Rating: 
Summary: Lacking in substance
Review: While the book does offer some helpful eating strategies, there is really nothing new to be learned here. Eating smaller portions & earlier in the day is not exactly rocket science. I expected more & was dissappointed. I have the audio version & the author's voice is grating to my ears, I wish I had gotten the book instead or better yet, waited to get the book from my local library. Aside from the recently confirmed findings that stress does contribute to overeating, there is nothing in this book that hasn't been stated better & in more depth in many other books or articles. Since the author is a doctor, I certainly expected more substance.
Rating: 
Summary: TOXIC STRESS + DEBT = FAT
Review: At 42 I was forced to confront a lot of things in my life. My mother became seriously ill and I was on the verge of losing my job and my weight MUSHROOMED! I tried diets, yoga, and even therapy. It wasn't until I started keeping a journal that I was finally able to understand the root of my troubles. I had low self-esteem which I "dealt with" by buying stuff. I'd buy things I didn't need and couldn't afford for myself. I also would try to buy friendship by lavishing family and friends with gifts. As my debt grew so did my waistline and my metabolism was now slowing down so those quickie diets I had been using no longer worked. In the end, all I got was a huge amount of credit card debt and fat. I started dealing with my stress by using Dr. Peek's book and a book by Nancy Lloyd called, "SIMPLE MONEY SOLUTIONS: 10 ways you can stop feeling overwhelmed by money and start making it work for you." These two books together have significantly improved the quality of my life. My weight and debt are now under control. What a relief. Both books work!
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing new here.
Review: Dr. Peeke is an M.D. specializing in nutrition, stress andintegrative medicine who has worked at the National Institutes ofHealth and is currently Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Sadly, in spite of her impressive credentials, virtually none of the information presented in this book is new, though she does a decent job spelling out two commonly known, scientific contentions: (1) It is pointless to diet by briefly changing your eating habits, losing a few pounds, then immediately returning to your old ways. You will regain what you lost, and the new weight will be higher in fat due to losing muscle mass on the diet. (2) To lose weight, you need to exercise and stop overeating sugary and starchy carbs. After she reiterated all this, I was ready for her to jump into the "revolutionary" insights her book subtitle promised me. I figured it might be something about metabolism, since Dr. Peeke made a big point of discussing (more commonly known information) that one's metabolism slows 5% every decade from age 20 on. But there was nothing about raising metabolism, and, ironically, the doctor didn't notice that most of her clients, as described in this book, are, in fact, a metabolic miracle. These women are sedentary and routinely consume 3500 calories a day, heavy on the sugary and starchy carbs. This means they have been eating at least 1500-1700 calories daily above what they need to maintain normal weight, yet, somehow, they are only 40-80 pounds overweight! But rather than the doctor congratulating these lucky women on their metabolic good fortune, she tells them to reduce to only 1300 calories a day by giving up virtually all their sugar and starch and stick to the standard 6th-grade-health-class diet of 15-20% protein, 25-30% fat, and 55% of "high-quality" carbohydrates (e.g., fruits and fruit juices, vegetables that are not starchy, oatmeal, yogurt). The doctor, of course, fails to warn these poor women that after even a couple of weeks at this low level of calories, they are practically guaranteed to bring their present, high metabolism to a sluggish halt. And once they fall off Dr. Peeke's boring diet, as they are perhaps 90% likely to do, and go back to eating the 3500 calories a day they were previously enjoying, they will find themselves in the same unenviable position as the rest of us poor mortals--putting on several pounds a week from an extensive amount of overeating. As I read on, I continued to look for something new and helpful in this book, but all I noticed was the sad lack of a number of things that might have been useful, had they been included: (1) There is no mention of a personalized diet plan utilizing such elements as height, weight, current muscle mass, age, and level of physical activity. Instead, the doctor offers a simplistic, standardized pyramid which illustrates how one will put on weight eating a diet high in sugary and starchy carbs (particularly those consumed after 5pm) juxtaposed with a pyramid meagerly occupied by her suggested 1300 calories. (2) The author barely touches on the feminist issues involved in women and obesity, other than stating obliquely that women over 40 shouldn't lose weight for beauty reasons but to increase longevity. And even though she presents a stream of clients who are over-worked, under-appreciated, professional, working mothers--Baby Boomers stuck on the deadly treadmill of "you can have it all"--she never offers them any advice for abandoning the myth that is responsible for the lioness' share of the stress the doctor herself says is killing them. (3) While the author admits to a reality that every advertising agency working for a junk-food company revels in, that the eating choices of the average American are almost entirely whim-driven, she adds nothing new to the topic of compulsive eating. (4) As for the link between stress and overeating, a strongly psychological issue which is the professed main hook of this book and the sole source of the author's claim to "revolutionary" originality in the arena of nutrition, the author merely mentions lightly that in order to counteract the negative effects of chronic stress, including stress-stimulated binge eating, what is needed is "frequent nurturing." Here is her prescription for menopausal women to nurture themselves: (a) Make sure you have both a plan A and a backup plan B as to how you are going to eat 1/3 of the calories you used to eat from now on and limit the sugary treats, the mainstay of your current attempts to lower your stress levels, from a previous 28 or more servings a week to only two. (b) As a busy, professional woman, your eating is the one area in your life you have not carefully planned. If you will just plan that, too--voila!--your stress will go away and that nasty treat-eating habit of yours it stimulates will go away, too... To sum up: for those who already eat wisely and exercise regularly, Dr. Peeke is "preaching to the choir." For those who don't, I do not believe this book has what it takes to motivate them to change. In addition, women who are addicted to carbs (defined as not being able to stop yourself from regularly bingeing on sugary carbs), would be better off, if they aren't ready yet to give up food-bingeing, trying something like either the "carbohydrate addicts' diet" (controlled bingeing limited to one hour a day) or Dr. Atkins high-protein diet (bingeing on protein rather than carbs). If, on the other hand, a carb addict is truly, deeply ready to come out of addiction, it would be a good idea to seek out, instead of this book, one of the many excellent books addressing addictive eating. Such books will not tell her, as this book does, to use "planning" (another word for willpower) to overcome eating addiction.
