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Diet Right for Your Personality Type: The Revolutionary 4-Week Weight-Loss Plan That Works for You
Health and fitness expert Jen Widerstrom learned one important thing about weight-loss success through years of working with her clients and now contestants on NBC's The Biggest when it comes to dieting, one size will never fit all. In order for you to successfully lose weight, your diet plan needs to tap into your traits and tendencies as an individual. In Diet Right for Your Personality Type, Widerstrom introduces a revolutionary plan for maximizing weight loss and keeping the pounds off for good by adjusting your eating patterns, habits, and diet to best fit your personality. After all, understanding the ideal way to harness your personal strengths and navigate your roadblocks will help you effectively lose weight for the long term. Starting with a simple assessment, you'll identify your dominant personality the Everyday Hero (very giving and always puts others first), the Rebel (free-spirited and noncommittal), the Organized Doer (the type-A personality who craves routine and rules), the Swinger (the adventurous type who follows the trendiest fads), or the Never-Ever (believes if the pants don't fit, it's time to buy bigger pants).Once you've identified your personality type, you will be guided through a tailored four-week diet and fitness plan that works for you instead of against you. With meal plans, recipes, exercise routines, and more, losing weight and maintaining a lasting healthy lifestyle has never been this simple.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 7, 2017
112 people are currently reading
202 people want to read
About the author
Jen Widerstrom
2 books4 followersAt the forefront of the health and fitness community, JEN WIDERSTROM is committed to helping people understand, learn, and implement a holistic approach to health and wellness. Formerly a star of "American Gladiators", she is now a trainer on NBC's "The Biggest Loser". After completing her degree at the University of Kansas in Sports Administration, she went on to become certified by the leading certification program in the country, National Academy of Sports Medicine with an emphasis in nutrition, balance training, cardio performance, reactive and resistance training as well as in neuromuscular stretching. Jen is also committed to helping others through philanthropic endeavors, volunteering at orphanages and schools throughout Rwanda, Kenya, and Malawi and hosting events on Goodwill Military tours for troops in Kuwait and Iraq.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 29, 2017
This was a helpful book that takes a unique approach to diet planning. It first asks you to take a quiz about your habits and preferences, which should put you in one of five dominant personality categories: The Organized Doer, The Swinger, The Rebel, The Everyday Hero, The Never-Ever.
I was categorized as an Organized Doer, and Widerstrom's description fit me perfectly. She designed a 4-week meal plan based on my personality type, and also gave exercise tips based on each type. The book has an extensive recipe section, and also weight-training workouts.
I'll be honest and say I didn't read the other four personality categories, so I can't comment on those. But I found my section helpful and inspiring, and would recommend this book to those who want to try a more personalized approach to diet and exercise.
Favorite Quotes
"If you don't understand why you eat well (or not well) -- and how the answers can be different every day -- then you are setting yourself up for failure. This is what happens with almost every diet plan ... Each person needs an individualized program of diet and exercise -- one that honors the individual and his or her personality -- to inspire success."
"No one gets a pass from tension at work, with family, or over finances. We all have stress in our lives. The key to managing it is how you respond to it. Identify your stress reliever in an activity or movement that is meditative for you. Too often I see folks eating as a response to stress, and it's no surprise because stress boosts your levels of the appetite-stimulating hormone cortisol, so you're already vulnerable. My most successful stress managers choose exercise; it dissipates cortisol, plus it has a mood-lifting effect on your entire body. So instead of reaching for the refrigerator door, reach for your tennis shoes and get movin'."
I was categorized as an Organized Doer, and Widerstrom's description fit me perfectly. She designed a 4-week meal plan based on my personality type, and also gave exercise tips based on each type. The book has an extensive recipe section, and also weight-training workouts.
I'll be honest and say I didn't read the other four personality categories, so I can't comment on those. But I found my section helpful and inspiring, and would recommend this book to those who want to try a more personalized approach to diet and exercise.
Favorite Quotes
"If you don't understand why you eat well (or not well) -- and how the answers can be different every day -- then you are setting yourself up for failure. This is what happens with almost every diet plan ... Each person needs an individualized program of diet and exercise -- one that honors the individual and his or her personality -- to inspire success."
