6 Books That Helped Me Lose 100 Pounds—And Keep It Off

To reach my weight loss goal, I needed to reshape my mindset and emotional relationship with food. These 6 books helped me do exactly that. No book can take a walk for you or log your calories. But knowledge is power! These books might give you exactly the tools you need, whether you are just starting out or looking for renewed motivation.

Fat Loss Forever, by Layne Norton and Peter Baker

If you’re like me, you may feel frustrated by all the contradictory information floating around online. Fasted workouts burn more calories! Working out fasted makes it harder to build muscle! Eat carbs! Carbs are evil! It can be difficult to sort out what is hype and what is actually evidence-based. 

That’s why I found Fat Loss Forever so helpful. If you have questions about intermittent fasting, diet plateaus, protein, supplements, or more, the authors give detailed, research-backed advice with an empathetic but no-nonsense tone. They review popular diets like keto or Whole 30 and talk about pros and cons. Best of all, they teach you how to think critically about diet and fitness trends. 

The book is a little pricey, but it was worth every penny for me. I am also a big fan of Layne Norton’s YouTube channel if you want to explore some of the ideas from the book before buying it. If I could recommend one general overview of the science of fat loss, this would be it, hands down. 

The Diet Trap Solution, by Judith Beck and Deborah Beck Busis

Even with the best diet strategy in the world, life happens. Have you ever gotten frustrated when family or friends push food on you in social situations? Or when you find yourself diving into the chips and ice cream after a terrible day? I know I have, and that’s where The Diet Trap Solution comes in. The authors are cognitive behavioral therapists, and they specialize in teaching you how to create new mental scripts if you find yourself saying things like “I’m too busy to exercise” or “I can get back on track after the weekend.” The Diet Trap Solution doesn’t create a meal plan or exercise regimen for you. Instead, it gives you the tools to stick to whatever program you’ve chosen.

The authors write: "Having an eating plan is not enough. Using an app or website is not enough. Even having someone else prepare your food and deliver it to your doorstep is not enough."

"You need something more–something you’ll never be able to whip up in a blender or buy in a store. You need to learn how to lose weight. How to motivate yourself every day. How to change sabotaging thinking (“It’s okay to eat the last piece of birthday cake because otherwise it will just go to waste!”) How to get yourself back on track whenever you make a mistake."

Your actual plan for losing weight may be different from what I did (low carb intermittent fasting with lots of protein and resistance training). But whatever your plan is, this book will teach you the mental strategies for sticking with your plan even when things get tough. 

Love Hunger, by Frank Minrith and Paul Meier

For me, overeating was tangled up with feelings of shame and loneliness going all the way back to childhood. I felt on a deep level that I didn’t deserve to prioritize my well-being and be attractive. Trying to eat a healthy diet without sorting through past hurts would have been impossible in the long run. 

Many others have recognized the importance of a holistic approach. On a recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Jillian Michaels addressed the emotional roots of obesity. Michaels and Rogan spoke about how it is short-sighted to focus on diet and exercise without recognizing the psychological factors that lead to comfort eating and bingeing. 

That’s why I found Love Hunger to be so powerful. I spent several weeks working and praying through the journaling exercises about my childhood, body image, dating history, and more. It was intense! Depending on your situation, it might be wisest to do some of these exercises with a counselor. But if emotional eating keeps tripping you up, I can’t recommend this book enough. I do suggest skipping the second half of the book, where the authors give a detailed meal plan straight out of the 1990’s that isn’t aligned with current best practices. Even so, the first half is so good that it more than justifies the purchase. 

Made to Crave, by Lysa TerKeurst

I hadn’t thought much about how my Christian faith related to fitness, beyond feeling vaguely guilty about needing to do better. Made to Crave helped me reframe getting in shape as a way to grow spiritually. 

That's not as crazy an idea as it may sound at first. I don’t know what this fitness coach’s spiritual background is, but I wholeheartedly agree with his perspective: getting in shape is fundamentally a spiritual process. 

That spiritual process is what Made to Crave is all about. The writing style is a little twee, but the truth shared is transformative: your desire for more was never meant to be filled with brownies or French fries. If you want a faith-based perspective on food and weight loss, it’s an excellent choice. 

The End of Overeating, by David Kessler

In The End of Overeating, physician and former FDA commissioner David Kessler does a deep dive on how the food industry works overtime to make hyper-palatable processed foods that hijack our brains. Reading this book, I got so angry at Big Food and how much it has damaged the health of Americans. 

But getting upset isn’t enough to create lasting change. Kessler also explores evidence-based strategies for making better choices. His advice was a game-changer for me. Quitting all sugar for a year and all bread, pasta, and cheese for six months provided a much-needed mental reset. I had done one month no sugar challenges before, but that time frame hadn’t been enough to shift my mindset long-term. However, giving up personal trigger foods for an extended time felt like breaking some kind of spell. Once I reached my goal and transitioned to maintenance, I reintroduced those foods in small quantities, but they don’t have the same power anymore. 

That may not be the right approach for you—for some people, this might trigger binges. I’d also hate to push anyone into orthorexia. But, whatever your approach, you’ll learn a lot from this book about the science behind your cravings.

Atomic Habits, by James Clear

This book has so many valuable takeaways about the psychology of habits, from the value of starting small to the connection between habits and identity. For me, the discussion of systems vs. goals alone was worth the price of the book. What does that mean? It’s about focusing on practices and processes rather than the end point. According to Clear, you don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

He writes: "If you’re a musician, your goal might be to play a new piece. Your system is how often you practice, how you break down and tackle difficult measures, and your method for receiving feedback from your instructor."

For my weight loss journey, systems were things like inputting everything I was going to eat the next day into MyFitnessPal each evening and making sure my calories and protein were on track. Weighing and measuring my food. Getting to Jazzercise four days every week and walking for at least 4 hours each week outside of Jazzercise. Emailing my accountability partner every Monday about whether I had stuck to my calorie goals and made it to my workouts. Focusing on those things helped me develop sustainable habits and got me traction with my long-term goal. 

Books won’t lose weight for you, but they can help unlock the mindset that makes it possible. These six books transformed my approach to fitness and food. Depending on your specific challenges, one or more of these might be just the ticket for getting the results you want.