Rating:
Summary: This book has significant limits
Review: On the whole, I was not impressed with the book. However, I did feel the first part of this book was enlightening, with the information about the physiological basis why weight is deposited. I was rather disappointed in the diet and exercise portions of the book. The exercises all were material I'd seen many times before. The diet portion seemed to be directed to women that were of a particular category -- women of a paticular (well-off) socio-economic class who work in offices and are able to spend their evenings at home. Their refrigerators are always full of the right types of food (one woman was often able to make two dinners, one for herself and one for her children -- yeah, this is real life!), and yet these women never appear to have to go to the grocery store to purchase food, and always have the money to buy the food they should be eating (and then some). They always seem to have(high-cost)energy bars in their briefcases to munch on during meetings. Redeeming ideas were the general guidelines about eating less at certains times of the day and the importance of small high-quality snacks to avoid binge eating. I am not sure, though, that these are radically new ideas. I was also disappointed in the direction of the book -- directed only to women. I don't believe that Toxic Stress and Toxic Fat are purely gender-based problems. It (again) portrays women as "poor me, entrapped by my gender; please, someone, help me out of this hole my two X chromosomes have dug me into." A book directed to both men and women could have avoided this apparent victimization. This book is not totally without merit. However, I would check it out of your local library, read it, and then decide if you want to spend the money to buy it (spend it on energy bars instead).
Rating: 
Summary: How I cut my stress and lowered my blood pressure without Rx
Review: It took me years of failed dieting and finally two years of therapy to discover that the root of my weight trouble was caused by low self-esteem which led to excessive spending. I wish I had read this book years ago along with the other book mentioned, "SIMPLE MONEY SOLUTIONS," by Nancy Lloyd. Each book has shown me unique ways to control the "excesses" in my life and slim down my debt and my waistline. My blood pressure has also dropped (without the use of medication) because I no longer feel stressed all the time and I am finally HAPPY!
Rating:
Summary: What was really keeping me overweight and how I overcame it
Review: We diet, lose weight and gain it all back again. Why? Like so many people my weight issues weren't totally about overeating. They were intertwined with issues about self-esteem and, of all things, money. It took me years to realize this but once I did I was finally able to lose the weight and keep it off. I found a combination of three books that helped me put an end to my self-defeating habits: "FIGHT FAT" has helped me with my final weight issues. "NECESSARY JOURNEYS," by Dr. Nancy Snyderman helped me finally resolve my leftover anger and feelings of failure following my divorce. "SIMPLE MONEY SOLUTIONS," by Nancy Lloyd helped me finally end my overspending and love-hate relationship with credit cards. My debts are now under control, I feel like a weight has been lifted and I'm almost down to my college weight. These three books have changed my life like nothing I've ever tried before. They could work for you too. You have nothing to lose but those unwanted pounds.
Rating:
Summary: Promises a lot, but doesn't deliver
Review: This book promises original ideas, and new information, but I studied it at great length, and couldn't find anything I hadn't read elsewhere, or hadn't found more informatively and better presented in numerous other better-known books. This book is really a disappointing rehash of things you can find in other, better books. You'd be better to read Andrew Weil or Larrian Gillespie's books on diet and nutrition, or even Barry Sears' Zone books, than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Peeke offers a great plan--and the tools to follow it
Review: Books offering advice on how to lose weight are a dime a dozen. Peeke's book is unique in what else it offers: specific advice about how to continue to take care of one's self when the going gets tough. This can be the most challenging part of losing weight and getting fit. Peeke's insight into the connection between stress and fat is refreshing; most overweight readers will recognize themselves in the pages of this book. Peeke's use of anecdotes and case studies help readers of all ages apply the principles in the book to everyday life. Fight Fat After Forty offers invaluable information presented with warmth, humor, and compassion.
Rating:
Summary: My Increasing Weight Was Also Linked To My Growing Debt
Review: No one ever talks about this but weight gain and growing debt often go hand in hand. Looking back I see that I started putting on weight shortly after I started putting on debt. Both problems got worse when I turned 40. Several months ago I bought a book that helped me take charge of my finances and pay off my debt. "SIMPLE MONEY SOLUTIONS: 10 Ways You Can Stop Feeling Overwhelmed By Money and Start Making It Work For You," by Nancy Lloyd has shown me the way to solve my cash-flow problems. With my money problems under control I was finally able to start losing weight. "Fight Fat After 40" is helping me shed those last few pounds. Great book duo.
Rating: 
Summary: Can the arrogance, doc
Review: This book has some useful information, but it suffers from a couple of major flaws. First, the author ridicules her readers and clients by coining such terms as "menopot" to refer to perimenopausal abdominal weight gain. These cutesy-isms are unnecessary and demeaning. She would've been far better off using more respectful terms than "pot" to refer to abdominal fat deposits. The book also is cluttered with anecdotes and has a difficult time getting to the point. Many readers neither need nor want the rah-rah of all those case studies -- they want INFORMATION. The book feels padded, rather than substantial. Hmmm...I guess I could call that "bookopot."
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