The Body Book: The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Amazing Body

Cameron Diaz' The Body Book is a fantastic read for anyone who loves health and nutrition, wants to learn more about their body and how food fuels it or simply wants to make a positive, life-long change to their lifestyle. It is aimed at women so there is a lot of information specifically aimed at women about their bodies and the levels of vitamins and nutrients we need at different points in our life.The first third of the book covers the food section, what food is really doing for us and why we need, why we get hungry and about having cravings. It goes in-depth to explain what happens to the food we eat and how it fuels the different parts of our bodies as well as discussing the good and bad food, and why our society is dealing with so health issues in the present day.The second section is all about movement, using exercise to use the fuel you provide your body and how it benefits you in the long run. It covers everything from how using movement to increase your oxygen levels in your blood help keep you energised and healthy right through to how it helps keep high bone density, and will keep your body fit for everything you want to achieve.The third section covers your mind, the attitudes and values you follow throughout your life and habits. How to make habits and how to break them, how using movement and fueling your body the right way increases the health of your mind positively.This book focuses on making the connection with your body, your mental and emotional self and learning to understand what your body and mind are telling you about the things you do - whether it is being energised through good sleep and nutrition choices right to recognising good and bad pain signals when exercising.This book covers so much information, is written in such a reader-friendly tone and is really about expressing the positivity that you can have in your life, the benefits of making good choices more often than bad ones and is truly about living a long, healthy life! It is definitely not a diet book, it isn't going to go on about losing 10 pounds or telling you you can't this and that, it is about giving you the information to learn and understand your body and that's why I love it!

I ordered this book online after listening to Cameron promote the book on Sirius radio. Her effervescent personality and 'girl's girl' approach to everything the interview discussed made me want to buy her book sight unseen. I have three grown daughters and figured we could all benefits from something she has to offer in her book. After reading some of the reviews (after ordering), I worried that I made a mistake. Some gave it one star saying it was 'poorly written', 'nothing new!', 'my mother taught me this in middle school', yada yada yada!Well, I'm 45 years old, and my mother taught me NOTHING (and I mean nothing) about any of the basic things in Cameron's book INCLUDING my menstrual cycle and how NOT to get pregnant. You think I'm alone? My school system let me down as well! I actually graduated high school learning nothing of anatamy...(yes, it's possible all of you smart alecs who claim EVERYONE KNOWS THIS! nope, no they don't) So, Hallelujah, I finally have a beautiful, fun to read manual. It's as if i'm sitting down with Cameron over a cup of coffee and she's telling me all about it! THAT is the kind of 'celebrity' book I like to read. That's the beauty of it right? You already feel like you know them, and now they are talking to YOU!This book is not a miracle cure for your weight problems, but it is a 'go-to' to help you to better understand the 'why' and 'how' of your body's functions, and certainly a cheeleader. For instance....I workout, but I've never gotten a good clear answer as to why or what i need to eat before or after a workout. the answer always varies from one source to another. She lays it all out there for me. It is an easy to read book, but chock full of great information that we need. Maybe it's information that you never knew, or maybe you knew it once and need to be reminded! Either way, this is a lovely way to have it, and and to have it handy. (she also provides margins for you write in....see,a girl's girl!) I found this book surprising uplighting and inspiring. I am sharing it with my three 20 something daughter's, and telling my friends to look at it for themselves and to share with their daughter's as well.

As an Institute of Integrative Nutrition Health Coach and a bookworm, my reading list in kindle editions, hardcovers, .pdf's and more, keeps me up-to-date in what's de rigueur as far as vibrant health is concerned. Cameron Diaz's, The Body Book, with Sandra Bark is going to make you love your body anew and be so amazed by how great you truly are, and 2015 is bound to be one of your best years yet. This book is a page turner in its genre and Cameron's voice is truly inspiring, as she is a living example of what the book is all about. This time, I got the hard copy and it was more than worth the wait for the delivery. This book is packed with practical ideas to start where you are. A lot of research was done into how habits shape our days, then our lives and many very practical routines just about anybody can follow are suggested. Loving your life and being the best version of yourself will not happen overnight, nor will reading this book be enough. If you follow even just a bit of the advice, you'll start reaping enjoyment and hopefully keep following through, until you've solidly built a life you're proud of, living in a body you enjoy. For those who doubt that Cameron Diaz can be taken seriously as an author, and find it strange that she has a book out, I can only say that you'll be pleasantly surprised if health, well-being, fitness and self-care fall within your range of reading interests. The indexing system is very thorough, and I'll definitely be using it to refer back to certain topics, and the author's refreshing take on them.

