“Literature is the safe and traditional vehicle through which we learn about the world and pass on values from one generation to the next. Books save lives.” – Laurie Anderson
“Think before you speak. Read before you think.” – Fran Lebowitz
Oh, I so agree with both quotes on reading above. Books arm us with the right information to not just learn, but pass on those values.
And yes, while Fran is right, I wanna extend his quote by a few words, adding
‘… Read before you consume/eat’
And because we are here to share premium and valuable content on this blog, I rounded up 5 lessons from different books I have read/consumed, to help you make better food, fitness and lifestyle choices.
N.B this post was first published on this blog in November 2021. It’s amazing read with insightful lessons and bringing it back issa winner. I hope you chose one or all haha and read them for yourself.
Are you ready? Let’s go!
Hello Citizens,
One of the practices, right after the Grace and help of God, that have kept me on track my fitness and wholeness journey has to be consuming the right knowledge to deepen my convictions.
It is incredible just how much we can fall apart once we are no longer intentional about learning and growing in knowledge on the matter at hand.
Your resolve weakens, and soon your actions follow.
Which is why I am a huge reader, and an advocate for my Citizens at Jesus Girls’ Nation to read.
From books to articles and webinars and videos, I find time to consume the right content that helps me stay on track.
In this blog, I will share a few game changing information from some books and content I have had the privilege of reading and consuming recently, or even a while ago, but which stays timeless to me.
They changed my game, and I am sure they can upgrade yours too
Let’s gooooooo
- Good Health Good Life by Joyce Meyer
Oh this was one of the first and the best books I got on healthy living when I first started my own personal weight loss journey. I needed the faith perspective and Gmama Joyce brought it well.
This is one of my fave lines, though I beg to tweak just one little thing there hehe
A little sugar or an occasional pasta will not do irreparable damage to most of us. Most of us are mature enough to mix the occasional indulgence into a general pattern of wholesome balanced meals.
Well. This sounds great right?
However, most of us are NOT quite mature to do this, which is where we need to enlist the help of God, and for some of us, what that looks like is completely eliminating that food that makes us fall yakata,
LOL
But what GMama says is right
As we mature, we can mix the occasional indulgence into a general pattern
‘Occasional indulgence’ and ‘General Pattern’ being the keywords
Don’t make junk, which is the indulgence, your general everyday pattern, OK?
Please if you are serious about really upgrading your health and never downgrading, I recommend this book fully
Now speaking of patterns, my next book is on habits, and as we know, habits are the primary reason for the figures on the scale
2. The Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg
Disclaimer: I am yet to finish reading this book, but I bought it after extensive review on it, and our new program ChaYAH Wholeness is based off of one of his recommendations, KEYSTONE HABITS, which was what I did a lot of research on.
Definition: Keystone habits are habits that automatically lead to multiple positive behaviors and positive effects in your life.
Here are a few quotes from his runaway best seller
“Change might not be fast and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.”
Which is why we left the fast track when it comes to weight loss and now encourage our Citizens to take it slow, so results are longer lasting, as we honor the process.
Changing habits for good takes time, and it is not easy, but as we work with you to identify those keystone habits, we then provide tools to help you replace them with better habits.
“Typically, people who exercise, start eating better and becoming more productive at work. They smoke less and show more patience with colleagues and family. They use their credit cards less frequently and say they feel less stressed. Exercise is a keystone habit that triggers widespread change.”
I so agree as once I stop my workout routine, I just tend to make poorer decisions, meanwhile being a steady Gym chick not just only helps me look so trim, it also keeps me conscious of other decisions I make especially around my food.
3. The Hallelujah Diet by George Malkmus
Ok, another disclaimer
I don’t follow the diet, and frankly while I don’t doubt the amazing success stories within, I find it really REALLY hard to follow as a lifestyle, except of course, you have messed up your health and system so bad that you need such extreme interventions.
Since there is an alternative to a healthier lifestyle that doesn’t cut out a lot of the foods God created, then I choose to follow that.
That said, I do agree with the general theme of the book, which is that our diets are MOSTLY responsible for the presence or absence of disease in our lives, and when we make the needed changes here with our foods, without drugs, we can reverse it.
I AGREE!!!
There are so many rich and provoking thoughts I got from reading this book, but let me pick one that looks at change from a systemic level, as that is really a conversation to have, while we still try to change the narrative one family at a time. The system in question here being the church, as the junk pandemic is hitting hard there.
Sunday morning worshipers at Fellowship church used to satisfy their spiritual hunger with God and their growling stomachs with doughnuts.
The Pastor Ed Young preached a series of sermons on the Biblical principle of the body as the Temple of the Holy Spirit.
People loved the doughnuts but the more we started thinking about this, we were saying ‘ we cant talk about this on the one hand and have all these doughnuts on the other hand’.
These days, the 18,000 member suburban Dallas church touts healthy eating and physical fitness…
Churches traditionally have not worried about waist lines …. most evangelical Christians don’t smoke, drink, curse or commit adultery. So what do we do? We eat!!!
So sad but so true
And because the church has the ears and hearts of most people, we should take the fight against the junk pandemic into the four walls of the church too.
Speaking of church, my next book is written by a Pastor this time. The popular author of The Purpose driven life and series.
4. The Daniel Plan by Rick Warren, Mark Hyman and Daniel Amen
My quote and focus comes from the very first line haha
‘Wow! Everybody’s FAT!
That shocking thought kept reverberating in my mind… as I was baptizing 827 adults…
I was getting tired since our church baptizes the way Jesus was baptized.
That day, based on the average weight of Americans, I lifted more than 145,000 pounds
While my first thought was that everyone I baptized was overweight, my second thought was more personal and pointed
But I am fat too! I am as out of shape as everyone else is.’
And that began the journey of preaching health and fitness from the pulpit at his church, many researches involving experts, adopting the Daniel Fast as a church which ultimately led to this book.
The message is simple.
Let the church and the preachers lend its voice too
What this means is that Pastors need to first adopt a healthier lifestyle too so they don’t just preach it, they model it.
And my final book is the most heartbreaking for me.
5. Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss
First, if you are yet to see my YouTube video on convenience, please check it out here as I shared quite some shocking insights I got from this book
Rethinking Convenience; 5 things to note
Ok so while there are many almost depressing exposes here, the one that broke my heart the most was from Gerber chairman at the time, which I will like to quote
Like we know, Gerber is the beloved Baby food line which almost every mother with some level of means has bought for her children
The chairman of Gerber, for one, said that his company, under pressure from nutrition activists, had recently dropped two highly sweetened items from its lineup of baby foods, Blueberry Buckle and Raspberry Cobbler.
“We never said they were particularly nutritious,” he said. “We just said they tasted good.”
My goodness!! I just about fainted when I read that crap!!!
So nutritional content can be sacrificed on the altar of ‘tasting good’ (aka adding an excess amount of sugar) even for baby foods?
This should get us thinking, and acting, and making decisions about how we want to both feed ourselves and our families going forward
Like I said in this video, while you think they truly exist to make your life ‘convenient’, it is all about the money for them, at every cost!!!
Hey, there you go with 5 books and 5 lessons on healthy living
Is there anyone that resonates the most with you? Let me hear your thoughts and don’t forget to check out the video that goes with this post
If reading is a challenge for you, I share five hacks that can get you from Nay to Yay in no time.
Reader ZERO to Reader HERO; 5 hot tips
See you in my next blog
To your BEST life
Eziaha
PS;
I shared all about books in my two other blogs. Like the ones above, these books are amazing and have helped me in no small way as I applied.
Have a read;
5 parenting books, 5 mommy lessons
