Thrive by Dan Buettner - Book Report #307

Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way

Dan Buettner originally set out on a National Geographic research project to discover the commonalities of pockets of human population that has historically lived longer than the average.

He discovered many things; people generally are physically active, they eat primarily veggies & fruit, they have close personal connections with family and friends.

One of the byproducts of his investigations was general happiness.

It makes sense that if you are healthy, active and are surrounded by people you like, you'd feel pretty happy.

That is what this book explores.

I like the premise.  Sure, we are all looking for a diet to improve our health and to lose weight.  Wouldn't it also be terrific if you would somehow become happier too?

I'd buy that book.

Check out Dan Buettner's TED talk, if you find it interesting you will find all of his book are too. - https://www.ted.com/speakers/dan_buettner

Dan Buettner's Blue Zones website - https://www.bluezones.com/

The Year of Less by Cait Flanders - Book Report #306

How I stopped shopping, gave away

 my belongings, and discovered life is worth more

 than anything you can buy in a store.

It's a common problem in our cozy First World:  we have too much.

Too much stuff, too much clutter, too many calories and, too many demands on our time.

There are loads of self-help books out there help us to simplify our lives.

This one was a little different.  I was expecting the nuts and bolts of simplifying, hoping to find a few tips and inspiration.  What I got was the struggle the author went through to achieve her goals, not how she did them.  It showed the strategies she employed to keep herself on track and it explored how she motivated herself to continue even when events in her personal life could easily have derailed her.

This was very helpful.  To be shown how the conversations you have with others, how challenges in life, be it professional or personal, have the ability to make your well laid out plans more difficult, was refreshing and familiar.  I did like how she tracked her progress on a calendar, it's something I use everyday; seeing the successful days pile up as I cross them off in bold, black Sharpie is satisfying.

I like to think of the book as a personal growth memoir rather than a self-help book.  Cait Flanders offered plenty of inspiration but she also gave lots of room to make her experience something I could modify and make my own.

It was a warm and charming book.  I was rooting for her the whole time.

Cait Flanders' Website - https://caitflanders.com/

Cait Flanders

Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig - Book Report #278

This is a heart-warming and helpful little book.  It is filled with bite-sized essays and random thoughts to help you come to terms with, cope and make a positive influence on a world that has seemingly lost its mind.

Matt Haig is refreshingly candid about his struggles coping in a  modern, connected, fake-news-filled world.  Sharing his discoveries and skills of how he navigates the currents of a nasty time in our “civil” society is a gift to anybody who takes the time to read his book.

One of my favourite thoughts come from the chapter Shock of the News, in an essay called, Shocks to the System he says;

"Change doesn't just happen by focusing on the place you want to escape.  It happens by focusing on where you want to reach.  Boost the good guys, don't just knock the bad guys.  Find the hope that is already here and help it grow."

I loved this book.  It was a positive experience and read like a paper-bound twitter account, only better and more thoughtful.  I could pick it up and read a passage or two or make a cup of tea and settle back and enjoy the warmth of a positive human being finding his way in this world.

Highly recommended.

Matt Haig's website - http://www.matthaig.com/

Matt Haig

The 5AM Club by Robin Sharma - Book Review #269

Okay, first off let me say that Sharma is not the best writer of narrative fiction.  Which is too bad because the whole book is a story of three unlikely companions who meet at a motivational talk.

Like many self-help books, I found that I could use a few tips but trying to work my life into the suggested format, well ...

I did take to heart and make changes to my digital distractions.  I've turned just about every notification off and I have found that my life is much more peaceful from that single act.  Now I see that Sharma was right; I look around and see everybody staring at screens.  I sometimes find it difficult to hold a conversation with someone because they are constantly checking their phone.

I've also taken a closer look at the quality of my time spent on my devices; I now ask myself,  “am I learning something new or am I being sucked into an Instagram or Twitter vortex?”

Instead of having notifications pushed to me, and distracting me, I pull the information down when I'm ready.

