Presents an exercise and nutrition plan for people handicapped by a variety of medical and physical problems

If you thought the fitness craze was about being healthy, think again. Although Charles Atlas, Jack LaLanne, Jim Fixx, Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons, and Jillian Michaels might well point the way to a better body, they have done so only if their brands brought in profits. In the first book to tell the full story of the American obsession with fitness and how we got to where we are today, Jonathan Black gives us a backstage look at an industry and the people that have left an indelible mark on the American body and the consciousness it houses. Spanning the nation's fitness obsession from Atlas to Arnold, from Spinning to Zumba, and featuring an outrageous cast of characters bent on whipping us into shape while simultaneously shaping the way we view our bodies, Black tells the story of an outsized but little-examined aspect of our culture. With insights drawn from more than fifty interviews and attention to key developments in bodybuilding, aerobics, equipment, health clubs, running, sports medicine, group exercise, Pilates, and yoga, Making the American Body reveals how a focus on fitness has shaped not only our physiques but also, and more profoundly, American ideas of what "fitness" is.

For the first time, popular weight-loss guru Richard Simmons reveals his lifelong love affair with food in a humorous, moving, and candid autobiography.

"Strong muscles and bones defy the aging process. Margaret Richard's Body Electric program offers you the spectacular opportunity to realize your fitness potential." --Miriam Nelson, Ph.D., bestselling author of Strong Women Stay Young Some things never get old. You certainly don't tire of vibrant health, youthful energy, radiant good looks, and the strength to live your life any way you please. Unfortunately, our bodies do get old--but old doesn't have to mean weak and flabby. Margaret Richard's Body Electric program will give you stronger muscles, denser bones, better balance, increased energy, and a quality of life that is defined by the things you can do rather than those you can't. Work out with Margaret Richard, creator and host of “Body Electric,” seen nationally on PBS-TV. You'll look better, feel better, and live better. Body Electric helps you: Increase your strength, stamina, and flexibility in just three hours a week Gain lean muscle and reduce unhealthy body fat Exercise from the comfort of your own home Avoid aches and injuries by working gently on joints and powerfully on muscles

COOKERY Irrepressible fitness guru Simmons is an enduring phenomenon; his latest book, Farewell to Fat (GT Pub., 1996) has sold more than 600,000 copies. Here he offers 'reduced-fat' (not always 'low-fat') versions of his favorite desserts, from Keep on Truckin' Brownies to Yes, We Have a Banana Cream Pie to Some Like Hot Chocolate Souffl s, with color photographs of each one. Expect some demand.-

Will assist in researching cookbooks designed for those with specific diseases or disorders as well as for special diets for general health. ...extremely comprehensive. --CHOICE ...a good addition to public libraries of any library that supports a dietary or food services program. --ARBA

For many years, Terri LeClercq's "Legal Writing" column in the Texas Bar Journal helped polish the prose of lawyers and law students, judges and clerks, paralegals, writing instructors, and legal secretaries. This book collects all the advice she has given in her columns into one authoritative guide for expert legal writing. LeClercq covers everything a legal writer needs to know, from the mechanics of grammar and punctuation to the finer points of style, organization, and clarity of meaning. With her practical, readable, and often humorous advice, those who prepare legal documents can rid their prose of mind-numbing "legalese" and write with the clarity and precision that characterize the very best legal writing.