Loved it! What a fun read. kudos to the author for being so dedicated to the training. It sounded terrible. The descriptions of the SEAL were classic. being married to the founder of Lululemon didnt hurt with being able to live this lifestyle. WOuld read again for entertainment. ( )

Really couldn't stand the writing style. ( )

A fairly uninspiring "inspirational book". I read this since it was on a pmarca top books list, and generally Marc's recommendations have been excellent. This one just didn't seem very interesting, and also didn't have a great message. It's the story of a sort-of-gratingly-annoying rich guy from entertainment and "deals" who decides to hire "Seal" (an unnamed Navy SEAL and ultra endurance athlete who is actually David Goggins) as a live-in personal trainer for 31 days. The parts focused on Goggins were a weird mix of repetitive/boring (100 pushups, 1000 pushups, 10 miles run, whatever, again and again) and strangely artificial/clueless (hyping up his paranoia and extreme modern reverence for anything military by everyone else). "Seal" is not particularly representative of Navy SEALs generally -- he is his own special thing.

I definitely would read the biography of Goggins, however. ( )

Living With a Seal is an interesting book. This is about business man Jesse Itzler and his goal to improve himself by hiring a Navy Seal to move in with him and personally train Jesse for 30 days. The book is a diary of this month. The book is humorous if doing thousands of push-ups and tons of running is funny. I really expected more in details on training and ideas I could gather for self improvement. However while more of an entertainment book it could be summed up in just doing pushups and running. It is a quick read and it keeps enough interest to finish it. Not sure if I would really recommend it to anyone else. ( )

The author of Living with a SEAL, Jesse Itzler, had a plan: to have a Navy Seal live with him for 30 days in order to get in better shape goes about as well as you might imagine. This book started out as series of blog posts and it pretty much reads like one. There were not too many deep observations to be discovered here. I found myself more interested in the work out routine and wondering what the unnamed Navy Seal is thinking. There are a few insights here and there into that view point but not enough. I am a sucker for books about the Navy Seals or books by Navy Seals but sadly this did not really quench my thirst.
The other interesting part that this book offers is a glimpse into the mind of a modern wealthy business guy. Living with a Seal, in a way, falls into that non-fiction genre of "Business Self-Help". Itzler sprinkles humorous anecdotes of his business successes through the various chapters. It's not bragging, but its close.
There is some strange crossover here. When they are not doing insane exercise circuits, Itzler brings SEAL (as the character is referred to throughout the book) to various company meetings and deal pitches where SEAL's mere presence basically seals the deal (pun intended) for Itzler. This is not the intention but it seems to happen a number of times. Itzler never discloses how much he pays SEAL to live with him for a month, but one can only imagine that it is outside the normal family budget. In other words, this may not be feasible advice to follow if you too want to spice up your office environment and/or get ripped.
Itzler is very self-depreciating when it comes to the actual work-outs SEAL makes him perform and so that part makes Itzler seem a little more relatable. This is, after all, the man who brought us that 90's classic rap hit "Shake it Like a White Girl". In fact, might I suggest that before you decide to read this book, just go youtube the music video first and ask yourself "Does this man's work out routine matter to me?" If you can get past that answer, then you may not be disappointed in yourself for wasting your time once you finish the book. ( )