Book Review: The Body Book by Cameron Diaz

Its been a while since I wrote a book review. I was reading the Harry Potter series and trying my best to keep ahead of my 10 year old. Finished the series and absolutely loved it… since there is so much written about the series already that I won't be writing review about them.

Now coming back to The Body Book by  Cameron Diaz
This book was a wonderful refresher course about taking care of your body, everything from your middle school science class, biological terms, how cells and organs function to evolution theory along with a giant conglomeration of all the fitness article written in a lifetime supply of health magazines.
Once you have read this, you have got it all.


I don't know what attracted me to this book in the first place because I don't like to read cliched articles by celebrities that claim that the body they are given is godsend and they eat all the junk and remain fit.
And not surprisingly when I tried to discuss this book with friends and peers I got quite a many eye-rolls; so now what is she recommending we do…

Well in this book, she is sharing how she was unaware of her body's potential and that many of her problems stemmed from the food she consumed. She started paying attention to how and when she is fueling her body and saw instant results. As I said nothing that she wrote in the book is new information but its so comprehensive and relatable that I wanted to follow it.
Another reason I read the book was to find out if I can give this book to my daughters to read with the hope that the advice that is coming from a celebrity might be better received than when it comes from your own mother. And I'm happy to say that I can give the book to a pre-teen of today's generation. She talks in great detail about the importance of sleep, breakfast and of course limiting screen time at night.

If you follow my instagram feed, you might remember my daily food posts during the 8 days of navratri fasting a couple of weeks ago. I have been fasting for many a years, but it was after reading this book that I decided to forego all things processed during my fasting. I even let go of my trusted lara bars that claim to have just a couple of ingredients and is my staple during these fasts. I think yogurt was the only thing that was made outside the house. The most surprising thing for me during these fasts was that I didn't crave any chocolate and that does say a lot about my mental and physical state. I didn't eat any extracted sugar and stopped eating artificial sweeteners as well.

I think sometime I'd like to stop eating everything that is packaged as well during these fasts but even letting go of processed food was a great eye opener. Even my mom and dad who are both retired and love preparing their slow and mindful foods loved the way I assembled my meals during those eight days.

Balanced Nutrition, some physical activity and adequate sleep are a key for me to maintain a healthy perspective on life but to pay attention to your body as a machine and food as fuel that needs frequent and balanced intakes was a good reminder.
I'd highly recommend this book for a quick read or as a reference on your shelf.