Body Kindness: Transform Your Health from the Inside Out--and Never Say Diet Again

For context, I'm someone who has in the past struggled with extremes when it comes to my body. Either I was restrictively dieting and overexercising (and still feeling miserable about my body) or I was eating with wild abandon and inactive (and still miserable in my own skin). It was hard for me to not fall into the trap of yo-yo dieting because dieting itself was always successful for me from a weight loss standpoint, it was maintenance that was impossible and my emotional health that suffered. Over the past few years I've been teaching myself how to live a healthy life that makes me feel good about my body, without going to extremes or diets. I've found a lot of sage advice that has worked in books like Intuitive Eating and Starting Monday: Seven Keys to a Permanent, Positive Relationship with Food . And when I found this book I knew from page one that it would be a perfect compliment. I can't say enough good things about Body Kindness. Even though I'd read quite a bit about nutrition, wellness, meditation, etc. before picking up this book it STILL taught me so much. It perfectly embodies the type of life I'm trying to live and I love that for me it isn't a one time read. Rather, it is very much a book that you work through and I find myself coming back to it again and again to work through exercises or re-read passages with new eyes. It's well written. It steers clear of pseudo-science. It's an enjoyable read and really sets you up for success. It also WORKS. I know for a lot of people (myself included) leaving diets behind is really, really scary. It's hard to convince ourselves that it's the diets that fail us, rather than us not succeeding because something about us is deficient. But if you can trust the book and work through it, I've found you can develop a healthier relationship with your body, food and exercise. I'm someone who always felt miserable and insecure even at my lowest weight and now for the first time I can say that even though my body is imperfect, I can see its strengths and appreciate what it does for me. I also love that it doesn't end with the book. The author has a community on FB around the book that is also a great source of support and wisdom. Honestly I can't say enough good things about this book. I first read it as an advanced reader copy through Net Galley and loved it so much I had to come back and buy a hard copy for myself to reference time and time again.

Rebecca Scritchfield's "Body Kindess" reflects exactly who she is: a pragmatic, honest health coach, driven by a real mission to help other people change their lives. I loved this book, and it helped me move down the road of body kindness, and seeing health as everything, including your social and emotional well-being. This is a great guide for those looking to pursue joyful movement and intuitive eating. The book was a wake up call for me as a frequent dieter. I've also started doing health coaching with Rebecca, and joined her online program, Spiral Up, which is very helpful. My two only caveats are this: SPOILER ALERT: I wish she would have told the story of flying to Vegas to address her Mom's heart attack at the very beginning. I think the most powerful part of Rebecca is her own transformation from a dieting aerobics instructor into the body and health positive health coach. Along the way, her Mom, who was a frequent dieter had a heart attack, and it permanently changed Rebecca's outlook on life and health. For me, if that had been at the beginning, I would have been completely hooked, similar to the beginning of "Love Warrior", when you find Glennon Doyle Melton in the middle of this incredible transformative moment. As I read "Body Kindness", I kept wondering the catalyst for her to make this life transition. because she is so passionate about mission-driven work. I think that would also help sequence the book better. I also think there are times where the advice feels like too much if you read the book straight through. My advice is to read the book slowly, and do the exercises, with a journal by your side. Also, the charts were difficult to read on my old kindle.

I gave up dieting last year and never looked back. I've read Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size, but Body Kindness was a really good way to round out those other two other books which can feel a little like text books at times. I love Rebecca's podcast and her fresh take on how to take care of yourself. The "inner caregiver" advice especially resonated with a type A person like me :) I loved the visual nature of Rebecca's book, from the size of the book itself, to the flow charts and fun fonts and design. Rebecca gives great advice on how to live a life you're proud of and most importantly, how to practice self care. I think if I had picked up this book at the beginning of my intuitive eating journey, I might have found it overwhelming, but reading it after the other two books helped me focus on the biggest hurdle - being kind to the body I have now, not the body I wish I had. I gave it one less star because there was one point in the book where Rebecca talks about food cravings and one tip she gives is to brush your teeth to get over the craving. I cringed at this part because this was extremely triggering to someone who used to be a chronic dieter. Brushing your teeth after a meal so you won't eat anymore or so you won't want chocolate etc. is a classic dieting "trick"l so I personally don't think Rebecca should have included that. Otherwise, I really, really loved this book and I definitely recommend it to anyone exploring giving up dieting and getting your life back :) <3

This book has so many of the missing links for practicing intuitive eating for me. I started my intuitive eating/body positivity practice (if you can call it that as it is so much more than that) about 2 years ago and it wasn't until I read Body Kindness that everything started to really flow for me. I have struggled with an eating disorder for well over 20 years and learning to trust my body has been a huge journey for me. I needed to learn how to eat healthy while still practicing intuitive eating and how to exercise without it being about what my body looks like. Body Kindness taught me how to eat and move for how it makes me feel rather than to change my body. This was huge for me, before Body Kindness I didn't know how to trust my body. While I had ditched the scale well before I read Body Kindness, it was this book that has helped me to consistently practice Body Kindness and let go worries about my weight and what my body looks like. I have to admit the thoughts still come up that I need to lose weight but now I pull out tools I learned in this book and let those thoughts pass. I can take care, excellent care, of myself and not relapse into unhealthy eating and exercise behaviors. I highly recommend this book to anyone no matter where they are on the journey to learning how to take awesome care themselves.

