First Chapter Review: TRANSFORM: The Secret to Unlocking the Perfect You by Dede Barbanti

I am reviewing the first chapter of TRANSFORM: The Secret to Unlocking the Perfect You, a self-help/lifestyle/health book by Dede Barbanti.

BLURB:  Finally, a book that will provide you with the answers that change your body and your life! TRANSFORM really is the SECRET TO UNLOCKING THE PERFECT YOU. Once weighing over 200 pounds, Fitness and lifestyle expert Dede Barbanti not only gives you the tools to achieve your weight-loss goals, but helps you dig deep to fix the core issues that keep you from lasting success and your true potential.

This is not your traditional weight-loss book. Most diet books focus on the outside by changing your eating and exercise routines,but they fail to find the root cause of your bad habits: what, why, and where they all started. These band-aid treatments never treat the problem, only the symptom, and most people find themselves back at square one, frustrated and defeated. Dede’s no-holds-barred approach gets your booty into gear by tackling the real issues of your weight loss merry-go-round; so you can stop the madness and unlock the perfect you.

You can continue reading all of those other diet and lifestyle books that ultimately keep you repeating the same old story and never seems to get you anywhere, or you can get real with yourself and finally bring about the changes that you have always wanted…permanently!

COVER: Like most--if not all--books in this genre, an eye-catching photo of the author appears on the front. I guess it's to inspire the reader by seeing her results. I've just never really cared for that. What I do really love, however, is the choice of colors: the white background, bold pink letters for the title, and the pastel green of Barbanti's shirt work well together.

FIRST CHAPTER: As is usually the case for me with non-fiction, I read the Introduction prior to digging into the first chapter. Those intros really help to define the book, so they are important.

Barbanti's opening is strong because she hits on what I feel is one of the most important aspects of making a life change: you can't compare yourself to others. No one's life is perfect and it serves no purpose to compare your situation to anyone else's. Focus on your goals and make a change for your benefit alone.

Then there is a short section that talks about how to get the most out of the book. Great idea. This is followed by a testimonial from one of the author's clients and a section encouraging readers to stop self-destructive patterns and behaviors to bring about permanent changes in your life. Barbanti believes in "The Trinity of a Balanced Life": three areas in your life you must reflect upon and work on in order to make those permanent changes.

All of this is inspiring, but it's once you get to the actual first chapter that things get really interesting. With the first transformational exercise, the reader is asked to write down her "Defining Moment" and how it affected her enough to make you take action.

KEEP READING: Definitely! I love the author's practical, yet, no-nonsense style. She gets that it takes baby steps and that a transformation has to take place alongside bringing up kids and other responsibilities. But she also tells you that no one can do this but you. That's why isolating the "Defining Moment" is so important.

I'm glad I signed up for this virtual tour. This book will definitely help me as I work on my goals of eating healthier and exercising.

• TRANSFORM: The Secret to Unlocking the Perfect You is available at Amazon.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.

I received a free digital copy of this book from the author through Pump Up Your Book. This first chapter review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Interview with Lisa Tillinger Johansen, Author of Stop the Diet, I Want to Get Off!

LISA TILLINGER JOHANSEN, MS, RD is a Registered Dietitian who counsels clients on a wide range of health issues. Her debut nutrition book, Fast Food Vindication, received the Discovery Award (sponsored by USA Today, Kirkus and The Huffington Post).  She lives in Southern California.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I live in Southern California and love it. Reading is one of my most favorite pastimes and has been most of my life. I joined my first book club when I was six years old. I love to entertain, from a small dinner party to a major bash. My husband and I love the arts and go to a lot of movies, plays and concerts. I would have to say that my biggest adult passion has been travel. It’s my goal to see as much of the world as I can.

When did you begin writing?

I wrote my first play when I was nine years old. It was about Native Americans and my friend and I performed it for our history class. The next year I wrote a play for my English class about Santa Claus, and I played Santa! In seventh grade I mounted my most ambitious play called Rocky and the Boys about bank robbers. I, of course, was Rocky and we performed the play on the school’s theater stage. It was very exciting.

Throughout high school and college I continued to write, but mostly essays and short stories. Then in my mid-twenties I tried writing a romance novel called The Girl With The Kelly Green Scarf. It was 86 pages from start to finish. Too funny! It was then that I realized how hard it is to write a book.

I took some time off from writing for a decade or so and then started back again several years ago with my first book FAST FOOD VINDICATION. It was well-received and won several awards. This inspired me to write my new book STOP THE DIET, I WANT TO GET OFF!

What is this book about?

