Beware - the suggestions in this book can harm you
341967
Got this book after just going through excision surgery and I am alarmed that so many women are reading it because they may harm themselves by taking all of her advice. I agree with the diet, but PLEASE be aware that some of the surgical therapy she discusses in this book is not accurate and can harm you. Many women with this disease do not have endo, because regular OBGYN's are not skilled in this area, so many times they say you have endo when you don't.
If you have true endo, you will have deep nodules that can attack your bowel, ovaries and uterus. Untrained professionals can't even see them on a sonogram. It is a serious disease and only about 7 surgeons in the country perform true excision surgery. I went to one of them and although expensive, he saved my life.
Please note that many women who get traditional laser vaporizing of endo have it come back even worse, or go through several surgeries over and over again. If endo is in your bowel, even hysterectomy will not cure it - you will still have pain.
Please note that although laser surgery may provide temporary relief, vaporizing endo with a laser does nothing but spread the particles around, causing new implants to eventually grow. Please be careful and diligent in your research and know that since 1952 it has been written that the only way to stop the spreading of this disease is to have it removed like it's a cancer. A skilled doctor will go in laproscopically and excise the pieces of endo until it is all gone.
Nutrition alone cannot cure "true endometriosis" please speak to one of the 7 endometriosis specialists in the country about this - one is in NY, one is in California and I believe Oregon and Georgia. I am so emphatic because I am afraid that women will harm themselves with bad advice - trust me, I went to holistic pain centers, many OBGYN's, was on the pill, went on a special diet, etc. and all of that time the endo was invading every organ inside of me. Time is important when fighting this disease! I'm happy for the women it helped, but they most likely had mis-diagnosed endometriosis. If you want to contact me for names or information I am more than willing to help. kr0722 at aol dot com
930832
I took a look at this book to see if it might be something Icould recommend to my son's father, now that we're separated. Whilethere is some good parenting information, there are also some serious problems. Brott clearly isn't completely over his divorce yet. Little digs against mothers crop up even when he is discussing unrelated topics (for example, when he is discussing becoming a stepfather, he feels compelled to claim that mothers are more likely to abuse children than are stepfathers (he gives no reference to back up this bizarre claim). He condemns giving the mother sole or primary custody for various reasons, but supports *fathers* getting sole or primary custody--in his discussions of custody, he fails to focus on the children's best interests, but instead emphasizes the father's rights. Ditto his discussion of child support--he seems to think that mothers use child support payments to indulge themselves, without considering that adequate child support is what is the children's best interest. Furthermore, his proposed visitation schedules for breastfeeding infants are ludicrous--for example, for a one month old, breastfed, he suggests at least 3 hours a day, plus 8 to 12 hours on the weekends--a schedule that is highly likely to prevent breastfeeding from being successfully established. He also claims that extended breastfeeding (past 1 year) is merely a ploy to interfere with the father's relationship with the child. He also suggests giving "tastes" of food to very young babies (newborn to 6 months), apparently unaware that early introduction of solids can increase the risk of allergies developing. One good thing about this book is that he has included lots of information for gay fathers throughout, but I suspect that there are other books for gay fathers which do not have the problems of this book. I decided not to recommend this book to my son's fathers. Instead, I gave him a copy of _Helping_Your_Kids_Cope_With_Divorce_the_Sandcastles_Way_, which includes a wealth of balanced, compassionate, realistic advice for divorced parents of both genders.
4976768
This is a dangerous and insulting proposal. As a grieving overweight divorced mom who lives paycheck-to-paycheck, I PERSONALLY take offense to Byrne's literal interpretation of the Laws of Attraction. I worried --as most good mothers do--that something horrible would happen to my child. And she worried --as most children do--that she would die. Yes, my daughter died. No, it was not because I attracted it or she attracted it. And hundreds of friends and loved ones have stood by me in my time of grief and I doubt if ANY of them are worried about attracting death into their lives simply because they are supporting me. By the way, I have a lot of skinny, happily married, and rich friends, also. I don't think they attracted my weight or financial or marital issues just as I didn't attract any of their positive (or negative) issues. Yes, positive thinking is healthy. But no, our thoughts don't DIRECTLY manifest bad (or good) things to happen. If you want to read a much better and much more believeable book on this subject, read Deepak Chopra's "Synchrodestiny" or "The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence."
1298962
I won't go into detail about the major flaws of this book as they are already amply covered by other reviewers (i.e, it is self-contradictory, cruel at times, not open to inevitable deviations in the author's proposed schedule, dense and disorganized and therefore inappropriate for its sleep-deprived reader). What I want to contribute is the effect that it can have on the parent by describing my own experience.