I'm writing this to attest to the fact that this book has the authenticity and power to change your behavior for your own best interests. I am so impressed with it's intelligence, step-by-step instructions, and yes, it's kindness. I am 77 years old, overweight with high blood pressure, and have been on every diet known to man. I think I have finally found a way off the hamster ferris wheel. I had given up, really - the fight with food restriction, in one form or another, had brought me to my knees - and you "dieter's" out there know what I mean. I am a retired registered nurse and I am impressed with this author's approach, and compassionate wisdom. You have to read it yourself my descriptions will not do it justice just be ready with a notebook or journal - there will be many, many things you will want to write down to remember. Buy this! It's not just another "pie in the sky" self-help book. It's reality wrapped up in kindness.

Really is the best book to help give you some insight

I can't say enough wonderful things about how this book has changed my life! This it not a "how to book" or a "program" that do you for a short amount of time. This book helps you uncover what is keeping you from living a purposeful, meaningful, happy life. For me, it helped me organize my thoughts and actions in order to put more purpose in each day. I find myself having more fun, being less stressed and anxious, giving myself permission to be happy right where I am while making small changes for an overall more healthy lifestyle. And Rebecca is the most warm and caring person! Through her emails, podcasts, FB group, and the book; I really feel like someone is there with me, helping me grow and be more happy. Even the layout of the book is warm and inviting. Buy a copy because you are going to want to write notes, highlight, and read again and again. Thank you Rebecca all that you do to shift the conversation about what a healthy life really is!

This book looks light - if you flip through it, the graphics, colors and fonts make it look like a breezy read. It is anything but. That's not a criticism! This book is positively jam-packed with practical, workable ideas for every part of your life. I recommend flipping through it to get an idea of what to expect, and then sitting down and really working your way through it. Do the journal prompts, take your time, give each section time to settle into your mind. I had no expectation that this book would become my most important tool as I learned to love myself and recover from diet culture, but it's been that. I can't recommend it enough. I wish I could hand every person I know a copy.

Livro muito bom sobre o tema, essencial! Vale cada centavo.

I've struggled with my mental health (including an eating disorder) for a number of years now. I've been in therapy, I've been told to just eat well and exercise etc. This book is a really practical guide to feeling better, without being yet another diet book or workout guide. It helps you to work out your own motivation/reasons to look after yourself. Rebecca, I really appreciate your book and all the work you do to help people like me, I really can't thank you enough

This book Body Kindness is literally, not even joking, changing my life! I have spent so many years berating myself for putting on weight, falling off of diets, indulging in 'bad' foods. I feel so free! Like a huge pile of shame and disappointment has been lifted from me. I can breath. I have been so inspired by Rebecca's writing, her method of delivery and the body kindness philosophy. She has peered right into my soul and saw that I, like so many other women, am so tired of feeling like we arent worthy if we arent skinny. A million thank yous!

Kindle have this going for a £1 at the moment, so despite the unfavourable review listed, I thought why not? So far, half way through and I'm finding a lot of lines that for me personally are very potent. This book is very much about body and mind kindness. In no way does the author celebrate chowing down what you want, when you want but she doesn't berate you for it either. The author very much celebrates good health, which seems to have unfortunately found it's self being listed with the rest of the diet crew, only further proving the authors point. We don't know what's good for us anymore because there are so many different opinions claiming to be the 'right one', and conveniently selling us something too. If you want pizza and cake, there is nothing wrong with that, it's how often you're having it and the choices we make that create a psychological cycle within us to keep making unhealthy choices that in turn impact our physical health and spilling over into our mental health. She uses clientele examples, how often we use exercise to punish ourselves, to change our bodies, rather than look after it. How our inner child, like any of our own children, need to be told no sometimes. She is very much encouraging you to break up with your scales, stop thinking you ll be happy only when you like what you see in the mirror and listen to your body, and recognises that that's going to mean different things to different people. I've even seen sage smudging listed in here if that's your thing (lol) This book is about helping you create a healthy mindset so you can make better self care choices, to recognise emotional habits you have with food and to help you create a healthier lifestyle that is right for you personally.

I didn't like the way the book is written, like the pages are not well organized, looks pretty, but I didn't got any valube information out of it, or anything really new or helpful. Very superficial and not at all what I expected.