A wealth of positivity and practical instruction suffuses this exuberant weight-loss guide.
U.S. Navy veteran McVicker’s health-conscious lifestyle guide aimed at safe, effective weight loss.
The author radically changed his body and his overall outlook on wellness after dropping 60 pounds in six months and achieving a 10% body fat ratio. He condenses his wisdom into a galvanizing pep talk targeting readers whose efforts at weight loss have been derailed or discouraged by a lack of impulse control or inspiration. Uniquely titled from a metaphorical frog fable about the importance of patience, the book charts out an easy-to-follow regimen of daily diet and exercise goals with a “no excuses” philosophy. McVicker places the responsibility for goal-setting and optimum outcomes solely on the reader. His book is an effective combination of memoir and results-driven diet handbook that maps out his own journey to weight-loss wellness. He shares that “mental preparation” and “crawl” pacing must be the key initial factors when beginning any kind of weight-loss program. McVicker explains that going too fast and not balancing the physical with the psychological will promote failure. His own journey to wellness is riveting: He details his sedentary years of heavy beer drinking, smoking, and an extended Covid-19 quarantine period during which he became depressed and ritually consumed fast food. He admits feeling embarrassed to tell his wife about a spontaneous decision to walk to the store instead of driving there, which spurred the beginnings of a self-actualized lifestyle change. While his regimen of portion control and exercise is fairly standard, it is McVicker’s exhilaration for the cause that is the book’s true motivating factor. In addition to meal guidelines and recommendations, his loosely styled suggestions for exercise range from simply standing up (for those with range-of-motion restrictions) to an extensive series of stretching techniques, investing in a Fitbit, and “slowly stepping up” to increase the intensity of movement and resistance exertion. Brief and blissfully unsophisticated, McVicker’s guide implores everyday readers to forgive their past and commit to a more health-conscious, longevity-minded life by remaining mindful of calories, getting regular exercise, and having a proactive (and contagious) “winner’s attitude.”
A wealth of positivity and practical instruction suffuses this exuberant weight-loss guide.Pub Date: May 12, 2022
ISBN: 9781662478895
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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