1) Scare tactics: the author states in one of his text box "warnings" that sleep deprived children end up with ADD, get hurt more, do worse in school, have behavioral problems, end up becoming miserable adults, etc. This statement alone caused me to completely obsess over my child's sleep for 2 months, to the point that I could no longer just enjoy her while she is little since I was so worried all the time.

2) Undermining of parental instincts: this book gave me such a complex that every time my baby got fussy I started thinking that it was because she didn't nap for exactly 2 hours or went to bed too late the previous night and so forth. I would try to put her down for a nap instead of trying to figure out from her behavior what was upsetting her. On more than one occasion after I had given up on trying to get her to sleep and just started playing with her or something, her fussiness stopped.

3) Self-doubt: I never felt like I was doing the right thing. I would feel guilty letting her cry all day long after trying to put her down for a nap during the "window" of time when she was allegedly supposed to be tired. But then if I didn't let her cry and just let her stay up or comfort nurse or something, I felt like I was depriving her of needed sleep.

The only helpful things that I took from this book were the following: 1) Sleep is important for babies, 2) It's a good idea to plan your errands around naps to ensure that they actually take good ones, 3) If they don't nap well during the day, make bedtime earlier.

I think that what is seriously lacking in this and other comparable literature is a proper definition of what an infant "sleep problem" is. I read somewhere online that "70% of babies and toddlers have a sleep problem." Really? 70 percent? If this many babies don't sleep "normally" then we more likely need to redefine what "normal" infant sleep is. Infant sleep training is starting to turn into an institution, and too often it seems like a "sleep problem" is just whatever is inconvenient for the parent. In the case of this book, it is anything that deviates from the baby getting 12 hours of sleep at night and naps of exactly 2 hours in duration starting at exactly 9 am and 1 pm. Does your 8 month old get up 10 times a night and nurse for 30 minutes each time? Yeah, that it probably a sleep problem. Does your 5 month old go the entire day without taking naps and get cranky in the evenings but sleeps well at night? That is obviously less than ideal but he probably won't end up having ADD or become a serial killer. Parents need to know at what point they should actually be worried so that they don't pull their hair out just because their baby isn't a textbook sleeper.

Parents also need to know how they can actually tell if their child is "sleep deprived" or not. Adults don't all sleep the same way, and neither do babies. Babies don't all eat the same way, either. My daughter is almost 6 months old and during the day eats every hour, like she was still a newborn. She has never eaten for more than 10 minutes at a time and only nurses from one breast at a feeding. According to the books, she should be eating every 4 hours, from both breasts, for 15 minutes from each breast. Am I worried about it? No, because she has always gained weight well and has had plenty of diapers. It doesn't really matter HOW she eats as long as she is thriving in this manner. By contrast, I feel like the way this book is written, there is no way of knowing if the baby is ok or not with the sleep they are getting. If they are not on the author's schedule, they will have a horrible life, period.
2194729
Do I have to give it a star? This woman is basically telling you to get a divorce or you might die! You need to save both you and your husband.  Your body and mind need are changing and your husband better change with you or you might have a heart attack! Seriously lady?!  I wish I was joking. I cannot believe people buy into her mumbo jumbo. I tried getting past her ranting and looked into some medical answers and despite how huge her book is I found it lacked options.  There are so many other ways to help your body that she ignores! Please stay away from this book and get some decent advice.
3115934
Please be wary of using the tactics in this book.  This book is linked to the homicide of a 5 year old adopted boy in Lexington, KY.  Lisa and Focus on the Family have no business advocating "hot sauce parenting" -- it is abusive and what does it teach? I can do something so bad to you that I can make you comply?

There have been day care facilities in the SE US that have had criminal charges brought against them for using the tactics in this book.  If you know of a child being subjected to "hot sauce parenting" please contact local authorities and help protect the child.

