Please recommend a healthy lifestyle book

I've receive a gift certificate to Amazon.com. Because of my budget, I only buy from Amazon.com once a year, on Valentine's day. I usually buy 20-30 book at that time. But this is a special opportunity. I have a knitting book that I would really like, but then I got thinking maybe some of you folks could recommend a health related book. I was thinking more healthy eating, not mental health and not a cookbook. I'm not too well versed in what is available out there, all I know is there are a lot of book and I'm not sure what would constitute as a good one. So, any recommendation? The gift certificate is for $25.00 and I would be willing to throw in about $25.00 of my own. So if you have more than one book to recommend, please do.  If there are serveral that I really like, I might add them to my Valentine's day book list.  

I would recommend UltraMetabolism - lots of information about diet and nutrition, how food is metabolized, recommendations...  There is a specific diet plan as well including a detox phase (1st 3 weeks) and a lifetime phase. It emphasizes whole foods and I continue to follow most of its guidelines.

Another good all-around info book is You: The Owner's Manual which I am reading right now.  Lots of good stuff about every part of your body - nutrition and supplements that will help those parts and a diet plan, which I haven't gotten to yet, but so far I like the book.  Surprisingly, it's an entertaining read without being too simplified.

Enjoy your amazon certificate!  Buying, reading, browsing books -- one of my most favorite things in the world.

"I can not live without books." -- Thomas Jefferson

Thanks! I agree, I love books. Anyone else got a good recommendation?

I bought two of Dr. Perricone's books (you might have seen him on Larry King and/or Oprah). They're not bad, he gives some sample menus, recipes, etc.

A great book about healthy eating in general is Eat, Drink & Be Merry by Walter Willet. It really spells things out and gives great information about nutrition in general, fats, proteins, carbs, the USDA food pyramid.

My favorite one is one that my parents bought, called Foods that Harm and Foods that Heal. I love it. It has sooo much information about so many different foods, and their impact on your health.

I haven't owned a television in 7-8 years, so I don't catch Oprah or Larry King, but I will do some research on the internet and see if I can download any of Dr. Perricone's interviews.

Thank you for the book recommendations. I had heard of the first one, I think it has been around for a while, but I had never checked it out. The second recommendation sounds really interesting.

I'm trying to remember the name of the book.  I htink it was called "What to Eat."  Let me see if I can find it. Yup, it is.  It's by Marion Nestle (ironic, isn't it?), a nutritionist who works, I think, at UC Berkeley.  It sounded interesting from the article and interview in the NY Times.  Otherwise, I'd say get the knitting book!  Crafty stuff is so much fun!

I am waiting for Coach Dee's.

I second the  recommendation for  What to Eat. I checked it out from the library on a  whim a  few months ago and it's what got me started eating healthy and exercising again (before I found this site). But knitting books are nicer to look at!

Patrick Holford's "The New Optimum Nutrition Bible".  You want to know about healthy eating? It's in there.  Very comprehensive.

Thanks everyone for the recommendations. I am working my way through checking them out. I'm going to take this list the next time I go over to the bookstore (a 3 hour drive one direction, I only go over once every 4-6 weeks) and then pick which one I like best to order from Amazon.com (because it is usually a lot cheaper than the bookstore). If there are any more recommendations, keep them coming. I think I am going over to the city next Tuesday.

one more suggestions...Dr. Andrew Weil's "Eating Well for Optimum Health".  I really like that he emphasizes that eating should be pleasurable.

Thanks. I am away for the weekend, but will definitely be checking more of these out. This is really helpful for me, because I get so overwhelmed in the health book section.

I just ordered the one by Ellie Krieger something like 12 weeks to a healthier you or something....she is a nutritionist that also has a show on Food Network now. I haven't gotten it yet but just another one you could check out ;)

I just purchased the Look Great Naked Diet by Brad Schoenfeld. This book is more than just a way to lose weight, it is a really good weigh to understand nutrition and maintain weight loss, its realistic and so far just plain awesome. I was a little put off by the title but as soon as I started reading it, I realized it was worth the 20 dollars!!

Hmmmm... that sounds interesting, I will definitely check it out. I plan to order a book or two on Monday evening. So hurry and get your recommendation in beforehand! (Oh, yeah, and I plan to put this list somewhere so that it is accessible to all).

Here's the best one, ix (I agree with Tracy):

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060959584/s r=8-7/qid=1151098253/ref=pd_bbs_7/104-7134501 -6126366?%5Fencoding=UTF8

So that's 2 votes for Andrew Weil. From what I know about you I think you, especially, will love it! Read the Amazon reviews...

By the way, may I know how your name is pronounced?

Best book I ever read is a Christian based book on healthy weight loss and lifestyle called "Thin Within- A Grace Oriented Approach to Healthy Living"

It is mind blowing....

I'm Just Here for the Food?Alton Brown

I'm Just Here for More Food?Alton Brown

These are not diet books or healthy lifestyle books; however, Alton cooks with whole foods instead of processed junk, and he explains the chemistry behind cooking so that you understand why you are supposed to do things a certain way, and once you have that understanding, you can then improvise in an informed fashion.

I recommend the book No Body's Perfect it's more about eating disorders from the perspective of those who have gotten better, and body image... I recommend it if you want to try to keep helping girls/boys on here with eating disorders it might give you some more insight... I have a thread about it here with a sample from the book and author and other stuff

Take care