"No one gets a pass from tension at work, with family, or over finances. We all have stress in our lives. The key to managing it is how you respond to it. Identify your stress reliever in an activity or movement that is meditative for you. Too often I see folks eating as a response to stress, and it's no surprise because stress boosts your levels of the appetite-stimulating hormone cortisol, so you're already vulnerable. My most successful stress managers choose exercise; it dissipates cortisol, plus it has a mood-lifting effect on your entire body. So instead of reaching for the refrigerator door, reach for your tennis shoes and get movin'."
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June 10, 2019I have a weird habit of reading dieting books and then never actually following the plans. I guess I just like to get ideas. I had a pretty even spread across 3 personality types. I would suggest reading each type if you’re close like I was. I most strongly connected to the description of the “never ever.” While I have no intention of following the diet, I did find the menus and grocery lists reasonable and potentially doable overall. She includes lots of quick workout routines as well, which should help people who aren’t good at carving out time to exercise. That being said, I ain’t drinking no turmeric tea. I like turmeric, but I’m not crazy about the idea of drinking it with black pepper (and a few other ingredients) as a tea. My other criticism is that I’m worried about substitutions. I don’t eat egg salad or tuna salad, which figured into the menus heavily. I’d be curious how easy it is to swap things out.
All this being said, I suspect many people looking for a different but healthy diet option could benefit from this plan.
All this being said, I suspect many people looking for a different but healthy diet option could benefit from this plan.
July 15, 2017
I'm not a fan of the word "diet" but I appreciated this trainer's unique perspective that we should pay attention to our personality type in order to increase our odds of success. Half the book is recipes and about 25% is a bunch of 16 minute exercise routines. I did get a few good tips.
August 21, 2017
I've been trying to lose weight and get healthier for a while, but I was stumped. I'd tried exercising more. I'd tried eating less. I'd tried a health/weight loss contest with my siblings. Nothing was really working for me. There are lots of diet books out there; some are based on crazy ideas (blood type?). But this book works differently. Widerstrom organizes her diet plans by personality type. I am not the most organized person. That statement is a hyperbole. I cannot do a plan that tells you exactly what to eat for every meal (Breakfast: 1 green smoothie; two scrambled eggs; a cup of strawberries). That is just not going to happen in my life. But one section of the book is for "rebels"- her term; not mine. These are people who have crazy schedules and are never quite sure where they will be for meals or people who just can't handle being told exactly what to do. The rebel plan was more or less: for breakfast on week one, eat two proteins and two carbs. For lunch, two proteins and two veggies. At the end of the plan summaries, she had a list: This counts as one protein; this counts as one veggies serving, etc.
I followed the plan faithfully for the four weeks; I didn't lose a lot of weight, but I built a lot of good habits. I now plan ahead for the week, making sure I have fresh veggies and whole grains and easy proteins. I'll cook a crockpot full of chicken and use it in salads or wraps. I keep healthy things for lunches and snacks at work. I also measure serving sizes now. I hate measuring; it makes me feel like a fanatic. But it has helped. I count out a serving size of nuts into little snack bags so that I won't eat too many healthy, delicious, but full of fat nuts. It helps a lot.
I did have a couple of issues with the plan. Her veggie servings are ridiculous. For example, according to her, two cups of bell pepper is a serving. That is an entire bell pepper. If you're supposed to be having two or three servings of veggies in one meal, you are going to be sick. I now eat the recommended number of servings, but I use the serving size guidance on the package or online. The other thing I didn't like was the rigidity of the when you were supposed to eat what. For example, no carbs were allowed after lunch, and no fats/oils allowed until the afternoon. That doesn't always work for me. I like putting nuts in my morning yogurt. Sometimes I like brown rice for dinner. So now I basically look at the numbers (3 carbs, 7 proteins, 2 oils, 8 veggies, and lots of water), and make sure I don't go over those numbers for the day. It's working for me; it's slow, but I'm losing about half a pound a week. I eat less junk food, more veggies, and protein throughout the day. It's a good plan.
