Amelia Freer

This book started out as a good fit for a reader with a pretty typical diet who is looking to move in a healthier direction. The author gave helpful recommendations on removing one undesirable group on foods at a time and helps the reader figure out which to start with. Here's where my enjoyment of the book falters - the author too quickly launched into pretty extreme ingredient and recipe suggestions that I would say are WAY unlikely to be tried by the average eater, turning the book into a more of a guide to the "holy grail" of uber-healthy eating (no longer useful to me.) Sorry, Amelia Freer... You had me, then you lost me.… (más)

Read for Fun/Knowledge (Gift)
Overall Rating: 1.50
New Knowledge Rating: 1.00

First Thought when Finished: Eat.Nourish.Glow by Amelia Freer was $15 of information that you can get by googling key word "clean eating".

Overall Thoughts: First: This book is touted as having the "secret" to feeling better. While I didn't expect any new information, I certainly didn't expect to get hit in the face with the following items to give up: gluten, caffeine, dairy, alcohol, and sugar. Aren't those all key word diets right now? Plus she didn't really want to get into the science of why so instead she gave key quotes from other people in the field. Plus she gave you why she gave it up because that really is why you should too. Even though not every diet is for everyone, your gut is probably going to tell you to give up all these things.

So I googled things to give up for clean eating:

http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_h... (wait wasn't that her list)

Second: The secret to succeeding: Is to throw away all your junk or non-plan food and stock up with new foods. This is key to staying away from stuff that you shouldn't be eating.

So I googled things to do before you start a diet: Kitchen came up with all of them but the list below was from 2009. Evidently the secret was "out" way back when!

http://www.today.com/id/32466920/ns/t...

Third: The only chapter I liked and the reason this got a 1.5 instead of a 1 (though she was a bit condescending). Examine your relationship with food. Though she gave some good tips in the chapter, they were short and this was a short chapter :(

Fourth: Stop Snacking--evidently this is where she varies away from the "keyword" diets up there. She doesn't want you to snack. You can do googling for both pros/cons of this.

Fifth: You don't have to be perfect. Isn't that what most plans say. I know Weight Watchers follows a similar mantra. So this we all already know or at least anyone who has read anything on lifestyle changes.

Sixth: Sugar is your enemy. Which really is her biggest thing. Give up sugar.

Here is Google for why give up sugar (really it gives all the information that she does and a little more):

http://www.iflscience.com/brain/here-...
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/surprisi...
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandsty...

Seventh: Healthy food is happy food. This was meant to be conversational--I kind of found it forgettable.

Eighth: Basically this could have been renamed Drink Water

Ninth: Supplements because evidently you can't get everything you need from what you eat but make sure you buy the really expensive ones (seriously she says you get what you pay for).

Tenth: Exercise! Cause you know this is still a secret.

There were 18 recipes at the end. They were actually pretty good but you can get more at these 3 blogs:

http://cleaneatingchelsey.com/recipes/
http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/reci...
http://www.eat-yourself-skinny.com/ca...

Final Thoughts: If this was more than just 220 pages of bullet points then I think it would have been good. There are topics that she could have spent more time on but instead it really was like reading an outline of clean eating. Right now this is big because stars (Sam Smith) are really touting her. I imagine she is a great nutrition coach one on one but through the book she sounded snotty (or removed from normal people in a Paltrow type of way--her example of a working mum--4 days a week). Anyway, I didn't get much out of the book but maybe you will.… (más)

Nutritional therapist and healthy eating expert Amelia Freer dispatches fad diets to the distant past while guiding you to a rejuvenated future.

Amelia Freer brings a fresh and unique voice to the field of holistic health. In this, her first book, she explains her 10 steps and provides over 25 enticing recipes to get you started on your path to optimum wellness.

As recommended by her celebrity clients including Sam Smith, Amelia guides you gently through her 10 steps: how to detox your store cupboards and restock with alternatives, how to understand the differences between good and bad fats, the dangers of hidden sugar in the food we eat and how to dump the wheat (one of the demons!) from your diet. Her ideas are all backed up by the latest findings in the field of nutrition and neuroscience.

Amelia includes a mouth watering selection of recipes, from delightful breakfast alternatives, such as Almond, Apricot and Rose Yogurt, light lunch ideas such as Crunchy Crab Salad and delicious mains such as Monkfish with a Broccoli and Ginger Mash. Wow your friends with the fiendish yet healthy sweet alternatives such as the Salted Caramels.

There’s something for everyone in this book and with Amelia guiding you on the path to better health, losing weight and looking great has never been easier.… (más)