Surprisingly...Unstuck: The Power of Small Healthy Habits, In a World Addicted to Instant Results

by Maria Brilaki

Most of us wish we ate better. We wish we exercised more. We claim our health is important to us, yet, we don't do the things that we know we need to do. It's not that we have not tried living healthier - we have. Multiple times. It's just that sooner or later...we drop the new diet and quit the gym. Sticking to healthier routines seems like a never-ending battle. Some of us are wondering... “Why the heck have I failed again and again at sticking to exercise and healthier eating?” Some of us get baffled with our behavior. For example, even though we like exercise, we cannot make it a routine. We are wondering... “Why don’t I do what I want to do?” Others feel they need to whip themselves into shape. Otherwise, "it would never work". They get started with healthier eating or exercise, and try and try and try, and push some more to make themselves stick to it… "Does transitioning to living healthier have to be hard?" In "Surprisingly...Unstuck" Brilaki combines research on how our brain codes habits with real case studies to explain why people fail again and again at making exercising more and eating right stick, and how to make lasting change actually happen. The good news? You don't need to whip yourself into shape and, yes, lasting change is actually possible and just a few steps away from you...

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help

194 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 13, 2014

Reviews

[Marlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have struggled, fought, and failed at a healthy life style my whole life. The idea of "Ridiculously" small steps seemed to me just that - ridiculous. But still...

[Jacqui Schischka · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be full of really interesting ideas and practical tips on how to incorporate habit change into your life - with regards to living a healthy lifestyle. It covered tiny change, small change and radical change and I found myself thinking about lots of new ways to approach integrating healthy changes into my own life.

[Trenchologist · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not totally new information, but that's not an issue. It's streamlining of habit-building information in an easy to read format with a no-nonsense (but encouraging) voice. I suspect it's a bunch of blog entries packaged into a book--and that's also not an issue. But the prose reads as such; it's conversational and loose, sometimes lazy and more paraphrasing or direct quoting than original, and there's enough ellipses to stuff a duvet cover. But it still makes its points with directness and sincerity.

I had this book recommended to me for habit-building (and based on other things I've read and shared with the friend who recommended) as much for the healthy diet lifestyle angle. I think it's easy to apply the info and strategies to anything you want to improve in life and consider the 'diet and exercise' aspect just examples.

Did I get something out of it? Yup. Would I recommend it to others interested in behavior modification, looking to change something, or beat creative or motivational block? Yup. Is it totally mind-blowing? Nope. But it doesn't have to be. To borrow from the author, this can just be a small step in building better habits and decisions for the rest of your life journey, and a positive small step is still a big good thing.

[Vivian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Similar to other books that talk about the value of small, very small, steps to create healthy habits, but this one is very disorganized, and rambles all over the place. The information given isn't bad, it's just hard to follow, and there are better books which talk about the same concept.

[Todd Fonseca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Similar to the book "mini-habits" with two additional options. Good examples of success and practical "self-talk" pitfalls explained.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this concept of small steps making it easier to stick with your weight loss goals. I will definitely use some of the authors ideas.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book on habit forming, though it gets a bit repetitive at the end as it summarizes the rest of the book several times.