As someone who rarely ever goes in for celebrity endorsements, I was somewhere on the scale between largely indifferent and vaguely sceptical about Diaz's involvement in this book - unlike other reviewers, the attraction was not the blonde on the front cover. However, I was looking for something which would be encouraging about care for your body/health and explanatory about nutrition without being a heavy scientific tome, so reviews and blurbs indicated this was actually a good option. I decided to give it a go.Lucky I did, because this book has far exceeded my expectations: I found a fantastic book which is encouraging about care for our bodies by explaining exactly how and why it works, and not just simply telling us to eat our greens. As other reviews note, she is very American and therefore at times a little, let's say, "enthusiastic" about the subject - such as when she spends a paragraph acknowledging our sure surprise that she doesn't have a sweet tooth (am I the only one who wasn't that shocked?). This can feel a little patronising, but I take this as passion and genuine interest in her subject (plus a wish to better a world which very often takes to criticising (particularly female) bodies). However, look past delivery and you find a book which is helpful, insightful and delightful, with points backed up with a lot of science, and an appreciation for the way the body functions which reads as refreshing and positive. The writers take pains to put in full yet lucid explanations for how and why we need as the things we're being bugged to eat: perfect for an intelligent person who paid only a little attention to biology at school. I tend not to take things at face value, so I disliked taking nutritional advice for the sake of it and yet over the last few years found it difficult to get such information reliably (the net is notoriously dodgy). This is my perfect compromise: it's an explanation of how food, nutrition and exercise works plus what's important, without having to get a doctorate in Biology or Sport Science in order to do so.In summary, this book makes a handy, practical guide for everyday living and eating, full of information and motivation and appreciation for the job it does for us. I've been dipping into it every few days since buying it and found it really helping to support a new healthy eating regime: which I find has had marked benefits on my alertness, mood and blood sugar levels in a very short space of time. Exercise is next; wish me luck!

I have always been a big fan of Cameron Diaz as I find her to be an inspiration in comparison to other Hollywood celebrities more interested in being photographed falling out of a club than living a healthy lifestyle. Cameron's book doesn't disappoint. It is broken up into 3 sections: nutrition, fitness and mind. The first section explains about various different foods and how they affect your body (warning: it will put you off processed food for life!). The second section explains about how your body works and how it is affected by being active/inactive. I read this book on the train to work and after reading the fitness section, I was so motivated to get off the train and get moving! The main message is that we are not active enough any more as we have so many modern conveniences in day-to-day life that we don't need to wash our clothes by hand, etc. The book tries to explain that we should use this to our advantage and, because we can throw everything in the washing machine and press a button, we should be using this time to get out and run or go to the gym, rather than sitting on the sofa watching TV.The third section is about using your mind to maintain your healthy lifestyle and that being healthy or unhealthy is, essentially, a decision that we are free to make and so we really have no excuse. The book provides tips on how to be organised and take your own home-prepared food to work so you can make healthy choices and do not have to grab something unhealthy because of the convenience.Over all, it is a very good book and provided me with the right knowledge and motivation I needed to start living a more healthy lifestyle. As the book explains, it is not a quick fix if you are trying to lose weight, but more of a wake up call to change your lifestyle as well as listening to your body's needs.

This book was recommended to me as a holistic way of looking at mind/ body etc & to say I was sceptical would be an understatement. I was given an Amazon Giftcard for my birthday and as I didn't have to pay for it out of my own pocket, I decided to give it a go. Now whether Cameron Diaz did actually do the 'leg-work' on all the aspects of the mindy/body covered in the book is questionable - I've always liked her as an actress and she does come across as down-to-earth and the kind of girl you could be best friends with, but some of the science is mind-boggling. However, it is really simplified and makes a lot of sense. I was amazed - I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Her energy for the subject is such that at times you think the writing is just patronising; but then if you 'hear' Cameron's voice as you're reading it, you realise that it is just excitement and that she really is just enthusiastic!! A very helpful, positive, wonderful book, which leaves the reader feeling empowered and more capable. It's my new 'bible'.

This book is very informative and comprehensive. It gewts slighlty waffley at times but on the whole its informative and quite educational. Everyone knows the basics of what they should do to look after themselves and obviously these things are covered in the book. But the book goes further into those basics, breaking down the types of nutrition needed and where to find certain vitamins, how the body processes and manages them. It also covers exercise, the female body specifically and its cycle and general mental wellbeing. I'd say it's all encompassing for those serious about healthcare.It is text heavy - there are few diagrams and even fewer photos. Although I'm not looking to stare at Cameron Diaz's photo - the odd pretty photo of food or something would be a 'pick me up' inbetween all the text.

I saw this book in my local supermarket before Xmas and, not opening it, scoffed at it thinking "here we go, another celebrity book on the virtues of bodybrushing & yoga". I am now convalescing after major surgery and came across the book again on amazon and this time my interest was piqued & I orded a copy out of curiosity.The book arrived today & having just devoured the first 50 pages all I can say is that it is brilliant! Don't get me wrong I'm sure Cameron's co-author has had a lot to do with the writing style & editing however, Cameron's passion for fuelling our bodies & emotions in the right way, with the right food is clear and very motivating. She resists being TOO gushy about understanding that "we at what we eat" and the book is just the right balance of detail & education and well-executed common sense.Although the book is aimed at women I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone and particularly anyone who has ever visited a GP about their eating habits.Fantastic book - very motivating!!