STOP THE DIET, I WANT TO GET OFF! examines the pros and cons of dozens of the most popular diets out there and ultimately provides the reader with a healthy eating plan for life.

What inspired you to write it?                                              

I’m a dietitian and I’ve counseled thousands of patients about weight loss and management. So many of them have been on numerous diets that didn’t work. Too few have tried a common-sense diet approach. My goal is to help people learn to eat healthy for life. And because there’s so much misinformation out there about what to do, I felt compelled to write a book that answers all the diet questions.

Who is your biggest supporter?

I can answer two questions here. My husband is my biggest supporter and he’s also my favorite author. He writes mystery/thriller books and sometimes collaborates with my second favorite author, my mother-in-law Iris Johansen.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

Readers can get STOP THE DIET, I WANT TO GET OFF! on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and local booksellers.

Do you have a website and/or blog where readers can find out more?

I have three websites. The one that is specific to STOP THE DIET, I WANT TO GET OFF! is www.stopthediet.com. I also have a Q&A website at www.consultthedietitian.com and one for my first book www.fastfoodvindication.com. I’m on Facebook at Lisa Tillinger Johansen and on Twitter @LisaTJohansen.

What is up next for you?

Right now I’m busy promoting STOP THE DIET, I WANT TO GET OFF! as well as teaching nutrition, conducting hypertension and diabetes clinics and holding cooking classes in various senior centers. So I’m pretty busy! But I’m looking ahead to my next book and hope to get started on it soon.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Thank you for taking the time for the interview. I appreciate it.

Book Spotlight: Beyond Broccoli by Susan Schenck, LAc

This new book by an award-winning author discusses the urgency in avoiding factory farmed animals for health and moral reasons. It also discusses vegetarian myths, how weight loss is easier with a nonvegan diet, why the human brain has shrunk 11% in the past 11,000 years, man’s dietary history, how the vegan diet may affect the brain and emotions unless carefully planned, critical nutrients found only in animal products, how it is possible for some to adapt to a “veg” diet, dangers of soy, how to eat raw meat safely, flaws in the China Study, different metabolic types, and much more.

Read an excerpt!

Vegetarian Myths Dispelled

There are some common misconceptions in the vegetarian community we will briefly address here. Some of these issues will be fleshed out in more detail later in the book.

Myth #1: We should emulate the diets of our mainly vegetarian primate cousins.

The most relevant difference between man and other apes is man’s relatively larger brain. Our brains are believed to have evolved precisely because we ate animal products rich in DHA, a critically important fatty acid which chiefly comprises brain tissue. To maintain our brains, we need to continue eating this crucial fat.

When man split off from chimpanzees, he traded an energy-intense digestive tract with the ability to digest cellulose for an energy-intensive brain. In other words, more energy was required to maintain this larger brain endowed with advanced, forward-looking frontal lobes. The energy used for the brain had to be subtracted from elsewhere, and it came at the expense of the digestive tract.

We then began eating energy-intensive food that didn’t require such intensive digestion. For example, a cow has to devote so much energy to digestion that it has four stomachs! More energy is directed there than to the cow’s brain.

The area between the chest and legs of a gorilla is much bigger than it is in man. The gorilla has a larger digestive tract equipped to break down cellulose, a dietary fiber. A chimpanzee is somewhere in between a gorilla and a human, having more intelligence than a gorilla, but less ability to break down cellulose. A chimp also eats more meat than a gorilla, but less than a man.

Myth #2: Apes and chimpanzees are strict vegetarians.

Chimpanzees were once thought to be vegetarians. Jane Goodall, who studied them extensively, proved that this was not the case. We now know that 8-10 percent of their diet comes from animal foods: insects, bird eggs, and even meat. Flesh is thought to be about 1-3 percent of their diet.(1) Some say it is as high as 5 percent.

H. Leon Abrams, Jr., MA, EDS, Associate Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Georgia and well-known nutritional anthropologist, relates the diets of monkeys and apes. He relates:

"Rather than being herbivores, these animals are now recognized as omnivores, and the reason that they do not eat more animal food than they do may be the result of a limited ability to provide it in great abundance. But in seeking the animal foods that they do consume, monkeys and apes are most likely driven by a basic need to meet nutritional requirements that are available only from animal protein."(2)

Abrams points out that golden marmosets in zoos were not breeding until given animal protein. Baboons often kill hares and gazelles. He claims that gorillas in the wild eat birds, rodents, and even small antelopes. In captivity, they prefer meat to their usual diets of fruit and vegetables. Orangutans eat insects, birds, and squirrels, while gibbons consume birds, small antelopes, and rodents. He relates:

"Apparently, all primates have a basic and fundamental physiological need for at least a minimum amount of animal protein."(3)

Myth #3: We haven’t adapted to meat.

