I spent 15 weeks on the library waiting list. The library notified me that the book was in for me to pick up. Couldn’t get there. The book went to the next person on the list. I went back on the waiting list. Only a 12 week waiting period this time. The library emailed me again to say the book was in. I made sure I got to it this time.
I read it form cover to cover to get an overview of the message. Thought I was missing something. I read it again- slower this time. Hmm, still not impressed. I was going to write a more in-depth review but I really can’t be bothered to devote too much time to it. I usually provide a few links for readers to check out, but as I don’t recommend the books I won’t link to any sites. I have searched and searched for others who might share similar thoughts to me…but I can’t find any other review that speaks out against teh new-age practices in this book!
What book am I talking about? Jon Gabriel’s, The Revolutionary DIET-FREE Way to Totally Transform Your Body.
The book makes some outstanding claims and they may very well be true for some readers. However, as a Jesus follower I just can’t practice the methods purported in the book. I believe many of the methods to be new-age (personal transformation) and have roots in mysticism and Gnosticism. (Yep, now I’m making the broad claims!)
After reading The Gabriel Method, you will learn:
- Your body has a reason why it’s holding on to weight–and it’s not your fault.
- Fat is a cushion–a protective barrier that our mind believes is helping to protect us.
- If you can change that belief, you can change your body; Stop the cycle of crash dieting and start eating what you want, when you want it.
- How to choose healthy, nutritious foods that nourish the cells in your body, not starve them.
- Delicious shakes and smoothies, and super-power supplements, that can jump start your success.
- The simple way you can train your mind and body to work with your goal of health, not against it.
- Eliminate the emotional and mental reasons your body holds on to weight in just 10 minutes a day.
The book is [apparently] quite scientific and the author has studied biochemistry (I don’t know if it was an accredited course). Mr. Gabriel writes that the body has an internal logic that determines how fat or thin each person will be at any given time. Therefore the way to weight loss is not in struggling, dieting or even exercise but to understand the logic (?) or reasoning within your body and work with it, not against it. When your body feels safe and desires to be thinner, weight loss is inevitable, automatic and effortless. Apparently, one can transform themselves into a thin person and eat whatever they want, whenever they want!
The book contains a CD which the reader/listener is supposed to listen to at night, while in bed [preferably]. This immediately sets alarm bells ringing in my head as it should any Christian. The practices of hypnosis, positive self-talk, visualisation, meditation, and other methods used throughout this book take the onus away from man created in the image of God and toward a more pantheistic view of man. The methods used in the book are often a quick way to be introduced to new age thoughts and beliefs (world view). These practices often lead one to another as they take hold of a person’s life and the person begins to ‘grow’ in self awareness, etc.
Just because a book doesn’t swear, or does mention God doesn’t mean its foundational principles are based on science or the word of God.
No doubt that many people like this book and have benefited from it but as a believer and a Creationist I could not recommend this book to anyone- in fact, quite the opposite! Get a calorie counter, bottle of water and hit the treadmill instead. if you do want to read some good books that I do recommend, try Body for Life by Bill Phillips or Crunch Time by Michelle Bridges.
I heard this guy speak on the radio recently. The way I understood it was that it was related to the metabolism and things like the bodies natural instinct to hold more weight if it isn’t receiving much food (the reason crash diets cause weight gain afterwards) On the radio it seemed fairly scientifically based with him stating facts I recognised, but I know of other situations where the overview seems scientific and the infomation is not, so I guess it’s one of those. That’s a shame because I’d been intending to buy the book myself.
Hi Abba12,
Thanks for your comment! Yes, I’ve read a few interviews with him, read many testimonials, watched the ‘interviews’ on ACA, TT and similar. While there is some scientific fact, it is largely common sense and nothing new under the sun. He talks a little about protein and clean foods and whole foods but most (or many) weight loss books and health books do the same- minus the new age teaching.
It’s the age old principle that Rex Russell talks about in his book, “What the Bible Says about Healthy Living”
1) Eat only substances created for food.
2) Eat foods as they were created.
3) Don’t let any food or drink become your God.
Follow the above and exercise hard…leave all the new age stuff alone! What is better than that?
# Your body has a reason why it’s holding on to weight–and it’s not your fault.
# Fat is a cushion–a protective barrier that our mind believes is helping to protect us.
Ho, Ho, Ho! It could just be me, but my body (ruled by my sinful nature and fleshly lusts) thinks not about protective layers and who’s fault it is: it just see the Lindt. 😎
It’s funny isn’t it? We live surrounded by KFC, Maccas, and cheap pizza places, almost all of us eat more than we need and exercise as little as is humanly possible, and yet people are still writing books as though there is a great, big, secret mystery as to why we are overweight, just waiting to be revealed. (for just 30 or so of your hard earned dollars – good on you for waiting on the library list!)
I have times when I struggle to maintain a healthy weight, and the reasons are generally…well, let’s just say “not pretty”. But we live in a society now where nothing is anyone’s fault, and if you do manage to do something bad we don’t call it sin: it is an illness, or bad luck, or your parents fault for calling you stupid back when you were.
Hang on, what’s that red light flashing? Ohhhh. It’s the rant mode alert. 😛 It’s been going off a bit this week: I’ll blame it on the wet weather (can’t be my fault! 😉 )
beyondbluestockings. xx (signing off before the mania overtakes me…)
My mum paid $$$$$$ for this book when it first came out!~ she read it very quickly and I think her words were “what a load of rubbish” which was enough for me not to bother reading it! There is no magic secret to weight loss, no cure, no formula, just plain hard work!!! And yes, I agree that Bill Phillips and Tom Venuto as aucthors, would probably be the most common sense approach to weight loss out there. It is hard work and there isn’t any “science” to it!
Yeah, I looked at it at Dymocks and thought – not for me. I find there really is no easy way to lose weight – its just being in it for the long haul, making food and workout changes, working on mind stuff, prayer, two steps forward, one step back. The same for maintenance for me, too!
Hi Susan
The “mind-over-body” emphasis rang alarm bells for me too – I haven’t read the book but researched as much as possible on the net and decided it was too “New-Age” for Christians. Thanks for your review!