[close] The woman Psychology Today calls "the best-known life coach in America" shatters the myth that willpower is an effective weight-loss tool and introduces a revolutionary approach to lifetime leanness based on a series of "4-day wins" that work with any weight-loss program

Substitute a good habit for a bad one and stick to it for just 4 days, and it begins to feel normal. That’s the surprising discovery that holds the key to lifetime weight control, according to life coach and New York Times best-selling author Martha Beck. Not a conventional diet or exercise program, The Four-Day Win combines evolutionary logic, psychology, and neuroplasticity (the ability of the brain to restructure itself, which suggests ways to reshape our bodies) with strategies and success stories—plus large doses of humor and an insightful, straightforward approach to teach the principles required to reverse weight issues.

Drawn from hundreds of hours interviewing weight losers—in both her discussions with private clients and her groundbreaking consulting work for Jenny Craig—Dr. Beck reveals:

• why willpower-based dieting is doomed to fail

• how to step out of the conflict between the rule-making Commander (who bans all our favorite foods) and the rule-breaking Resistor (who gives in to cravings) and reach the Watcher, who is our happiest self

• what the latest research into the mind-body connection reveals about how our emotions affect our eating

Breaking down the weight-loss marathon into 4-day intervals, Dr. Beck provides effective strategies for changing the behaviors that make us fat. And if there is a relapse, readers take comfort in knowing they are just 4 days from turning it around. [close]