Coach Jamie’s Book List
There is always someone out there who knows more than you. I could never learn everything I needed to know about nutrition or fitness even if it was my job…oh wait, it is….good thing there are smarter people out there than me!
The sooner you realize that, the better and more successful you will become. The most successful people have mentors and teachers—forever. Whether you personally know that teacher or you follow their work from behind a screen, you can learn from their wealth of knowledge to make you better in any area of your life.
Be the forever-student.
I don’t mean you are not capable of figuring it out on your own over a lifetime, but honestly why would you if there is someone else that has already done it better?!
It just means you don’t have to do all the work figure out what these specialist spent a lifetime researching. You get to read their years of research and experience in a neat, organized book. This is an incredible gift!! Reading other’s works is essential to growing your base of knowledge and experience.
I have been coaching people for 8 years and 4+ of those years have been with Clean Kitchen. The only way to coach well is to always be a student and keep learning.
For a person to assume they have “learned enough” is ridiculous and irresponsible, especially if you are a teacher or leader. The best teachers are forever students of their craft because they continually fine-tune and live in it.
Reading is the best way to grow your mental game super strong and take control of your own perspective.
Don’t rely on social media propaganda articles!! Get your hands on some good material that is legit! Below are some of my favorite books and resources that have given me nuggets of information along my coaching-way when it comes to nutrition and lifestyle habits, but also I feel like the majority of you would find these beneficial as well!
Not a reader? Listen on Audible while you walk around the hood or in the car!
1: Atomic Habits by James Clear
If I could have written a textbook for the Clean Kitchen program, it would be this book!
I can’t say it enough, its amazing and a must read. SO MANY truth bombs in this thing with every chapter you will be ready to overhaul all the little things that make a huge impact in your life. There are so many parallels to what we teach in CK and what James Clear talks about in his book. READ IT. Like now.
2: The Secret Life of Fat by Sylvia Tyra, PhD
I think everyone should read this book—especially if you are frustrated with your own body fat and struggle with mental acceptance.
This book explains the biology and function of body fat—exactly what body fat does and why body fat is important to overall health. Most people hate their body fat no matter how much one has, but this book goes on the defense of body fat in a lot of ways.
After reading this book you will have a better understanding of you own body fat, and possibly become more accepting of your own body. This book offers up story after story of real people who struggled with body fat problems ranging from what happens when there is not enough body fat for optimal health to stories of people who just can’t lose their body fat no matter what they have tried.
This booked is jammed packed with nerdy-science-facts, sited from hundreds of medical journals, that not only give you some serious “ah-ha” moments, but also gives you a new perspective about your own body and your own body fat.
The only negative part of the book was in Chapter 12 when the author takes you through what her diet consist of, and it is a little extreme for the average person. So I do want to caution the reader to take what she does with a grain of salt. I even hesitate to list this book because it is so far off from what CK is all about—eating for health.
The author is a scientist, not a dietitian, and though I am sure her goal is the be “healthy” in her own way, eating to be “skinny” is totally different and those who calorie restrict have shown to also be deficient in many key nutrients simple because they are under eating.
My overall review of the book is the medical journal sited information and how it is given is rock solid. I thoroughly enjoyed the entire book, until I got to chapter 12, ha! Though I don’t want to knock her strategy because in the end she did what made her feel the best. And you have to do what is best for you and what makes your quality of life the best. Everyone finds their own way.
3: The Hormone Cure by Sara Gottfried, MD
If you are a woman and suspect you have some hormonal imbalances, this book will educate you fully!
I truly believe understanding how our bodies are suppose to work is so important to changing where it is headed. I highly recommend this book for any woman at any stage of life. Especially if you like to nerd-out on why your body is doing what it is doing. This book gives specific symptoms and connects them to certain hormones, as well as giving you lifestyle tips to help. Many of the same principles our clients learn while in the CK Challenge.
“The best way to reset your hormones efficiently and permanently is with whatyou put on your fork.” -Sara Gottfried, MD
4: Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson
If you want a fantastic overview, but not too “sciency,” of how and why sleep is so important, you need this book. I used several tips and points made from this book in the CK Sleep Habit lessons we give in the CK 12 Week Challenge. And honestly, I believe sleep is the key factor to unlocking great results that no one truly understands.
5: The Adrenal Reset Diet by Alan Christianson, NMD
Another great “hormone” book, and though he does offer a diet strategy, if you take step back it really boils down to make the food quality changes.
Many of our clients do just fine by changing their food quality right now. And over time, just like with his strategy, you can improve your adrenal function simply because you are feeding your body the nutrients it needs and changing some lifestyle habits. For most people, the lifestyle changes you are making now is the perfect place to start!
6: The Metabolism Reset Diet by Alan Christianson, NMD
I really thought this was an interesting approach with his focus on repairing the liver and the liver being the key to resetting optimal metabolism function.
He offers up a 4-week protocol to cleanse your liver of excess stored fat that is actually hindering your metabolism function. Really interesting stuff, especially the information regarding the connection of diabetes and liver function. Though somewhat a little extreme diet strategy for the average person, it only is set for 4 weeks, and some people may find this helpful if they identify with what he is talking about.
Though, again, it all goes back to lifestyle habits and eating habits. Overtime, with your eating habit changes you can “cleanse” you liver and “reset your metabolism” regardless if you do a 4-week extreme reset. Overall, I think the message is spot on for one way (and there are many other variables) why a metabolism would not function properly no matter what you try.
Super funny and real. This book covers everything “gut” related to how it works and any problematic symptoms you could possibly experience.
I read this book so I could better understand food sensitivities and how our bodies respond to certain foods. A great read if you like to nerd-out of some finer details about nutrition and how it works in the body. Lots of humor in this book so it makes these more complicated subjects easier to understand!
Podcast
I love a good podcast. I use my Wednesday morning runs to listen to podcast and a lot of times find out about new books to read!
I don’t have too many I listen to regularly, but one I do love simply because of the variety of topics on health, nutrition and hormones is The Model Health Show. Shawn Stevenson is the host and he has people from ALL nutritional strategy backgrounds on the show. Like I have said before, there is no one “best” nutritional strategy for everyone. We are all different and at different stages of life. Though I do think majority of people don’t need anything more complicated than the CK Habits, it is important to be educated on any strategy you may want to try BEFORE you plunge in. And it is important to understand that his show is not endorsing one particular strategy over the other. He is simply trying to educate so you can make your own decision—which I love.
Chasing Excellence: episode #072
This podcast is by Ben Bergeron of Crossfit New England and has some great conversations about training, coaching and nutrition. I particularly LOVE episode #072 Optimize your Nutrition with EC Synkowski. She is awesome and some one you should follow on social media for some great, level headed, CK-style nutrition talk.
Websites:
The Clean Kitchen program is built on the philosophy we learned through our PN Level 1 and Level 2 coaching certifications. Anytime I need a refresher on a certain topic, I’ll search key words in the article archives to see what it pulls up. It is a great resource for all things nutrition science and zero BS.
Fix your lifestyle habits first.
Even if you do not read every morsel I have listed here, the main take-a-way from each is first and foremost, you have to fix your lifestyle habits (your foundation) before taking any other action on the road to health. That is the common theme through out every legit piece of literature I have ever read on health and fitness—fix the simple stuff first and see what happens.
So if you need help with those simple lifestyle habits that GREATLY effect what you health is, I suggest you check out our next Clean Kitchen 12 Week Challenge coming up. We can coach you onto the right path to whatever your goal may be. Even if you are a seasoned athlete or just starting out with trying to eat better—we can help you.
