Books I’ve read lately – The Fitnessista

Sharing a recap of some of the books I’ve read lately and if I’d recommend adding them to your collection!

Hi friends! I hope you’re having a lovely week. It’s been a good one so far over here but today is packed with events and I forgot the kids have a half day. Does this happen to anyone else? Thankfully the Pilot is swooping in to help with kiddo backup!

For today’s post, I wanted to share some of the books I’ve read lately. TBH, I haven’t been reading nearly as much since the kids started school. Their homework load has been killing me slowly – they each have hours of homework each night in addition to extracurricular events – so by the time I get to bed, I read a few pages before quickly crashing out. I really want to carve out more time to read, and it’s one of the things I’m really looking forward to over winter break!

I’m also working through my High Performance Health certification when I’m not doing client and blog work, and am hoping to finish it up by the end of December. I’m loving the content so far!!

Here are the books I’ve read lately:

(jeans are here// top is here)

Books I’ve read lately

The Secret Life of Sunflowers

The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta Molnar is a dual-timeline novel with a mix of art history, mystery, and self-discovery. It follows Emsley Wilson, a young woman who inherits her late aunt’s home and, with it, a hidden journal that once belonged to Johanna Bonger—Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law.

Through the journal, Emsley discovers Johanna’s life, her struggles, and her dedication to preserving Van Gogh’s legacy. The story intertwines Emsley’s own journey of healing and self-acceptance with Johanna’s courageous fight for her family’s name, and is a beautiful reminder of how we can connect the past and present day. This was beautifully-written, captivating, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. If you like historical fiction and are looking for something different, I highly recommend it. 9/10

From Amazon:

When Hollywood auctioneer Emsley Wilson finds her famous grandmother’s diary while cleaning out her New York brownstone, the pages are full of surprises. The first surprise is, the diary isn’t her grandmother’s. It belongs to Johanna Bonger, Vincent van Gogh’s sister-in-law.

Johanna inherited Vincent van Gogh’s paintings. They were all she had, and they weren’t worth anything. She was a 28 year old widow with a baby in the 1800s, without any means of supporting herself, living in Paris where she barely spoke the language. Yet she managed to introduce Vincent’s legacy to the world.

The inspiration couldn’t come at a better time for Emsley. With her business failing, an unexpected love turning up in her life, and family secrets unraveling, can she find answers in the past?

The End of Mental Illness

The End of Mental Illness by Dr. Daniel Amen offers a hopeful and fresh approach to mental health, challenging the idea that we’re just “stuck” with mental illness. Dr. Amen reframes mental health issues as brain health issues that can be addressed and improved with the right strategies.

He shares science-backed tools like diet, exercise, supplements, and brain scans, showing how these can help optimize the brain and, in turn, improve mental health outcomes for children and aduls. This book is a guide to healing from the inside out, encouraging us to care for our brains so we can feel our best and live life more fully.

His work is inspiring to me, especially because he caters to an entire demographic who has felt hopeless, or like they need to depend on medication for the rest of their lives. Psychiatry is one of the only medical professions that doesn’t scan the organ they treat; they often GUESS and diagnose based on symptoms only.

Through Dr. Amen’s SPECT scans, he’s been able to see how blood flow, trauma, head injuries, and nutrient deficients have affected his cleints’ brains and made tangible changes to improve their mental health. He believes in medication AND lifestyle changes, and I love his speaking and writing style. I’ve learned so much from him and highly recommend this book. 10/10

From Amazon:

Though the incidence of these conditions is skyrocketing, for the past four decades standard treatment hasn’t much changed, and success rates in treating them have barely improved, either. Meanwhile, the stigma of the “mental illness” label―damaging and devastating on its own―can often prevent sufferers from getting the help and healing they need.

Neuropsychiatrist and bestselling author Dr. Daniel Amen is on the forefront of a new wellness movement within medicine and related disciplines that aims to change all that. In The End of Mental Illness, Dr. Amen draws on the latest findings of neuroscience to challenge an outdated psychiatric paradigm and help readers take control and improve the health of their own brain, minimizing or reversing conditions that may be preventing them from living a full and emotionally healthy life.

