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The Slim Habit

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You didn’t take a conscious decision to put on weight, did you? Of course not! Find out the real truth about why it’s so easy to put on weight and learn how you can lose weight permanently – without going on a diet. Let the Slim Habit be your passport to a slimmer, healthier life.
The Slim Habit is more than a way to lose weight, it’s a new, radical approach to weight loss, life-changing and life-enhancing. A common-sense way to lose weight and stay healthy that will become part of your life.
The Slim Habit will open the door to a life free from weight worries and endless diets. It will give you the opportunity to make changes in your life, changes that will help you to live a long and healthy life, free from the threat of weight related diseases such as heart attack, stroke, weight related cancers and type 2 diabetes.
Learn the truth. There are very good reasons why you put on weight and no, it’s not your fault! Find out why you have a problem with your weight, why your body works against you, why some of the food you eat is doing you more harm than good. The Slim Habit gives you the essential knowledge you need to make informed decisions and take control of your weight, and your life.
The Slim Habit has all the benefits of the 5:2, but with an added twist that will supercharge your efforts. ‘What to do’ is not buried in pages of inpenetrable text, but is set out briefly and simply. It’s easy-to-follow and easy-to-do with helpful diagrams and illustrations. It puts you in the driving seat, and helps you to set your own course.
Weight watchers need to be able to stop being weight watchers and become weight managers instead. Slimming, world over is a tiresome process. Slimmers are tired of constantly watching their weight, weary of restrictive diets; they need the freedom to live normal lives. Of all the weight loss books, the diet books, this is the one that will change your life. A slim, healthy life can be yours. Time to get the Slim Habit.
Oh and by the way, if you’ve just been on a diet and you don’t want to put the weight back on, if you want to stay slim and manage your weight…you should start the Slim Habit now before the weight returns.
The Slim Habit, the weight loss book of 2017!

166 pages, Paperback

Published October 6, 2016

85 people are currently reading
496 people want to read

About the author

John McPhie

1 book5 followers

John McPhie has always had a passion for discovering ways of removing obstacles that limit human potential, and for finding simple solutions to complex problems.

In a world burdened by an obesity epidemic, where those in need of an answer to their weight problems have been ill-served by diet fads and quick fixes, his prime motivation has been to reveal the true facts, simply and clearly, about why people put on weight.

The Slim Habit, developed over several years, incorporates his experience in behavioural science and the very latest medical thinking. The aim of the book is to offer a better understanding about exactly why weight gain happens, and to provide an easy-to-do way of losing it - permanently.

The Slim Habit fulfils his ambition to provide a solution that he believes will make a real and lasting difference to peoples’ lives.

John is married with two daughters and lives in Somerset.



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5 stars
18 (26%)
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22 (32%)
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21 (31%)
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Kirsty ❤️.
923 reviews58 followers
September 14, 2020
I quite liked a lot of detail in this book. Diet books usually either are all about plugging their brand or have so much scientific information my eyes glaze over after a few pages. This manages to give a better balance. There's a lot of science in here but told in an easy to understand format and I genuinely learnt quite a bit. It's followed by information on habits and some exercises. I don't agree with all that's in here and would have liked a bit more around mental health and the link with overeating but overall a short, informative book
Profile Image for Alicia Bayer.
Author 10 books251 followers
October 25, 2020
This is quite a short read and has some good basic information about the role that things like insulin, sleep and fiber have on your weight. It's written by an author who does not seem to have any medical background and he doesn't really give any intro to explain why you should trust him or any references. That's not to say that much of what he writes isn't backed by a lot of doctors and references, but that would have greatly improved the book.

The book is written in very simple text with lots of repetition and the use of all caps and bold letters. There are some cartoons to illustrate some points. He basically recommends pretty standard advice like to limit saturated fat, avoid drinking your calories, eat lots more fiber, limit salt greatly, get enough sleep, get enough water, etc. The diet plan he recommends is basically to eat within 50% carbs (fiber rich, not fructose and processed junk), 30% unsaturated fats and 20% proteins. At least once a week you limit your calories to get the benefits of fasting without fasting (not sure this gives the same benefits) and you make sure to do three kinds of exercise every week (aerobic like walking, weight lifting, and stretching). He mostly recommends four habits, things like getting enough sleep and giving up snacks.

