Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover: Ten Steps to Your BEST Body

"The question I've been asked most often over the last ten years is 'Marilu, why is it that you are much thinner now and even younger looking than you were when you did Taxi in the 70s?' I know that people are being kind and ask me this to make me feel good, but I also know there is a lot of truth to this as well. I am much thinner than I was. I have much more energy. I feel really great. And yes, I do think I look much better...I do know I feel much younger now, at 45, than I did even in my 20s. Except during my pregnancies, my weight has not fluctuated more than five pounds in the last eleven years. This is not a temporary phase I'm going through."

When was the last time you felt really healthy? Do you feel healthy right this minute?

For Marilu Henner the answer is a resounding yes! A fit body, glowing skin and eyes, loads of energy, a positive attitude, and a zest for life...Marilu knows from nineteen years of research and practice that feeling and looking good are every person's birthright, no matter what age or psychical condition. Now, in this practical, proven guide, she shows how you, too, can achieve optimum well-being and longevity with her unique, flexible ten-step B.E.S.T. (Balance, Energy, Stamina, Toxin-Free) life plan that will change the way you feel about your health and your body in only three weeks.

Motivated by her parents' untimely deaths in their early fifties and her own previous struggles with weight and health, Marilu has developed this complete design for living that can be tailored to your individual needs. Down-to-earth, warm, and irrepressibly humorous, Marilu provides practical advice on every aspect of well-being, including combining foods for ultimate nutritional benefit, stress, attitude, the uses of alternative medicine, the value of a lifestyle journal, and a working philosophy of good health.

When you see a recent photo of yourself, are you surprised by what you see?

With Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover you can free yourself forever from diets and disease-causing toxins, boost your energy, lower and maintain your weight, and change your outlook. Begin with any one step--beginner, intermediate, or advanced level--and start discovering a whole new you! You'll find sound, essential information on:

• Chemical additives (if it's in there, it's going to you), food labels, and media and food manufacturers' hype

• Charting your family's health history and determining your genetic odds

• Obesity, high blood pressure, depression, cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes, and other ailments--what you can do to prevent or alleviate them

• Real food, your ideal weight, and the organic way to fuel your body

• Detoxification and healing--getting the chemicals and preservatives out of your body and putting the right foods in it

• Creative exercise, including dancing around the living room and more--how to get moving and do it!

• The secrets of stress reduction--laughter, resilience, organization, and developing a positive attitude

• Baths and body brushes--a terrific way to get rid of skin's toxins

• How your digestive system functions--understanding and preventing disorders and promoting good eating habits

• Food in your pantry, your friend's house, the grocery store, restaurants--how to eat what's good-tasting and good for you.

Your health is the single most important factor in your life.

Start today to have the healthy, balanced life you want--and be the truly vibrant, happy person you were meant to be. As Marilu says, "I walk my talk, and I'd like you to be your best too. I want you to feel as good as I do, and no matter who you are, it's not impossible or too late for you to start. If you remember one thing from this book, please remember to always strive to be the B.E.S.T. you can be. Never give up." Marilu Henner, known as Elaine on TV's Taxi and star of the musical Chicago, was once very overweight, with sallow skin and a weak immune system. She waffled between starving herself and gorging herself. Since cutting dairy products and caffeine out of her diet, adopting a food-combining plan, and following a program that's code-named "BEST"--for balance, energy, stamina, and toxin-free--she's shaved nearly 100 points off her cholesterol count and 50 pounds off her frame, and she looks younger at 45 than she did at 19. If you don't count her pregnancies, her weight hasn't changed by more than 5 pounds over the past 11 years.

Henner's 10-step health program outlined here is strict, but she offers tips for getting your feet wet. Start by cutting out caffeine one day a week, she advises, instead of going cold turkey, and make just one meal each day dairy-free, so the change doesn't come as a shock to your system. Her "anti-milk manifesto," which reveals exactly how milk is produced and how it negatively affects the human body, is quite a stunner. Her plan offers sound advice for becoming more mindful of how you treat your body, how and what you eat and why, and how you react to stress, along with how to make improvements in all these areas. Henner's especially trustworthy because she's been through the wringer: "After nineteen years of experimenting, a thousand mistakes, over 400 books (read, not written), at least 200 bad diets over my lifetime, five doctors, two physical therapists, three nutritionists, two personal trainers, one therapist, and a partridge in a pear tree, I have found what I believe are the best answers this planet has to offer about living a healthy, happy, and balanced life." And she holds nothing back as she passes on her hard-earned knowledge about nutrition, digestion, exercise, preventive medicine, detoxification, and stress reduction.