The PMA Method, 14 Days to a Stronger, Healthier, Happier You by Faisal Abdalla

The PMA Method, 14 Days to a Stronger, Healthier, Happier You

Faisal Abdalla

I think I must have picked this up from a thrift store. I am always looking for new workouts and recipes, so why not? This trainer bases his wellness around the idea of Positive Mental Attitude, and I can agree with that. Retraining your mind to think positively, to find the positive in negative situations and do away with negativity as a default setting can definitely make a huge impact to your emotional, mental, and physical health. 

Faisal provides 12 different workout programs, or two weeks worth, taking you step by step with photos and instructions so you know how to do each exercise. He also provides 50 recipes for healthy eating.

Unfortunately for me, his cooking style is just not my cup of tea and I won't eat the recipes he has included. 

His workouts look pretty good, but with my foot problems and also arthritis in my feet, many of these HIIT exercises just are a no go for me. If I do them, and I am not saying I can't, but I will either be unable to walk without pain, or my hands will be in excruciating pain for weeks. I have just gotten to a point where they don't hurt all the time, scaling back on certain types of exercise, and I dread that pain. So this book, I think would be great for someone without those physical issues, I just know my body and I have to do other things for my workouts.

This one is going into my Little Free Library.

 

101 Workouts for Women, by the Editors of Muscle and Fitness

101 Workouts for Women

Fitness has been a big passion of mine, especially weightlifting, for the last 10 years. I picked this up from a thrift store, as I am always looking for ways not just to improve myself but to help others as well, considering I have been in the fitness industry for the last 5 years. I was pleased with what I found in this book.

It is what it says, a book of workouts. There are multiple workouts for each muscle group with photos and instructions on how to do each exercise. I would say this is an invaluable reference for all levels, and not just for women, but for men as well. 

I will be purchasing a few used copies to give away to people needing a little extra direction.

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

 

The Spark: A Revolutionary New Plan to Get Fit and Lose Weight, by Dr. Glenn A. Gaesser and Karla Dougherty

 The Spark, Glenn Gaesser, Karla Dougherty

I enjoy working out, and weight has always been a struggle to control since I became a mother almost 30 years ago. But I have been working out regularly, lifting weights, for close to 10 years now, I think. I have become so passionate about it that it turned into a career. I now manage a gym and am an admin for a chain of gyms in the Pacific Northwest. So I know a think or two about diet and exercise. 

This book, I have mixed feelings about. I feel this book is for those who have a hard time getting motivated to work out. That is not me, I have gotten over that hump and it's a daily routine. This book has you do just a few minutes at a time, ever so often throughout the day, to just get up and get moving. I think that's great. It gives you ideas to do at home and work, and some easy exercises that require little or no equipment. Again, that's great.

What I can't fall in line with is the ideology about eating. According to this book you should have a high carb diet, and no or low fat, because they say, fat makes you fat. I think this is outdated. The right fats can actually help you lose weight.

I follow a whole food diet. Keep the carbs complex and low. Cut out most of the grains since they are often processed. Eat protein and good fats. I have lost 20 pounds doing this. 

So if you read this, keep this in mind diet-wise, but glean the information for sneaking in mini workouts throughout the day.

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck 

Books I have read in 2023

 Another year, another tally of books! This year I am not counting books of the Bible as part of my total until I have read the Bible completely through.

JANUARY

Her Daughter's Dream, Francine Rivers

Africa: Natural Spirit of the African Continent, Gill Davies

The Spark: Get Fit and Lose Weight, Dr. Glenn Gaesser and Karla Dougherty

FEBRUARY

Michelangelo, Elizabeth Elias Kaufman

John Martin's Big Book 2, John Martin

The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko

MARCH

Let's Make a Memory, Gloria Gaither and Shirley Dobson

APRIL

Swiss Family Robinson, Johann Wyss

The Road to Little Dribbling, Bill Bryson

Let's Make Some Great Art, Marion Deuchars

Painting Horses in Oil, Cindy Larimore

MAY

Legendborn, Tracy Deonn

Floor Sample, Julia Cameron

Everyday Millionaires, Chris Hogan

Imperial Woman, Pearl S. Buck

JUNE

101 Workouts for Women, by Muscle & Fitness

The New Basic Reader: The New Our New Friends

JULY

An Introduction to Oil Painting, Ray Smith

The Illustrator's Notetaking Bible

What Hollywood Believes, Ray Comfort

AUGUST

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

SEPTEMBER

Weekly Reader Collection 1953/54

Bloodmarked, Tracy Deonn

OCTOBER

The Man Who Wanted Stars, Dean McLaughlin

Fix Freeze Feast, Kati Neville, Lindsay Tkacsik

NOVEMBER

The Golden Son. Shilpi Somaya Gowda

The Book of Creation, Pierre-Marie Beaude

DECEMBER

Japanese Folktales, Yei Theodora Ozaki

On the Beach, Nevil Shute

The Memory Weaver, Jane Kirkpatrick

2023 total books read: 30

2022 total books read: 36

Would you like to buy me a book, or help keep my little free library stocked and maintained? You can donate here: paypal.me/AmyVanGaasbeck