It's a very quick read and may be helpful to some, especially those who don't know a lot about topics like the role of fiber and insulin on the body. I won't necessarily be adopting most of his recommendations, though I do agree with some. I appreciated the weight lifting exercises in the back, which were accompanied by simple drawings, and his recommendations to do them gently and sensibly.

I read a digital ARC of this book for review.
Profile Image for Helen Gee.
56 reviews3 followers
July 30, 2020
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This is a really good self help guide for anyone looking to make lifestyle changes to improve their health and lose weight. It has lots of achievable steps to a good, healthy lifestyle changes rather than a diet (which suggests something not so long term).

The book gives lots of the science behind why we crave foods, why we put on weight and how we can create new habits to help with weight loss.

The book is well organised and contains useful sections about exercise to try/foods to fit with a new habit and a section about interpreting food labels.

The Slim Habit is easy to understand and is definitely worth a read if you're interested in losing weight without faddy diets.
2,354 reviews14 followers
August 8, 2020
I have been trying to get myself healthy, and there is just so much information out there. I enjoyed that this book was explaining the difference in achieving weight loss as a lifestyle instead of fad diets and I totally agree with that. You may not agree with everything in the book, but you will learn a lot.
Profile Image for Mana.
885 reviews31 followers
July 27, 2020
Slim and fit body is really just a habit, a healthy lifestyle.

And all you need to know is well explained in this guide. Why you put on weight, how to prepare for changes, learn new habits, raise your food awareness, take right decisions, what type of exercise to take and how to get the best out of exercise.

A simple, achievable programme of things to do that will deliver the outcome you want - to lose weight, to be able to manage your weight and stay slim and healthy.

Highly recommended.
Profile Image for Angie.
207 reviews
August 14, 2020
This book is well written and provides excellent explanations of how your body processes food and the differences between the processing of protein, carbohyrates, fats and alcohol,

He goes on to tell us why certain items (e.g no-calorie sugar substitutes) are bad for our health, but unfortunately doesn't provide any evidence, so there are a couple of things in the book that I would like to see backed up by science.

He then discusses mindset and exercise, and introduces a form of intermittent fasting - eating 550 calories one/two or three days a week. Once the weight is lost, he suggests a good way to maintain would be a fasting day every week. There is plenty of evidence why fasting is good for the body (unfortunately he doesn't provide it, but you can research it on the internet.)

This seems quite a sensible, simple, and relatively easy method of weight loss. If you've struggled to lose weight before, this book might give you the information and impetus that you need.
Profile Image for Zee Monodee.
Author 45 books346 followers
March 24, 2021
Quite a good book where eating is concerned (notice the focus isn't on dieting! It's on actual nutrition and how to best sustain the 'machine' that is your body). Does get a bit repetitive at times, but you can see the research and what I liked most was the whole 'I won't BS you' vibe the author gives off throughout. Too many of these diet/eating book authors try to come across as gurus who then push forward to present 'their' products and methods and whatever. This one did not have that, thank goodness
Profile Image for Ada-Marie.
420 reviews6 followers
August 3, 2020
Thank you to Net Galley, the author, and publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I really enjoyed the straight forward scientific explanation of the causes of obesity and inflammation. The advice on how to reverse and prevent it didn’t cover any new ground - sleep well, eat whole foods, exercise, drink more water, and manage stress. #theslimhabit #netgalley
Profile Image for Gwen.
7 reviews6 followers
July 31, 2020
I truly enjoyed the beginning 1/3 of this book. The author described, in a very accessible and informative way, exactly how what we eat is "managed" by our bodies. Sugar, fat (good and bad), carbohydrates, fiber, alcohol, etc. are all metabolized differently in the body, sometimes by every organ sometimes just the liver. This was exceptionally well described, using a metaphor of "a calories is not a calorie". This connected many of the concepts together in a very accessible way. The reward center as motivation. The impact Sleep and Stress have on the way we store and use energy was particularly well done.
Where the author lost me was the way he positioned the "artificial sweetener" study as having a definitively proven impact on human brains and it triggering a hunger response because the body is not getting the associated energy load that sugar normally brings. This might be true, but the reference he used points to a for-profit doctor that touts numerous "cure-alls" for humans and pets alike. Aspertame has been studied endlessly and deemed perfectly safe for human consumption, and there is no study that demonstrates its impact on the brain as described.
The end of the book was the "Slim Habit" plan, which while useful for a beginning was not necessarily ground breaking. The exercises were pretty standard, the diet was pretty standard. And the "intermittent fasting" was described as "low calorie" days, which might make this more palatable to audiences who would otherwise eschew fasting.
Overall, I truly enjoyed the beginning of the book as a great reference to remind myself how our bodies convert food to energy.
Profile Image for Andreea.
1,862 reviews62 followers
September 22, 2020
Disclaimer: I received this book for free in exchange of my honest review.

