The Mars and Venus Diet and Exercise Solution: Create the Brain Chemistry of Health, Happiness, and Lasting Romance

The Mars/Venus Diet and Exercise solution is the missing link in my life. For 20 years, I have searched for wholeness, of mind, body and spirit. I work tirelessly to release with the emotional and spiritual pain of my past so that I may grow spiritually. I pray and meditate daily. I exercised regularly and I eat as healthy as one can in West Texas, lots of fruits and vegies, limited fried food and sugar. With all of this, I still felt fatigued, irritable and overwhelmed. After reading Dr. John Gray's book, I began using the recommended products and information in he book. I have been amazed at the results in my life the lives of my family and friends. I have since been privately trained by him as a nutritional cleansing coach so that I may help others. His information about how diet and excercise effect addiction has literly allowed me to help many people who struggle with food and alcohol addiction. The information on brain chemistry is fascinating and brings to light the differences in men and women. My marriage has come alive and my 5 year old said, "Mommy, you and my sister (hormonal 12 year old) are so much nicer now!" This book is a must read for anyone who wants to fill better and who are committed to a life change.Here's too a healthy life filled with joy, peace and happiness.Becky Benes, onenessoflife.isagenix.com

I've only skimmed his other books, so I can't say I was a fan of the Mars/Venus books, but THIS book has changed my life! If you're trying to lose weight and detoxify your system and are looking for a deeper understanding of the different ways men and women need to exercise, eat, and lose weight, this is for you.I have found that by following Gray's nutritional ideas, I have turned my health around, mentally, physically, and in my relationship with my wife. I lost 9 pounds in the first 3 days safely, never felt sick or hungry, and feel sure I'll be able to keep the weight off and maintain my health, using the simple maintenance plan in the book. My wife says I've changed for the better, too: I'm calmer, sleep great, have quit snoring, and am well on my way to losing the 30 pounds that seem to have glommed onto me out of nowhere after I hit my mid 40's. I just couldn't get rid of the weight. I haven't yet tried the Bounce & Shake exercise and plan to, but I believe it's important to do mild aerobic and weight bearing exercise to remove toxins and build lean mass. I walk and do the Five Tibetan Rites, both of which Gray endorses.I have used the Isagenix products with great success. I feel the cost is reasonable, less than if I took the time to put it all together from scratch. They are unique in their safety, formulation, and speed. My experience with delivery was fine: It took one week to get the product to northern CA from their Phoenix plant.Gray's personal story is compelling, as is his reasoning about brain chemistry and its link to diet, exercise, and experiences of relationship. I highly recommend the book.

