3 Books That Have Changed the Way I Eat and Exercise

Between going to graduate school and becoming an adjunct myself, I haven’t had a lot of time to focus on the health and wellness routine that I had built myself in 2011-2012. However, now that my very first semester has wrapped up at the City College of New York, my students grades are in, and I’m settling back into my routine, I thought it would be a good time to pick back up again.

With that in mind, this week, I’ve been alternating cardio and weight training every day, and doing a very light juice cleanse (I’m eating only whole foods–no processed foods, no added sugar, lean protein–for one meal a day and drinking lots of fresh pressed juice throughout the rest of the day)*. Over the years, I’ve read a lot of different books and even watched some great documentaries that have effected my relationship with food and exercise (I was definitely not an athletic kid), and today I wanted to share three books that have been influential on me over the years:

The Fast Track Detox Diet by Anne Louise Gittleman, Ph.D., C.N.S.

Dr. Gittleman’s book is built around the idea of a one-day juice cleanse, with a 10=day prepartory eating period before it and a 7-day come-down period afterwards. For my college-aged self, it was an interesting exercise in eliminating sugar, caffeine, processed food, and alcohol for a 18 day period. It was also really rewarding to find out–at that age–that eating healthily was not only withstandable, but extremely filling.

The Cardio-Free Diet by Jim Karas

My mother had this book on her shelf for many years, before she rediscovered it as an empty-nester. It highlighted the importance of weight training for her, and in turn, she passed it onto me, and it helped me to truly change my body. Incorporating the free-weight exercises in this book into my routine helped me to drop two dress sizes, reshape my body, and become a stronger person with more physical endurance. I live near the highest elevated train station in the western world and I can tell you that I can (and have) walk up those stairs!

While I don’t completely buy into zero cardio exercise (I mean, most of us want to have a strong heart and lungs too), I definitely believe that weight training is essential, since it builds muscle mass.

Eat to Live by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.

My mom also passed on this book by Dr. Fuhrman to me. I really like his clear, straight-forward approach to eating whole foods and the interesting recipes this book includes. As someone who loves to cook, in addition to eating, it’s great to find a resource that has healthful recipes that are still compelling (check out the fascinating salad dressings that have no oil in them).

Finally, I just want to say that while these books are a great way to jump-start your personal diet/exercise/health regiment, keep in mind that every person is different and not every plan is right for you. For instance, one of my friends tried to join me on my second cleanse using Dr. Gittleman’s method, and he just found the caffeine withdrawal to be too difficult.

And I hope that if you have additional resources/recommendations to share, you’ll do so in the comments!

—

*It also got me thinking about how, when I was growing up, I didn’t have a real understanding about the relationship between my body and the food I was eating. As a kid, I had a sensitive stomach/digestive system, but also a voracious love of food. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned to pay attention to the foods that upset my system and figured out what could be kept with the help of natural enzymes and what had to be eliminated fully (sorry, ice cream, whipped cream, and milk!). That’s a story for another time though.