Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why the fans of this book are so....rabid. There's no other way to describe it. The people who like this book REALLY like this book and have made it their life mission to convert everyone else to the THM way of life. "It's NOT a low-carb diet!" they insist (except that it is). "It's NOT a diet! It's a LIFESTYLE!" they will shout at you (which, you know, every other DIET also says). Here are my issues with the book: 1) It calls for quite a few odd and expensive ingredients. Of course, they will also shout at you that you don't NEED to buy those. But if you're going to use most the recipes in the book, you're going to need them. 2) This is petty, but they have such silly darn names for EVERYTHING. Even the book itself. But the recipes are worse: Tummy Tucking Ice Cream. Big Boy Smoothie. Fat Stripping Frappa. How on earth can grown women say these recipes with a straight face? There's no way I could TELL anyone the name of the diet I was on or the name of the recipes. I'd die of embarrassment. 3) Speaking of the recipes, most of them just are NOT that good. Many of them are flat-out bad. But don't mention that on the FB group, because you will be told that your taste buds just need to adjust to this new way of eating. I suspect that's a nicer way of saying, "If you go a month without real sugar, you will forget what it tastes like and a lousy imitation will taste much better." Of the recipes that do "work," they require a good deal of "tweaking." Of course, if you get on the FB group, everyone will tell you that that's what so GREAT about these recipes, that you can tweak them until they taste the way that you like. I'm sorry, but if you're going to give me a recipe, I want the stupid thing to WORK. 3a) The layout of the recipes is just plain bizarre, too. They're written out in a story format. You have to hunt for the measurements. They are NOT easy to follow. 4) As for the FB group, don't go on there unless you have only good things to say about this book. Should you say anything to the contrary, you will immediately have 100 minions jumping down your throat, telling you how WRONG you are. The group is very carefully moderated and only posts consistent with the beliefs of the Cambells will be allowed. Dissenting posts will be quickly deleted. 4a) And as I'm sure you've noticed if you've read the negative reviews here on Amazon, the THM Minions are quick to comment and tell you how WRONG you are and that you just don't understand how wonderful THM is and how fabulously it works. Nor should it surprise you that there have been at more than a couple posts within the FB group encouraging its members to come here and leave good reviews and comment on the bad ones. 4b) I also find it bizarre how secretive the FB members are about sharing recipes (all in the name of protecting Pearl and Serene's hard work, of course). A simple Google search will lead you to most of the recipes posted on various blogs. And we're not talking super-duper original recipes, for the most part, either. Skinny chocolate is cocoa, coconut oil, and sweetener of choice. It's not something that the Pearl and Serene came up with on their own. But if you ask about it on the group (as someone recently did) you will quickly have 10 women telling you that they can't share that information and you MUST buy this $35 book because if you don't understand WHY the diet (excuse me, LIFESTYLE) works, then the recipes will do you no good. 4c) Do not make any comments on the FB group that balk at the ridiculous price. You will quickly be overwhelmed with women telling you that it is SO worth it, even if your children have to go without shoes so that you can save up for it. (Or they'll suggest that you have your local library buy it. As the daughter of small-town librarian, let me tell you: $35 is a lot of money for a library to spend on a book that one person wants.) In conclusion: It's an okay book. Some of the recipes are fine, but be prepared to do a lot of tweaking. The book is certainly not worth $35 for the hard copy, no matter how thick it is. I paid $20 for the Kindle edition and I'm not even quite certain it was worth that much. Be aware that no matter what the minions on FB tell you, it is essentially Low-Carb for Christians. Will you lose weight on it? If you follow it, yes. Because it's it's not unique. It's like any other diet: as long as you follow it, it works. As with any other diet, if you want the weight to stay off, it has to be a LIFESTYLE.