Condiments might not leave bruises on the outside but they can cause health complications and even death.  As an adult would you be willing to drink a bottle of hot sauce or a quart of vinegar?  Heck No.  Think about what a little bit would do to a child that only weighs 20-30-40lbs.  This is twisted stuff.  If you need to do this to make you feel in control of your kid maybe you should just give them up for adoption and let someone with patience rear them.
2165883
I've owned this book in an earlier edition and just ordered it again. I'll let the order stand despite the fact that I started reading it on the Cloud and found bad advice in the first few pages, in the section on boils, regarding antibiotics. The author repeats the common advice to take probiotics with antibiotics because the antibiotics kill good bacteria along with bad.

This is true. HOWEVER, any given antibiotic has only x amount of strength. It uses that strength to kill any bacteria it encountersgood or bad. If you flood your body with good bacteria while taking an antibiotic, you are in effect reducing the power of the antibiotic to kill bad bacteria.

The proper thing to do is to wait until AFTER you have finished the series of antibiotic, AND ONLY THEN should you replace the good bacteria, preferably by eating live culture yogurt daily for a week to 10 days.
3085790
This book focuses on mostly the "obey" part of the marriage vows for the woman.  There is some good points but mostly say submissive wives are the only way to have a happy marriage.  They advocate in this and other books abusing your children, recommending to keep weapons in every room of the house and the car in the event your child acts like a child you can beat them quickly. Talk about misinterpreting the Bible!!! I am sure the Lord is disappointed in them as well. My sisters and I are burning their books in the fireplace later...seriously.  Children have died due to their teachings.  Do NOT buy this book!
732882
I am all for the idea of being more positive and I believe that being positive can bring better things into your life, and it can improve your health.  I even believe that attitude has the ability to determine whether or not someone recovers from an accident or illness.....to a point.  However, this woman believes that wrong thinking causes things like baldness, MS and cancer, all diseases really.  Hmmm, so when someone gets the flu it's not germs that are making them sick, they had bad thinking.  Cancer patients, according to this book, your cancer is your fault too.  I'm sorry, but I don't buy into this blaming the victim bosh.  I cannot imagine ever letting my friend who has MS see this book and get told that her disorder is a result of her thinking.
Bad things happen to optimists too.  If you want to improve your life through positive thinking, look elsewhere.  This book has a horrible ideas for those who are suffering.
399932
Although there is some beneficial information in helping one understand why they might get triggered by a narcissist, the suggestions on how to deal with them fall very, very short. Some would consider this poor advice, especially from a licensed therapist. For example, a good therapist doesn't suggest telling someone else how they do or should feel, and they don't recommend using you statements when striving for healthy communication. In one example, the author suggests a wife tell her husband what he is feeling, and continues on with you statements. In this example, she suggests a wife tell her husband "You know, Ed, I don't believe a word of that. Its not that I think you're lying. Its just that I know you, and I know how difficult it can be for you to tell me that you miss me. When Im distracted, like this week, you often feel as if you're unimportant to me." This is the author's idea of healthy communication. The recommendations for understanding the narcissist walk a fine line of enabling the narcissist. Some advice comes across as more like enabling than merely empathizing and trying to understand the narcissist. The valuable information in this book is regarding schemas and how they affect you. I'd suggest getting something covering schemas directly rather than purchase this book, as it doesn't delve deeply into schemas yet directly points to schemas as the reason for your toxic communication with a narcissist. Taking responsibility for our part is important, understanding why we get triggered is very beneficial, if schemas are the reason, there is much better material covering them than this book. Some of the content should be in fiction, as it is doubtful that anyone who has intimate dealings with a narcissist has ever experienced anything even remotely resembling the following passage from this book:

