What book motivated you?

katimama
katimama Posts: 191 Member
edited November 8 in Motivation and Support
Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food really had an impact on me and changed the way I look at food.

What book has impacted you or transformed your weight loss/exercise/health journey?

Replies

  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    katimama wrote: »
    Michael Pollan's In Defense of Food really had an impact on me and changed the way I look at food.

    What book has impacted you or transformed your weight loss/exercise/health journey?
    In Defense of Food was a game changer for me as well.
    I had already changed the way I was eating (probably 6 years before reading it?) but it really solidified things for me.

    And, I'll be honest, when I was starting out on my journey, the actual South Beach Diet book had a tremendous impact. I had been losing weight for a couple of months, and I knew what was working, but didn't really know why, or understand the bigger picture. I just knew that I cut down on highly refined crap (I just knew it as crap, then) and the weight came off. Reading Agatston's book helped contextualize all that, and has helped me contextualize research as it evolves (including his own work).
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,740 Member
    It sounds weird but Portia de Rossi's book "Unbearable Lightness" about her eating disorder and mental health issues got my attention in a way other books had not. While I had very different issues than Portia's own, reading it made me realize how disordered some of my own habits were...like being preoccupied with food, and using it to self-medicate.
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
    Ishmael
  • katimama
    katimama Posts: 191 Member
    I'll add that (years ago) Body for Life by Bill Phillips was a big motivator for me. I should probably dust that one off and give it another read.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    seltzermint wrote: »
    It sounds weird but Portia de Rossi's book "Unbearable Lightness" about her eating disorder and mental health issues got my attention in a way other books had not. While I had very different issues than Portia's own, reading it made me realize how disordered some of my own habits were...like being preoccupied with food, and using it to self-medicate.
    Interesting. I'd heard it was really good.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited December 2014
    I've never read In Defense of Food, but I quite liked Omnivore's Dilemma.

    Plenty of books that I found motivating in some sense aren't ones that I totally agree with or directly related to losing weight.

    One that inspired me around the time I first decided that my weight wasn't just totally out of my control and I should decide to do something about it was (perhaps ironically), Losing It, by Laura Fraser, which is basically a slam on the various factions of the diet industry (pre MFP, though). I recall enjoying Walter Willett's Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy (although I also recall disagreeing with him on dairy--I keep thinking about rereading that). I liked Gina Kolata's Ultimate Fitness, although she came across as a little nutty. In more of a self-help mode, I guess, I like Tom Venuto's books and found them inspiring, especially the stuff about goal setting and (of course) weights.

    Again back to when I first decided to take control of my weight I read a ridiculous number of intro to triathlon books, both training plans and memoirs of people doing them, of which Slow Fat Triathlete sticks in my head.

    On a different note, I like beautiful cookbooks, and reading through Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries kind of got me back into cooking. (Years ago Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything and Fish helped get me into it in the first place.)

    I also love food writing and it tends to make me more mindful about food, so there some that come to mind are John Thorne (Serious Pig, Pot on the Fire), and Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything (collection of pieces), among many others.

    Oh, and Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking.
  • LumberJacck
    LumberJacck Posts: 559 Member
    The Motivated Mind by Raj Persaud. It showed me that there was a specific reason why I was not reaching goal weight, and that there could be a method why I could reach goal weight.
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
    Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald.
  • fearlessleader104
    fearlessleader104 Posts: 723 Member
    I don't read :\
  • Jdigs88
    Jdigs88 Posts: 71 Member
    I've been reading "Sugar Salt Fat" and am finding it really interesting and motivating. I like learning about the industries and decisions that have shaped how we eat (as a society and as individuals). I think it will motivate me into thinking more about the ingredients in my food and why I'm attracted or drawn to certain products.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I've never read In Defense of Food, but I quite liked Omnivore's Dilemma.

    Plenty of books that I found motivating in some sense aren't ones that I totally agree with or directly related to losing weight.

    One that inspired me around the time I first decided that my weight wasn't just totally out of my control and I should decide to do something about it was (perhaps ironically), Losing It, by Laura Fraser, which is basically a slam on the various factions of the diet industry (pre MFP, though). I recall enjoying Walter Willett's Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy (although I also recall disagreeing with him on dairy--I keep thinking about rereading that). I liked Gina Kolata's Ultimate Fitness, although she came across as a little nutty. In more of a self-help mode, I guess, I like Tom Venuto's books and found them inspiring, especially the stuff about goal setting and (of course) weights.

    Again back to when I first decided to take control of my weight I read a ridiculous number of intro to triathlon books, both training plans and memoirs of people doing them, of which Slow Fat Triathlete sticks in my head.

    On a different note, I like beautiful cookbooks, and reading through Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries kind of got me back into cooking. (Years ago Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything and Fish helped get me into it in the first place.)

    I also love food writing and it tends to make me more mindful about food, so there some that come to mind are John Thorne (Serious Pig, Pot on the Fire), and Jeffrey Steingarten's The Man Who Ate Everything (collection of pieces), among many others.

