The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life by Rick Warren, Dr. Daniel Amen, Dr. Mark Hyman

The Daniel Plan: 40 Days to a Healthier Life is based on five essentials: faith, food, fitness, focus, and friends. Any book that starts out with an “Aha!” moment in the author’s life that brought humility and conviction gets my attention. Rick Warren had such a moment while baptizing people in his congregation and that single illuminating revelation prompted him to gather together a team to help not only him get healthy, but any members in his church who wanted to join him on the journey to health and wellness. 

Now in book form, this program has the potential to help countless people who’ve struggled to find a healthy life plan. Starting with the Faith Essential, the Daniel Plan begins with the recognition that each of us needs God’s help to succeed in anything, and that includes the power to change. From that most important starting point, the book moves onto the other components of the plan with foods that heal, fitness, how to focus, and finding a community in which to gain support and strength. The book even has a 40-day meal plan to get you started. Highly recommended. 

 Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through BookSneeze®.com book review program. The opinions I expressed are my own.

Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health - Dr. William Davis

Usually, I'm not this personal when I review a book, but this book requires more of a firsthand, first person review.

I'm like everyone else, I suppose. I've been on every diet there is. High carb. Low carb. High protein. No fat. Low fat. First fat makes you fat, then carbs make you fat. It's confusing and overwhelming. Then I heard about this Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back To Health book. I gave myself a couple of weeks to read the book, digest the information, and then made the important decision not to digest wheat. Cold turkey. The first three days were difficult, but then (and I know you've heard this before), it's like the fog lifted. I felt better, started losing weight, and had more energy. The pervasive soreness I've dealt with for the past few years has abated, and for that, I'm very thankful.

Trying to find wheat-free foods, especially while eating out, is difficult, but not impossible. I find myself using the recipes in the Wheat Belly book and eating home more. And when I start to think that perhaps it's not really giving up wheat that made the difference, I go back to the research in the book - and there is plenty. I purchased the Kindle edition and I've highlighted all the way through so that I have quick and handy references. The research is a bit overwhelming, and this is not strictly a 'how-to' diet book, but it's more of a primer on why you should give up wheat and a launching pad of sorts with the recipes in the back.

I started a blog a while back called "Sick and Tired Woman." I have now changed the title to "Sick and Tired No More!" So, can giving up wheat really make a difference? In a word, yes. At least it did for me. Everyone's metabolism is different, but for me, this book has been a godsend. Highly recommended!