You can see the little boy within Ed, stomping his foot, crossing his arms, and secretly wishing that his mom or dad would come and hold him and take the pain away. You sense how hes holding on to his protective armor. The timbre of his voice has changed. Although his words underscore his anger, he seems to be more engaged with you, as if prompting you to reinforce the message. You move toward him and reply, Listen, Ed, I get that you feel angry. But the way you express it only pushes me away. I don't think you really want to push me away. I think you want me to hear you and to love you. Im only asking that you look behind the anger and tell me about the hurt I can sense as I stand here next to you. You reach to take his hand. He sheepishly allows you to take his hand and says in a slightly whiny but gentler tone, Listen, Karen, I know its been a tough week for you. But its tough for me too. Thats all. Sorry. Go do your workout. Ill be fine. Youre so pleased by this shift. Youve reached him. Youve extracted the little boy from underneath the mask of the angry fire-breathing dragon. You have wrapped your brain around his vulnerability, as well as your own. It takes tremendous courage to stand up to a dragon with only a single weapon, and an untraditional one at that: compassion. You thank Ed for listening and acknowledge his feelings. You offer to do a shorter workout and propose that the two of you spend some extra time together tonight. He accepts your offer.
3761553
My minister had my husband and I read this book as part of premarital counseling.  While I am sure that this approach may work for a lot of people, I found it to be highly insulting as a woman. The main issue with this book is the blatant sexism and misogyny.  The only thing this book really does is try to convince men their wives are inferior and always at fault for every mistake he makes.  If you want to read a book about how to treat your wife like s*** instead of like an equal then, by all means read it.

I felt like it suggested that women don't need respect and men don't need love and I feel that to be incredibly false.  Instead of teaching communication skills that would be useful, it's the typical "all women are this way and all men are that way" approach.  As a more nontraditional woman married to a nontraditional man, I found that this book and its lessons did more harm to our relationship than good.  Also, I found that it is demeaning to people who don't fit the particular gender tropes listed in the book.  The only good that came from me reading this book with my husband was so that I could tell him it was more of a text on what not to do.

If your relationship fits traditional religious gender stereotypes then this book might be very helpful for you, but if your relationship deviates beyond that even the slightest then it won't help at all.

For all people looking for good marital advice I suggest The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman.  Rather than have information based on tropes and gender stereotypes, it's based on the results of a test you take when you start the book.  He also has other books that are all based this way, so that the advice is specific to you and not to how someone else believes men and women are.

The other thing my husband and I did that greatly deepened our relationship and opened our communication is a Meyers Briggs test.  Again, this method teaches you about your personality and has nothing to do with your gender and about your personality.  You can take a free version of the test online here.  [...]
There are also lots of amazing books on how to communicate and be more understanding to those with opposing traits, like "Personality Type: An Owner's Manual" or "Type Talk: The 16 Personality Types That Determine How We Live, Love, and Work"
2833625
Buyer Beware - Before you buy this book - you would be wise to read ALL 46+ reviews on Dr. Perricone and his ideas. Some reviews are quite insightful and practical. Pease remember that Dr. Perricone himself recommends MODERATION - so too, the reader should exercise true moderation in how much he actually believes Dr. Perricone's "prescriptions". Like anything else - this book is NOT the Bible of weight loss - it's just another opinion that 'apparently' may work for some folks by not everyone. Buyer Beware.
2625960
There are some good ideas in the book. However, I can't see losing weight with the carbs in these recipes. Olive oil is likely protective, but  following up good recommendations with the idea that no amount of healthy eating can offset red meat or mayonnaise casts suspicion on the science. Who has never eaten something on the "bad" list or can be sure they never will. So there is will always be a "reason" why you may get breast cancer anyway. Also, I have seen very thin ladies who had breast cancer. One was also a vegan. So being thin and a herbivore is no guarantee. Which comes to the point. They still don't know what causes it, how to cure it and how to prevent it. Take for example the alcohol debate which rages on and a different opinion endorsed by the medical community comes out each week. It would be kinder to just stop the speculation until somebody knows for sure what the Hell is causing it. Or is willing to give up all the money made off the unfortunate people who have it and come out with the real answers and solutions. Most likely good intentions behind the book, but could be a false sense of security.
2564766
please stay away from this book and all advice given in it.  two children have already died because of the authors of this book.
1720050
Beware of this book. It was written by a former Elder of the Local Church which has been proven to be a Cult by Dr. Walter Martin and other prominent Christian leaders; and, after much research of their theology, was added to the Encyclopedia of Cults.

The Local Church has also lost numerous legal battles trying to prove that they are not a Cult, and no longer have legal options available. They have been classified a Cult by all proper authorities.

Please search for Dr. Walter's message on Witness Lee, Henry Hon's mentor, and the Local Church on you tube prior to purchasing this book; and, especially before reading it as it contains teaching that can brainwash someone into a different person that family and friends will not recognize.

