Book Review - It Starts With Food

Book Stats:

Publication Date - July 29, 2014

Audio Version - 8 hours and 57 minutes

Hard Copy - 328 pages

ISBN - 978-1628600544

In May I decided to make a renewed commitment to clean eating.  I am the first to admit that it became very difficult to stick with it once school began.  The business and stress of the school year quickly led me to fall back on old, bad habits, like junk food and caffeine.  So as the year began to wind down and I had an Audible credit to use, I decided to search for something that would help inspire me to change my eating habits (again).  I landed on It Starts With Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig.  I had heard of the Whole30, and know a few coworkers have tried the program, so I thought this would be a good place to start.

After listening to the book, I’ve decided that It Starts With Food is the in-depth scientific explanation of why the Whole30 program is designed the way that it is.  It Starts With Food gives detailed explanations of the science side of the program, including how macronutrients work in the body, and also explaining the negative effects of sugars, carbs, and dairy products on the body.  They also share the upsides to proteins, healthy fats, fruits and vegetables.

As a big picture person, it’s easy for me to overlook details, because I get so excited about the, well, big picture.  I don’t ask enough questions sometimes, and don’t say “why” often enough.  It is for this reason that I am really glad that I listened to It Starts With Food before reading the Whole30 book.  It forced me to develop a deeper understanding of the reasons behind the Whole30, which also gives me more confidence in the program.

My one criticism of the book, and this isn’t really a criticism of the authors so much as the method of delivery that I used, is that it was hard to digest all of the information, pardon the pun, in audio form  There was so much science (a subject that is NOT my forte), that it could be hard to follow at times when just listening.  In college, I always reread sections of textbooks, trying to glean every last bit of understanding that I could from the pages.  Which was why I ended up checking out a hard copy of It Starts With Food from the public library, so that I could reread some sections and take some notes.  

What follows is my summary of what you need to know about It Starts With Food.

Here is an outline of the sections of this book:

Part 1 - It Starts With Food

Chapter 1 - Food Should Make You Healthy

Chapter 2 - Our Nutritional Framework

Part 2 - Good Food Standards

Chapter 3 - What Is Food?

Chapter 4 - Your Brain On Food

Chapter 5 - Healthy Hormones, Healthy You

Chapter 6 - The Guts of the Matter

Chapter 7 - Inflammation: No One Is Immune

Part 3 - Less Healthy

Chapter 8 - Sugar, Sweeteners and Alcohol

Chapter 9 - Seed Oils

Chapter 10 - Grains and Legumes

Chapter 11 - Dairy

Chapter 12 - It All Adds Up

Part 4 - More Healthy

Chapter 13 - Meat, Seafood and Eggs

Chapter 14 - Vegetables and Fruits

Chapter 15 - The Right Fats

Part 5 - Let’s Eat

Chapter 16 - Meal Planning Made Easy

Part 6 - The Whole30

Chapter 17 - Preface to the Program

Chapter 18 - The Whole30: Process of Elimination

Chapter 19 - The Whole30: Reintroduction

Part 7 - Whole30, Whole Life

Chapter 20 - Strategies for Long Term Success

Chapter 21 - Fine Tuning for Special Populations

Chapter 22 - Supplement Your Healthy Diet

Read This Book If:

*You are already invested in the Whole30 program, but want a more detailed explanation

*You are interested in the Whole30 program, but skeptical of why you will be asked to give up the holy trinity of sugars, carbs and dairy

*You want a better understanding of how food “works” once it enters our body

Skip This Book If:

*You find science boring (I don’t find it boring, just difficult to follow)

*You already use the Whole30, have found that it works, and don’t really need to know more

*You would rather maintain an ignorance is bliss stance when it comes to the food you put into your body

As for the content of the book, I will save my opinion of the Whole30 for the actual book of the same name, but I will say that if I had read just the Whole30 first, I would have had some major doubts.  Give up sugar, carbs and dairy?  But what if I use natural sweeteners, whole grains, and organic dairy products or alternative dairy products (i.e. soy milk, almond milk, etc.)  But It Starts With Food pulls no punches in explaining why these items do not make the cut with regards to the good food standards, and although I still find it extremely hard to avoid these foods (and sometimes am unsuccessful), I now at least understand WHY I am being asked to do so.  This book also helped me understand why I found it so difficult to stay the course with my clean eating, and the reason I eventually fell off the wagon and gave in to my cravings.  Spoiler alert - food scientists are designing junk food to be addictive. Not cool.

