Dayna Lee-Baggley PhD

Strong Start, Falters About Halfway In, Never Really Recovers. This book had an intriguing premise - it was going to explain the scientific reasons for why you don't want to be healthy and help you overcome them. And it had some excellent points in the beginning regarding human evolution, even as it glossed over any actual science or citations. But around halfway in it begins using a particular metaphor that effectively says "you're not to blame" and rather than continuing with the quasi-scientific explanations it goes full bore with this metaphor through the end of the book. Intriguing in the first half, and genuinely well written throughout. May be exactly what people who generally read self help books are looking for. Recommended.… (mere)

NOTE: I won a free paperback copy of this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers (August 2019).

This is a very different kind of health and wellness book in which readers are encouraged to exercise self-compassion when they encounter difficulties with living a healthy lifestyle. Lee-Baggley makes the case for personal values as the make-or-break factor in setting healthy habits, and walks readers through the process of discovering and understanding their personal values. The book goes beyond improving physical health to improving mental, emotional, and social health, too. For example, there is an extensive section on how to begin a meditation practice. I appreciated reading the remarks on how to mitigate negative self-talk. To get the most out of this book, readers will need to visit the companion website and download the accompanying worksheets.… (mere)