Delete Key Awards Finalist #10 – From The Secret by Rhonda Byrne:
“The most common thought that people hold [about fat], and I held it too, is that food was responsible for my weight gain. That is a belief that does not serve you, and in my mind now it is complete balderdash! Food is not responsible for putting on weight. It is your thought that food is responsible for putting on weight that actually has food put on weight.”
If this is true, how can you lose weight? Byrne suggests that you stop looking at fat people:
“If you see people who are overweight, do not observe them, but immediately switch your mind to the picture of you in your perfect body and feel it.”
So if that low-carb diet isn’t working, maybe you should stop watching those weigh-ins on The Biggest Loser.
The ten Delete Key Awards finalists are being announced in random order from No. 10 to No. 1.
© 2008 Janice Harayda. All rights reserved.
www.janiceharayda.com
One-Minute Book Reviews 
If this is true, then perhaps I can go back to eating at McDonalds and frying everything in bacon grease. Those were the days.
Malcolm
Comment by knightofswords — February 29, 2008 @ 11:51 am |
I wrote a rant on my blog about “The Secret” some time ago. I dislike it on so many levels, and it actually gets me a little angry just thinking about it. Thank goodness that in her vast storehouse of wisdom, Rhonda has passed on the cure for my angst– don’t look at this stupid book.
Comment by moonbeammcqueen — February 29, 2008 @ 2:36 pm |
Malcolm: Some people would say “The Secret” is, in itself, bacon grease.
Moonbeam: If you dislike Byrne’s book, you may want to stay far away from the just-named No. 4 finalist, “A New Earth,” the latest pick of Oprah’s Book Club.
Jan
Comment by 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — February 29, 2008 @ 3:19 pm |
I have a good friend who is overweight. No problem: when I am talking to him, I just close my eyes. I’m feeling thinner already. If any of you have a moment, and are so inclined, please visit the web site I created specifically to register my objections to The Secret: http://www.thesecretantidote.com. As a psychotherapist, it has become apparent to me that Rhonda Byrne & Company’s project goes well beyond silly simplifications and fantasies (the universe works exactly as Aladdin’s lamp, except that we get endless wishes, not just 3); it is dangerous to a lot of people. Please help me distribute The Antidote. Thanks. Thom Rutledge / http://www.thesecretantidote.com
Comment by thomrutledge — February 29, 2008 @ 5:38 pm |
Thom: I agree that problems with the “The Secret” go beyond the idea that “the universe works exactly as Aladdin’s lamp” (and that phrase nicely sums up some of them). So much of it just seems to be an exercise in magical thinking. Jan
Comment by 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — February 29, 2008 @ 5:47 pm |
Pooh. Poop. But honestly, it’s not the writing that gets me. I can’t even get that far. It’s the premise. The audacity. Published soap on a rope this one is, and should go down the drain. I think we all just need to get outdoors more often to get in touch with ourselves and the universe.
Yeah, this might be my sole choice on your list.
Comment by oh — March 1, 2008 @ 3:37 pm |
“Soap on a rope” fits more than one these books … I’m going to remember that line.
Comment by 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — March 1, 2008 @ 6:55 pm |
I listened to the audio book of “The Secret.” Thinking positively can encourage a healthy lifestyle. However, quantum physics does not work that way at all. Any positive things that happen to you, are not magical. Also, thinking positively is an extremely dangerous substitution for medicine.
Comment by jasonhenle — December 8, 2008 @ 10:44 am |
There seems to be more and more well-grounded research being done about the hazards of positive thinking when it’s carried to excess. Apart from being dangerous as a substitute for medicine, as you noted, it can foster guilt in very ill patients who may blame themselves for not “thinking positively” enough.
Thanks for your comment.
Comment by 1minutebookreviewswordpresscom — December 8, 2008 @ 3:45 pm |