The Health Habit: Shape Up, Sleep Better, Feel Amazing

by Amantha Imber

Eat healthier, boost your energy, and sleep better with this easy-to-use, practical guide inspired by the latest scientific research.

Are you trapped in a cycle of unhealthy habits? You are not alone - we all have unique barriers that get in the way of making permanent changes to our health.

In The Health Habit, psychologist Dr Amantha Imber steps away from the one-size-fits-all approach and brings together:

- The specific psychological barriers stopping you from achieving better health.
- Cutting-edge research into what we should eat, how to get fit, and how to sleep better, by professors at institutions including Harvard and Oxford, plus health experts such as Dr Norman Swan, Dr Layne Norton and Jessie Inchauspé.
- The latest behavioural science that helps us make these changes stick for good.
- An easy method to create your own personalised and actionable plan to change your habits.

Amantha also shares how she overcame her own health battles. From sugar addiction, a haphazard approach to exercise and diet, and chronic insomnia, she kicked her need for sugar, can now leg press three times her own body weight, and gets eight hours of sleep almost every night. She wasn't born with more willpower than the rest of us but used her knowledge of behavioural psychology to hack her way to better and healthier habits.

Packed with bite-sized advice, The Health Habit is for anybody stuck repeating the same habits and looking for practical solutions that will transform their health for good.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Psychology, Self Help, Science, Personal Development, Audiobook

Audiobook

Published January 9, 2024

Reviews

[Cait · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing groundbreaking but very easy to consume with good tips

[Erin Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

self-help is really not my genre

[Helena]

Can’t wait to try and implement some of the strategies. Loved the format of pick and choose. And that it was science based.

[Jane (Avid reader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good ideas here presented in a way that you can quickly access and apply the most relevant information.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the author, I have also read books on sleep, diet and fitness as well as books on habit building. This book brings these concepts together in a practical way. Me knowing that Rome wasn’t built in a day could be a useful analogy for this book’s approach to building new habits. I’m on my way, choosing sleep as my first focus.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read. Nothing too new, but key takeaways for me were:
Sunrise walk for 10-30 mins to help with the body clock
3x10 Min HIIT sessions
4 x (20secx2) Micro Hiit (think burpees)
3 x 20-30 min strength sessions
Move for 2 mins every 30 mins
7hrs of sleep is optimal
10 hour eating window (9AM-7PM)
Fermented foods for the guts
Give yourself some hall passes (eg 4 cheat meal a week)
Instead of saying no, say “some other time”

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author effectively compiles existing research, but it's all easily searchable online.

Amantha’s writing style is overly familiar, I found the constant use of parentheses and personal comments from her irritating.

[Redd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was both amazing and disappointing all at once, hence the three stars.

Overall this book was amazing. It provided you with great clear cut ways that are indeed bite sized to improve three different areas of your life. The book gives you clear instructions as to how you can improve in these areas by giving multiple options. You can apply all of them or only one of them. The choice is ultimately yours. In the other section of the book, it gives you scientific backed options of overcoming potential obstacles that may get in your way while trying to improve your selected habit. These options are extremely diverse and broken down into bite sized steps. It makes the whole process very stress free and very agreeable should you wish to change your ways.

Now here is the reason for the three star review. I was less than impressed with the Nutrition partition. On more than one occasion the author does say this isn’t a diet book and yet still gave advice on nutrition. She was very persistent on pushing the leafy green agenda and even used a tactic that irked me. It’s a tactic that you won’t know is actually happening because it is targeted for the unconscious side of the brain. The tactic is called the Power of Suggestion and if you don’t know it, the power of suggestion lies in its ability to shape perceptions, create expectations, and influence behavior without the individual being consciously aware of it.

Now whether this was by design by the author or not, I do not know, but I would find it incredibly hard to believe that it was an accident to begin with. If you don’t believe me, take a look at how often eating leafy greens/vegetables is mentioned throughout the book.

[Lyn Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the way this book expertly compiled evidenced backed strategies for me to gain some further insights and implement actionable habit and behavioural change.

I listened to the audio version of this book, downloaded all the online resources and also purchased the hard copy version of this book so that I can go back to relevant sections once I embed one successful habit change.

