Review by Joshua Momanyi -- Zeus Defied by Rez Khan

[Joshua Momanyi]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Zeus Defied" by Rez Khan.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Zeus Defied: Mastering the mindset of weight loss by Rez Khan is a non-fiction book about sustainable weight loss. The title is derived from the Greek god Zeus, the god of the sky, and ruler of all gods, and the author parallels weight loss to the Greek mythology of Sisyphus, the cruel King that was punished (by Zeus) to push a large boulder up a hill, that would roll back each time it neared the top, and he would repeat this exercise for eternity. Unfortunately for the King, he was unable to conquer this punishment. The author however, provides a formula for successful weight loss.

Surrounded by overweight cases, and struggling with intermittent weight gain and loss himself, Rez Khan sought to find why he and many others failed in the weight loss journey. He writes about a particular distraught media personality who sought the services of a coach to help him turn his life around. The coach requested him to do one small thing. Tidy his desk. With subsequent simple modifications in his life, many other aspects of his life were transformed. This was evidence enough that simple tasks done consistently can start a ripple effect in other spheres of one’s life. The case of this changed media personality he says was his light-bulb moment. By applying the strategy to his weight struggle, he came up with the 9 phases of weight loss, which he followed to help him finally reduce his weight.

Weight loss he says, is not only about reduced food intake, but also the psychological aspect of it, and it should be easy to lose it, as it is easy to gain it. It takes more than eating right, or exercising; there is first the element of mind change on how you do things. A lot is done to bring the result of weight loss – what is hidden is much greater than what is seen. He stresses the fact that successful transformation requires an intrinsic drive with a very clear answer to the underlying why question, and ownership of the desire to improve.

He further asserts that, in order to attain health, fitness and permanent weight loss, habits play a pivotal role. He beautifully ties in the Kaizen principle into the weight loss matrix: (KAI – change; ZEN – for the better) – change for better.

I like the fact that the author supports the statements he makes with relevant research findings and that their conclusions support his points. This gives his work a lot of credibility. I also appreciate the rich and methodical content the author provides in each of the 9 phases of weight loss. Sometimes though, I felt he kept going on and on about a subject, and it got too deep, until I could feel lost somehow. Not to take away from him though, the content discussed is very credible.

I didn’t encounter any editorial errors, safe for a slight omission to integrate well a linked resource, and transition to a complex discussion at one instant that didn’t seem seamless to me. This had no effect to the overall quality of the work. Because of the well-researched work, practical steps, and easy-to-follow chronological phases given, I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I would recommend the book to anyone that wishes to better themselves in any sphere of their lives, and wishes to pick on new positive habits

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Zeus Defied
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[Alice Heritage]

I love Kaizen! It sounds as if the author has come up with an innovative approach here. I enjoyed reading your thorough review.

[kdstrack]

I read this book and enjoyed it greatly. The author's strategy of sticking with each phase until it becomes a habit takes off some of the stress of trying to do everything at once! I'm glad you gave this book the full rating. Thanks for the excellent review!

[Joshua Momanyi]

I love Kaizen! It sounds as if the author has come up with an innovative approach here. I enjoyed reading your thorough review.

Thank you very much.
I love the Kaizen concept very much too: Every day improvement; everybody improvement; everywhere improvement.

[Joshua Momanyi]

I read this book and enjoyed it greatly. The author's strategy of sticking with each phase until it becomes a habit takes off some of the stress of trying to do everything at once! I'm glad you gave this book the full rating. Thanks for the excellent review!

Thank you for reading my review, the book was a great read indeed! Breaking down things in phases makes it easier to master them, and I think the author did a great at that!

[Adina Lutinger]

Sounds like a very helpful book for people who want to lose weight, and I think that the parallel to the Greek mythology of Sisyphus is genious. I think that at some point of our life we all have or had challanges that make/made us feel like we fall exacltly when we were so close to succeed. The fact that the book uses this parallel and then introduces a way to break this discouraging cycle shows that we can overcome big challanges and reach goals in our life even if we failed many times and no matter how unachievable these goals seem to us. Thanks for the great review!

[LinaMueller]

Zeus Defied: Mastering the mindset of weight loss is such a great title.
Your review is great, Joshua. Well done.

[Nerea]

I'm surprised to know that weight loss not only involves the reduction of food intake but also psychological aspect
aspect. This sounds lije an incredible book to read that will enlighten us about weight. I will read the book. Thanks.

[xoxoAnushka]

It sounds like a helpful book providing strategies and motivation. Nice review!