Fuelling Body, Mind, and Spirit: A Balanced Approach to Healthy Eating

Arlene Gryfe is a Toronto-based professional nutritionist and home
economist.

Miriam Hoffer is a Women’s College Hospital dietitian who has been
working for 10 years in the hospital’s Health Watch clinic to promote
the concept of wellness. During this time, she became aware of the fact
that while many women are knowledgeable about nutrition, they face a
number of barriers to good nutrition, including lack of time, societal
pressures to be thin, and an inability to apply one’s knowledge to
oneself.

This book attempts to explain these barriers and offer strategies to
overcome them. First, the author tries to remove blame or guilt in the
patient’s own perception. Proper nutrition as prescribed in Canada’s
Food Guide is emphasized and portion sizes are clearly described. No
criticism is made if one partakes of “extras” as long as one has
first eaten the requirements. Eventually, Hoffer hopes that the body
will adjust to natural sensations of hunger and satiety, and that people
will stop eating when full and resume when actually hungry.

Hoffer believes that when we heed body signals, without getting caught
up in guilt or worry, we eat normally. She does not weigh her patients
on a regular basis, since she senses that it would distract them from
what is really important— eating healthy food and increasing daily
activity. Her emphasis is on self-esteem and healthy habits, whether or
not weight loss occurs.

Much of Fuelling Body, Mind, and Spirit is devoted to anecdotal
comments of patients who have adopted a healthier attitude to their life
situations. The book lacks an index but includes an appendix with
Hoffer’s 10 points for healthy living, as well as a short list of
books that have influenced her thinking or made an impression on her.
Some Internet resources are also cited.

For those inclined to change their habits of eating and living for the
sake of wellness, this book will provide some assistance.