OnlineBookClub.org

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Prayer Faith & Weight Loss" by Johnnie Mae Williams.]

Losing weight can be a nearly insurmountable struggle and one to which most Americans can relate, either personally or through the experiences of a friend or family member. In her non-fiction book Prayer, Faith & Weight Loss: Abide in God, Ask & Believe, Mrs. Johnnie Mae Williams documents the first year of her effort to lose weight.

On January 1, 2014, Mrs. Williams decided that she was ready to start seriously dieting in order to achieve a more healthy body. To hold herself accountable and track her progress, she opted to write about her experiences daily, forming a book at the end of the year. Each day’s entry includes an inspirational verse from the Christian Bible, a weight loss tip, Mrs. William’s menu from the day, and a reflection on her day and her diet. Periodically, Mrs. Williams also includes pictures, usually of her feet on the scale as she weighs herself weekly.

In this writer’s opinion, the reflection was the best part of each entry. Those were the sections that allowed the reader to get to know Mrs. Williams and learn how she struggled and overcame challenges. These sections were all written in the first person and provided an inside view of factors that helped or hurt Mrs. Williams’ efforts. She was very open and honest, reflecting, among other topics, on having to prepare separate meals for her family, her own self-image, issues with her digestion, and the conflict between maintaining the diet and continuing to spend time with friends and family who enjoy fellowship with food. Mrs. Williams is very open about her religious faith, as one might gather from the title of her book, and she references her beliefs regularly in her daily reflections.

While the book certainly had valuable insights and moments where it was inspiring, it wasn’t without a few flaws. The structure the author chose was possibly the book’s biggest detracting factor. With 365 entries, the book was not only extremely long for the genre, but it was also repetitive. The weight loss tips were sometimes repetitive, sometimes contradictory with other weight loss tips, often irrelevant to the reflection portion, and never attributed to any outside author or publication. The book was also written in a highly informal style, using words such as “OMG” or “soooo”. Because the book was formatted like a journal, some readers might find this permissible, but for others, it may be distracting or even irritating. Some grammar errors were also present throughout the text.

There was quite a bit of inspiring content in Mrs. Williams’ book, but the length and format made it a difficult and slow read. With careful editing, the book could fulfill its potential as moving and motivating weight loss memoir, but in its current state, I can only rate it 2 out of 4 stars. Prayer, Faith & Weight Loss: Abide in God, Ask & Believe has plenty of excellent content but needs additional work to hone that content into a presentation that will be realistically readable as well as enjoyable and informative.

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Prayer Faith & Weight Loss
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Oh, this book sounds deadly dull. And I have read my share of weight loss books. They can be truly inspiring. As soon as you said she wrote down her menu for each day for a year I started saying, "Nope!" in my head. Good for you for sticking with the book.

Lossing weight needs courage and discipline. I believe this book is perfect for those who are struggling to lose weight.

I am also trying to lose weight so I can relate. I like the fact that the reviewer has a very fair way of doing the review. She points out the great points of the book in saying that the personal angel in the author's faith and insights is what can make it great. She also says that it might be too long winding and could become boring. What I like most is that she encourages the writer to work on it and condense it and fix the other problems as well.

It sounds like this just needs a really good editor. Someone who can tweak and cut, making this book a more manageable size. Thanks for the review!

Great review, it can be very discouraging when an author fails in delivery of the idea. I think weight loss regimes don't have a one-size fits all, it either works or it doesn't. I think eating well and exercise works best. It also helps to find inspiration whether from a spouse, friends or family, at least that worked for me.

This sounds like a story that could easily be summarized in under 20 pages.

Johnnie mae williams

-- 20 Nov 2017, 05:51 --

Johnnie mae williams

-- 20 Nov 2017, 05:54 --

Johnnie mae williams

It is not easy to read a book where the author has repeated himself over and over again. I hope the author will address the issues raised on this review.

Being on a diet is really difficult. I, myself, prefer doing exercises not dieting. However, since the idea of this journal is to help others to find motivation to keep and follow a diet, it's a good idea. But too bad about the lack of editing.

This may not be a book for all. But those who are religiously planning or following the method on how to reduce weight for health reasons this is partly a good book for them. The book with a good content like this is possibly one of my interest. I'll line this up as one of my book to read. Thanks!