Mini Habits for Weight Loss is a book written by Stephen Guise and written in order to help readers to develop a healthy lifestyle that will naturally lend itself to weight loss and then maintaining the lost weight, instead of having to resort to short term diets.
The full title of the book is “Mini Habits for Weight Loss: Stop Dieting. Form New Habits. Change Your Lifestyle Without Suffering,” and it is currently in its second volume. The primary claim of the book is that readers who follow its advice will never need to diet again. It claims to be able to provide the directions a reader needs to achieve a healthy body weight without having to rely on restrictive food habits, bans on certain foods, calorie counting or other behaviors that are highly limited or that can be maintained for only the short term.
This book is designed for natural weight loss and claims to achieve this goal in the way the body and brain of the user are meant to function. It eliminates blame and guilt and works to move forward in a positive direction instead of trying to point the finger or feel bad about actions taken and habits made in the past.
The premise behind Mini Habits for Weight Loss is that people gain weight and struggle to lose it because they are working against their own natural body and brain needs and behaviors. By recognizing what the body and brain actually want and altering behaviors to meet those needs, weight loss occurs. That said, it also claims that without the right strategy – that is, by dieting in traditional ways – the body and brain biologically resist the changes being made. It explains that this is why the majority of diets fail or are successful only over a short term until the weight eventually comes back again.
This book rapidly became very popular and has been translated into 13 languages from its original English.
The book tries to provide the types of understanding a person needs in order to design healthy behaviors around a lifestyle that treats their body and brain well while fitting into their schedules. It does not take drastic steps such as banning all junk foods or requiring meal replacements. Instead, it hopes to help readers to make healthy, impactful changes. While it does recommend healthy eating and regular exercise, it also provides lifestyle habit advice outside of those two categories.