I can't review the entire book because I didn't pay that much attention to the sections that I obviously don't fit in. But if the other plans work for your personality as well as the "rebel" one worked for mine, than this book will probably help you.
I followed the plan faithfully for the four weeks; I didn't lose a lot of weight, but I built a lot of good habits. I now plan ahead for the week, making sure I have fresh veggies and whole grains and easy proteins. I'll cook a crockpot full of chicken and use it in salads or wraps. I keep healthy things for lunches and snacks at work. I also measure serving sizes now. I hate measuring; it makes me feel like a fanatic. But it has helped. I count out a serving size of nuts into little snack bags so that I won't eat too many healthy, delicious, but full of fat nuts. It helps a lot.
I did have a couple of issues with the plan. Her veggie servings are ridiculous. For example, according to her, two cups of bell pepper is a serving. That is an entire bell pepper. If you're supposed to be having two or three servings of veggies in one meal, you are going to be sick. I now eat the recommended number of servings, but I use the serving size guidance on the package or online. The other thing I didn't like was the rigidity of the when you were supposed to eat what. For example, no carbs were allowed after lunch, and no fats/oils allowed until the afternoon. That doesn't always work for me. I like putting nuts in my morning yogurt. Sometimes I like brown rice for dinner. So now I basically look at the numbers (3 carbs, 7 proteins, 2 oils, 8 veggies, and lots of water), and make sure I don't go over those numbers for the day. It's working for me; it's slow, but I'm losing about half a pound a week. I eat less junk food, more veggies, and protein throughout the day. It's a good plan.
I can't review the entire book because I didn't pay that much attention to the sections that I obviously don't fit in. But if the other plans work for your personality as well as the "rebel" one worked for mine, than this book will probably help you.
April 22, 2022
I bought this book when it first came out in 2017, read it once, and then put it under my bed and forgot about it. Now that I am going through all of my books, I ran into this one and wondered if I might find anything useful in it now (AND I love personality quizzes so I definitely wanted to do that!). I was pleasantly surprised by what I found (for the most part). First of all, I found my personality type description eerily accurate (Rebel) and I am always impressed when that happens. My recessive type (Never Ever) also rang true. Second, I went into this thinking I am probably not the target audience for this kind of book because I am not interested in dieting. But she did not tell me to count calories and she gets major points for that, plus I really appreciate her encouragement to eat mindfully, and to eat when I am hungry, as opposed to eat every four hours, only four meals per day, blah blah blah. And I actually found some of the recipes looked good so I might try them.
Cons: For me personally, the exercise section was not as helpful. Some good tips but I don't need all of the photos and descriptions of moves. But that might be really helpful for someone just starting out, so I get it! Also there were a few instances where there were some anti-fat statements that haven't aged well. Also, as another reader pointed out in a different review, there aren't a lot of vegetarian options with the recipes and I think that is not great, considering that (though I am not strictly vegetarian or vegan) eating meat is one of the four largest contributors to climate change and we should all try to do less of it if we can. Oh and last thing - unless I really spaced out, I don't think she ever addressed alcohol, which seems like a big thing to leave out.
Cons: For me personally, the exercise section was not as helpful. Some good tips but I don't need all of the photos and descriptions of moves. But that might be really helpful for someone just starting out, so I get it! Also there were a few instances where there were some anti-fat statements that haven't aged well. Also, as another reader pointed out in a different review, there aren't a lot of vegetarian options with the recipes and I think that is not great, considering that (though I am not strictly vegetarian or vegan) eating meat is one of the four largest contributors to climate change and we should all try to do less of it if we can. Oh and last thing - unless I really spaced out, I don't think she ever addressed alcohol, which seems like a big thing to leave out.
March 16, 2022
This is not your typical diet book. This book lays out how to work with your personality type to create a lifestyle and health plan that works for you. When I took the personality type quiz I nearly tied between two types and she says that if you score higher than 6 on more than one, to go with the one that is higher but to also look closely at the other because one is your dominant type and the other recessive.
