June's Peanut Butter Fingers book club selection was Drop Dead Healthy by A.J. Jacobs.
Aside from "My Life on the Run" by Bart Yasso (which I totally enjoyed) I don't have much experience in the fitness/health - memoir genre. I remember hearing about A.J. Jacobs when he wrote about his experiment on a year of living biblically and a radical honesty experiment he references in this book so I knew something of his writing style.
One of the more endearing aspects of the book to me is that the author is just plain likeable. You probably aren't going to experience any major fitness or nutritional revelations but many will appreciate the effort that can go with making a big lifestyle change in the name of health or fitness. Whether he is talking about his day to day human experiences, poking fun at the extremists, recounting his wife's comments and reactions, or sharing little bits of health trivia you are entertained by the book.
It is entertaining reading about someone else taking the time to try several of the latest health crazes out there, especially if you will never try them yourself - for example in my case The Master Cleanse. Around the time his wife cheats within the first day (I think within like the first 4 hours) of The Master Cleanse I really started to enjoy the book.(I pretty much enjoyed all the actions and reactions of his wife).
I appreciated his honest discussion and reflection of how he was planning to incorporate what he had learned into his day to day life. A balance of healthy living is really hard for many people to find in my opinion and I appreciated his reflection on not only what these changes added to his life, but what sustaining some of them at his experiment level (most of which wasn't super extreme by the way) would take away: for example time with family or enjoying a cupcake with his son.
The death of a couple of his family members also sets the scene for some real reflection on balancing health and fitness with living a "good" life.
balance is something I work daily to achieve in everything in life. It's not as easy as it looks...at least not for m. I find doing less about something to be much more difficult than doing more for some reason
ReplyDeleteIt is not easy at all! I think there is an added conflict between what we feel inside but what we are being told or influenced.
DeleteSometimes slowing down can be really uncomfortable. I do believe I am generally better for it, but sometimes I think I just run myself in circles because I have that "need" to feel like I am doing the right things in life.
I can promise you I was WAY out of balance when I popped my ankle. I remember heading out for that hike knowing I didn't have it in me, but thinking I had to get Nim and I out there.
I have been thinking about reading this! Thanks for the review. I certainly want to read it now!
ReplyDeleteHonestly, if nothing else the book made me laugh. :)
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