Greene, Bob (W.)

PERSONAL: Married.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Simon and Schuster, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

CAREER: Personal trainer, consultant, and writer. O: The Oprah Magazine, contributing writer and editor; has collaborated on fitness and diet programs with various companies, including McDonald's and eDiets.com. Has appeared on Oprah.

WRITINGS:

(With Oprah Winfrey) Make the Connection: Ten Steps to a Better Body—and a Better Life, illustrations by Julie Johnson, Hyperion (New York, NY), 1996.

Keep the Connection: Choices for a Better Body and a Healthier Life, Hyperion (New York, NY), 1999.

Get with the Program! Getting Real about Your Health, Weight, and Emotional Well-Being, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2002.

The Get with the Program! Guide to Good Eating, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2003.

The Get with the Program! Guide to Fast Food and Family Restaurants, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2004.

Bob Greene's Total Body Makeover, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2005.

Contributor of articles on health and fitness to Oprah.com.

ADAPTATIONS: Get with the Program! Getting Real about Your Health, Weight, and Emotional Well-Being was adapted as an audiobook by Simon & Schuster Audio (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: An expert in exercise physiology, Bob Greene is a personal trainer whose work with television talk-show star Oprah Winfrey has led him to become a best-selling author of health books, including his coauthorship with Winfrey of Make the Connection: Ten Steps to a Better Body—and a Better Life. Greene has gone on to write several books on his own, outlining his fitness philosophies and programs.

In Get with the Program! Getting Real about Your Health, Weight, and Emotional Well-Being Greene outlines a four-stage health program along with training tips. In phase one, he discusses the need for a thorough self-examination with a focus on what is needed to change the individual's life. Phase two focuses on aerobic exercises designed to alter the metabolism. Phase three delves into the emotions, such as an individual's relationship with food. And phase four outlines strength training and diet programs. School Library Journal contributor Ayo Dayo noted that Greene provides advice that can help readers "become hooked on feeling good, looking good, and being good to themselves."

Greene focuses on dieting in The Get with the Program! Guide to Good Eating. He discusses what he considers to be harmful popular diets, goes over the basics of exercise, and presents what he feels is a sensible diet. The book includes recipes, a strong emphasis on a nutritious breakfast, and stresses the benefits of eating smaller meals throughout the day rather than three big meals. Commenting on the book in Booklist, Ilene Cooper noted, "Sensible is the key word here."

Americans eat out more than ever and Greene turns his attention to this aspect of life in his book The Get with the Program! Guide to Fast Food and Family Restaurants. "I travel a lot, so I personally wanted to know what restaurants tried hardest to give their customers healthy options," Green was quoted as saying by Muscle & Fitness/Hers contributor Daryn Eller. "It turned out that there's almost always something, and often many things, that you can feel good about ordering—even at restaurants that are known for greasy foods like fried chicken and fish and chips."

Greene is also the author of Bob Greene's Total Body Makeover, which emphasizes eating rules and increasing workouts incrementally from beginning to intermediate to advanced levels. A reviewer in People stated that the book "includes a workout blueprint for a range of fitness levels, along with eating rules (e.g., don't skip breakfast) meant to help burn fat without dieting."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 1, 2002, Ilene Cooper, review of The Get with the Program! Guide to Good Eating, p. 626.

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, December, 2003, Daryn Eller, "Food to Go: Have It Your Way; When It Comes to Restaurant Eating, Bob Greene Says the (Healthy) Choice Is Yours," p. 54.

Nation's Restaurant News, June 14, 2004, Brooke Barrier, "McDonald's, Greene Go Distance to Strike Healthful Balance," p. 40.

People, January 31, 2005, review of Bob Greene's Total Body Makeover, p. 54.

Publishers Weekly, February 28, 2005, Daisy Maryles, "More Green for Greene," p. 17.

School Library Journal, September, 2002, Ayo Dayo, review of Get with the Program! Getting Real about Your Health, Weight, and Emotional Well-Being, p. 257.