“The majority of North Americans eat too much processed food, don’t sleep enough, drink too much, and are overweight.” Why? Because Healthy Habits Suck!
Healthy behavior goes against our caveman instincts to rest, avoid pain, seek pleasure, and live in the now. To override those instincts, you must find more pros or reduce the cons of a healthy behavior like exercising. You may never experience a runner’s high but the bragging rights of running a marathon may be enough of a pro in your eyes to encourage running 10 miles before work each morning.
The goal you set has to be within your control. Sometimes, despite eating low calorie food, you just can’t lose weight. You’ve reached a plateau. So you give up and indulge in a chocolate sundae. This happens because your goal shouldn’t be “losing weight” because your body controls that. Instead, you should make “eating more fruit and vegetables” or “eating fast food only once per week” your goal because that is totally within your control.
Healthy Habits Suck uses well-researched psychological methods to allow you to motivate yourself to reach your goals. The author suggests working on only one goal at a time and reading just one chapter per week. The ideas in each of the nine chapters require some introspection so that timeframe seems reasonable. The book also has a website with a 22-page workbook used within the chapters plus three short audio files.
There is a lot to like about this book. It approaches healthy goals in new ways. This is not just another book with a diet and recipes. It digs into the underlying motivation or stagnation of our actions. It might be the way to achieve truly long-term healthier living. 4 stars!
Thanks to New Harbinger and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
Posted in New Books, Non-fiction Tagged with: Diet, guide, Jul 1 2019
Hangry is an empowering read letting woman get back their mojo by using a personalized diet and exercise plan.
No one wants to be an Hangry B*tch. This book will describe why woman feel tired all the time, have sleep issues, and feel overwhelmed. Spoiler partial answer: we are overwhelmed because we try to do too much for others instead of ourselves.
Hangry gives a comprehensive explanation of how and why hormones, poor eating and either over or under exercising is causing our problems. It gives a solution of five pillars and five habits. The five pillars are:
The five habits are:
Each week of the four-week plan works on at least one of the pillars and builds one or more of the habits. The diet incorporates a combination of paleo and Mediterranean diets (lean proteins, avocado-type oils, limited fruits & starchy veggies as carbs, and a required one pound of non-starchy veggies per day). The exercise plan encourages strength training leading up to heavier weights than usually used by women and walking while practicing breathing, meditation and mindfulness.
This is one of the better diet books I’ve read lately. I like that it doesn’t talk down to its reader. It also combines science and advice I’ve seen in a bunch of other books, which will save the reader from reading all of them and trying to merge them together by herself. Of course, I love quizzes so the quiz to determine potential hormone issues is perfect. Plus it picked out one hormone issue that my doctor had already found to be true through blood tests. Overall, if you are looking to commit to a diet/exercise plan now that it is bikini season, this is a good place to start. 4 stars!
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
Posted in New Books, Non-fiction Tagged with: Diet, guide, Jun 25 2019, paleo
The Bloated Belly Whisperer is an excellent self-help book for those with digestive distress.
The book begins with a brief overview of how the digestive system works—with helpful illustrations of internal organs. A quiz to narrow down the reader’s stomach and intestinal issues follows and then refers readers to the appropriate detailed chapter(s). In those chapters, the book lists the symptoms, the cause and possible solutions of each illness. The book describes the ten most common ailments that cause digestive distress:
The book concludes by providing two diets, including recipes, plus a chapter on fiber and another about digestive support supplements.
The Bloated Belly Whisperer goes into more detail than most health self-help books. Readers who have, or know someone who has, “tummy troubles” will find a lot to like about this book. The author is a dietician who worked in a gastroenterology office so she knows of what she writes. 4 stars!
Thanks to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for an advance copy.
Posted in Non-fiction Tagged with: Dec 24 2018, Diet, self-help
Gluten Free Soul Pilot is a motivational book on how to live a healthy and joyful life.
Using a flight plan as an analogy, the book instructs you how to create a plan to health. It uses four principles: knowledge, strength, wisdom and drag. You decide your health goals and they don’t have to solely be gluten-free. Exercise and eating less junk food are highlighted too. There also over thirty recipes included but I wish they had all had a picture and nutritional information.
After being gluten-free through two Thanksgiving holidays, I needed a pep talk to prevent me from feeling sorry for myself. No rolls, stuffing, gravy or pie for me. I ate dry turkey and buttery mashed potatoes with my cranberry sauce. Even the green bean casserole has wheat in the soup and the onion topping and so was a non-starter. Also, I frequently have friends asking me if they should go gluten-free to lose weight. I always tell them without dire consequences, like death or diarrhea, I doubt anyone would stay gluten-free for long.