The first homo genus, Homo habilis, was a meat eater 2.6 million years ago. Some vegetarians who are familiar with this fact will claim that we were originally frugivores in Africa, but have been “eating against our nature for millions of years.” Clearly they do not understand the principles of evolution: 2.6 million years is plenty of time to adapt! What we haven’t adapted to are grains and a high-carb diet.

Some speculate that our primate ancestors were frugivores over 5 million years ago, though others claim the African savanna was actually lower in plant life than the forests and arid regions. But even if the frugivore concept is correct, in 5 million years our digestive tracts have changed so much that one could very easily argue we are no longer adapted to a diet of primarily fruit.

Empirical observation indicates that this is the case. Our digestive tracts have grown shorter, our brains bigger. We need more protein and essential fats than a frugivorous diet provides. Most of us cannot tolerate the high carbs of a grain- and legume-based vegetarian diet, let alone a frugivorous diet high in sugar.

1 Billings, “Correcting the Vegetarian Myths about Ape Diets,” www.beyondveg.com, accessed 1-21-10
2 Abrams, Jr., “Vegetarianism: Another View,” www.biblelife.org/abrams2.htm, accessed 1-24-10
3 Abrams, Jr., “What We Can Learn from the Diet of Monkeys and Apes in Their Natural Habitat about Human Nutritional Needs,” Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, 1979:4 #2

For more on this topic, please visit: http://www.helium.com/items/2228891-is-a-vegetarian-diet-healthier

Susan Schenck, LAc, is a raw food coach, lecturer, and author of the 2-time award winning book, The Live Food Factor, The Comprehensive Guide to the Ultimate Diet for Body, Mind, Spirit & Planet, which has gained a reputation as the encyclopedia of the raw food diet—as well as Beyond Broccoli, Creating a Biologically Balanced Diet When a Vegetarian Diet Doesn’t Work.


The book Beyond Broccoli can be viewed on Amazon.com. It was released on August 20, 2011.

Book Review: Sad Dog, Happy Dog by Kathleen Porter

Are your kids slouch potatoes? Are you concerned how poor posture could be affecting your child's health? Do you want to lead by example, but don't know how?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should get your hands on a copy of Sad Dog, Happy Dog: How Poor Posture Affects Your Child's Health and What You Can Do About It by Kathleen Porter.

In this amazing and informative book, Porter breaks down the particulars of how poor posture can impact your child's--and your--health. Restricted breathing, stress on the circulatory system, pressure on nerves that cause pain and numbness, and more can be caused by improper alignment. This is about more than just improving posture. It's about improving your quality of life!

I have to admit I requested to review this book for selfish reasons. I know my posture is horrible, which causes lower back pain. I also see my kids slouched into all kinds of positions during the day. I wanted to read more about this topic to see what I could do.

Porter's book is separated into two parts. The first one talks about what babies teach us about good posture; why natural alignment matters for our bodies, and the importance of establishing good habits for your children early on. The second part of the book is a step-by-step guide to teach you and your children to naturally align your body. It also offers exercises and helpful tips.

The most surprising thing I learned is that many of the stretching exercises I perform are not that great for me because they cause my body to be out of natural alignment. I like that the author included a page at the back of the book with names and contact information for teachers of natural alignment in case I need help.

Correcting poor posture has just been made easier. Sad Dog, Happy Dog by Kathleen Porter shows you how.

Title:  Sad Dog, Happy Dog
Author: Kathleen Porter
Publisher: Mekevan Press
ISBN-10: 0615378536

ISBN-13: 978-0615378534
SRP:  $24.95

I received a copy of this book from the author's publicist in exchange for my honest opinions. I received no monetary compensation to provide my review.

A great nutrient for the heart! by Dr. Jonny Bowden

Today's guest blogger is Dr. Jonny Bowden, author of The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Do to Prevent Disease, Feel Great, and Have Optimum Health and Longevity.

In this entertaining and life-changing book, best-selling nutritionist Jonny Bowden, PhD explains how all diseases of aging really come down to four basic processes which he calls “The Four Horsemen of Aging”—Inflammation, Glycation, Oxidation and Stress. You’ll learn exactly how they age you and just what to do to prevent them.

You’ll learn how aging affects five major components of the body - the brain, the heart, the hormone system, the immune system and the bones and muscles; and how to prevent or slow aging in all these areas.