I do not believe this is a bad diet book. The first part of the book is full of amazing information on hormones, how the body processes food and all that jazz. I loved it. It is my favourite part because afterwards, the book is going down on the appreciation scale...

Firstly, it is repetitive. Very repetitive. So repetitive that it says one thing in two paragraphs, and then the next chapter summarizes what was said in those two paragraphs. Maybe if it brought that up after a few chapters, it wouldn't feel too soon. But this way, it was way too soon, since we just read that on the other page, you know what I mean?

Doesn't really provide much help with the so-called slim habits. They are the usual eat good, don't eat too much fat/salt/sugar/etc, exercise and get enough sleep. Gee, thanks, I already knew that! Other than the first part that actually help you understand why you need enough sleep (because of some hormones and the imbalances that lack of sleep can cause), there isn't much help in this book.

And then we have the low-cal days. As low as eat only 550 cal in one day - stat with one day/week, then move to three days and if you are hardcore, try every other day, but make sure not to overdo it in the normal day. And this is based solely on the fact that our ancestors (in the cave days) had period of famine, so we should too. No other explanation or science-based evidence.

Overall, if you want to learn more about hormones and how hunger and nutrition works, read the first part of the book. You can totally skip the rest.
Profile Image for Carol.
402 reviews10 followers
June 11, 2017

This book offers plenty of information about the physiology of human metabolism but I wish the author had included sources for the facts he cited. I researched it for myself and found that some of what he says has yet to be totally proven in scientific studies such as the interaction between the hormones leptin and insulin. More importantly, his recommendation of utilizing semi- fasts as a way of losing and maintaining weight loss is a controversial issue. When I asked my doctor about this, she questioned if the body would not go into starvation mode. It is unfortunate that although he wrote in great depth of how the body functions, he neglected to explain in equal detail what the body does in an extreme calorie reduction. For myself, I chose not to have these low-calorie days. I found if I made good food choices as he recommended and exercised, the weight came off.
Although this book does a good job of explaining why it is best to avoid processed foods, and sugar- laden drinks, I don't agree with his theory that evolution is to blame. He writes that our bodies haven't evolved to the point that we can handle the changes in our food. It makes more sense that our bodies were made to eat healthy unprocessed foods and that is what we should continue to provide for ourselves.
Despite these misgivings, I found this book enlightening and educational.
Profile Image for Diane.
952 reviews49 followers
August 6, 2020
The Slim Habit by John McPhie is enlightening about the issue of weight and food choices. One of the main reasons I like this book is the explanations for how our body functions to metabolize the types of foods we eat. The science of calories versus calories, good and bad fat, and the difference in carbohydrates was good information. Facts about how sugar and salt are used excessively in processed foods help the reader to be aware as they make meal choices. "It's all about balance" is so important and this book offers information about how to balance proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and other areas of maintaining good healthy food choices.
I think the theory of our evolutionary need for the amount of food and calorie intake due to the 'hunter-gatherer' concept was a bit overdone. Overall, the information in The Slim Habit is interesting, informative, and is very helpful!
Publication Date: December 29, 2020
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Profile Image for Laura Richardson.
108 reviews6 followers
August 4, 2020
This book was a different take on healthy eating (not dieting-this book stresses that this is a new way of life and NOT a diet).

