Weight Loss Boss: How to Finally Win at Losing--And Take Charge in an Out-Of-Control Food World

by David Kirchhoff    (Find this book)

A frank, funny, and groundbreaking guide to surviving and thriving in an obesogenic world, from the CEO of Weight Watchers International.

We live in a dangerous food world, full of temptation and instant gratification. No wonder obesity among Americans has tripled since the 1960s—and that those prone to weight gain fail over and over to maintain their hard-won goals. Simply put, our brains and environments are stacked against us. Simplistic willpower-based and food-focused diets will never bring lasting change.

But a solution is within reach—one that will help readers live better, longer, and more happily.

In fact, David Kirchhoff isn’t just the President and CEO of Weight Watchers—he’s also one of its biggest success stories. In his pursuit of a trim physique, Kirchhoff divulges his slide into full-fledged obesity, his struggles to manage his relationship with food, and to find an exercise regimen that sticks. Drawing on the latest scientific research and numerous other inspiring personal stories, he makes the case that the only recipe for long-term success is to radically shift our mindset when thinking about obesity and adopting a healthy lifestyle that stays with us for good. This requires incorporating positive habits that become second nature, and rigorously managing one’s food environment—as well as embracing practical behavior-change tools and other sustainable maintenance strategies. In the light of a new, healthier lifestyle that helps readers look good and feel good, change isn’t a burden—it’s a release. 

Clean Gut: The Breakthrough Plan for Eliminating the Root Cause of Disease and Revolutionizing Your Health

by Alejandro Junger    (Find this book)
The New York Times bestselling author of Clean offers a groundbreaking program to eliminate minor and major health problems--from extra weight, chronic pain, and allergies to heart disease, inflammation, autoimmune disorders, and depression.
All of today's most diagnosed ailments can be traced back to an injured and irritated gut. The gut is an intricate and powerful system naturally designed to protect and heal the body every moment of every day. And yet for far too many of us this remarkable system is in disrepair, which leads to all kinds of health problems. We are sick and getting sicker. Chronic diseases are on the rise, and everyone we know seems to be suffering from something, getting tests done and taking over-the-counter or prescription medications. But we no longer have to be sick to get healthy. Dr. Alejandro Junger explains how instead of treating the symptoms as they arise, we can preemptively attack disease before it takes root in the gut.
No matter your current state of health, you will benefit from this program. We are all walking around with damaged guts, to different degrees suffering the consequences in our day-to-day and long-term health. The Clean Gut program will put an end to these everyday ailments, reverse chronic disease, and help you achieve true, long-lasting health.  --  Publisher Marketing

The Honest Life: Living Naturally and True to You

by Jessica Alba    (Find this book)

As a new mom, Jessica Alba wanted to create the safest, healthiest environment for her family. But she was frustrated by the lack of trustworthy information on how to live healthier and cleaner—delivered in a way that a busy mom could act on without going to extremes. In 2012, with serial entrepreneur Brian Lee and environmental advocate Christopher Gavigan, she launched The Honest Company, a brand where parents can find reliable information and products that are safe, stylish, and affordable. The Honest Life shares the insights and strategies she gathered along the way.

The Honest Life recounts Alba’s personal journey of discovery and reveals her tips for making healthy living fun, real, and stylish, while offering a candid look inside her home and daily life. She shares strategies for maintaining a clean diet (with favorite family-friendly recipes) and embraces nontoxic choices at home and provides eco-friendly decor tips to fit any budget. Alba also discusses cultivating a daily eco beauty routine, finding one’s personal style without resorting to yoga pants, and engaging in fun, hands-on activities with kids. Her solutions are easy, chic, and down-to-earth: they’re honest. And discovering everyday ways to live naturally and authentically—true to you—could be honestly life-changing.

Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation

by Michael Pollan    (Find this book)

Fire, water, air, earth—our most trusted food expert recounts the story of his culinary education

In Cooked, Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements—fire, water, air, and earth—to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer. In the course of his journey, he discovers that the cook occupies a special place in the world, standing squarely between nature and culture. Both realms are transformed by cooking, and so, in the process, is the cook.

Each section of Cooked tracks Pollan’s effort to master a single classic recipe using one of the four elements. A North Carolina barbecue pit master tutors him in the primal magic of fire; a Chez Panisse–trained cook schools him in the art of braising; a celebrated baker teaches him how air transforms grain and water into a fragrant loaf of bread; and finally, several mad-genius “fermentos” (a tribe that includes brewers, cheese makers, and all kinds of picklers) reveal how fungi and bacteria can perform the most amazing alchemies of all. The reader learns alongside Pollan, but the lessons move beyond the practical to become an investigation of how cooking involves us in a web of social and ecological relationships: with plants and animals, the soil, farmers, our history and culture, and, of course, the people our cooking nourishes and delights. Cooking, above all, connects us.

The effects of not cooking are similarly far reaching. Relying upon corporations to process our food means we consume huge quantities of fat, sugar, and salt; disrupt an essential link to the natural world; and weaken our relationships with family and friends. In fact, Cooked argues, taking back control of cooking may be the single most important step anyone can take to help make the American food system healthier and more sustainable. Reclaiming cooking as an act of enjoyment and self-reliance, learning to perform the magic of these everyday transformations, opens the door to a more nourishing life.  --  Publisher Marketing