    Oh, and Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking.
    Is "Losing it" worth a read?

  • bwogilvie
    bwogilvie Posts: 2,130 Member
    One of my favorites was Richard Watson, The Philosopher's Diet. However, it's only a diet book in terms of its content; it's really about applying philosophical reflection to your life.

    Here's my Amazon review: "Richard Watson's advice on dieting is basic and well-known: eat less, eat healthier food, and exercise more. He tells the reader to get specifics in these areas from other books. If your goal is to lose weight quickly, without transforming your life, this book is not for you. Read it if you want to be challenged to live your life more thoughtfully, with more awareness of why you make your choices. You must have a sense of irony to read this book, and you must exercise your own judgment. Watson doesn't want you to agree with him; he wants you to reason with him. It's an engaging and thought-provoking book."
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    bump
  • Spocky
    Spocky Posts: 62 Member
    I bought Schwarzenegger's The Book for bodybuilders or something like this and that helped me understanding training and body types and losing fat.
  • RadiantChange
    RadiantChange Posts: 57 Member
    A Path With No Disguise has been a life changer for me as it addresses the reasons behind addictive and destructive behavior. Better than a therapist and comes with a hypnotic life affirming song to help change the wording in ones mind.

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    Is "Losing it" worth a read?

    It's been long enough since I read it--maybe 2002 or so?--that I'm nervous about saying yes, but I enjoyed it. Basically she talks about her own weight issues (she's not especially overweight but has struggled with weight and always felt like she should be thinner) and then interviews various factions/"experts," as well as talking about what she does (she focuses on fitness, eats the Mediterranean diet, in fact), and ultimately kind of decides that the focus on meeting a certain level of thinness is somewhat counterproductive and that for her led to yo-yo-ing.

    The funny thing is that it might be considered a body acceptance kind of book, but she definitely thinks that acceptance is a step to being fit and getting the gain under control, and for what it's worth I read it and was inspired to get fit/lose weight myself. I also found the various discussions of the different approaches interesting, although I don't even remember what all they were other than WW and she has a viewpoint that she's open about.

  • GaleHawkins
    GaleHawkins Posts: 8,159 Member
    The Calorie Myth by Jonathan Bailor is the only book on dieting that I have read but have put in a couple hundred hours of web research these past four months. I have to use Google on many of the posts I read here because of terms being used that are new to me. I try to read stuff from the far right to the far left in dieting and a lot of the middle of the road stuff. Now at 63 and reduced mobility the old hacks I used in the past do not work so well now. :)
  • Rachelmilloy
    Rachelmilloy Posts: 159 Member
    Bump
  • katimama
    katimama Posts: 191 Member
    bump
  • andielyn
    andielyn Posts: 233 Member
    Exercise for Mood and Anxiety: Proven Strategies for Overcoming Depression and Enhancing Well-Being by Michael Otto and Jasper A.J. Smits. This book has helped me look at exercise in a different light and learn to self-motivate to exercise by realizing the immediate benefits of exercise on low mood and emotional well-being. There are some pretty good take-away strategies to find motivation to exercise when you least feel like it. For me it's a cascade effect--I exercise, that motivates me to eat healthier and log my food, etc. The focus is not on exercise for weight loss, and this twist is just what I needed.
  • coueswhitetail
    coueswhitetail Posts: 309 Member
    Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman had a huge impact on me. I really started to look at the nutrition in what I was eating and made a dramatic shift to eat mostly vegetables and seeds and nuts. I wasn't even eating all that unhealthy before (compared to a typical American), but I didn't eat enough fruits and veggies and beans. I considered them to be a side dish rather than the main part of the meal, which is what I do now. I feel great eating more veggies and it has really helped the pounds fall off. And I am having tons of fun learning how to make new dishes, it's really invigorating since I enjoy cooking.
  • lyttlewon
    lyttlewon Posts: 1,118 Member
    edited December 2014
    Why Zebra's Don't Get Ulcers, by Robert Sapolsky. It's not a diet book, it's written by a neuroendocrinologist. He talks a lot about the effects of not utilizing the fight or flight process, and what happens physiologically when you reabsorb glucocorticoids. He discusses how exercise prevents stress induced health problems. I started running for exercise after I read the book.
  • fitmek
    fitmek Posts: 277 Member
    Great thread! I used to buy nutritional/dieting books all the time and I would never finish them. Then I gave Candace Cameron Bure's book "Reshaping it All" a go and I absolutely loved it. It was real and honest and though I've never dealt with an eating disorder like she had, it explained that losing weight and eating foods to be healthy was a lifestyle (which I already knew) and that it was going to take hard work to make it a lifestyle. No secrets, no shortcuts, lots of prayer, logging food, journaling etc.
    I would love to read a book that really dives into the mental barriers of losing weight, so if anyone has suggestions, please send them my way. :)
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