Packed with insights on hormones, diet, toxins, and more, The End of Mental Illness will help you discover:

Why labeling someone as having a “mental illness” is not only inaccurate but harmful

Why standard treatment may not have helped you or a loved one―and why diagnosing and treating you based on your symptoms alone so often misses the true cause of those symptoms and results in poor outcomes

At least 100 simple things you can do yourself to heal your brain and prevent or reverse the problems that are making you feel sad, mad, or bad

How to identify your “brain type” and what you can do to optimize your particular type

Where to find the kind of health provider who understands and uses the new paradigm of brain health

The End of Mental Illness will empower you to strengthen your brain and improve your mind. Get started today!

There’s No Plan B for Your A Game

There’s No Plan B for Your A-Game by Bo Eason is high-energy, inspiring, and includes tips on how to take your personal and professional life to the next level. Bo is a former NFL player and actor, and I’ve always enjoyed his speaking style, so this book was no difference. It’s casual, and REAL: if you want to be the best, you have to commit fully.

He shares his personal journey and the steps that got him from small-town kid to pro athlete, emphasizing intense focus, resilience, and how he embraced discomfort to unlock potential. 9/10

From Amazon:

Can you become the best in the world at what you do? This book shows you how.

At nine years old, Bo Eason set a goal: to become the best free safety in the NFL. A scrawny kid from a small town, he was at first rejected by both his high school and college teams. But he went all-in, was drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1984, and became an All-Pro. Then he set a new goal: to become a great stage actor, though he had no background in theater. But he rehearsed constantly, sought out Al Pacino for guidance, and then wrote and acted in a one-man play that The New York Times called “one of the most powerful plays in the last decade.”

Then he set yet another goal: to use his experience to teach others how to achieve their dreams. Bo Eason is now one of the most in-demand motivational speakers in the world, with numerous Fortune 500 company clients. In his first book, Bo Eason shows anyone how to be the best at what they do: the best leader, the best athlete, the best partner, the best parent. There’s No Plan B for Your A-Game focuses on a winning four-step process:

Declaration: what do you want to achieve?;

Preparation: how can you make it happen?;

Acceleration: how will you find the motivation to achieve your goal?;

Domination: how do you take others with you?

Anyone has the ability to be great; we’re born with it. Using inspiring, practical guidance coupled with absolute accountability, Bo Eason teaches how.

Outlive

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Dr. Peter Attia is about proactive and personalized strategies to prevent chronic disease and extend not only lifespan but “healthspan”—the period of life spent in good health. Dr. Attia covers topics like exercise, nutrition, mental resilience, and sleep. He also includes a blend of research and practical guidance, and encourages readers to cultivate long-term lifestyle practices that promote a healthier, longer life.

To be honest, this book was a slog for me. It was a lot of information but it seemed like it could have been more concise and also more engaging to read. I usually love reading health books, but this one felt worse than a textbook. I also didn’t love how he placed such a huge empahsis on genetic factors but a small emphasis on environmental factors, like toxin exposure, air, and food quality. I’d give it a 6/10.

From Amazon:

Wouldn’t you like to live longer? And better? In this operating manual for longevity, Dr. Peter Attia draws on the latest science to deliver innovative nutritional interventions, techniques for optimizing exercise and sleep, and tools for addressing emotional and mental health.

For all its successes, mainstream medicine has failed to make much progress against the diseases of aging that kill most people: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and type 2 diabetes. Too often, it intervenes with treatments too late to help, prolonging lifespan at the expense of healthspan, or quality of life. Dr. Attia believes we must replace this outdated framework with a personalized, proactive strategy for longevity, one where we take action now, rather than waiting.

This is not “biohacking,” it’s science: a well-founded strategic and tactical approach to extending lifespan while also improving our physical, cognitive, and emotional health. Dr. Attia’s aim is less to tell you what to do and more to help you learn how to think about long-term health, in order to create the best plan for you as an individual. In Outlive, readers will discover:

• Why the cholesterol test at your annual physical doesn’t tell you enough about your actual risk of dying from a heart attack.

• That you may already suffer from an extremely common yet underdiagnosed liver condition that could be a precursor to the chronic diseases of aging.

• Why exercise is the most potent pro-longevity “drug”—and how to begin training for the “Centenarian Decathlon.”

• Why you should forget about diets, and focus instead on nutritional biochemistry, using technology and data to personalize your eating pattern.

• Why striving for physical health and longevity, but ignoring emotional health, could be the ultimate curse of all.

Aging and longevity are far more malleable than we think; our fate is not set in stone. With the right roadmap, you can plot a different path for your life, one that lets you outlive your genes to make each decade better than the one before.

So tell me, friends: what are you reading right now? What’s on your list?

I just started this one.

xoxo

Gina