Let me say that reading the book was not a waste of my time.  I learned a lot and I've taken some of its lessons to heart but to live in a prescribed manner?  Well, I am not sold on it.

I do however get up at 5 am, but I was doing so before the book.

Near the end, reading it got a bit tedious as the language kept getting more grandiose.

It’s worth reading, I just don’t think it’s worth buying.  Borrow it from a friend or the library.

Robins Sharma's website - https://www.robinsharma.com/

Robin Sharma

The End of Dieting by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. - Book Report #209

To be honest there is not much new here that wasn't covered in Eat for Health.

What I did like about this version is how the book was laid out and presented in simpler way to understand.

Dr. Fuhrman also expanded the nutritional information that had to be taken on faith in Eat for Health.  In this book he goes into greater depth to explain what each nutrient does for the body. He also explains why it is better to cook some foods while raw is best for others.

One of the most convincing parts of the book is how he breaks down some of the most popular diets and explains the limitations and dangers of each one.

Dr. Fuhrman promotes eating a balanced diet, one rich in plant-based nutrients.  He never comes out against eating animal products but you can certainly see how a vegetarian, near-vegan or vegan diet fits snugly into his research.

If you haven't quite bought into his eating plan this book may help to convince you.

I do like that Dr. Fuhrman never comes out to say that you should follow his plan to the letter.  He asks only that you try to incorporate the parts that interest you the most.  By dipping in your toe you can still benefit simply by introducing more nutrients into your body.

Good nutrition comes by replacing the processed foods with fresh fruits, nuts, vegetables, beans and legumes.

I have already benefited from the plan.  I know this because, when I indulge in processed foods, I can feel the difference.  Sometimes I even get a low-grade hangover the next day.  It is surprising.

Recommended.

Joel Fuhrman, M.D. website - https://www.drfuhrman.com/

Dr. Joel Fuhrman

Eat for Health by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. - Book Report #207

I went back to my old way of eating and gained the weight back that I had lost in 2016.

I had my yearly physical looming in September so I decided to get back to healthy eating.  This was back in the spring of this year.  I dusted off my old copy of Eat for Health and decided to re-read it.  This time I was ruthless with the book; I dog-eared and highlighted everything that was important to know and I dug into the recipes at the back of the book.

In the same way that I discovered Dr. Fuhrman's book I pursued my interest in health using this book as my launch pad.  I took what I learned the first time I read the book and applied it with more determination than the previous time.  In '16 I was really just trying to lose some weight and not really trying to change my life permanently.

Now that I was back where I started and feeling ill, I decided the change would be permanent.  This is when I realised that Eat for Health is really just the first step.  Through the spring and summer I began to lose the weight again and started to feel better.

By researching the Standard North American diet I discovered just how much stress eating meat can put on the body and how many conditions, that are associated with being middle-aged, are actually caused by the food we eat.  It was surprising.

From there I found my way into the world of industrial farming, which was hinted at by the book Real Food, Fake Food.  When I discovered how farming has changed in the past 50 years and how it has affected the quality of the meat and the lives of the cattle, well, I was repulsed.

By the end of the summer I was at a weight that I was confident to see my doctor in.  But I wanted to do more to change my diet and I decided that, while I was on vacation I would switch to a vegetarian diet.

When I returned to work I had actually lost a little bit of weight.  The doctor's appointment came and I had improved on all the metrics; blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides and of course weight.

I owe all this to Eat for Health and the doors it has opened for me.

Not only highly recommended but it has become a reference book in my home.  I go to many of the recipes regularly.  It is always in sight.

Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

The Laws of Lifetime Growth by Dan Sullivan - Book Report #173

I needed a break from the depressing world of geopolitics and warfare.  I needed to hear about being able to take control and improve my own little world.

Years ago I went through a self-help phase and found the subject to be interesting and helpful but it can get to be a bit preachy.

I came to Dan Sullivan through Peter Diamandis and their Exponential Wisdom podcast.