I found it refreshing that this book detailed reasoning behind its advice and provided scientific explanations which makes it easier to follow and appreciate.

There is extensive information on the benefits of drinking enough water and getting enough sleep as well as describing how to change your habits for the better by understanding RDA (recommended dietary allowances) and portion sizes.

There is plenty of preparation before you embark on your slim habit so you are ready and not thrown in at the deep end.
.
This guide is not a list of what you can and can’t eat, it is more like a guide to help you help yourself and I am very much looking forward to seeing the results.
Profile Image for Paula.
52 reviews1 follower
July 27, 2020
A really great book explaining weight loss as a lifestyle change rather than a fad. I’m bored of faddy diets and money making weight loss plans and found this book a really refreshing change. It is set out in four parts, which is then broke down again into different categories making it really easy to make sense of. There is no difficult terminology and any words, phrases or ideas that are slightly more complex are explained.
I found the part about RDA’s and food labels really useful and will be nipping back into this book often to use them.
I would love to see if this actually works but as the book explains long term weight loss won’t happen over night, so we shall see
Profile Image for Angela.
Author 19 books106 followers
August 28, 2020
As a Type 1 Diabetic for over 30 years, I have been reading about nutrition forever. This is a short, condensed version that I think will help many people. For someone who has studied nutrition, it isn't a lot of new information, but many can benefit from this book. Well written, interesting, and easy to read, with a lot good guidelines. Tips on habits and preparation. A definitive book for health and nutrition.
Profile Image for E..
87 reviews1 follower
October 27, 2018
Good basic advice backed up by science

I liked the way this plan shows you what to do to change your bad habits to good habits. It isn't a painless plan but it should result in a healthy lifestyle and over time it should become a way of life. If you put in the time and effort to adopt these healthy habits you should live longer and better.
Profile Image for Kate.
1,134 reviews45 followers
July 28, 2020
This is a great book that teaches how to make healthy choices and habits rather than fad diets. I study health and nutrition a lot so there wasn't anything new for me, however, the book is organized well and is a very concise informative resource!
269 reviews2 followers
July 28, 2020
A decent self help book for explaining obesity and dieting. A lot of information. I am not so sure it will a hit book. But, was worth reading.
Profile Image for Davor.
64 reviews1 follower
February 25, 2017
I've read many books on the topic, and tried many ways to get leaner before I ran into this book, hence why I learned very few new things from it.
It might be extremely useful to someone who until now hasn't bothered to pay attention to what and how much they were eating, or exercise even one bit. If I were one such person, this book would be a 4.5 to me, since it provides many useful information to absolute novices to the world of healthy living.
Personally, not really a fan of the eating part of the book.

While I do think it has value, readers should bear in mind that eating healthy is a very subjective topic. The method described in the book will most likely show results for everyone, at least as a jump-start to better eating habits, but one should always strive to find a satisfactory blend of enjoying food and not overeating or eating crap.

My favorite author on the subject is Nate Miyaki, since he uses very simple language and doesn't try to make a rocket science out of it. Make sure to check his book The Truth about Weight Loss: A Beginner's Guide to Cutting through the Fluff & Finding a Sustainable Weight Loss Solution if you're just starting your journey to losing fat and healthy living.
1 review
January 9, 2017
Made a lot of sense to me...

Five stars. Lifestyle plan ANYONE can and should follow. If you read any health, diet or exercise book, this should be the one. I've read many books on these subjects; this one was the most straightforward and concise.
13 reviews1 follower
January 24, 2017
Easy to read and understand

Very concise and structured approach to why you are the way you are and how to go about losing weight the right way.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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