Book Review: Four Thousand Weeks

Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals 

By Oliver Burkeman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is not your typical time management book. Life is short; in fact, about 4,000 weeks or 80 years. Decide how and what you want to focus your time and effort on. Consciously determine what you do not wish to accomplish.

This book has two parts: Part I: Choosing to Choose and Part II: Beyond Control. Topics include the limit-embracing life, the efficiency trap, facing finitude, becoming a better procrastinator, the watermelon problem, the intimate interrupter, measuring time, rest, impatience, aloneness, and irrelevance. The appendix contains 10 tools for embracing your finitude, which are helpful and practical. I would not recommend this book for the type A personality, looking for concrete tips to become more effective and efficient. If you are looking for a more philosophical, soft push toward using the time you have to the best of your ability, you might enjoy this.

The book excels at pointing out that your time on earth is limited. I enjoyed the practical appendix section the most.

This is not a self-help book in the traditional sense. It goes against everything you think a time management book would provide—until you get to the appendix. I had to refrain from skimming some of the chapters in part II.

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Book Review: Natural Menopause

This book explores the management of menopause through herbal remedies, aromatherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, nutrition, exercise, and hormone replacement therapy. The underpinning message is to live a healthy lifestyle, which will impact not only the transition through menopause but also the quality of a long healthy life. I recommend the book to women in their late 40s as a resource to feel informed about choices to support the body physically and mentally.

This book is attractively organized with subtitles, boxed-out information, and illustrations. It serves as a great resource to learn more about various options that you hear about, your friend recommends, your doctor is considering, etc. Throughout, there are great tips that are easy to implement. For example, to save time and be less distracted, I was inspired to turn off alerts on my phone and unfollow many people on Twitter and Instagram. I also appreciate their general lifestyle advice: avoid highly processed foods, reduce sugar intake, cut out saturated fats found in manufactured foods, eliminate caffeine, cut out alcohol, and minimize stress (p. 130). There is a good explanation of the macronutrients: protein, fats, and carbohydrates.

Before trying herbal remedies, essential oils, and supplements, be sure to consult a professional on what to take, possible interactions with medications, etc. The book is a resource and should not be taken as medical advice.

I do not agree with some of their nutrition recommendations, e.g., “essential” good carbs (p. 136). Carbohydrates are not essential and should be limited to low-starch vegetables and low-sugar fruits to maintain glucose levels. There are also some contradictions. While they do not recommend highly processed food (p. 130), the authors do recommend high-fiber cereal (p. 137) and fortified bread and cereals (p. 140). Also, they promote soy (p. 149) but do not address concerns regarding genetically modified crops and pesticides.

Overall, a good resource that I would buy for my sister or girlfriend.

Natural Menopause: Herbal Remedies, Aromatherapy, CBT, Nutrition, Exercise, HRT by Anita Ralph

My rating: 3 of 5 stars 

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Book Review: The Shift: 7 Powerful Mindset Changes for Lasting Weight Loss

I'm not a fan of WW, (formerly Weight Watchers) but I thought this book was very informative and helpful regarding mindset. There are easy-to-implement ideas and practical advice throughout; it was a quick read. By the end of the book, I was tired of the WW references.

The Shift: 7 Powerful Mindset Changes for Lasting Weight Loss by Gary Foster
My rating: 3 of 5 stars; View all my reviews

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Book Review: Eat Like the Animals

Every living organism intuitively knows how to balance its diet—except for humans. Discover how the craving for protein is universal and diet-determining, in addition to appetites for carbohydrates, fats, sodium, and calcium. To test their protein-leverage hypotheses, years of groundbreaking research are shared regarding mold, locusts, crickets, mice, cats, dogs, and primates. How is this applicable to us? The authors provide key takeaways to take charge of your nutrition, food environment, and appetites to enjoy your journey toward a healthy and satisfying diet. Hint—prioritize protein.

If you are fascinated by scientific animal studies and how they may explain in what way physiology, evolution, and feeding behavior affect our current situation, then this book is recommended for you.

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Raubenheimer, D., & Simpson, S. (2020). Eat like the animals: What nature teaches us about the science of healthy eating. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Book Review: Eat Better, Feel Better

If you are a fan of Italian-American chef, writer, and television personality Giada De Laurentiis, then you will enjoy this book. She reveals how she revamped her diet and wellness routines to support a healthy body. She shares her three-day reboot that she follows a few times a year, the go-to foods she eats daily, various wellness techniques she uses (e.g., intermittent fasting, meditation), and over 100 recipes that support her revitalized lifestyle.

This is Giada's personal journey and should not be taken as nutritional advice.

de Laurentiis, G. (2021). Eat better, feel better: My recipes for wellness and healing, inside and out. New York: Rodale Books.

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Book Review: Within Our Grasp

 

This book takes you on a journey of past, present, and planned initiatives to end childhood hunger and malnourishment. Author Sharman Apt Russell weaves her personal story throughout, making it more real, engaging, and heartwarming. We can do this!

Regardless if you are a humanitarian, policymaker, entrepreneur, nutritionist, or interested in the issue of malnutrition, this book has something for everyone.

Russell, S. (2021). Within our grasp: Childhood malnutrition worldwide and the revolution taking place to end it. New York: Pantheon Books.

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Book Review: Hooked

Author Michael Moss depicts how the food industry has wielded its way to hook and keep its hold over us while maximizing profitability. Fat and sugar combinations, smells, textures, and flavor enhancers hit our brain at lightning speeds, interacting with memories that stimulate and compel further cravings. The reader gets a complete sense of what companies have done to exploit our addiction (“a repetitive behavior that some people find difficult to quit” p. 10). Just as consumers figure out one way of Big Food’s maneuvering, they change it up and go a different way, e.g., altering serving sizes, adding protein, “healthy” marketing on labels, etc.

The hope in exposing these manipulations is to help us to navigate a more healthful path forward. This book is recommended to all, and to especially those who consume anything from a package.

Michael, M. (2021). Hooked: Food, free will, and how the food giants exploit our addictions. New York: Random House.

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