Mixed review - some parts were helpful, others not so...
It is a bit of a mixed review for me.
The style of writing was great, I felt it was easy to read and follow and didn't feel so much like a medical manual like some self help books can. I loved the way the author shared his own experiences when discussing certain topics and I particularly liked how he noticed things such as the hypocrisy of some medical staff who may preach about the evils of drinking and smoking, yet sit there with their yellow stained fingers and drinkers nose. I also particularly liked the term 'thin on the outside, fat on the inside'. This particularly resonates with me as I like to consider myself healthy, but I am not the thinnest person.
I don't feel I particularly learned anything new, but I did begin to look at things from a different angle. I always felt it was an issue that I liked to go to bed early and be up earlier, but actually this book made me realise that it is just my own way of knowing how I function at my best.
A couple of the things I didn't like were the references to the bible. I am not a religious person and therefore this is probably why I couldn't connect to this aspect. I think I am a person who likes to base things on facts and science. However, it wasn't too much and therefore wouldn't have stopped me from reading the book.
I also disagreed with the things written about BMI. In the UK, medical practitioners do occasionally still refer to BMI, however they also note that BMI does not take into consideration water weight, bone density and muscle mass when calculating if a person is overweight or not. It is also, in my opinion, not appropriate to compare the build of people now to the build of people in the 1950s and 1960s - that was 70 years ago! One could compare people's statures through time and you would notice how humans have evolved and changed to adapt to their surroundings as well as changed due to medical progression. I am no expert, but I certainly won't be comparing myself to women from 60-70 years ago and won't be asking my daughter to either. When you consider the 1950s was post war Britain where people were still malnourished from rationing during the war - that is as unhealthy as eating junk food constantly. It is a balance - one is not right or wrong, it is about the circumstances and the environment at the time.
The style of writing was great, I felt it was easy to read and follow and didn't feel so much like a medical manual like some self help books can. I loved the way the author shared his own experiences when discussing certain topics and I particularly liked how he noticed things such as the hypocrisy of some medical staff who may preach about the evils of drinking and smoking, yet sit there with their yellow stained fingers and drinkers nose. I also particularly liked the term 'thin on the outside, fat on the inside'. This particularly resonates with me as I like to consider myself healthy, but I am not the thinnest person.
I don't feel I particularly learned anything new, but I did begin to look at things from a different angle. I always felt it was an issue that I liked to go to bed early and be up earlier, but actually this book made me realise that it is just my own way of knowing how I function at my best.
A couple of the things I didn't like were the references to the bible. I am not a religious person and therefore this is probably why I couldn't connect to this aspect. I think I am a person who likes to base things on facts and science. However, it wasn't too much and therefore wouldn't have stopped me from reading the book.
I also disagreed with the things written about BMI. In the UK, medical practitioners do occasionally still refer to BMI, however they also note that BMI does not take into consideration water weight, bone density and muscle mass when calculating if a person is overweight or not. It is also, in my opinion, not appropriate to compare the build of people now to the build of people in the 1950s and 1960s - that was 70 years ago! One could compare people's statures through time and you would notice how humans have evolved and changed to adapt to their surroundings as well as changed due to medical progression. I am no expert, but I certainly won't be comparing myself to women from 60-70 years ago and won't be asking my daughter to either. When you consider the 1950s was post war Britain where people were still malnourished from rationing during the war - that is as unhealthy as eating junk food constantly. It is a balance - one is not right or wrong, it is about the circumstances and the environment at the time.