Cheap Kathy Smith's Getting Better All the Time: Shape Up, Eat Smart, Feel Great! (Book) (Kathy Smith) Price

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Customer Reviews of Kathy Smith's Getting Better All the Time: Shape Up, Eat Smart, Feel Great!

Not a diet book, more of a spritual uplifter.
I have all of Kathy Smith's books, most of her work out tapes and all but one DVD. I found this book to be refreshing. It is an autobiography of sorts, you really get to know Kathy in this book, and it is woven into the life commitment she is pushing for in this book, "Getting better all the time". So many diets these days are focused on a quick-fix sollution, such as my personal favorite, "loose 10lbs. in 48 hours with the Hollywood diet". In this book Kathy drives home the fact that successful dieting and fitness aren't about quick-fixes, but choices and life changes which require learning how to change in a healthy way. She is careful to recognize that we all have different dietary needs (carbohydrates, protiens, and fats), and she is diplomatic in sugguesting which diet is right for you (you know you better than Kathy knows you). I found it to be a very fun read, I must admit that I didn't take away as much as I did in "Lift weights to loose weight", but this is a more familiar subject to me. I found it reasuring to find my philosophies supported here, when usually my friends think that I have an eating disorder because I pay SO much attention to learning about what goes into my body, while they are popping diet pills, or experiencing ketosis. I like that Kathy bluntly tackled two topics that most avoid, first that everyone has an excuse for not living healthy (What's Yours?) and second, she identifies that there are different levels of eating ranging from out of control to eating by the rules, to optimal eating. I think everyone can put themself somewhere in these five levels and use it as a tool to impove their diets. The best part of the whole book though is the recipes. I have tried many of these recipes and a few have made it onto my regular menu at home. I am happy to say that even my husband, Mr. Pizza and Burgers, likes them enough to desire them again, even after I told him it was good for him. I keep the book handy, especially for the recipes. It is a good way to learn to cook more healthy without sacrificing satisfaction and flavor.

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My least favorite Kathy Smith book
If you're a Kathy Smith fan, this book is for you. It's more like a family memory book than a fitness book: FILLED with anecdotes and photos of Kathy biking in France, Kathy at her daughter's birthday party, Kathy traveling with her husband, Kathy posing, Kathy on magazine covers from years past. There are more of these type of photos in the book than there are of her doing the few exercises at the end (after the photos of her video covers and before the ones of her tape covers).

Her seven-point plan is very general and nothing new. "Find a passion for exercise," she says, with no suggestions for how a new exerciser might go about it. If most readers could do that, they wouldn't need a book.

She offers 3 meal plans, but doesn't go into much detail about which ones you're suited for. What does "for people who do carbohydrates well" really mean to the average person, and how could they tell? There's very little about portion sizes or calorie recommendations for these meal plans, either.

And WORST of all, exercise is given little more than a passing nod, with a small handful of basic weight training exercises at the very end. And no modifications for when your strength and fitness progress.

For a long-time fitness guru like her, this is disappointing. It's a lot of pages for the little you can get from it. I'd recommend "Strong Women Stay Slim" instead. It gives you what you need without all the autobiography.

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Great for fitness newbies!
We all know we "should" exercise, yet have many excuses why we don't, and Kathy Smith provides excellent advice on how to overcome those barriers and achieve good health and balance in our lives. The focus of the book is feeling better, not looking better, and how we can become empowered by living a healthy life. Smith is not a great writer and her message could have been delivered more eloquently or with more power, but her easy-to-follow ideas come through nonetheless. Great for someone trying to get fit!