What I'm Reading Wednesday
In the FYS house, Tuesday is our big outing day: Thumper and I spend our mornings at the nearby park, and then we hustle over to our local library for Toddler Storytime. It’s a nice way to get out of the house (and away from the 300,000th viewing of Moana), and a chance for her to interact with other kiddos her age while Mama can have maybe half a conversation with another adult for an hour. Everyone wins!
I’ve been an avid reader since I was barely older than my tiny human is now, and the books I’ve read have been a huge part of shaping who I am. Hell, I’m in a Harry Potter-themed running club! And for me, being having a strong mind is just as important, if not more so, than having a strong body; studies have shown that regular reading can help feelings of stress and depression, prevent memory decline and Alzheimer’s disease, and increase feelings of empathy[1][2][3].
Some of these are health and fitness related, some of them aren’t, because none of us only have one interest.
Diet Cults, Matt Fitzgerald
One of the topics I’m focusing on for my thesis is how we, as a society, latch on to quick-fixes for our health, whether that be through juice cleanses or workout videos that swear to give you a six-pack in just four minutes a day. This is a comprehensive look at fad diets and how they’re marketed religiously. A great tool for keeping your friends (nutritional science) close and your enemies (diet cults) closer.
Making the American Body, Jonathan Black
The history of fitness fascinates me, especially as I’ve seen the landscape evolve from Jane Fonda and step aerobics to Insanity, Zumba, etc. Part of it is probably that I grew up in Los Angeles and have fond memories of watching all the body builiders killing it at the Muscle Beaches in Santa Monica and Venice; but I also think knowing where we come from as professionals is essential to informing us where to go next.
Mindhunter, John Douglas and Mark Olshanker
I love reading about true crime and I’m a huge fan of the My Favorite Murder podcast—so much so that I joined a local MFM book club. This is our pick for February that I’m just now starting because I keep forgetting that I joined a book club.
Gluten-Free Artisan Bread in Just Five Minutes a Day, Jeff Hertzberg, M.D.
I like baking and I refuse to let my Celiac disease rob me of a good piece of sourdough.
If you have some recommendations, or if you’ve read one of my weekly checkouts and want to geek out about it, let me know in the comments!
xo Andi
1 Bal, P. Matthijs, and Martijn Veltkamp. “How Does Fiction Reading Influence Empathy? An Experimental Investigation on the Role of Emotional Transportation.” PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 1, 2013, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0055341 2 Friedland, R. P., et al. “Patients with Alzheimers disease have reduced activities in midlife compared with healthy control-Group members.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 98, no. 6, June 2001, pp. 3440–3445., doi:10.1073/pnas.061002998. [3] Rizzolo, D., Zipp, G. P., Stiskal, D., & Simpkins, S. (2009). Stress management strategies for students: The immediate effects of yoga, humor, and reading on stress. Journal of College Teaching and Learning, 6(8), 79-88. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/docview/218893605?accountid=8289