Healthy Food and Family Drama and Books Read 10/16/2019

The Food Therapist by Shira Lenchewski

I did really enjoy carrying a food therapist around with me for a few days.  This book was perfect for some inspiration to eat better as well as providing some FOOD for thought in regards to why we make the cruddy food choices we tend to make. 
My ultimate takeaways were her insights about how so many of us feel no closer to our future selves that we would feel to a stranger, and so we don’t make smart decisions to benefit that future self AND her theories about how we should treat ourselves to really good food and enjoy every bite of it but not make deals with ourselves about deserving a treat today because----  x y or z.  (Which is a good point, as I think I deserve a treat multiple times a day.  I got through that meeting.  Treat!)
This book slowed me down and has, at least for now, caused me to think more carefully about what I’m going to eat.  Time will tell on the scale but I’m definitely feeling better already.
The last couple of sections lost me a little bit, though, when she provided shopping lists and recipes.  I’m just – NOT going to eat most of that stuff.  I can get my subway sandwich with wheat bread and no cheese but I’m not going to make kelp noodles with sesame tahini sauce or have a snack of blueberries with cashew milk.  Well guess what, the author is a whatever food writer for Gwenyth Paltrow’s goop.com, so that explained a LOT to me.  Remember when Gwen did that “experiment” where she tried to live for a week on food stamps and her groceries were hilarious?  I think she bought three limes, organic tomatoes and some rice noodles. 
Someone should write a book about how to accomplish living your best healthy food life in Central Illinois.  Keep the kelp noodles out of it. 
Also, the author was mostly straightforward and great but sometimes she forgot what she was doing and thought maybe she was writing for Teen Vogue so she would talk about my “bod” and dumb it up a bit, which was distracting.
Still, I’d definitely recommend this book for someone like me, who had just ordered a big plate of fried chicken wings AND an egg roll and wondered if a book could help save her from herself.  Possibly….it can.  Let me know.

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The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

I like a good family drama that spans the years and reveals secrets and forces the reader to feel incredibly close to the characters because, well, we saw them grow up!
The great ones often have some sort of meaningful backdrop to glue the whole story together.  A house isn’t a unique choice necessarily, but it’s a cool house that caused a lot of drama within the family. 
I feel like I read a good number of books like this and for what it was, it was terrific and very well done, although I felt like it was a little rushed in the end.  Still, will I remember it this time next year?  Maybe a little bit of it, or maybe none of it. 
So I’d file this one under Solid, but not Wow.
 
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Next up – I just started a book about a string quartet AND I just realized I haven’t read the Book Club book and we meet next week!  Will I make it?

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