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Available
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Collection
User reviews
LibraryThing member neurodrew
Subtitled "how to lose weight and change the world", Watson writes about the discipline necessary to lose 20 lbs, but comes to the conclusion that eliminating raw sugar and processed foods is morally necessary, since these are foisted upon unsuspecting people by large corporations. I think this
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perspective is flawed; corporations are not in the business of forcing people to go against their tastes, but rather cater to them, and the taste for sugar and salt is inate. The need for fresh foods all the time, as Watson maintains is the best revenge, cannot be met without vast investments in transportation and packaging. These are apparently somehow better corporate practices than using salt for preservation. The book was brief, thought provoking but ultimately the author's viewpoint is all too predictable when one knows he is an academic philosopher, and not seriously in the world of work Show Less
LibraryThing member varielle
There are no menus, complicated calorie guidelines or other standard diet book formulas in this one. It's a very simple and short guide to making the decision to change your life. Get moving and keep it under 900 calories a day until you get down to where you want to be. Then figure out how much
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you can eat without destroying what you've just accomplished. I've started running again because of this book. Give it a try. Show Less
LibraryThing member nhcoffin
I'd love to reread this book if someone would just give it back! I am no good at dieting, but, by making a diet a subversive way to counteract mass culture this title helps me in those small day to day decisions.
Publication
Boston : David R. Godine, c1998,
Description
"In this book, I tell how to take weight off and keep it off." The author doesn't stop there, but continues, "The book also embodies a philosophy of life. The weight program is the content of the book, the philosophy of life is its form." If Descartes had sat down to write a treatise on losing weight as a metaphor for maintaining discipline amidst life's vicissitudes, it would have read much like this. Mr. Watson has written an erudite, fascinating, and eccentric book ever written on the subject of weight control, a combination of common sense (driven by human experience), Cartesian philosophy, and the presumption that understanding the mysteries of weight loss and the universe are somehow compatible, even sympathetic, ambitions.
Original publication date
1985
Physical description
xiv, 109 p.; 21 cm