It Starts With Food has insightful information to share, and you can tell that the Hartwigs have poured their hearts and souls into the program that they have created, and truly want to help others change their lives which. And as they say - it starts with food.

My Summer Reading: Renewed and Re-Inspired

When I was growing up, my bicycle was my ticket to freedom.  We lived in a small town and a kid could get just about anywhere with just 2 wheels.  My bike took me a lot of places, but one of my most frequent stops was the local library.  On any given summer day I could be seen pedaling my way down the uneven, bumpy sidewalks, past our town park and grain elevator, to the library, which was about three blocks away from my home.  My tan canvas bag would hang from one handlebar, so loaded with books that it would pull my bike to one side, making it a challenge to navigate those bumpy sidewalks I mentioned.  But once I arrived at the library I parked my bike and reveled in the cool air conditioning inside, and the shelves and shelves of books at my disposal.  I read and re-read anything and everything, with a particular affinity for Roald Dahl, Nancy Drew, and biographies.  After carefully selecting my next pile of reading material I then pedaled my way home again to spend my afternoons with my new pile of books.  I lost myself in the pages, going on countless adventures with characters that were as real to me as any of my friends I pedaled around town with in the coolness of the evenings.

As I got older, my love for reading never waned, but it changed some in tone.  Out of necessity, I began reading more technical literature in high school and college, but still made time for "pleasure" reading.  This never really changed until I had children.  Although even then, with one child, I was still able to find time to read, if only in the summer.  But once our second child came along, the amount of reading I was able to do was reduced to one or two professional books, in the summertime.  Now with three children, my reading has become non-existent, unless you count the numerous audiobooks I listen to, a result of the hour commute I have each day.  Audiobooks have become my only source of reading these days, and that makes me sad.

I haven't lost my love of reading.  It has just taken a backseat to other priorities that have evolved from my recent seasons of life.  But this summer, I am making a renewed commitment to my reading passion.  I have a pile of books - yes, a pile! - on my nightstand that I intend to plow through this summer.  Granted, many of them are professional reading, but reading is reading.

There are two themes to my summer reading list: teaching/parenting and food/nutrition.   Here's a snapshot of what's on my book lists, along with a brief explanation of why each book made the cut:

FOOD AND NUTRITION

It Starts With Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways by Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Hart

*I had purchased this audiobook with an Audible credit, but didn't finish it before the school year was up.  Plus, it's loaded with technical information, so I need to reread it to fully grasp everything being taught in this book.

The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig

*After listening to most of It Starts With Food, I was interested to learn more about the Whole30 program.

The Whole30 Cookbook: 150 Delicious and Totally Compliant Recipes to Help You Succeed with the Whole30 and Beyond by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig.

*Okay, technically a cookbook probably doesn't count as reading, but it looks like there is a lot of great information stuffed between those recipes!

The Unhealthy Truth: One Mother's Shocking Investigation into the Dangers of America's Food Supply-- and What Every Family Can Do to Protect Itself by Robyn O'Brien

*I've been doing some research into the toxic chemicals found in our food, and am curious about what this mom has to say.

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

*Lisa Leake, creator of the 100 Days of Real Food, mentioned this book on her blog, so I thought it was worth taking a look at.

TEACHING AND PARENTING

The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. and Tina Payne Bryson

*I've heard bits and pieces about whole-brain teaching, but haven't really read anything solid, so this was added to the list.

Building Resilience in Children and Teens: Giving Kids Roots and Wings by Kenneth R. Ginsburg MD FAAP

*2 years ago our district received Trauma Informed Care training, and this book was mentioned.  Plus, the population of students that I serve could greatly benefit from strategies to build resiliency.

21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn (Leading Edge) by James Bellanca and Ron Brandt

*Teaching 21st century skills is quickly becoming a movement in my district, so I wanted to read up a little more this summer.

21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times by Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel

*Ditto the book above.

The Growth Mindset Coach: A Teacher's Month-by-Month Handbook for Empowering Students to Achieve by Annie Brock and Heather Hundley

*My building is becoming an official Leader in Me school this year!  I have read almost all the literature written by Dr. Covey, and decided that more research into coaching a growth mindset might be the next logical course of action.

