Mini Habits for Weight Loss: Stop Dieting. Form New Habits. Change Your Lifestyle Without Suffering.

Have you ever eaten a decadent slice of cheesecake, only to finish and think, "Man, I could really go for some vegetables right about now"? If not, let me introduce you to Stephen Guise and the concept of mini habits. The idea, as conceptualized in this book, is not to take an approach of deprivation and radical change, but to make small, incremental, consistent changes that ultimately result in a permanent, healthy lifestyle. Stephen (can I call him Stephen?) is upfront from the beginning: this is not a journey of quick fixes, rapid weight loss, and cleanse diets. This is about working with the brain's natural resistance to change by fooling it into thinking you're not asking much from it. And really, you're not. If your goal is to do one push-up a day, you will find yourself down on the ground much faster than if your goal is to do 20. And once you are down there, you will do some more. It's human nature. The hard part, the decision to do a thing, is over at that point. And even on your worst day, even if you really only can do one, you've still made some forward momentum and reinforced that daily habit. I only finished this book a couple of weeks ago, but I have already seen the changes happen. The most brilliant stroke was in never making a food craving off limits, no matter how ridiculously unhealthy. Instead, he encourages a movement toward healthy food, a letting go of the binary way we think about eating (''I'm going to eat healthy'' vs ''I'm going to eat badly.'') As he says in his book, you know what's better than three slices of pizza? Three slices of a pizza and a salad. It's pithy and funny, but there is much wisdom here. When we're at a party, we don't have to decide between carrots and cookies. We can have both. And that realization is the spark of something rather profound. The more whole foods you eat, the more you incorporate them into your daily life, the more you want them for their own sake, not because you should eat better, or because you are desperate to lose weight, but because they are tasty and make you feel good. My nutrition mini habit, one recommended by Stephen, is to make one healthy food upgrade a day. That means a banana with breakfast, or a vegetable with lunch, or water instead of soda for a meal... just one healthy change from the norm. What I've found, as Stephen predicted, is most days I do far more than that. Some days I find myself concocting entire meals from scratch, just because I would rather eat that. But even on my worst days, I can make that one change and feel like I have forward momentum. Thus I have found myself eating fresh vegetables alongside leftover pizza, and a red bell pepper after I finished my cheesecake. What's remarkably different from previous attempts to shift to a healthy lifestyle is that for the first time ever, it feels like a choice. Not some hard-nosed restriction I'm trying to impose on myself for my own good, but just making choices amidst the ebb and flow of everyday life (the fact that my other mini habit is sitting down on my meditation cushion before bed doesn't hurt... I am much more mindful of my eating habits based on increased meditation alone.) Even my fast food addiction is waning, not because I've forbidden it, but because I've noted that fast food generally makes me feel like crap. I'm saving my sweet tooth for higher quality desserts, stuff I really love. I'm no longer eating with an attitude of scarcity - I shouldn't be having this, I must eat it now because I can't have it later. When there is no famine, there is never any need for feast. I ate out at three restaurants this weekend, and not once did I overeat or feel guilty about my choices. It's the difference between "What's one small thing I can do to make this healthier?" and "Screw it, I'm going to eat all the things." When you're working within a more reasonable framework, when you stop with all or nothing thinking, you make more healthy choices than you would imagine, and you don't have to fight your lazy brain to do it.

Stephen Guise does it again! Having been a long time reader of his weekly emails, I was pretty familiar with his style and some of his ideas, so by the time I received the printed copy of this book, I had already been trying to incorporate some of his approaches in both my personal development and weight loss efforts (with success, mind you!)... but I was surprised by how the information in this book was new (to me at least!) and altogether wise, compelling, and informative! Guise has clearly done extensive research. In part one, he provides a meta-analysis of hundreds of studies in a friendly and approachable tone-- which is very idiosyncratic of his style-- and informs us on the latest on healthy lifestyle research. I have read diet books before and I have read research journals, but I have never particularly enjoyed or LAUGHED while reading either. Guise is a talented writer, so it's a fun and quick read! As he said, this isn't a diet book, it's a book about understanding the affects of food and the food industry on the personal and national level, how that can affect our health, and what we can do about it. In part two, Guise writes about his area of expertise: how to apply this new information into personal development with MINI HABITS. He describes strategies and approaches to apply to your everyday-- literally something you can DO everyday and feel good about-- to achieve your goal. This is the part that requires some effort on the reader's part to be introspective and realistic about themselves, which is something so REFRESHING. By generously acknowledging the humanity of his audience, Guise teaches readers how to deal with the psychology of weight loss, including the emotions of shame, deprivation, etc. involved, and gives them the tools to move forward! This is a wonderful book with very helpful and even life changing ideas-- I highly recommend this book to anyone looking to make a lasting change in their health and feel good while doing it! I commend the author on this work and I can't wait to see what he'll do next!

This was a fast and enjoyable read. I agree with the majority of what Stephen said about nutrition, but I felt that for this type of book he gave too much nutrition advice given he is not a nutrition expert. I especially disliked that he said that eating a vegan or vegetarian diet is not sustainable and then said that if you already are vegan or vegetarian you could "do much worse". Eating a Whole Foods plant-based diet is one of the ways I actually maintain vibrant health and a healthy weight, and although it may not be desirable for everyone it is an evidence-based healthful way of eating. I think the mini habits idea is a great one that could help a lot of people accomplish all sorts of goals. Overall I would recommend this book for the practical advice about habits, but would caution about the nutrition advice.

This book is not a diet book as such but very inspiring to make simple changes to our attitudes and choices in what we eat. No convenience foods, soft drinks etc but the emphasis is on eating fresh food, lots of fruit and veg, exercise. Well most of us know that but Stephen has a very persuasive way of encouraging little steps to achieve this. It's quite a long book and I've only just finished reading it so can't say if it's worked to lose weight but it has made me think that I can take these little steps easily without having to follow strict rules.

This is not just a dieting book, this is the ultimate book to finally get on track towards a healthy happy nutrition. Do not expect quick weight loss but a shift in behaviour through a fun easy method full of practical personalised strategies. Based on scientific studies, it unravels many commonly spread false myths about dieting and foods.

The book is a very light reading and the Mini habits methods are really interesting. I've finished the book within a couple of days and already started implementing new mini habits in to my daily life. I've only read this book and I didn't felt the need to read his first book, the mini habits applied to a better health are explained in this book.

Great book, very incitful and makes you look at dieting in a different way. It's aimed at American audiences, referencing American diet and health statistics so take this into account before reading but the premise is still the same - make healthy eating a habit/part of your routine. This book helped me build positive habits so well worth a read if you're struggling with yo-yo dieting!

I went looking for a way to make weight loss easier and more sustainable. I knew that dieting was over. There had to be a better way. And I found this book and it made sense to me. I could finally work with my neuroscience and not against it. The principles in this book will be with me forever. Learning mini habits has made everything easier. I can adopt a new habit so much better now and sustain it.