A New Year, A New You? Brett Blumenthal is here to help with her newest self-help book called 52 Small Changes – One Year to a Happier, Healthier You. I read her book Get Real and Stop Dieting! (my review) and I found it easy to implement into my life and very helpful. I found 52 Small Changes to do the same thing. It is laid out in a straight forward, easy to understand manner and is chock full of helpful information and tips for your daily life. As we are just starting a new year I can’t think of a more appropriate time for this book to release or for you to get started on that new you!
What I think I like most about 52 Small Changes is just what the title implies. It’s small changes, not one big huge one like we all tend to make come time to make our New Year’s resolutions. Small changes are always easier to handle and as you keep up with these smaller changes you begin to notice that they amount to a big one in the end – quite possibly the change you wanted but never thought you had the patience to get there. It’s also important to note that extremes do not equal success. It’s not the best idea to get up one morning and put yourself on a strict diet. Odds are you may fail but if you start off slowly by cutting down on things and adding healthier options, your success rate becomes much higher.
I really like how the book is laid out as well. Each weekly change tells you why this change is important to you as well as a “Roadmap for Success” which gives you ideas on how you can implement this change into your own lifestyle. By implementing this change all week the hope is that by the end of the week you have made it a permanent change in your lifestyle. At the end of each week Brett gives you a checklist and as each week passes the new change is added and this way you can see if you are still, in fact, following along with all the others. I think this is a great idea because one change isn’t all that hard to do and with a whole week to do it, it really does ensure that you will likely to be able to achieve success.
As Brett takes you through the year long journey to success she gives you tips and recommendations like drink water, eat your veggies and fruit, get enough sleep, exercise, and take your vitamins. While these may seem like common sense things many of us fail to do them. Other important things are food journalling. This is something that I usually do although I’ve fallen behind lately. It really does keep you accountable to what you are putting into your body. It’s also really important to pay attention to nutritional values especially sugar and salt – all those things that aren’t so good for us. Another great thing that I really liked about this book is that Brett gives us diagrams of really good stretches and exercises to do.
A healthier lifestyle leaves us with many benefits such as less stress and let’s face it – if we’re feeling better we’re happier. By following all these healthful changes you find yourself with a lot more energy and strength. There are many more goodies in 52 Small Changes. I’ve only skimmed the surface. What I will say is that I intend to give it a shot. Many of the things I already implement in my life but there are a lot I don’t and I’d like to give it a try. I think 52 Small Changes by Brett Blumenthal is a great book for anyone looking to make a positive and healthy change in their life!
You can find Brett on her website, facebook, or twitter. Your own copy of 52 Small Changes can be purchased here in the US and here in Canada. Be sure to pop back tomorrow though as I’ll have a Q&A with Brett and a great giveaway of a few copies of this fantastic book!
Source: Review copy provided by the publicist. No compensation received for this review and all opinions are solely my own.
I need something like this! To get me sorted this year.
This sounds like it was written for me 🙂 And the title makes it seem doable! Nice review, Dar.
This sounds like a really helpful and well organized book! I like that it implements change in small and doable doses, and may have to look for this one when I can. Great review today, Dar! I can’t wait to hear how it goes for you!
It sounds like this book is one that might actually contain seeds for success, unlike so many of the change your diet, change your life offerings. Common sense things, moderation, and broken up into small increments — I’m anxious to hear how it works for you in the coming months.
This is definitely something we could all use about now (well, me at least). I always need an attitude adjustment after the holidays. I’m still looking around for the perfect mantra to help me keep my mouth shut and stop eating!!!
This seems like a book with very good ideas. I always fail when I try to diet or make big changes. I like how the book is broken down into weeks. I hope you have great success with the book.
What a great review to start the new year with! I think small incremental change is easier to do than big sweeping ones … and it sounds very practical. I’ll have to check back and see if I can win a copy!
I enjoyed this one too Dar, I like the idea of small changes.
Nice review 🙂 and perferct for the new year.
The more I read about this book the more I’m convinced that the author is pointing right at me!! 😀
I saw this a few days ago on Jenny Girl’s blog and it immediately caught my attention. I think the best way to implement change is through little baby steps! I didn’t realize that she had another book–I also like the idea of not dieting (but being healthy).
Happy new year Darlene!
I love the idea of using small changes to make a big difference. It makes it so much more manageable.