I generally avoid, as a genre, self-help books but this one appealed to me because it had written at the top of the front cover "Not a diet book! Not a diet book! Not a diet book!" when it obviously was a diet book. Such counter-intuitive advertising appeals to me. So, perhaps not surprisingly, Jared, the Subway Guy appealed to me as well.
For those of you who, like me, weren't watching TV commercials in 2000, Jared Fogle became an unofficial spokeman for Subway sandwiches when he started doing commercials for the franchise chain in which he claimed to have lost over 235 pounds going from 425 to under 200 pounds simply by eating only two Subway sandwiches a day. He admits in the book (and the ads cautioned as well) that this diet may not work for others but it worked for him because it was something he could live (and lose weight) with.
The book, to my surprise, does not come off as a 220-page ad for Subway. And it is therefore more credible than it would have been. Instead, it comes across as some good advice from an average Joe who found a solution to his weight problem and hopes it might help you find YOUR solution - which may be quite different from his.
Indeed, some of his helpful 13 Lessons for Turning Your Life Around are as counterintuitive as the front cover. For example, rather than suggesting small steps, his Lesson 3 suggests "Reach for the stars." Instead of making a commitment "unbreakable" by telling at least one other person, Jared's Lesson 7 suggests that you "Don't tell anyone". His reasoning is that you don't need additional pressure at this point. Rather than measuring your progress daily or more often, Lesson 8 suggests that you "See the big picture" and avoid micromanaging. Jared himself did not measure his progress on a scale until after he had lost over 125 pounds. Just seeing his clothes hang on him differently was feedback enough.
I liked the book. I think I'd like Jared. And I know I like his suggestions.
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