Teaching Kids to Think: Raising Confident, Independent, and Thoughtful Children in an Age of Instant Gratification by Darlene Sweetland and Ron Stolberg

*This title grabbed me with words like "think", "confident", "independent", "thoughtful" and "instant gratification".

So...that's 11 books.  Yikes!

The good news is that one of them is almost finished already since I listened to a good chunk of it in May, and one is a cookbook.  I have 2 of them packed to take on our family vacation (we are driving to Disney and back).  I also have a 4 day trip to Boston at the end of July for a teaching conference, and I'll need something to take my mind off of a) the plane ride and b) missing my kids and husband.

I'm so excited to dive into these books, and I'm hoping that I can share my opinion of each book after it's finished.  Look for a review of It Starts With Food soon!

Happy June, and I hope your summer is full of relaxation and of course, reading!

Allison

Love and Logic Tip #4 - Sharing Control

I realized just how powerful this particular Love and Logic tip is when I shared it with a parent back in November.

To protect the privacy of both the student and the parent, I won't go into the details of why we were meeting, but throughout the course of the discussion I deduced that due to a situation in the child's life, he had lost an immense amount of power and control.  So I decided to put on my parenting cap and share with this parent what I will now share with you.

As the grown-ups in the house, we feel, and were raised to believe, that the adults have all the power and control, because we're older, wiser, bigger, stronger, etc.  But what I've learned as both a mommy and a teacher, is that being older, wiser, bigger and stronger does not necessarily mean that we have any true power and control over children.  You can intimidate, threaten, plead, manipulate and yell, but unless you resort to physical tactics (and I definitely am not advocating that here), you really can't force your child to do anything.  We try to set good examples, be models of desired behavior, and reward good behavior, but ultimately, those little brains will do what they want, unless motivated to do otherwise.  I mean, yes, you can resort to intimidation tactics, but is that really the kind of relationship you want to have with your child?  If it is, you are probably reading the wrong blog.

The same is pretty much true of teaching, except we have even less power and control than the parents or guardians of our students, making it an even greater challenge to retain that power.

Many households and classrooms are battlegrounds for power and control, with kids on one side and adults on the other.  These rarely ever end as win-win situations.  Instead, one side wins and one side loses, and when this happens, it really ends up being a lose-lose situation.  If the parent comes out on top, the child will seek ways to gain that control back, resulting in further battles down the road.  If the child comes out on top, the parent loses respect (self and otherwise).

The key to a win-win situation with power and control is to give away as much control as possible as a parent.  Don't throw tomatoes at me just yet, hear me out.  Don't give away power and control in situations that matter to you.  You give away power and control when you don't even need/want it in the first place.  How?  By offering choices.  Lots and lots of choices.  So many choices that your little darlings believe they are in charge.  Would you like to drink milk or juice tonight for dinner?  Would you like to color with crayons or colored pencils?  Do you want to get ready for bed now or in 10 minutes?  Hint - Ask them this question 10 minutes before you actually need or want them to start getting ready for bed.  Would you like to have fun today or be bored?  Seriously, this was a suggestion from the Love and Logic gurus.  You give choices over things that don't matter.

What's the point to all the choices?  Because every choice you offer, you are making a power/control deposit into your child's psychological bank.  Then, when it's time for you to be the parent and take back some of that power and control, you can make a withdrawal knowing that you've already deposited a mother load (no pun intended) of choices all day long.  The L&L people suggest phrasing it like this: "I know you don't want to ______, but haven't I've been giving you lots of choices all day long?  Now it's my turn to make a choice."  I find that 99% of the time, they don't really argue with that.  They might want to, but deep down they know they have no legs to stand on here, and save the arguing for another time.  Probably about 10 minutes from now.

Have fun with this one, and challenge yourself to see how many choices you can offer your child throughout the day!  And if you need some ideas, click on this link for a list of ideas with possible choices you can offer kids.

Next up: Tip #5, Taming the Angry Beast.  As a mommy of a 7 year old, 4 year old, and 2 year old, I promise you this is one I am oh so acquainted with.

Have a magical day, and see ya real soon!
Allison