"Without a nutritious diet, we don't have the fuel to make more endophins." ~ pg. 102If any book can be frustrating and enlightening at the same time it is "The Mars & Venus Diet and Exercise Solution." This book is filled to the brim with interesting information on dopamine, serotonin, testosterone and endorphins. You will learn about the top forty serotonin-producing foods and how to get endorphins to release into your body. There is also a good amount of information on how to make your relationships work. There seems to be a biological basis for everything John Gray has been teaching for years. He explains why women are obsessed with giving too much and how to get men to give more. It is logical and makes complete sense. He also gives some of the real reasons marriages fail. I thought some of the information was very interesting, especially about why men may become workaholics:"By increasing mental stress by taking on too much work (deadlines and long hours), men in particular stimulate the production of endorphins to reduce mental distress and anxieties temporarily." ~ pg. 103While this is very helpful and intellectually exciting, I think the actual diet can be confusing. In the section on following the Mars & Venus diet I came across many frustrating things. Each morning you are supposed to drink a glass of water enriched with lemon juice, honey, trace minerals and aloe vera juice. This drink is also taken after you exercise in the morning. That means you are taking minerals twice. The problem I see with this is that you are also taking trace minerals with your morning health shake. (This drink is also recommended for fasting - should you take that many minerals in a day?)My main question really is: "Is it necessary to take so many trace minerals?" The morning shake is made with a number of ingredients that can also be found in the Mars & Venus Superfoods Shake. In fact, you can skip mixing up the shake from scratch and just purchase the shake online. My problem with the shake is that it contains blanched almond meal and I'm allergic to nuts in general.I looked up the Isagenix products and read the lists of ingredients. There are three products you could buy even though John Gray also says you can find other brands (he doesn't mention which ones so I'll give you that information).The products you can buy (at the Isagenix website) include the Mars & Venus Superfoods Shake ($45), the Super Cleanse ($30) and the Super Minerals (also contains lithium - $30). So you can get the entire program for under $105.Some options for the same types of products (Total is $131 with the optional cleanse) include "Nature's Plus Spiru-tein Tangerine Dream ( Nature's Plus - Tangerine Dream Spirutein Shake 1Lb  - $18)" which I've taken for years (compare ingredients to the Mars & Venus Superfoods shake) and the addition of Omega 3 Fatty Acid capsules ( Nordic Naturals - Complete Omega/Lemon, 1000 mg, 60 softgels  - $17). If you want to add in Yucca try  Solaray - Yucca - 100 Capsule - 490 mg  - $6.This is easier than making the shake and adding in flax seeds, protein powder, yucca, enzymes etc. If price is a factor then you can see the difference in price. However, I read the ingredients on the Mars & Venus Super Cleanse and found it is not as good a product as Dr. Natura's Cleansing Product  Colonix - Internal Cleansing Program (Liver, Kidney, Colon, And Parasite Cleanse) - FREE UPGRADE TO EXPEDITED SHIPPING  - $90). The thing to note about the Dr. Natura program is that the "Paranil" product has wormwood. This is not good to take for an extended period of time. The "Colonix" is a good cleanse on its own.Once you read the book you can then use these ideas to your advantage. The ingredients recommended will optimize brain chemistry and this will make you feel better. I've been taking a shake with amino acids for years now and it does make you feel more healthy. The Nature's Plus Spiru-tein Tangerine Dream (or other flavors) is an excellent product that contains most of the ingredients (just take Yucca and Omega 3 capsules as well) in the Mars & Venus Shake.To finish the book, John Gray also briefly discusses the benefits of aromatherapy. He also talks about spirituality and how dietary changes can even cause cancer to go into remission.Overall I think this book is very enlightening. The frustrating part can be easily solved by buying the shakes in powder form. There just doesn't seem to be enough information to make the program work when mixing up the drink at home. I found that section to be very frustrating because no exact measurements were given.~The Rebecca Review Nature's Plus - Tangerine Dream Spirutein Shake 1LbNordic Naturals - Complete Omega/Lemon, 1000 mg, 60 softgelsSolaray - Yucca - 100 Capsule - 490 mgColonix - Internal Cleansing Program (Liver, Kidney, Colon, And Parasite Cleanse) - FREE UPGRADE TO EXPEDITED SHIPPING

I like John Gray. I enjoyed his first book. This one has good information about brain chemistry and how your diet can influence it. But the diet plan he proposes is too weird for me. He has formulas, regimens and rituals that smack of new-age mysticism. And the plan is complicated. You count calories. You allocate percentages of them to each meal, AND percentages to protein, carbs and fat. He has "shakes" available to replace a meal which, by the way, are available at his web site.For me, I found a much more credible book, written by an actual MD, with a much simpler method. I strongly recommend  21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart: Boost Metabolism, Lower Cholesterol, and Dramatically Improve Your Health . Yes, it is a vegan diet, which means no meat, fish, dairy (of any kind) or eggs. But you don't count calories. You eat until you are full. You will find foods you already like that fit the plan. You will feel better, be healthier, have more energy, sleep better and lose excess weight. I have experienced all of this. The author, Dr. Neal Barnard, is not trying to sell products, other than books. It seems his main interest is advancing health and well being through food choices. 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart: Boost Metabolism, Lower Cholesterol, and Dramatically Improve Your Health

John Gray's "The Mars & Venus Diet & Exercise Solution" is a remarkable achievement. That an expert in relationships has taken the time and effort to read and master esoteric research on brain chemistry and made it accessible and usable for us lay readers is amazing. Edwards Deming, the quality guru, once said: "It's not what you don't know that's the problem; it's what you know that's NOT SO!" Gray punctures many of the myths about diet and exercise that people have been religiously following for years. The famous Pritikin and Atkins diets, for example, do not emerge unscathed. This is not just another weight-loss book. People suffering from conditions as desparate as ADD/ADHD, addictions, brain concussions, or depression, to name a few, can find valuable new approaches to treatment. It's actually a book on how to effectively manage your own brain chemistry. The book challenges the dominance in our culture of allopathic (that is, traditional) medicine with its overuse of powerful drugs and their side effects. It supports the use of alternative therapies such as homeopathy and aromatherapy. And it is not "one size fits all": Gray makes careful distinctions, not only by gender as one would expect from the creator of the Mars/Venus school of gender differences, but by body type as well. What works for rectangular body type mesomorphs might be all wrong for round body endomorphs. One recurring theme that I especially appreciated was Gray's reminder that we don't have to follow his regime perfectly for it to be effective, a welcome reassurance for us perfectionists. My greatest concern about the book is that it will seem too far out for large numbers of people to follow the regimen, that the gradient will be too steep. This would be a waste of information that could bestow tremendous benefits on humankind.