Finally, you’ll learn the secrets of the “Blue Zones”- those areas around the globe where people routinely live healthy and productive lives into their late 90’s and beyond. You’ll learn the surprising truth about what to eat, what exercises to do, and what simple lifestyle changes you can make to support a ten-decade life of autonomy, health, joy and productivity

"A great nutrient for the heart!" by Dr. Jonny Bowden

Here’s a story I’ll never forget.

My mother was admitted to the hospital in the last week of her 87-year life. The doctors diagnosed her with congestive heart failure.

I immediately asked that, in addition to whatever treatment the doctors prescribed, she be put on a high dose of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). The first doctor told me he didn’t know what that was. The second doctor said he had heard of it but it couldn’t do any good and wasn’t on their hospital pharmacy list. And the head nurse said, “Oh, that’s some kind of enzyme that the heart makes when it’s in trouble, right?”

I knew right there we were in for trouble.

It didn’t matter that I faxed them fifty pages of peer-reviewed literature from the National Institute of Medicine. They wouldn’t budge.

Let me be blunt: The doctors who told me that they didn’t know what CoQ10 was or that it couldn’t possibly help were pompous idiots.

“Although coenzyme Q10 represents one of the greatest breakthroughs for the treatment of cardiovascular disease as well as for other diseases, the resistance of the medical profession to using this essential nutrient represents one of the greatest potential tragedies in medicine,” says my friend, board-certified cardiologist, nutritionist, and noted author Stephen Sinatra, M.D. “If there is just one thing you do to help maintain your heart’s health,” says Sinatra, “make sure you’re taking CoQ10 daily.”

The combination of CoQ-10 and carnitine is even better.

L-carnitine’s job is to escort fatty acids into the cells where they can be “burned” for energy. Because the heart gets 60 percent of its energy from fat, it’s critically important that the body have enough L-carnitine to “shuttle” the fatty acids into the muscle cells of the heart. Nutritionists have long used the combination of L-carnitine and CoQ10 as an “energy” cocktail for just this reason. Though it doesn’t necessarily make you feel more “get up and go” (although for many people it does just that!), it definitely helps give your heart muscle the tools it needs to function optimally.

People who take L-carnitine supplements soon after suffering a heart attack may be less likely to suffer a subsequent heart attack, die of heart disease, experience chest pain and abnormal heart rhythms, or develop congestive heart failure (a condition in which the heart loses its ability to pump blood effectively). A well-designed study of seventy heart-failure patients found that three-year survival was significantly higher in the group receiving 2 g a day of L-carnitine compared to the group receiving a placebo.

If you think of your body as an automobile, then L-carnitine and CoQ10 can be thought of as agents (like spark plugs) that help turn the gas in the tank into energy to make the car go.

Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS, a board-certified nutrition specialist with a master’s degree in psychology, is a nationally known expert on weight loss, nutrition, and health. A popular speaker and a former personal trainer with six national certifications in exercise, he was the acclaimed “Weight Loss Coach” on iVillage for twelve years, and is now a regular contributor to AOL, a columnist for Better Nutrition and Clean Eating magazines and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Men’s Health. He’s also the nutritionist for the popular website, www.eatdrinkordie.com, where his entertaining videos on food and nutrition can be seen daily.

His books have been acclaimed by a virtual who’s who in the field of nutritional medicine, garnering endorsements by Christiane Northrup, MD, Mehmet Oz, MD, Barry Sears, PhD. (who calls him “one of the best”), Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD (who calls him “the personal health coach I would want in my corner no matter what”), and many others. His book, Living Low Carb: Controlled Carbohydrate Eating for Long-Term Weight Loss has more than 100,000 copies in print. He is also the author of the Amazon best-seller, The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth: The Surprising Truth About What to Eat as well as The Healthiest Meals on Earth and The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth and The 150 Most Effective Ways to Boost Your Energy.

He has been featured in The New York Times, The New York Post, Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Tribune, Time, GQ, Cosmopolitan, Oxygen, Remedy, Family Circle, Self, Fitness, Allure, Essence, Men’s Health, Pilates Style, Prevention, Woman’s World, In Style, Fitness, Natural Health and Shape and has appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC and CBS as an expert on nutrition, weight loss, and health.

Dr. Bowden is a member of the American Society for Nutrition and the American College of Nutrition and is adjunct faculty for Clayton College of Natural Health. He lives in the Topanga Canyon area of Southern California with his three dogs, Woodstock, Emily and Lucy.

His DVD “The Truth About Weight Loss” as well as his popular motivational CDs, programs and free newsletter can be found at www.jonnybowden.com.

Dr. Bowden is on a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion during the month of January to discuss this book. You can follow his tour all month long by checking in each weekday at http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/.