After reading the chapter on my dominant personality type, I realized how well that described me! She lays out what people with this personality trait are typically like and gives a story of someone she worked with who is of that type. Then she explains why she created the meal plan she did for this type before laying it out. I am excited to try this out!
The reason for 4 stars is because I wish there was more guidance on what to do after the four weeks of meal plans. She does say how you can use any of the recipes in the book for any of the personality types, but doesn’t really explain how to keep it all balanced. She also offered some different types of exercises but I feel like for a beginner or someone who is severely overweight they would be too difficult. It is a good basis of somewhere to start that I haven’t been able to find elsewhere this far on my fitness journey, though.
I highly recommend this book to anyone stuck in a rut with weight loss!
After reading the chapter on my dominant personality type, I realized how well that described me! She lays out what people with this personality trait are typically like and gives a story of someone she worked with who is of that type. Then she explains why she created the meal plan she did for this type before laying it out. I am excited to try this out!
The reason for 4 stars is because I wish there was more guidance on what to do after the four weeks of meal plans. She does say how you can use any of the recipes in the book for any of the personality types, but doesn’t really explain how to keep it all balanced. She also offered some different types of exercises but I feel like for a beginner or someone who is severely overweight they would be too difficult. It is a good basis of somewhere to start that I haven’t been able to find elsewhere this far on my fitness journey, though.
I highly recommend this book to anyone stuck in a rut with weight loss!
September 25, 2021
I gave this book 3 stars because I think the information was interesting and while some of it was stuff I already knew, I appreciated this new way of viewing working out and an eating plan that was based on your personality, instead of a blanket way of doing things. I don't know about you, but I definitely experience my personality come into play when I try to initiate new habits and if I can find a way that works with instead of against it, I think I would have a better success. I also appreciated the workouts that Widerstrom included in the back. There was bodyweight only, hand weights, exercise bands, and barbell routines and she set up a schedule that should be 16 minutes. I have not tried these yet but I like the idea of having something ready to go and easily accessible with what I have on hand versus needing to go to a gym or spend money on equipment.
What I didn't love was her eating plans said it could work for vegetarians and vegans but all her recipes and plans included a lot of eggs for snacks as well as the normal chicken and fish. As I can't eat eggs and chicken, this makes it difficult for me to try and figure out a good replacement without using processed vegan options.
What I didn't love was her eating plans said it could work for vegetarians and vegans but all her recipes and plans included a lot of eggs for snacks as well as the normal chicken and fish. As I can't eat eggs and chicken, this makes it difficult for me to try and figure out a good replacement without using processed vegan options.
March 31, 2018
Widerstrom is definitely onto something with the idea that personality affects how you diet and exercise. However, the personality profile quiz didn't correctly identify my personality type. I had a hard time answering several of the questions because none of the answers really expressed my thoughts on the question. So, I read all 5 of the descriptions and diet plans, and conclude that the quiz reversed my primary and secondary traits.
The plans sound workable for someone really ready to commit to a drastic change in eating habits.
The recipes provided sound delicious--and I am a very picky eater. I will be trying some of them.
The plans sound workable for someone really ready to commit to a drastic change in eating habits.
The recipes provided sound delicious--and I am a very picky eater. I will be trying some of them.
December 6, 2017
The Hook: The possibility of finding a diet that might just work.
Ms. Widerstrom did a great job with this book. Her approach is something to consider and she presents it and backs it up, in a an approachable way. It was clear and easy to read. Not to mention the break down of the four main diet personalities she introduces truly is customized according to personality. From meals to workouts. It's worth a read if you've tried diet after diet and not sure why it just doesn't work for you.
More at http://411junkie.com
Ms. Widerstrom did a great job with this book. Her approach is something to consider and she presents it and backs it up, in a an approachable way. It was clear and easy to read. Not to mention the break down of the four main diet personalities she introduces truly is customized according to personality. From meals to workouts. It's worth a read if you've tried diet after diet and not sure why it just doesn't work for you.
