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As you know if you read my blog much, I’m really into health and wellness and living a healthy lifestyle. I’m definitely not the healthiest person ever, but I do really care what I put into mine and my daughter’s bodies, as well as keeping as active as I can.
I also love to read. I love escaping from real life for a short while through fiction, as well as learning new things through non-fiction. Ergo, I absolutely love health and wellness books and have quite a lot that I love to flick through, and I enjoy learning more about the topic contained within, being inspired, or finding new recipes to attempt.
I’ve been working with ‘The Book People’, who recently sent me some brilliant health and wellness books that I want to share with you. They have all the best health books as well as hundreds of others on other topics, all at really good prices.
I have five books that I want to talk about, all focused on your body and mind, but all very different.
Kindness is a very pretty, very lovely book, that is perfect to have on your coffee table to have a flick through now and again. It’s all about spreading kindness and positivity and inspiring us to be more kind to each other.
The book is written by Jaime Thurston, founder of the wonderful charity, ‘52 Lives‘, and I love the premise of the book so much. The introduction alone sent shivers through me and warmed my heart multiple times, and made me want to make more effort to be kinder and to help people more.
This beautifully illustrated book explains that being kind doesn’t have to be about making grand gestures, or spending a lot of money – just doing something to help another human being is what changes the world. That’s what this book is about – giving you simple ideas and little suggestions that you can do to be a bit more kind every day – helping you feel better and happier, as well as doing the same for somebody else.
It’s such a lovely and inspiring book to dip in and out of, and I love the little facts, quotes and science-y bits peppered throughout. I wasn’t sure I would get a lot from this book, but actually reading it makes me feel warm inside, more hopeful about the world, as well as helping me to appreciate what I’ve got. If I’m feeling a bit low or feeling sorry for myself it’s great to pick up and relax with for a few minutes, and I feel better afterwards. It makes me want to be more kind and reminds me how much of a big difference a small act of kindness can make.
Pause is another brilliant book, which we all could do with reading. The ironic thing is, it took me a while to pick up this book and read it, even though I really wanted to. Right now I struggle to pick up a book and focus on that one thing for even a little while. I struggle to stop and pause; to switch off from social media, my phone, and the stresses of life, and so this book is exactly what I, and I suspect most of us need – to read, and to pay attention to, for our health and wellbeing.
The idea of ‘the Pause’ as it is called in the book is simple:
“the busier life gets and the more chaotic the world becomes, the more we need to have pit stops in our lives to double-check we’re on the right path. The Pause is a deep exhale that allows us to reconnect to ourselves, and an exhale that allows us to listen to our own wisdom. It is a place of reflection, connection and making sense.”
We apparently check our phones an average of 221 times a day (scary – and I probably do it even more than that), we have apps that help us sleep and remind us to be mindful and we secretly measure our success in ‘likes’. We struggle with overwhelm and worrying that we might be missing out on something, whilst constantly trying to fit it all in.
Pause is full of tips, ideas and exercises, alongside explanations why you should do them, to help you learn to take a break (and how to do it properly) before you are forced to, and to remember to breathe again, refocus and put yourself and your feelings first. It is a pretty book, that is nicely broken up, with just a quote on some pages which makes it really nice to read, particularly based on the subject.
I feel calmer just from reading this book, and although it is good to read the whole thing through, I also like to just flick through and read a few pages, perhaps doing one of the exercises if I am feeling particuarly overwhelmed.
I think books like this are great as that reminder to check in with ourselves, take the time to breathe deeply, and really try to calm our minds and switch off from everything else. Pause is both enjoyable and calming to read, whilst also being practical.
I love Fearne Cotton and enjoy her Happy Place podcast, so I was looking forward to checking out one of her books. Calm – Working Through Life’s Daily Stresses to Find a Peaceful Centre is the follow up to Fearne’s first book of this type – ‘Happy’. Calm is a lovely hardback book that is easy to dip in and out of. It is along the same lines as ‘Pause’ and addresses our chaotic lives and how finding the time and making the effort to relax allows us to live healthier lives. It includes expert advice, conversations with friends, ideas to try and activities to complete, alongside the things that have made a difference to Fearne’s life, and her ability to find calm in her busy life.
It’s an easy read, written in a nice chatty way, and knowing Fearne from tv, I can imagine her speaking the words which is nice. I really like the personal aspect of it, it makes it more interesting and relatable to me, but it is still filled with useful tips and reminders to help you get to a state of calm when everything is chaotic in your life. I really enjoy sitting and reading this in the evening for five or ten minutes and it does help me to be more calm and enjoy some silence for a few minutes.
Tonics and Teas is such a lovely book, full of teas and other health drinks for your health and wellbeing. For every recipe or tea the book gives a description of what good the drink can do for you and the benefits of the individual ingredients. There are also tips on ways to add them into a busy lifestyle and how to use them safely.
It’s a really interesting read and there are so many recipes I want to try. There are some drinks I already enjoy and drink for the health benefits, such as Turmeric Tea and Kombucha, but it’s great to learn how to make them myself for more potential benefits (as well as more cheaply), plus it’s great to be able to make a tonic to help with a particular ailment (the glossary at the back of the book, with ‘Drinks for…’ is super useful). The recipes are simple, without being self-explanatory and it’s a really nice book with great pictures.
Ultimate Fit Food is the new cookbook from Gordon Ramsay that aims to inspire you to get cooking these healthy recipes to improve your health, without compromising on taste and flavour.
I love this cookbook; it is filled with loads of great recipes, that are healthy but not at all boring. There is a great introduction, explaining the best way to use the book and a bit about healthy eating and nutrition. I really like it when there is a brief introduction to each recipe, as this has, and the pictures are lovely (there is one for almost every recipe, which I love).
I have made some of the recipes and they have turned out really well, and there’s tons more I can’t wait to make. Every time I pick it up I just want to head to the kitchen and get cooking. Although some of them are very simple and may seem obvious, they have really inspired me to make myself a healthier and more interesting breakfast, or to make a snack rather than just grabbing something out the cupboard. I love the ‘Crunchy Chickpeas’ and really enjoy them as a snack and we also really enjoyed the ‘Roasted Buternut Squash, Farro and Sumac Salad’.
Some of the ingredients may be slightly more unusual, or ones that not everyone has in, such as chia seeds, or sumac, but it is not full of hard to get things that are really expensive, and are mostly things we already have in and once you have them will last a long time and are great for your health or for flavour.
The book is divided into three sections; healthy, lean and fit, which I don’t pay much attention to but would be good if you are actively trying to lose weight or starting to exercise more. Each of those sections contains breakfasts, lunches, suppers, sides and snacks with different health-boosting benefits. I particularly love the snacks and treats section, so I can make better choices in the evenings, as well as have healthy snacks on hand for my daughter.
I think it’s a really great cookbook to inspire you to get cooking healthy food without being over-complicated. It’s my most used cookbook right now.
These five health and wellness books are all great to have to inspire you to live a healthy, active and happy life. They all offer something different and I love having a flick through them, particularly on an evening to help me switch off and focus on something other than work and the daily stresses of life, which is so important for my mental wellbeing.
This is a collaborative post with The Book People, but all words and opinions are my own. See my full disclosure policy here.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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