Fat Loss Habits by Ben Carpenter

Fat Loss Habits really is the ‘no bullsh*t’ guide to losing weight and after reading it, I’m positive the author is right when he claims diets don’t work, habits do.

We’ve all contemplated a diet at some stage of our lives, whether due to health problems or because we’ve celebrated much too vigorously over the holidays. As the author asks in the book, “if we are told to lose weight, we are told to eat less and be more active. Sounds simple, right? So, why is it so many people find it so difficult to do?”

Losing weight is much more complex than simply embarking on a diet. Genetics play a large part in your weight as do environmental, economic and psychological factors.

Carpenter has spent his entire adult life working in the fitness industry and the majority of his clients have one common goal: to lose body fat. Having witnessed many trends, he considers there are a huge range of societal obstacles that make weight gain much easier than it’s ever been in past generations. For example, T.V was less common and there wasn’t the large selection of shows and movies to watch—and we don’t even have to get up to change the channel now. We would have been less likely to spend our working days sat in front of our computers. Gaming on screens wasn’t a thing, and we all kept gardens, grew our own vegetables and mowed the lawns ourselves.

While technology has the ability to entertain us, it makes our lives easier while making us more sedentary. For example, most of us have access to private and public transport which saves us valuable time walking. Escalators and elevators spare us the effort of climbing stairs. We don’t even have to go shopping; we simply sit at home and shop using the internet. Even a meal out has become a meal in with Uber. And who doesn’t sit and ‘doomscroll’ on their phones? We are set up to fail if we venture on a fat loss diet—and if we do lose weight, most of us can’t sustain it.

In Fat Loss Habits, Carpenter gives us 13 healthy habits that we can self-audit and work into our daily lives. He gives us the skills to build these habits and nurture them. This book is certainly a no-nonsense guide to making small changes in our lives that will have a huge impact in our health.  Fat Loss Habits should be a compulsory read for anyone contemplating a diet.

Reviewer: Carole Brungar

Hachette