More at http://411junkie.com
January 14, 2019
The quiz is to help you understand your approach to exercies and diet. The questions focus on how you handle project and whatnot. Then, there's a chapter on how that personality type should approach diet and what type of exercise works best (a class with friends, start at home, etc.) and diets to coordinate with it.
I wish there had been more information about the exercise. I'm a Never Ever, so I'm more inclined to intellectualize and rationalize my actions or lack thereof. The exercise advice is too vague to be useful.
I wish there had been more information about the exercise. I'm a Never Ever, so I'm more inclined to intellectualize and rationalize my actions or lack thereof. The exercise advice is too vague to be useful.
February 28, 2021
I like the variety of options presented, and the addition of recipes & workouts, but the idea that everyone falls into one (or even two) of five personality types is laughable. Maybe the simplicity helps sell books, but I would’ve enjoyed this more if she had just given diet & meal options for the readers to choose from, instead of including the quiz and assigning the one she thinks is best based on the results.
February 29, 2020
Interesting and helpful take on how our personalities affect how we approach dieting, exercise and health. The meal plans seem each....but for my personality type those green morning shakes just sounded gross.
October 16, 2017
Meh. Basically what I've been following. No new revelations. She was accurate about personality traits and habits though.
April 9, 2018
This took me a while to finish...but I am excited to finally start implementing these strategies.
April 27, 2024
Ok
Loved the first part with all the psychology of why we eat the way we do. The rest with the meal plans was kinda boring.
Loved the first part with all the psychology of why we eat the way we do. The rest with the meal plans was kinda boring.
March 17, 2017
I don't believe in dieting as much as lifestyle changes so this was an odd book for me to pick up but after hearing Jen discuss it on Julie Foucher's podcast, I was intrigued. The beginning was rough for me to get through and would be more valuable for someone who is just starting out on a healthy lifestyle but the personality section was spot on!
Everything that Jen discussed in my section (The Organized Doer) described me to a T. I've trained 5-6 days a week, alternating CrossFit and Running while maintaining a clean and (mostly) paleo 'diet' for almost 2 years but haven't seen too much to show for it. Everything from the fear of gaining the weight back, being my hardest critic, under-eating, and keeping to the same foods on rotation to the exercises that keep me interested couldn't be more accurate. While it wasn't anything new or groundbreaking, I think this book would be very beneficial for everyone to read just to understand yourself a little better.
Everything that Jen discussed in my section (The Organized Doer) described me to a T. I've trained 5-6 days a week, alternating CrossFit and Running while maintaining a clean and (mostly) paleo 'diet' for almost 2 years but haven't seen too much to show for it. Everything from the fear of gaining the weight back, being my hardest critic, under-eating, and keeping to the same foods on rotation to the exercises that keep me interested couldn't be more accurate. While it wasn't anything new or groundbreaking, I think this book would be very beneficial for everyone to read just to understand yourself a little better.
March 15, 2017
I well organized book. Found out I'm an organized doer...no surprise there.
I liked that she laid an individual plan out based on their personality.
A lot of what she said resonated with me.
Exercise; class settings and Independent training systems.
short intensive circuit training. Need to activate mind to keep busy and leave daily worries left a door.
I liked that she laid an individual plan out based on their personality.
A lot of what she said resonated with me.
Exercise; class settings and Independent training systems.
short intensive circuit training. Need to activate mind to keep busy and leave daily worries left a door.
March 12, 2017
Perhaps I've read too many books about nutrition. There's nothing new in here for me.
March 27, 2017
I was initially dismissive when I did the test and came out as a Rebel- until I read the description. There isn't a lot that is new (when is there?) but based on the typing alone, I'll give this a go and see what happens.
April 4, 2017
This is a fantastic book. As the title says there is no one size all way of staying in losing weight or maintaining a healthy lifestyle! This book is a great resource that you can use for practical techniques to implement immediately. I loved the self-discovery factor behind the different types of eaters.
Of course even within this book I found the best was to choose one type and then even go through the others and take what applies to you and use any of the strategies that will help!
Of course even within this book I found the best was to choose one type and then even go through the others and take what applies to you and use any of the strategies that will help!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews