An eclectic combination of reads that come together to form the ideal therapist: from Taleb to The Dalai Lama.
In no particular order are ten books that have helped me through tough times that I can refer to again and again, representing the tastiest morsels of self-help and wisdom in my repository.
These books have something in common: you can open them at any page and find sanctuary and wisdom. You don’t need to read the chapter before for it to make sense, and I’ve chosen these reads over others because of their practical applications, the relatability of the author, and ease of reading.
1. Change Your Thinking by Sarah Edelman
This book I spied on the shelf of a psychologist’s office (more like a personal…
Think how many people would fail to make money if you loved yourself.
Many books I’ve flicked through bring up the important fact that there is an immense amount of money to be made through our dissatisfaction with our appearance.
How many influencers would lose followers if you suddenly decided you were enough, that you didn’t need to follow them for their HIIT workouts or low-carb ‘meal’ plans?
Also, what is it with diets and exercise regimes being sold as punishment everywhere we look? “No pain, no gain,” “sweat is just fat crying,” — why do we feel the need to punish ourselves? …
Health isn’t how you look.
Some more nuggets from Dr. Nikki Stamp are on the menu for today.
Even as a doctor, Stamp feels torn between the judgement we pass as a society on how healthy someone supposedly is based on their looks. She’s fallen victim to this bias herself.
Stamp shares her experience of denial because she thought because of her small size she couldn’t have high blood pressure and the associated risks. She deconstructs the paradox that despite us spending more money than ever on supplements, juice cleanses, diet plans and gym memberships, we’re even more unhealthier as a species than ever before.
…
It’s hard to find your true north, when we’re in the habit of constantly looking to others for validation and acceptance.
Another great book I’m reading as part of this challenge is Pretty Unhealthy, by Dr. Nikki Stamp. The central thesis is that as a society we’ve completely lost sight of what health actually is. She makes a compelling argument, but more on that over the next few posts.
One question she answers rather frankly is why is it so hard for us to develop and/or maintain a healthy body-positive relationship, and not have some crazy, unhinged fat-phobia?
Well, maybe it’s because we’re being blasted with shame-bombs and statistics about our ‘obesity’ epidemic, pretty much everywhere.
How can we step off…
I can’t fit into my coat…
Instead of sharing useful resources, today I felt I had to write about the realization I can no longer fit into one of my favorite coats. To get it off my chest, so to speak: the irony is to follow…
For a long time, I didn’t do my coat all the way to the top but wore a scarf instead. I couldn’t be bothered heading out in a scarf this morning, since it was forecast to get way too warm for a scarf for the journey home. I thought I’d utilize the full range of buttons and do my coat…
What to say when you get push-back
It would be tempting to quote the entire section of The F*ck It Diet called Practical Boundaries with Food and Weight by Caroline Dooner. I won’t, but want to address some important issues this book raises.
It’s one thing taking the steps in the safety of your own home — your own bedroom, your own mirror — towards body positivity. What can bring down your progress like a crashing ton of bricks is other people.
You need the inner strength and resilience to knock back any comments that could bring your self-esteem to its knees. This could come from randoms…
How finding your purpose can lead to a healthier body image
What were you put on this earth to do? It’s a question many of us ask. If you think about it, if you’re busy counting calories and comparing your waistline on Insta, you’re not focusing on your purpose. Which probably isn’t avoiding carbs.
Knowledge
Most likely, your purpose has nothing to do with your weight or your appearance. Do the following not sound ridiculous?
- My purpose is to be skinny.
- My purpose is to be beautiful.
- My purpose is to avoid carbs.
- My purpose is to go on juice cleanses.
- My purpose is to be known as ‘the healthy one.’
- My…
Take a leap of faith
It’s day 43 and I want to share some moments from The F*ck It Diet that sum up nicely how I’m experiencing the challenge.
Knowledge
It’s a belief that I’ve found hard to shake off, but I’m grateful to read that I’m not the only one who’s struggled with it. It’s the belief that if I’m not strict on myself; if I don’t have regular exercise regime and ‘watch’ what I eat that I’ll spiral out of control and end up an unhealthy, unmotivated, unhappy, obese human who isn’t worthy of anything. …
What’s the bigger problem — weight, or the stress we put on ourselves because of our weight?
In a section aptly named ‘The Luck of the Thin’ in The F*ck It Diet, Caroline Dooner points out that losing weight is viewed differently in society depending on whether you’re overweight or not.
I’ll start by sharing the following quote:
When you’re thin, undereating and overexercising are seen as disordered and dangerous. But fat people who are doing the exact same thing are seen as just doing what is “responsible and necessary.”
It seems so blindingly obvious the way she puts it, yet I’ve never thought about it from that perspective before.
Your collarbone doesn’t have to be sticking out for you to have an eating disorder
Doonan points out that one of the…
Learnings from The F*ck It Diet
These next few days I’ll post on what I’ve learned from reading The F*ck It Diet by Caroline Dooner. This book was published in 2019 and is about far more than diet mentality. It’s about putting yourself first, the lies society tells us (including the science), and most importantly, what you can do about it.
The key message of the book is that everything you’ve associated with the benefits of being thin / dieting / losing weight you can have without losing said weight. More on that later.
I dived in probably mid-way through the book to a chapter which…
