Books to read

If I can recommend a few books to you? These were my "baby steps" books. Once I read them, they opened my eyes to the way I was living and changed my thoughts about HOW I should be eating. The results were immediate. I have lost over 80 pounds over the past year by eating healthy and exercising. You can order most of them used over Amazon for a few dollars. These books were the most helpful to me when rebuilding myself. Some may be of use to you as well.

1. Fit For Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond.
It talks about food combining, the importance of water and sunshine, the importance of exercise. You can find a paperback in a used bookstore or order from Amazon and get it for like $3.00.

2. Marilu Henner's Total Health Makeover
She also speaks of food combining (a bit different than Harvey and Marilyn, but pretty good all the same). She has a 12 step program where you give up a few things each week to streamline yourself to health. Her books are encouraging, too. She also has a workbook of sorts (The 30 Day Total Health Makeover: Everything You Need to Do to Change Your Body, Your Health, and Your Live in 30 Amazing Days). She believes in organizing your living space - order needs to come on the inside and the outside.

If you're going to get a juicer, check out these books:

1. juicing for Life by Cherie Calbom and Maureen Keane
Lots of good recipes and information about juicing and the benefits of combining certain vegetables and fruits

2. Fresh Vegetable and Fruit Juices: what's missing in your body? by Dr. Norman W. Walker
He's an amazing man and has written an excellent book about detoxing your body through juicing. This was one of the books I read and followed his recipes for ailments to heal myself. In the back of the book he has combinations of juices. This is followed by a list of ailments - and the juices to use to address the ailments. His other books are equally as helpful, and they are written on colon health, the benefits of water, and there's one called Pure and Simple Natural Weight Control.

If you choose to turn to Raw Foodism, which I ultimately did after a year on the path to health, you may want to check out:

1. Raw Power by Stephen Arlin
2. Nature's First Law: The Raw Food Diet by Stephen Arlin
A common sense approach to eating only raw foods and still maintaining a strong, healthy body. He is a body builder and a raw foodist. He talks about what you need to eat in order to avoid looking sallow and being too skinny on the raw foods.

3. The Raw Life: Becming Natural in an Unnatural World by Paul Nison
4. Raw Knowledge: Enhance the Powers of the Mind, Body and Soul by Paul Nison
He is the KING OF RAW. His books are uplifting and talk about the benefits of raw foodism. He shares his story, his philosophy and basically why you should get on the path to raw foodism. They are easy to read, easy to understand and incredibly motivating. If you write to him, he will answer your questions or respond to your story with support. A really neat guy.

5. 12 Steps to Raw Foods by Victoria Boutenko
6. Raw Family by Victoria Boutenko
She and her family went from cooked to raw and she has written about their journey, as well as written a book on how to get yourself from cooked to raw in the most painless of ways.

David Wolfe is another Raw Foodist with a book. He and Steve Arlin and Paul Nison are friends. (I think that's cool) I have not read David Wolfe's books yet, but it's on my list of upcoming books.

7. The Hippocrates Diet by Anne Wigmore
She is the mother of wheatgrass and has written a book on the importance of diet, combining your fruits and veggies properly, chlorophyll, sunshine, fresh air and oxygenating your body. Neat lady and this little book is PACKED with information.

Exercise? you need to read on exercise, too!

1. Alberto Salazar's Guide to Running
He marks a plan for a person to learn how to run for distance without injury. I found it incredibly helpful. I run 4 miles per day and my time is getting better each week.

2. Body For Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength by Bill Phillips.
It's a 12 week program about working out smart instead of hard. It is filled with success stories. He develops his own method for exhausting the muscle groups and working either the upper or lower body each time.

And there are books that will help to build you as a person. If you have esteem problems, anger problems, or don't really know who you are, or who you want to be, try these:

1. 10 Days to Self Esteem by David Burns
10 exercises to help find your inner voice and help you cope with difficult situations by changing your thought patterns and perceptions. (I love this one)

2. Stop the Anger Now by Ron Potter Efron
A workbook designed to get to the root of your anger.

3. The Feeling Good Handbook by David Burns
This also comes with a workbook. It's a positive read.

4. Self Matters:Creating Your Life from the Inside Out
by Dr. Phil McGraw
Rules to live by, behaviours to change in order to be the best you that you can be. It also has a companion workbook.

5. What Happy People Know:How the New Science of Happiness Can Change Your Life for the Better
Teaching yourself to be happy.
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