This book was filled with interesting and slightly depressing facts regarding weight loss. Basically, diets don't work. You can take the weight off for a period of time but there is a high chance you will gain it back plus more. She encourages you to get your leanest genetically pre-set weight (she never tells you how to calculate this) by exercising regularly for health (because exercising doesn't necessarily help with weight loss). She also provides tricks to eat less because actively dieting causes stress which causes weight gain. Some of her tricks include eating on smaller plates, eating a salad first, changing your driving routine so you don't pass the bakery, and avoiding break rooms with cake and donuts because your willpower is finite and you will cave the 10th time you see the goody.

Remembered this book in my TBR pile after a conversation in the staff lounge. Very good, but a hard reality to accept.

If you're looking for a book on how to lose a lot of weight, this is not the book for you. This is more about maintaining a sustainable weight range, as well as a discussion on why the conventional diets we think of don't work in the long run. The author also looks at how our current culture feeds into compulsion to diet, how weight isn't necessarily tied into health (namely we use weight as the main factor for health and not always connecting to other health factors such as activity or economics), and are negatively biased to the overweight and obese.

She explores why losing weight is hard, and draws on the work of her lab to support it. I'd like more from other studies. The book is an easy to understand one, and does give you things to think about if you're looking to maintain your weight. But if you're looking for structured advice to lose weight, it's probably not what you're looking for.

I was really interested to realize that the "smart regulation strategies" the author has provided are things that I fumbled into figuring out over the years. So, this was not necessarily new information, but it validated quite a few of the habits I've put in place to eat well and be active.

I'm not sure what to make of this book.

It certainly tells you what you want to hear - dieting is pointless, you probably weight about what you're going to weigh regardless, no drastic changes necessary. And she seems to back that up with plenty of facts and studies.

On the other hand, she claims it's really hard to gain weight and has the studies to back that up. The obesity rates in the US would seem to disagree with that. So do you believe her or not?

Probably yes. It's better to adopt good habits, employ strategies to avoid bad habits, and exercise. Do that and your weight is likely to take care of itself.

Scientific studies about food, weight, exercise:

- Dieting (using rules to restrict eating via willpower) does not work in the long term and damages health.

- Exercise helps us live longer and have better mood. We ought to do it for that reason, even though exercise does not result in weight loss.

- Genetics largely determine our "weight set range".

- Use methods such as avoiding seeing the food, thinking of it abstractly instead of concretely, and coming up with an alternate intention ("when I enter the kitchen, I will eat an apple") and form habits.

Sadly there's still no quick fix for weight loss, but now you don't have to feel bad if you fail at dieting. The section on what to do to maintain your leanest optimal weight could have used a few more specifics, and honestly wasn't something I hadn't heard before. The studies on dieting are fascinating though, and it's always good to remind yourself about strategies for a healthier lifestyle.

This appealed to the methodology geek in me. I didn't feel her strategies for being at your lowest reasonable weight were earth shattering, but the research behind why diets don't ever truly work and are more harmful than good was compelling and really resonated with me. After years of trying to manipulate my body and its bad thyroid and GI problems into an unrealistic goal weight that I could never achieve, no matter the work and effort, I am done. This book somehow set something free in my brain and anyone who has spent their life weight cycling and feeling like garbage about themselves needs to read it.