If you listen to the podcast you will hear Dan's laws echoed there.

Basically Dan expands on 10 rules that help to align your attitude to expose yourself to growth.

1- Make your future bigger than you past - Dream baby!  Where do you want to go?

2- Make your learning greater than your experience - You need to feel out of your depth.  Learn.

3- Make your contribution greater than your reward - Give away your ideas without the expectation of reward, or money, or recognition.

4- Make your performance greater than your applause - If you get recognition, great!  It's a byproduct of what you do.  Don't do something just for the recognition.  You will stagnate.

5- Make your gratitude greater than your success - You got to where you are from the help and work of others.  Never forget that.  Thank them.

6- Make your enjoyment greater than your effort - This is hard.  Everybody says "Do what you love."  Not easy to do that but always try to get to that state.

7- Make your co-operation greater than your status - Related to #5 help others as others have helped you.  Don't try to steal credit.  Be about the project.

8- Make your confidence greater than your comfort -  Related to #2.  If you feel like you can handle anything that comes to you, you are not being challenged and not growing.

9- Make your purpose greater than your money - Related to #6 don't just work for money.  If you won't do something because you're not being paid enough or at all, then your focus is not on the purpose.

10- Make your questions greater than your answers - If your question leads to an answer in one or two steps you are not asking big enough questions.  Your questions should lead to more questions.

That last one is a bit fuzzy but basically it's designed to get you to keep learning.

If you keep learning you keep growing.  If you keep growing you keep living.  If your lucky, the person most surprised about your death will be you.

Is that dark?  It wasn't meant to be.

Eat for Health by Joel Fuhrman, M.D. - Book Review #160

12/15/2016

A while back I watched a movie called, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead by Joe Cross.  In the movie Cross regains his health by going on a fresh juice fast for 60 days.  It was so inspiring that I went out and bought a juicer of my own.

I made maybe a dozen juices but kept thinking to myself that I would rather eat all that good food than drink it.  I went back to the movie and found an interview that caught my attention, it was with Dr. Joel Fuhrman who is the author of a best-selling book called Eat To Live.  Through exploring his bibliography I found the book that has changed my life: Eat for Health.

Instead of being a diet book, it is more a eating lifestyle manual.

I have tried many diets before and always kept thinking that there simply must be a better way to eat.  But with all the conflicting information out there it is easy to run onto the wrong track and simply gain weight year after year.

Like Joe Cross of the film, I was getting sick; overweight, a high-normal blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, sleep apnea and sore joints, I was well on my way to a life of pharmaceutical solutions.  I didn't want to have a bunch of pill bottles in my life.

It was in Fuhrman's book that he laid out a simple mind-set to food choice; what delivers the most nutrients per calorie?  If you look at the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients the body needs you need to choose the ones that provide the most for the least calories.  Natural foods tend to be low in calories as a matter of course so the calorie side of the decision making really does not enter into it.

I did not jump right into his eating plan but gradually introduced more and more nutrient rich foods while scaling back, and eventually eliminating, the nutrient poor ones.  He even has a three step plan on how to slowly move away from the traditional North American diet to one rich with plant-based foods.

It is in no way a vegetarian diet but you'd be surprised at just how much vegetarian foods go into this healthy way of eating.  To be honest it feels like I get to eat way more food than before.  However, it is a lot more work.  I have never spent so much time in front of my cutting board preparing fruits and veggies and making meals from scratch.

I've been working on this eating plan for six or seven weeks now and have dropped 25 pounds; from 243 lbs to 218 as of this writing.  ( Saturday, August 20, 2016 )  I don't feel deprived and I can indulge in a pizza and beer night once in a while without feeling guilty about it.  And that is the key to this kind of thing; don't beat yourself up if you fall off the wagon once in a while, just get back on the next day.

I borrowed the book from the public library and will soon by purchasing a copy of my own.  My wife is impressed with my progress and is thinking about following the plan too.

Highly recommended.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman