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Book Review: The Alkaline Cure: Lose Weight, Gain Energy, Feel Young and Stay Healthy for the Rest of Your Life by Stephan Domenig
Summary:
This book offers an introduction to the Alkaline Diet, as well as a 14 day meal plan and lifestyle guide to jump-start the reader into the Alkaline way.
Review:
The introduction to the Alkaline Diet in the first half of the book is wonderfully written and easy to understand. The 14 day meal plan and lifestyle guide falters, however, with dull, complex to make meals and a shortage of exercise tips.
For those who don’t know, the Alkaline Diet basically is the idea that our bodies function best with a pH balance between 7.3 and 7.5, but modern lifestyles wreak havoc with this balance, making us too acidic. What impacts our pH balance is our food and lifestyle. Each food can be either acidic or alkaline. Stress is acidic. Meditation is alkaline. Etc… Whether or not this idea that the body should be at a certain pH balance is valid is rather irrelevant, honestly. The tips offered for creating this balance are all good, healthy ones. The book never veers into extremism, indeed cautioning that acidic foods, such as meat and processed items, do not need to be cut out of the diet entirely in order for the reader to be healthy. It encourages a 2:1 ratio. Two parts alkaline food and activities for every one part acidic food and activities. Essentially, the idea that health is not all or nothing. It is a balancing act. Indeed, balance is a theme of the book.
Your body doesn’t want extremes–it wants balance. (loc 480)
The two parts alkaline it encourages are basically fresh produce, time for self-care, and low-stress exercise. So basically, eat whole foods, stress less, and move more. Fairly common fitness and health advice. The acidic parts include processed food, meat, dairy, stress, and high-stress exercise. Again, the reader is not told to stop enjoying any of these things, but simply to find a balance. The only thing I really disagree with is I think the book underemphasizes the importance of exercise for health. In fact, the book seems a bit concerned with not doing too much “high-stress” cardio or weight lifting. It seems to be more inclined toward the lower-impact, more moderate exercises. I don’t think this is an idea that could claim to have much science behind it. Indeed, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is written about in over 200 articles on PubMed (a free biomedical database), and most of these articles are talking about the positive effects of HIIT on abilities and cardiovascular health. (List of articles) So essentially the food and lifestyle advice is mostly good but take the exercise advice with a grain of salt. Advising moderate walking and stretching every other day or so is really only appropriate for the most beginner levels of fitness.
After introducing these ideas, the book next offers a 14 day meal plan and lifestyle plan for the person new to Alkaline. The first week is basically a cleanse, and the second week is supposed to be a model of what the non-cleanse Alkaline lifestyle is like. This is the part where I became disappointed. The recipes, including the ones for the non-cleanse week, come across as bland, dull, and labor-intensive, and this is coming from a person who does an awful lot of cooking to minimize the amount of processed foods in her diet. I usually spend at least two hours prepping food for the workweek and cook a minimum of 4 meals at home a week. This plan seemed like an overwhelming amount of work to me. I can only imagine how it might seem to a reader who normally cooks processed meals or picks up fast food most days of the week. Many of the recipes were also not particularly simple. For both of these reasons, I feel the meal plan isn’t particularly appropriate for a beginner, which is odd given that the rest of the book is toned as for a beginner. I would expect an easier, more approachable meal plan from this book.
Each day also has beauty, exercise, and lifestyle suggestions. I particularly enjoyed the beauty suggestions, as they were mostly things that are easy to do at home and seemed enjoyable, such as an alkalizing foot bath or a hair mask. The lifestyle suggestions were good for beginners who maybe are new to the ideas of meditation and stress relief. The exercise sections suffered from the same issue I went into in-depth earlier.
What the book lacks is a clear idea of who its audience is. Is it a person completely new to fitness and healthy eating who is currently a beginner in every way? Is it meant for every person wherever they are on their journey to health? Is it meant for intermediates, looking to amp up their fitness and health regime? Because it lacks a focus, the content veers around between these three options, suggesting extremely beginner level exercises but rather advanced cooking and preparation ideas. For this reason, it would probably frustrate a beginner who finds the first half of the book do-able and understandable but then finds an overwhelming amount to do for an introductory 14 day plan. It would also frustrate someone who is not new to fitness and health who wants more details on how to amp up their regime and who may be a bit insulted at the idea that they will be fine if they just go for walks every few days. Recommended to those interested in a quick introduction to the ideas behind the Alkaline Diet to tweak their diet on their own but who is not so invested in using a 14 day introductory plan.
3 out of 5 stars
Source: Netgalley
Friday Fun! (Updates Ahoy)
Hello my lovely readers!
Wow what a crazy week it’s been! Between being slowed down by hobbling everywhere, getting settled in at work, and getting ready to go out of town….it’s just flown by!
I *did* play one of my xbox kinect dancing games in spite of my stitches a couple of days in a row (I know, bad Amanda). Also over my weekend I managed to get some time in on Waiting for Daybreak‘s edits. It’s so close you guys. I’m thinking a July blog tour. Anyway, I finally got back into the gym last night, and got praise from my trainer, so it appears my attempts at healthy eating/drinking to keep my fitness going in spite of injury are working!
Things may be a bit slow around here next week, since this week I’ve been working on a chunkster, one of my Bottom of the TBR Pile Challenge booksAcacia: The War with the Mein. PLUS even if I do finish up some books this weekend, I won’t be blogging them for a bit since I’m spending the weekend visiting my dad up in Vermont. It’s a mini-vacation yay! One I sorely need too. I haven’t seen him since Thanksgiving. Crazy, I know.
Progress continues, even when it’s not obvious. Writing, reading, fitness, bonding……it all plugs along as long as you keep at it!
Happy weekends all. Care to tell me a chunkster that you feel is worth the time?
Friday Fun! (Holy Busyness Batman!)
My lovely readers! Boy am I ever glad I gave you guys the heads up that things would slow down around here for the next few months. I’m not even sure how long it’s been since I posted a Friday Fun. A couple of weeks?
In any case, my new job is AWESOME, and I am so blissfully happy that after years of struggling through school and in a bad economy that I wound up with a job in the field and area of librarianship that I wanted in the city that I love. I love my commute! I love my coworkers! I love my patrons! I love the view from my shared office! I love that I HAVE an office! I love that I’m getting to go to the Medical Library Association’s 2012 conference in Seattle!
But it is also a huge learning process and I find myself with a brain refusing anymore information by the time I hit the T at the end of the day. This means that all three of my nonfiction reads I had started before working at my new library, as well as during the first week, have hit the wayside. Cannot. Do. It. I need memoirs and paranormal romance and swashbuckling and FICTIONAL STORYLINES FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. I cannot read and attempt to comprehend things about evolution in a toxic world or why you should eat this and not that. Nope. Can’t do it. At least not right now. So, yes. I’m going to attempt to struggle my way through the three nonfiction reads I had started with a chapter a day. Beyond that, no more. I mean, I have to work on learning PHP for my new job. One can only handle so much nonfiction in one day. That said, I still want to do Diet for a New America, but I think I’m going to have to rework it somehow. Maybe make it a challenge instead of a project. That way I won’t feel bad if it takes me a while to get to the next book. I still intend to finish, buuuut probably not by the end of 2012 *snort*
Speaking of diet and health, I have discovered ZUMBA and it is AWESOME. I’ve always been a dancer from a very young age (before I got fat and unhealthy) and for some reason even though I’ve recovered my fitness, I was ignoring dance. No more! Zumba is basically dance aerobics only using Latin dance and a mix of Latin music and modern popular songs. (I think to date my favorite routine has been the one we did to I’m Sexy and I Know It. It involved showing off our guns). Anywhooo I love the Latin dancing because it is all hip shaking, but it’s also a great class to go to once a week because long-term cardio is still what is really difficult for me, but the class and instructor are just so dang FUN that I am bound and determined to make it through. And I do. I just also have at least one point in every class where I am certain I am going to die. Then we pretend to be roping a cow, and I suddenly am fine. 😉
Happy weekends everyone! Tomorrow is my first day as a Saturday librarian, and I am mad excited. (Which seems to be my perpetual state of emotion nowadays).
Friday Fun! (On Health and Entitlement of Women’s Bodies)
Hello my lovely readers! Sorry for the relatively smaller amount of reviews this week. I’ve finished a few books, but didn’t have the time to write up the reviews yet. This just means next week will be full. 🙂
I have a relatively serious topic I want to talk about today. You guys know that I take health and the obesity epidemic seriously. One argument that I’ve heard a lot of unhealthy women make is that they put on a ton of weight to avoid men. They weren’t comfortable with the attention, etc… I remember thinking, when I, at the time, was overweight myself, “How bad could it really be?” Turns out…..pretty bad.
Over the last year, I’ve gone from a size 16 to a size 10. Over the last month, I’ve had more encounters with men who feel entitled to my body than I had over the entire two years I was overweight. I know correlation does not necessarily equal causation, but in some cases it does.
I’m a single lady. I date. I go places where single people hang out to try to meet new people. I do what single people in cities do. I dress attractively, because I WANT to, but also because I’ve worked damn HARD for this body, and I’m proud of my work. I’m not saying I’m Miss America, and I wouldn’t want to be, but I definitely look happy and healthy when I go out. Much more so than when I was overweight. I get hit on. I get asked on dates. This also happened when I was overweight. The difference, though, is that now when I dare to say the word no a much higher percentage of them get downright angry at me.
He’ll say something like, “Do you want to go on a date?” I say, “No, thank you.” He says, “WHY?! Think you’re too good for me?!” or “Well you shouldn’t dress that way if you don’t want attention” or “Please, you obviously need a good fucking.” (I am not exaggerating. These all have been spoken or texted or what have you to me).
Worse, though, is I’ll go on a first date. Usually dinner or drinks. I have a nice enough time, but I can tell we wouldn’t work long-term, and I want a relationship at this point in my life. He leans in for a kiss, and I turn my cheek or he asks me for a second date and I say no I don’t think it’ll work out. The reaction generally is, “You owe me, I bought you dinner!” or “How can you possibly know after only one date?!” or “Well, I thought you were ugly anyway.” (That last one, btw, makes zero sense since he ASKED ME OUT TO START WITH).
What really aggravates me about these interactions isn’t their disappointment that I said no. Obviously, that is flattering. What is bothersome is the evident sense of entitlement over MY BODY that they have. I’m pretty and single. They’re available and have a penis, ergo, I must want them or I’m a horrible woman. Since when did my body become the possession of every straight man in the greater Boston area?
Oh yeah, since I started glowing with health.
It’s draining. It’s enough to make me not want to go out some nights. It’s enough to make me want to stick my earbuds in in public and ignore everyone. Of course, I’m me, so I’m not going to do these things. I’m going to keep being my awesome self and feminist hulksmashing the douchebags (verbal smack-down, folks, not a physical one), but. If I didn’t have such a strong personality or had personal issues or WHATEVER I could totally see this being a thing that would make me stop working out, stop eating healthy, stop it all and just hide to protect myself.
Do you see where I’m going here? This misogynistic entitlement to women’s bodies is a poison to our whole society. A POISON. Every time you police a woman’s body or act entitled to her or watch it happen to a woman and not stand up for her, you are essentially watching the cook poison the food and then serve it to the dinner party without saying anything or trying to stop him. It hurts everyone, and it is not ok! It is just as bad as those cultures (that I know Americans judge) that say, “Women need to cover up because they tempt men.” Our cultural impetus is the opposite. “This woman is young and healthy and available ergo I deserve her body.”
No. You. Don’t.
I vow to say something any time I hear this attitude happening, and not just to me. I vow to encourage all women to remember that our bodies are ours and our health is about US and not about THEM. I hope you all will do the same.
Friday Fun! (Gym, Thundersnow)
Hello my lovely readers! I hope you all had nice weeks. I discovered at my potluck that all of my friends are *amazing* cooks! We should do this potluck thing more often. 🙂
This week I returned to meeting with a trainer. In January it will be exactly one year since I started focusing on my fitness, and I’m rather determined to meet a few goals before then. I figured a trainer would help. He’s also nice and tough on me, which I enjoy. I am a bit distraught to discover that I’m still having issues holding a plank for a minute. I make it. But just barely. Needless to say, that’s one of my big goals for the next two months.
We got our first snow of the year last night, and it wasn’t just snow, it was THUNDERSNOW. That’s what we call it when there’s thunder and lightning with snow instead of rain. I loooove winter, and I was happy to see snow this morning, although I must admit that I hope this winter isn’t incredibly long like the one in the Little House books.
I got a lot of library loot last night. I’m thinking of having my own mini read-a-thon at some point next week, especially since I’m no longer working at the restaurant. I’m picking up my final check today and handing in my uniform. I’m happy to have my evenings back to myself, though I will miss the extra money, heh. In any case, let me know if you’d be at all into a mini read-a-thon at some point in the next week.
Happy weekends!
Book Review: Lean, Long & Strong The 6-week Strength-training, Fat-burning Program for Women by Wini Linguvic
Summary:
In this book Linguvic seeks to lay out multiple strength training routines for women that can be done within your own home with minimal equipment. The routines are divided into core, lower body, and upper body. Each of these have beginner, intermediate, and advanced options. The routines are designed to be combined in various ways to either fat-blast or target core, lower body, or upper body. The book includes a nutrition guide.
Review:
This is one of those times where I really wish I hadn’t trusted the reviews on Amazon and instead borrowed the book from the library. Granted, I got it for only $3 from Better World Books, but it proved to be utterly useless for me.
Linguvic is definitely a strong woman in all of her pictures, but there is NO WAY she got that strong doing these wimpy routines. I’d been strength training for nine months prior to getting this book hoping to expand my routine, and they were all simply way too easy for me. There is nothing intermediate or advanced about this book. It is beginner all the way.
Almost all of the moves include using an exercise ball and a towel and maybe a set of hand-weights. Personally I find exercise balls to be more trouble than they’re worth you can just bench press or use a Roman chair. They’re rolly and annoying. However, I suppose if you’re the timid type wanting to start to work out and not join a gym just yet, it could work for you.
That said, a solid half of the moves are stretches. Stretching is not going to give you muscles, so I have no idea why she dedicates so much space to them.
The nutrition section is disappointing, but that’s not surprising given that I’m veg, and she’s an omnivore. It gives good basic tips, but they’re ones you could get on the internet for free, (such as eat breakfast, don’t eat processed food, etc…)
I think this book suffers a bit from false marketing. It is not a book that will work for any woman at any strength training level. It is clearly a book designed for women who are going from doing nothing physical to attempting to begin building some muscle. It is a beginner’s book. Even as a beginner’s book, though, it is lacking in variety and truly challenging moves.
Overall, there is some value in this book in that it consists of non-threatening, quick routines that women who have never exercised before may find simple enough to stick with. If it will get them off the couch, then it has done something. If you have any experience with strength training at all, though, don’t waste your time with it.
2 out of 5 stars
Source: Better World Books