Amazon.com (ISBN 0553379453, Paperback)

From the bestselling author of Strong Women Stay Young comes a metabolism-boosting plan that's completely hype-free. The basis of this book is simple: because muscle is metabolically active and fat is not, when you increase your muscle mass, you're able to burn more calories, even when at rest. The author, an assistant professor at Tufts University's prestigious School of Nutrition Science and Policy, has shown that of a group of women who followed a special weight-loss diet, those who also did weight-training exercises lost 44 percent more fat than the other women and increased their overall metabolic rates by up to 15 percent.

Nelson's plan is especially effective for women looking to drop postpregnancy weight. The book includes tests to determine your fitness level, injury-preventing stretches, dumbbell exercises that give quick results, progress charts, and pages of suggested menus and recipes that include handy shopping lists. The plan's goal is to increase muscle strength, not bulk, and it's geared toward first-time exercisers and those who lose motivation easily. For those who are skeptical of weight-loss books, rest assured that this one won't disappoint.