Extreme Transformation: Lifelong Weight Loss in 21 Days Paperback – December 20, 2016

This is truly the most awesome “diet book” I’ve found. It contains EVERYTHING one needs to succeed.I’ve always found these types of books and programs lacking and hard to follow because they simply don’t offer enough info that’s broken down enough to make them easy to abide by. THIS book took those failings and made an all-inclusive diet/exercise program that even the most unmotivated people can get on board with.Not only does it explain the process of carb cycling, but it provides an actual schedule to follow the cycle with a variety of recipes for things to eat on those days. If you don’t want to eat a particular recipe, it also breaks down the categories of foods you should be eating and what portions. If that’s not easy enough, there’s a list of tons of foods that fall under those categories. They even provide shopping lists in the back of the book to make it as easy as it can be without having groceries delivered right to your door. The bonus for me on top of all that was that the recipes were mostly vegetarian and they provided many options. Almost every diet book I’ve seen was of little use if you didn’t eat meat or fish (both of which I don’t). So a book with recipes that I’ll actually eat that are approved with this program is an extraordinary find. And the recipes are high class. They went out of their way to make every dish tasty and flavorful so you don’t get sick of eating plain-Jane salads.These authors are the valedictorians of their genre!*The only aside I have is that there was too much “fluff” inspirational talk through the first couple chapters before they got to the “meat” of what you need to know.

Today is day 21 for me. I have followed the program almost completely - I haven't done their suggested exercise but I have my own workout schedule already so I'm not sedentary. I had one slip up this week but otherwise, I've done what I was told by the Powells (ha ha). I think this is a really good program. I've lost 7.5 in 20 days. I have a total of about 20-25 pounds I need to lose so I think that's a pretty good rate of weight loss. If I was just counting calories, I'd probably only have lost about 3 by this point. It took a minute to get used to eating 5 times a day but now I really like it. It helps break up my work day to think in increments of getting 3 food breaks during the day. I felt like the recipes were a really good start point to figure out how I'm supposed to be eating and now I'm comfortable with creating my own meals if I want to but I still mostly stick to their recipes just to make it easy. There are enough choices that I'm not getting tired of the food. The one and only possible detractor would be how long the food prep takes, but if I'm being real, I'm sure any successful diet program would entail similar time spent on food prep. I am really happy I started this program. It's given me structure that I've been lacking in trying to do this without a plan before and the results have made me so happy!

The book and plan are great. I was able to drop over 4% body fat in a month by following their meal plan and recipes. They taste good and are simple.Everyday is different, so the meal prep and packing takes quite some time if you have a very busy schedule.Unfortunately the book is falling apart after the month of use...the spine is not holding the pages and I've taped them back in so I can re-use recipes. It's completely not usable as a book anymore. I will need to copy the recipes I really love onto something else to keep them. I wish that the book was more durable so I could keep using it without purchasing another one.

I love the Powell's. But I must say this this isn't their best work. The book feels rushed. Details weren't attended to. I am finishing week one, prepping for week two and there are several things you need that aren't on the shopping lists. Also- the prep instructions are greatly lacking so as others have commented, you end up spending tons of time cooking. This time would be reduced by more prep and definitely more specific prep- not just cook 6 oz chicken but slice x ounces and shred the rest. Or a couple times a recipe has called for frozen bananas but the prep doesn't tell you to freeze them. Expanded prep would be extremely helpful. And I have been doing the cooking as I am off work for winter break but during a normal week, there is absolutely no way I could have cooked as much as I have. I am spending, on average, 2.5-3 hours a day between prep and cook. (I started tracking after the first day) That doesn't include time to eat. Asking my boss for three 45 min breaks to make meals throughout the day wouldn't go over well. But I will say the food is amazing! I have loved everything I tried. I plan to keep working the plan, auditing the shopping list against recipes each week to prevent multiple trips and making up my own prep sheets so I can incorporate it into my life. More work than I expected to do to make something positioning itself as a transformation guide but as I have lost 14 lbs in the first week, I want to keep going!