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The One Day Way, by Chantel Hobbs

200+ pounds lost

Chantel Hobbs weighed over 300 pounds.  She began her struggle with weight, dieting, failing and self-loathing at eleven years old.  Then one day she chucked dieting.  She stopped making excuses and began her journey to thin.  In the One-Day Way, Chantel shares her success story, the successes of some of her friends, and the necessary strategies anyone can use to become healthy and fit.

This book impressed me more than I can say.  As you read on, understand that I am committing myself to The One-Day Way.  I have already begun.  Won’t you join me?

Chantel presents The One-Day Way in four parts.  In the first part, she teaches us to level the way we measure success.  In order to take charge of our bodies, we need to first take charge of our minds.  No more excuses.

Because changing your life is difficult and thinking differently about your life is a challenge, you will be tempted to give up.  You’ll start thinking that nothing has really changed, and you’ll wonder why you’re trying to kid yourself.  It will be much easier just to go back to your old habits. That is why you need to understand how your thinking always controls your actions.  Both negative and positive thoughts have the ability to dictate your actions at any given moment.  What gives you the upper hand is that you have a choice: will you make sure that positive thoughts control your mind, or will you give in to negative thoughts? The ability to choose your thoughts and actions gives you tremendous power.  You can decide which thoughts will rule your actions, and those decision will dictate whether you succeed or repeat a past failure.

In part two, Chantal explains how to lay your own personal foundation for success.  First you decide what it is you want to build on the foundation.  Knowing what you plan to build, provides you with a blue print you build your success upon — one meal at a time, one day at a time.  Chantel puts forth a better way to look at our failures — we will have them, but failing to met a goal, and quitting are two different things. Shake the failure off, reassess and move on.  Chantel also discusses acknowledging and celebrating our successes, without allowing them to set us up for later failures.

In part three, Chantel leads us to the realization of inner resources many of us may never have known to tap.  Even as she motivates us to build our dream, she doesn’t pull her punches.  The weight will not come off as easily as it went on, but with persistence it will come off — and you will begin to feel better about who you are.   This is the section where most life change gurus try to sell you all of their specialized workout equipment.  Not Chantel.  She does tell us what equipment we need, but she doesn’t name brands, websites or points of purchase.

In part four, Chantel outlines the  necessary steps to maintaining our weight — but she is no longer talking about struggle, because by the time we reach level four, living healthy will have become a habit.  Chantel asks us to sign a covenant with ourselves to commit to the change.  She also asks us to bring our own personal faith into the mix.  Trying our success to our faith provides us with a sure source of strength most of us overlook.

I would like to offer my thanks to the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing me with a free copy of this book for my review.  I fully plan to allow what I have gained from reading this book to influence the rest of my life.

16 Comments

  1. I would love to join you! I know that the only way to loose my excess weight is the change me….but that is also the biggest obstacle! Can´t wait to read more. I´ll see if I can order this book online.

  2. Sounds like a good plan! I thought I had it mastered … but I’m a true slip-slider… *sigh* … so off we go on this journey together! CHEERS to US and rethinking our lifestyles!!!
    .-= Melli´s last blog ..Somebody Always Helps! =-.

    1. Melli — that is one thing I really liked about the book — Chantel tell it like it is, not like how we’d all like it to be. She talks about choices and cop outs and quitting. She doesn’t pull any punches and instead shines spotlights on the excuses and stumbling blocks we allow to hold us back.

    1. Barbara — when I picked up Chantel’s book, I had no intention of following the diet plan. I don’t find the “after” picture of her very motivating. She looks a bit to “manufactured” to suit me, but that before photo really caught my attention and gave me the incentive to at least hear her out — and she convinced me that she is a real person and not at all plastic or phony.

      Visit that website link I emailed you and check out the dieter’s devotions.

  3. hmmm… just reading about stuff like that doesn’t change anything… one really must commit onseslf to a different lifestyle – and that is a permanent commitment, not a one-time fad
    .-= polona´s last blog ..prickly =-.

  4. Yay for the cheerleaders and yay for the realist (Polona). Losing weight is simple math — burn more calories than you take in. To help you there are no end to programs and books and equipment, etc. There’s even a great FREE i-Phone APP called “Lose It”. But it all starts with commitment to doing things differently…forever. So good for you for giving this book a try, and after the move, learn all about your new neighborhood and surroundings by putting on a rain slicker and going for a vigorous walk. EVERY day. The rain slicker is because if it isn’t raining when you start, it will be somewhere along the way, right?

    And, I hate to say this, but don’t take the camera. It will slow you down and you’ll burn fewer calories. Commit to vigor for a certain time period, and go back to the pretty spots later with the lenses.

    Hope this helps! I’ve been thin and I’ve been not-thin and healthy is much better…so I go to the gym 3x per week and try to burn more than I eat. It doesn’t always work, like during Christmas!
    .-= southlakesmom´s last blog ..Random Dozen =-.

    1. Kelley — Chantel was very up front about the calorie intake/ energy burning thing. This is not a “feel good” motivational kind of book. It is a “these are the facts, grow up and face them” kind of book. For those of us seriously over-weight. It is like a punch to the gut.

      1. I’m glad that she was up front about that! It is one of the very sad facts of my life that when I get to where I want to be in terms of fitness I cannot hit the “PAUSE” button and stay there. WWWAAAAHHHH!

        Seriously, I am TOTALLY in your corner for success on this! Go Go Go!
        .-= southlakesmom´s last blog ..Random Dozen =-.

  5. Chantel has the right idea. I looked back at my journals since I began Weight Watchers 9 months ago and realized how I have changed my eating habits. It really is all about living and eating healthy. It is about making this personal commitment to yourself. I feel that I have come a long way. I am almost at my goal weight (13 pounds to go!) Woot!
    .-= Church Lady´s last blog ..A Look At Christmas 2009 =-.

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