I used to have a very high opinion of Tony Robbins, even though the only thing I knew about him I learned from his infomercials. He seems like the original “life coach”, and still the best in that field. I've never heard a bad word about the guy.

I recently acquired his CD series, “Get The Edge”. And let me say this right from the start, my opinion of him has totally changed. Any of his good qualities have been overwhelmed by his bad ones.

On Day 1, he slams low-carb diets, specifically Atkins. The way he talks about it -- “Eat all the fat you want, while avoiding healthy fruits and vegetables” -- shows he doesn't understand this diet at all. I've been on Atkins for 6 months, and have honestly never eaten healthier in my entire life. I have eaten more vegetables in the last few months than I have cumulatively in the last few years. Sugar is the real enemy in our society. And the funny thing is, Tony Robbins actually agrees with that statement later in the CD. So what's his problem with Atkins?

Since he only spent a few minutes bashing my favorite eating plan, I was willing to forgive him and move on. The rest of Day 1 was ok, as he focused on spending your “Hour of Power” each morning meditating and exercising. Exercising is something I want to do, so there is at least a ray of hope. But from here, it only gets worse. Way worse.

On Day 3, he starts talking about relationships. There are only three types of people according to Tony: (1) People in a relationship who want more from it; (2) People in a relationship that want out of it; and (3) People not in a relationship who want to be in one. That's awfully presumptuous. Of course, it's totally inconceivable that someone would be in a relationship and be happy. No, according to Tony that's stagnation. There are also many happy singles in this world. Those people are obviously living in a fool's paradise. I skipped the rest of this CD.

On Day 4, he really gets loopy. You see, Tony's a vegetarian. Well, an odd sort of vegetarian that doesn't eat bread or pasta. (Wait, that's just like that crazy diet, Atkins!) The main problem that's causing sickness and obesity in our society, according to our insane friend, is that our bodies contain too much acid! You know why we get the flu in December or January? Too much partying around Thanksgiving (seriously, he said that!).

He then related a story about a woman who lost 50 pounds in 6 weeks as soon as she switched to drinking “green drinks”. He then when on and on about how this strange Alkalize Diet he is promoting has been “written up“ by the National Institute of Health. You know what, I imagine 100 different diets have been “written up“ by the NIH. Does the NIH endorse this diet program? No? Well, this type of misleading advertising should be forbidden.

I don't know why I ever thought this guy had the answer to anything. It's also a bit of false advertising. He sounds so rational on TV, but he turns out to be a mystic/holistic healer on his CD. You shell out the $100+ to get this inspiration, and he turns out to be totally uninspiring.

Never, ever, ever waste your money on this guy. This program should even be avoided if you can get it for free, simply because of the hours of your life that you will never get back after listening to this.

This program really puts things in perspective for me. My life is good. My relationships are great. My financial health is pretty good too. Sure, there are things I can improve. But the real message is, do it yourself. In fact, if I fast-forwarded the program to the end, Tony just might say that. Maybe this entire course is designed to show people that there is no such thing as a lifestyle guru. The answers are inside ourselves, not outside. If that's the purpose of the course, it worked.

Somehow, though, I don't think he's pretending to be insane. Based on his crazy assertions about health, I am starting to believe he really is. And he could kill someone with his crazy ideas about how the body works.