Self Help Book Reviews

Self help books, self improvement books, life coaching books reviewed & introduced

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Featured Book:

 

 

Feeling Good! Easy Steps to Staying Healthy

By Dr Alan Maryon Davis

 

Book Review of "Feeling Good! Easy Steps to Staying Healthy"

 

Dr Alan Maryon Davis had an impressive background as a hospital doctor and GP before specialising in preventing illness and health promotion, leading to among other things becoming a presenter of the BBC TV series Bodymatters and Save a Life as well as becoming resident doctor for the weekly magazine Woman. This book presents sensible health prevention and health management tips on a variety of issues ranging from diet, exercise and stress to giving up smoking, sensible alcohol use, sexual health and even travel tips.

 

The book is published by Age Concern and its primary target audience appears to be people in their fifties or sixties or older. Don't let this put you off it if you are a little younger - it still contains some practical information and tips which may well be relevant to you and it stays clear of extreme solutions such as might be recommended in faddish diet books.

 

The book has an Introduction followed by eight different chapters dealing with different, sometimes related health matters, as set out below:

• Know Yourself
• Being More Active
• Eating Well
• Watching Your Weight
• Stressing Less
• Playing Safe
• Body Check
• Feeling Good!

I felt that the earlier chapters which focus on exercise and healthy eating were the best chapters of the book. Dr Maryon Davis emphasises that a lot can be achieved by small changes and a patient approach to building up a healthy lifestyle. The chapter on being more active emphasises that this doesn't mean you have to go overboard with an intensive fitness regime, it can mean doing simple things like walking more. The benefits of reasonable and sensible exercise are highlighted, including:

• helping to control weight
• strengthening bones and joints
• promoting general well-being

The author includes a useful table identifying which kinds of activities contribute to strength, which to suppleness and which to stamina so that you can decide whether you want to try out jogging, swimming, yoga, dancing, gardening or something else to try to build up your level of exercise.

 

The chapters on Eating Well and Watching Your Weight go through a careful analysis of what is actually important in having a balanced diet, drawing attention to six golden rules which the author says are based on World Health Organization guidance. These golden rules include generally acknowledged principles such as eating more fruit, vegetables and salads and cutting down on sugary things, as well as some other observations which may come as a surprise to people who are currently following high protein diets such as the Atkins Diet or the South Beach Diet. Dr Maryon Davis suggests that starchy staples such as bread, potatoes, pasta, rice and cereals should be a major part of our diely diet and he emphasises (as other health professionals have pointed out) that wholemeal or wholegrain versions of these foods are likely to be the best for your health.

 

The least helpful chapter in my opinion is the section called "Playing Safe". You may be forgiven for not being able to guess exactly what this chapter is about from its title. This seems to be a kind of mopping up section, where Dr Maryon Davis considers a range of different issues including cutting down smoking, alcohol and its effects, sexual health issues particularly for older people and advice about sensible precautions to take and preparations to make when going travelling. Whereas most of the other chapters end with a small checklist of some simple tips on the issue in question, no such checklist is included here, perhaps because of the range of topics covered.

 

This is a sensible, useful book which gives a good overview of some health promotion and management issues, particularly around healthy eating and exercise to help you live a balanced, fruitful and longer life. Worth reading in particular if you have a tendency to follow faddish diets where your weight and emotions yo-yo up and down.

 

"Feeling Good! Easy Steps to Staying Healthy" by Dr Alan Maryon Davis is available for purchase from Amazon.co.uk. To find out further details, please click on the image below:

 

 

David Bonham-Carter, the Founder of Life Coach Tips, and writer of this review is a life coach specialising in stress, anxiety, self esteem and related issues. For information about his life coaching services, please go to the link immediately below:

 

Life Coaching for Stress, Anxiety and Self Esteem

 

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