However, Gluten Free Soul Pilot brightened my Thanksgiving weekend. If I choose to be gluten-free, I might as well go all in and eat more healthy choices like fruit and vegetables. Then it feels like my decision and not some horrible misfortune from the universe—the difference as the book puts it from victim to victor.
Gluten Free Soul Pilot is an excellent book to inspire your movement to more healthy living. It would be a great gift to anyone on a restricted diet, not just gluten-free, during the stressful holiday season. 4 stars!
27Thanks to the publisher, Northcoast Post, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Posted in Non-fiction Tagged with: Diet, gluten-free, Nov 8 2018
“The vast majority of dieters who lose weight will gain it all back within three to five years.” To permanently lose the weight, the author suggests that dieters must Think Yourself Thin.
Beginning with the five stages of weight loss: Fed Up, Honeymoon, Stall (weight-loss plateau), Ideal Weight and Maintaining, the author reviews what could go wrong. Her solution is:
Slay resistence
Use visualization
Commit
Control emotions
Establish habits
Support system
Spiritual life
Finally, the author includes a 30-day mental mastery plan and quite a few success stories. The plan includes journaling thoughts, meditating, mindfulness, prayer, and visualizing success.
I’m disappointed that there isn’t much new in Think Yourself Thin. For the author of the 10-day Green Smoothie Challenge, I expected more originality. However, if you haven’t already read a diet book addressing the mental aspects of dieting, this would be a good choice. Think Yourself Thin motivates the reader with its Can Do attitude. The success stories at the end encourage by the variety of ways these people overcome various challenges and finally lost the weight. 3.5 stars.
Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy.
Posted in Non-fiction Tagged with: Diet, Sep 25 2018
A quick cozy mystery read with a male point of view that is not recommended for readers that struggle with weight loss.
James Henry’s ex-wife is marrying a rich lawyer. His mother has just died. He decides to quit his dream job as an English professor and move back home to take care of his father. He finds a job as the public librarian in his hometown of Quincy’s Gap, Virginia. When one of the library’s customers, Lindy the high school’s art teacher, wants to announce a new supper club for dieters, James decides to attend. Lindy, James, Lucy, Bennett and Gillian meet weekly for Sunday supper and begin a low carb diet together. Lindy and James just want moral support in their battle of the bulge. Lucy is a clerk in the Sheriff’s office who wants to be a Deputy. However, her excess weight prevents her from passing the physical. Bennett is a mailman, who wants to regain his former wrestler’s muscular form. Gillian is a vegetarian new age type who wants to fit into a tank top. They name their group the Flab Five. Oh, and former football star Brinkley Myers is murdered by bleeding out in the town’s bakery. Who stole the lone bottle of Coumadin, a blood thinner, in town? The police arrest Whitney, a part-time waitress in the local diner. The Flab Five decide to investigate.
James is an interesting character. However, most of the other folks in Carbs & Cadavers are not fully formed but seem more like stereotypical placeholders. This may have been the author’s intention with the goal of moving to different character’s point of view in each book in the series. There are a few recipes in the book: Phony Mashed Potatoes made with cauliflower and Guiltless Crustless Pumpkin Pie along with a “Good” Carb Snack List.
I enjoyed reading a cozy from a male point of view. The setting of Quincy’s Gap with its small town parades, haunted hayrides and helpful neighbors was great. However, some of the scenes didn’t seem real. A staunch vegetarian who goes on a low carb diet and begins eating meat while complaining extensively? A mail truck that can’t carry the weight of four overweight people without squealing tires and groaning axles? The attraction between James and Lucy seems one-sided and forced. Worst of all the murderer’s motive is absurd. A lot of the supposed humor is at the expense of thick people like splitting pants, gross underwear exposures and cheesy puff handprints indicating diet cheating. Creating a series about dieting would appear to be attractive to readers with their own weight issues so why is the author making fun of fat people? I know the author can write better. Her Books by the Bay Mysteries are one of my favorites. But I think an opportunity was missed here. Hopefully, a thicker writer will try to write a more empathetic mystery series about dieters. 1 star.
Thanks to the publisher, Beyond the Page Publishing, and NetGalley for an advanced copy.
Posted in Mystery & Thrillers Tagged with: cozy mystery, Diet, Feb 16 2018, series
Nothing New Here.
Absolutely nothing new here for anyone who has read at least a few diet books in the last couple of years. As Dr Phil states we just need to quit looking for a miracle weight loss solution. You can start by not bothering to read this book.
Posted in Non-fiction Tagged with: Diet