This book is an educational read for everyone since we all deal with body issues. It was informative.. I highly recommend!

Loved this book! It was well written and the layout of it was clear and simple. Some of the advice was common sense, but it was laid together beautifully. Even though it is easier than ever to just throw our concerns into a google search and read away, this book is still a worthwhile purchase. I would recommend this book to anyone needing advice for self care in a wonderfully optimistic way.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.
Thanks to NetGalley and Workman Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Body Kindness: Transform Your Health from the Inside Out - and Never Say Diet Again by Rebecca Scritchfield. This book focuses on body kindness with the following four parts: what you do, how you feel, who you are, where you belong. The journal suggestion is genius and by writing The Body Kindness Manifesto as the first entry, it gives the reader/writer empowerment. The book contains amazing and simple visual ideas to reinforce positive choices and mindset, such as draw a spiral tornado: write one body kindness that makes you feel good and write down what you do and how you usually feel. Keep adding body kindness choices until the tornado is filled, building one positive choice feeling on top of the other. Reflect as you do this! The most helpful comment - "Choose to put yourself first." Diet, exercise, sleep, emotions, fun, resilience, values, peace, self compassion, connections, inspiration and spirituality make this an invaluable book - 5 stars for the easy to read and follow format and also extreme helpfulness!

I chose this book because I strongly believe in the "never say diet again" mantra. It delivered that plus so much more.

We throw around terms like "nurturing" and "self-love" often, but do we really know what these mean in a practical sense of day-to-day steps? Rebecca Scritchfield, a registered dietician, breaks down her approach into manageable steps. She says to start with the question, "What is the least I can do?"

One of her precepts that I like the most is that food is nourishment, not a moral choice of good or bad. She talks about the downside of the "clean eating" movement - that anything not "clean" must be dirty or shameful. I appreciated this insight.

However, I'm uncomfortable with a dietician giving such detailed psychological advice. Many of her suggestions are based on positive psychology, which I struggle with and question especially since reading Bright Sided by Barbara Ehrenreich. But perhaps that's just me.

Scritchfield talks about resilience as if it were just as simple as "just bounce back, already?" It's not that simple, and I found that approach bordering on insensitive and hurtful.

At the point she says, "your mindset determines your authentic life" I wondered if I'd actually finish the book. It's a cliche that's been said by so many authors and speakers over the last decade.

And then things started to turn around. She moves back into eating, caring for yourself, and connecting with others in a way I could relate to.

I did enjoy Rebecca's friendly tone and funny insights like, "You can't hate yourself healthy." In discussing family dinners together - and studies about their benefits - she asks if it was the "magical roasted vegetables" that created those benefits. Of course not!

On the other hand, the continued references to Frozen got old. As my formerly Elsa obsessed granddaughter recently said, "That movie's over now!"

I would have preferred more stories of Rebecca's personal journey, in addition to the client vignettes. When she starts to tell some of her story, I found myself wishing for more detail and emotion. But alas, this is an instructional book not a memoir.

If you're looking for healthy living inspiration that's body positive, this is a great resource. It's full of actionable steps you can put in place for little to no financial investment. Instead, you're investing in yourself and that's the best return of all.

Thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Workman Publishing Company for an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.