Review of Never Say Diet

Never Say Diet
Written by: Chantel Hobbs
223 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press

This book has done something for me that no other book has been able to do. It has motivated me to consistently exercise.

Chantel Hobbs once weighed 349 pounds at the young age of 29. She was married to a man who never belittled her for her heaviness but he didn’t have to – Chantel beat herself up over it. She hated looking at herself in the mirror and she worried that her kids would have no mother because she would die young. It wasn’t until she became totally miserable that she chose to do something about it.

One night while driving home from a friends, she came to the tipping point. She thought of the recent emergency gall bladder surgery she’d had and how the doctor had been afraid to cut through the layers of fat since it would increase her risk for infection. She thought of how there was so many things she would like to do with her kids but couldn’t because of her weight, she thought of how she did not want to be an embarrassment to her husband and to herself.

While thinking all these things, driving home that fateful night, she came to the point where she could not go on with things as they were. She wanted a normal life. She pulled over to the side of the road, crying, and gave it all over to God and asking for his help in her weight battle.

She heard the Lord speak to her and say, “You are not being the best you can be.” For the first time in her life she realized that this was a choice and that she chose to be the best she could be or not. And from that night she started making changes in her life.

What I like about this book is that there is no special diet – no avoidance of foods that are perfectly healthy for you like some diets advise but instead just good common sense. In Phase 2 you cut out all those unhealthy foods that you have a weakness for but you never cut out the good healthy things God gave for us to eat.

In the first phase of the program you choose a form of exercise – any exercise of your choice. The point of this phase is to form a habit of exercise. You are to do it 5 days a week, 30 minutes a day for 4 weeks.

There are 5 phases in all each one building upon the previous phase. It’s very difficult to change everything all at once so you do it slowly in order for it to become a part of your life.

I am finishing up phase 1 for the second time. The first time around I had to restart because I missed Day 5 of Week 3. Quitting the whole exercise routine ran through my mind but then I thought of the commitment I had made and determined to keep on. So I started back over at Week 1. This time around I have seen myself take on a positive attitude and a true enjoyment of exercising every morning. The biggest change I made was to exercise first thing in the morning before breakfast – before I do anything else. This way it is sure to happen. I don’t have to think about it again for the whole day and it truly invigorates me.

I am very excited about this book and highly recommend it to everybody. It will encourage and inspire you to make changes in your life that you’ve never done before. After reading this book I knew I wanted to follow Chantel’s suggestions but it took me 6 months after reading this book to actually begin. That would be my suggestion to you start when you’re ready and then stay committed.

Chantel also has a website that I’ve never personally explored but can be found by typing in Chantel Hobbs or clicking this link. http://www.chantelhobbs.com/chantel/.