Body-for-Life for Women

January 31, 2005
According to Peeke, the unique hormonal and life challenges that all women go through over the course of their lives dramatically affect their ability to "remove" or maintain weight. In this adaptation of the popular Body-for-Life Program, Peeke (Fight Fat After Forty
) offers sound nutritional advice and discusses how physiology and genetics influence metabolism. Although she describes how daily stressors and destructive habits can have life-threatening consequences, Peeke primarily aims to remove what she identifies as the greatest obstacle to weight loss—a woman's reluctance to focus on her own needs. While Peeke stresses her program's holistic nature, exercise, she says, is paramount. Photographs and instructions for cardio and resistance training and flexibility exercises will help women develop fitness plans that suit their abilities. But the emphasis on weight training, which Peeke says is essential to weight loss and maintenance, could intimidate readers unaccustomed to much physical activity. Others may have difficulty with the limited food choices in the weight-loss segment of the program, or the amount of time required to make use of its copious tools (journals, checklists, progress reports, etc.). Despite her book's drawbacks, Peeke's style, a mix of cheeky humor and not-so-gentle cajoling, as well as individual success stories, will likely motivate many readers to take the Peeke Challenge and become "Peeke Performers."