Cleanse Diets: How to Lose Weight With Shakeology, Blueprint Cleanse, Master Cleanse, and More!

There are certainly pros and cons listed within this book of doing a cleanse.  Some suggest it is the way to clean out your system while others declare that it is to hard on your body causing it to think it will starve.

Shakeology is the most gentle of the cleanses, where it is suggested to just replace one meal a day with a shake.

Another way to loose weight discussed within the book is the BluePrint Cleanse. This cleans involves six juices filled with vegetables, fruits and nuts replacing solid food for juices.  While this does product quick results it also is harder on your body and is more intense than most people would like.  This is also a very expensive program costing up to $65.00 per day.

The third cleanse mentioned within the book is the Master Cleanse.  This is by far the hardest on the body, yet yielding the most results representing the closest thing to a real fast. 

The following statement found within the book, is very fasnaticing to me: "Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, LD, points out that this kind of diet can be dangerous to your health because it is deficient in 'all the essential nutrients':  calories, vitamins, minerals, protein, carbohydrates, fiber, and fat.  She also brings up the fact that the Master Cleanse does not prescribe any kind of exercise, 'probably because physical activity would be difficult on a starvation diet,'  and that the pounds shed from the serious calorie deficit comes from water weight and muscle loss, not fat loss."

Fat isn't the first thing to go on a starvation diet rather lean muscle and fluids.  For clarification the author states how the Shakeology could be used long term while the Master Cleanse isn't meant but for short term use.

This was found to be a very interesting and insightful book that gives advice on how to best go about losing weight with the proper diet techniques.  

4 of 5 stars.

This book was provided free by Hyperink.com for a honest review.

Debbie Macomber - A Biography

Debbie seems to be a very relational individual when it comes to her readers.  She shares sorrows, happiness, the good as well as the bad.  She has written over 150 pieces and has sold over 140 million copies.

She declares that her main passions are:  writing, family and knitting.  She even has her own yarn store and writes yarn pattern books.

The reader may ask what makes Debbie the writer she is and I feel it is several things of which include:  her deep spiritual beliefs and traditional family values.  The fact that she never gave up even as a young child when people labeled her as a slow learner.  She was called a hopeless dreamers, but this lady rented a typewriter and wrote until her material sold and today has blessed the hearts of millions.  This book gives a brief yet nice overview of Debbie and her life and career.

4 of 5 stars.

This book was provided free by Hyperink.com for a honest review.

A Season of Love

Review: A Season of Love by Amy Clipston

Reviewed by Darin Godby

While A Season of Love is chock full of different characters, I especially liked the storyline of Katie and Jake. Katie looks deep within herself and determines that she desires to be a part of the Amish faith, so she seeks baptism. While Jake was raised by family who were Amish, his mother decided to leave that faith and he was raised to be a Mennonite. Jake worked aroundthe Amish on a daily basis and soon took a liking to a young lady named Katie. However, Katie being Amish and Jake being Mennonite creates drama that could have Katie shunned not only from her family, but her church and community as well.

I enjoyed the way Amy Clipston writes about the various struggles that both Jake and Katie face. She gives us great insight into their internal warfare as they desire to be with each other but know they can’t because of their beliefs.

There are several times when Katie’s father is very harsh and non-forgiving because he views his daughter as disobedient and disrespectful. Once, when Katie was walking along the street, several men began to attack her, and it was Jake who intervened and chased the men away.  In despair and forgetting that it isn’t allowed within her faith, Katie hugged Jake. She was seen by the bishop who reported the sighting to her father, later causing separation between Katie and her family.

I became really disgruntled with the father when I saw how close-minded he was. He was more concerned about his appearance to the bishop, church and community than he was to his own daughter and family. While this was easy to get frustrated about, it did leave me wondering about how often we make decisions based on how others will view us instead of considering what really matters in the long run.

A Season of Love takes several twists along the way, but, needless to say, it ends up with a bright and happy ending. This is a book that will keep you rooting for Jake and Katie and hoping that they will make the right decision. It is also a book that will challenge you to make sure that the decisions you make are made for the right reasons. I really enjoy reading the works of Amy Clipson and feel others will as well.

Rating:  

Darin Godby is an active reader, husband, father and soon to be author.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by Zondervan. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

Her Lone Star Cowboy - Debra Clopton

Debra Clopton does it again with another beautiful story in Mule Hollow.  Jess Holden and his two brothers have experienced a life time of pain brought on by their alcoholic father and their mother who abandoned them.  While Luke and Colt were able to deal with these issues in their own way, Jess continued to hold on to them over 20 years causing a great amount of discomfort and confusion of how he viewed God.

Gabi returns to where her family lives after narrowly escaping an accident where she almost killed a family while she was drunk.  After being confronted by an ER nurse while in the hospital of her actions, Gabi determined to never be in that situation again, giving her life to Christ and moving to where her family lives she is determined to strengthen her new found faith in Christ.

It is here she meets Jess and both are smitten and can't escape what they feel for each other.  While both have  many issues they must work through, God works within their lives causing them to see that He desires for them to be together and live a life pleasing to Him.

I appreciate Debra's writing and feel you will enjoy this story very much.

4.5 of 5 stars.