The author's approach is nothing short of an extension of Local Church Cult doctrine, which the author is now presenting as his own and attempting to start his own movement with. It is a very dangerous book for any Christian to read as it not only teaches division, but it also teaches passivity which is to relinquish the control of your mind for control by unknown spiritual powers, which is where the personality and character changes will come to pass!

Please do your due diligence read up on the Local Church, and watch Dr. Walter's video on the Local Church before giving blind faith to Mr. Hon. Mr Hon was an Elder in the Local Church, and taught their doctrine for over 30 years! Watch out!
3360781
Right away you are likely to have problems with Hell Week by Erik Bertrand Larssen. Who, after all, wants to go through the kind of terrible experience associated with such a title?  Larssen, is Norwegian, a former paratrooper who served in some of the worlds worst trouble spots, and is now a performance consultant, meaning that he helps people and organizations improve their performance largely through mental processes. Central to his approach is the idea of making a commitment to live and experience just one week as your best self. The book is divided into three parts. The author starts with the idea that you can accomplish more in life than you think. Part one is titled Planning and Preparation and focuses on a seven step plan that includes the following:
1. Embrace adversity.
2. Get mentally prepared.
3. Strengthen your mind.
4. Gather feedback.
5. Define your goals.
6. Use visualization.
7. Devise a program.

Part 2 covers the seven days and focuses on mental aspects. Monday is concerned with your old habits, Tuesday, with developing a new habit, Wednesday with managing your time, Thursday with getting out of your comfort zone, Friday with rest and recovery, Saturday with controlling your inner dialogue and Sunday with putting your life into perspective. Part 3 covers actions after Hell Week.

The problem with Larssens ideas is that they are largely an adaptation of his military training experiences, which for most people are irrelevant and can even be harmful. For example, he says you should get up at 5 am and go to bed at 10 pm. This schedule might not work for a lot of people. What is a better idea is to have a specific time you go to bed and get up and that you get sufficient rest.  Another of his recommendations is to stay up all night (on Thursday) and then rest on Friday. This idea might work for college students who pull all-nighters to cram for an exam but clearly will not work for people who have to go to work on Friday. A final example is his advice that you engage in strenuous physical activity well beyond your normal level. Doing so could result in serious injury or at least make exercise so unpleasant that you are unlikely to continue it. A better idea is to gradually increase the intensity of your exercise and as your body adapts you will find you can perform at a higher level. For example I want to run a 5 K in under 30 minutes. My starting point was to walk one mile in 15 minutes. I can now run a mile in 11:13 and will continue each week to build on that pace and extend the distance until I reach my goal.

In sum, the value of this book is in the ideas relating to mental preparation, not the specific physical actions. Making a commitment to change, creating a workable and realistic plan, persistence in following and adapting that plan, keeping records and analyzing the results are all critical to behavior change. The hardest part of this process is getting started. (To have begun is half done.) Thus taking a week to focus on the change you want to make in your life and implementing a plan to achieve your goals is a good idea and using the mental processes suggested by Larssen can be a valuable way to begin this process. But a better name might be Transformation Week and a better idea is to focus on the long term. Thus I recommend this book for its emphasis on mental processes, while at the same time cautioning readers about the behavioral aspects.

Finally, it is interesting that all the previous reviews for this book have been either 5 star or 1 star, I think that my review provides an explanation for this difference. The people who love the book most likely are people from similar backgrounds as the author. The others most likely are not. My point in my review is to take the positives from the book and adapt the behaviors to your personal situation.
441107
After reading this book I was truly disgusted with the author who hides behind the word "straight" to describe his behavior.  I was also astounded that he would attack the African American Churches for their failure to embrace his "Free Will" Lifestyle.  I left this book with a feeling that this is a dangerous book for young men who may be vulnerable to the seduction of older predatory males.  I was fascinated by the authors admission that he and other men experience feelings that he described at being out of body and involved talking in voices not their own.  This has sometimes been described as demonic.  However, he gives you conflicting information because on one hand he claims to be disgusted with his conduct but other places he tells you that he is ok with his lifestyle.  It is these conflicting messages that make the author and others like him dangerous to African American Women.  I recommend that if you read this book you be very careful about the message you take from this book.