t know by now that the ‘fat burning zone’ is a myth, this book will explain why that’s ‘utter crap and a massive waste of time’ (Her words!)

Overall, if your thinking about getting it at all, I’d say go for it! Had I purchased the book myself I would not have been disappointed. It’s everything you expect from a Jillian Michael’s book and I’ve already recommend this to many of my students/clients who have asked me how to get started living a healthier lifestyle!

You can purchase the book (rated almost 5 stars!) off Amazon here. 

What’s the last good health/wellness book you read? I’d love to find some new one’s for Spring Break next week!