I love the way in which Dr Amantha Imber relates the changes to us humans in general, the way she personally has implemented these changes as well as led a successful consultancy business in training others.

As I listened to the audio version of this book on my commutes and walks, I was able to process and implement the learnings as they were shared.

I can highly recommend this book to you if you want to finally embed some of those habits you just know are going to benefit you. I'd be very surprised if you listen or read this book and don't gain at least 2-3 actionable tasks of lasting benefit.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably nothing you don’t already know if you regularly read about sleep, nutrition, and movement best practices. But a lot of practical tips & tricks for achieving little wins with your habits and overcoming whatever keeps you from healthy habits. Will serve as a handy reference for when I need to get back on track.

—
STAR LEGEND
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = Back in the TBR to re-read / You should read
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = Enjoyed it and you probably will too
⭐️⭐️⭐️ = I would only recommend to specific readers
⭐️⭐️ = Finished but don't recommend
⭐️ = Didn’t finish

[Vi · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Similar to her other book (Time Wise), this book has a lot of different tips that I want to test, a lot of tips that I have already tried (some I'm still applying, some I have dropped) and a handful of tips I'm kinda wary of (looking at the tips related to Inchauspe since I’m also wary of how big she makes the effect of glucose seem).
- Still a good listen though! And I like that she provides a summary in a PDF file (although you do have to provide an email address to get it)

[Em Cow · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. The first section was quite useful and unpacked some strategies to improve physical health in the areas of nutrition, fitness and sleep. Beyond this, I didn't find the book super useful.
I don't know why self-help books insist on this, but if the book constantly refers to a website or a PDF you need to visit, and the website forces you to sign up to an email list to access information, it's a bit of a red flag for me.

[Jess Rouget · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 3.5. Most of the info and strategies presented I knew (I am a research/health nerd already!) but a great place for the average person looking to make healthy changes to their life. Well set out and easy to read. Some of the studies were a little old for my liking, but research moves quickly when you consider how long it takes to write, edit and publish a book. A valuable read.

[Georgia Wisdom-Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very digestible read (excuse the pun). Really well researched and the science behind the behaviours is super interesting. The author provides really pragmatic suggestions for how to implement the various strategies. Much less preachy than your average ‘self help’ book; would describe this as a more targeted cousin to Atomic Habits.

[Ruby Lay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very easy to read, designed to be picked up again when you’re feeling like you need a health refresh, which I appreciated! Kind of like a “choose your own adventure” book depending on which area of health you’re looking for strategies to improve on. Wasn’t preachy, but very scientific and informative while being well-communicated. Would recommend to people!

[Dom Burbidge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple but effective. I listened to this on my commute over a couple of weeks. It resonated similarly to listening to podcasts from health gurus etc. The content was nothing ground breaking and while driving I found it an easy listen. I’m not sure if one’s opinion of the book would differ if they sat down to read it.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very clear and easy to follow advice, set out in a structure that you can read through or hop around in. The advice is well supported by experiments and other references - most that sound familiar if you do a lot of social psychology reading, but are good reminders here

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely recommend for anyone wanting to make improvements in the areas of health.
The book focuses on three key areas ~ sleep, movement and nutrition. Lots of interesting research to back up ideas and strategies to use to implement ideas.

[Elly Wildermoth · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book. Trying to bring in the 30 whole foods. trying to do it with just fruit, vegetables, nuts and grain but curious if i should be including dairy/meats/eggs for variety of different micronutrients?

[KJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got the habit Amantha

[Maria Bell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read several similar books to this one, so l learnt a few new things, but l could only rate it three stars.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read

[TraceyB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yeap this is good. Well written.

[Brenda Rosser]

v. good, if only putting things into place was as easy as reading a book

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful collection of summary research evidence and tools to change behaviour.

[Jake Abbe-Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good, not great. A little redundant, sort of like a health guide meets atomic habits. Probably would've been better in print

[Jay Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not a stand out book for me, no new information. I listened to the audio book and found it boring and didn't really want to get through it.

[NinaCD · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t regret reading this, but really it’s just a mash up of a lot of other health/self-help books. No new ideas.

[Marnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Easy steps with a sense of humour.