I think that the best part of "Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork" is the fact that it makes Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee seem like a very likeable person. I also think that the title is very clever.

This book is very easy to read, in a non-preachy manner. It tells how the governor overcame his problem with obesity, and perhaps can be helpful to others.

In a nutshell, before beginning, he describes 12 things that the reader should "stop" doing. Here is a list of his "stops."

Stop 1 – STOP Procrastinating
Stop 2 – STOP Making Excuses
Stop 3 – STOP Sitting on the Couch
Stop 4 – STOP Ignoring Signals from Your Body
Stop 5 – STOP Listening to Destructive Criticism
Stop 6 – STOP Expecting Immediate Success
Stop 7 – STOP Whining
Stop 8 – STOP Making Exceptions
Stop 9 – STOP Storing Provisions for Failure
Stop 10 – STOP Fueling with Contaminated Food
Stop 11 – STOP Allowing Food to be a Reward
Stop 12 – STOP Neglecting your Spiritual Health

These are all great things to stop doing, and if this knowledge is enough for some people to be helpful, it's great. I do not think that this is the Holy Grail of weight loss, however. I think that most people could have probably come up with this list on their own. It came as no shock to me that one should "stop fueling with contaminated food," for example. What the book lacks, in my opinion is the magic reason that would help others be able to adopt the practices, as Huckabee has so obviously and admirably done for himself.

It seems that the motivating factor for Huckabee's personal change was impending heart disease and diabetes. It is not clear whether or not his plan would work unless the reader had similar strong motivation spelled out by a physician, or even if it would work in such a case.

I have no doubt that this book could be helpful to some, but in my opinion, it is probably not the answer for most, as it lacks an instrinsic gimmick to hook the person into wanting to succeed.










Recommended: Yes