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Healthy Healing: A Guide to Working Out Grief Using the Power of Exercise and Endorphins – A Compassionate 12-Week Plan for Channeling Pain Into Strength and Hope
From the creator of the One Fit Widow community comes a unique plan that uses the healing power of exercise and fitness to strengthen body, mind, and spirt and help anyone work through grief and loss
At thirty-five, Michelle Steinke-Baumgard became a widow in an instant when she lost her husband in a tragic plane accident. But in the darkest moment of her life, the mother of two young children found solace and hope in the unlikeliest of places: exercise. She recorded her journey in her blog, One Fit Widow, and soon had a community of devoted followers. Now, Michelle offers her revolutionary solution to grief to everyone struggling to cope with their own pain.
Healthy Healing isn’t just an exercise and nutrition plan, it is a guide to moving forward, and feeling better in the midst of grief. It’s common to shut down in the face of overwhelming loss. But as Michelle reveals, taking care of yourself may be the best thing you can do, for yourself and the people you love. Not only will strengthening your body give you the physical stamina to fight off depression and despair, exercise produces endorphins that make you feel good, at a time when you need it most. Exercise also helps you overcome sleep problems—a common side effect of trauma and sudden loss. In addition, proper nutrition boosts immunity when your system is at its weakest.
An exercise program, nutrition guide, and, compassionate companion, Healthy Healing addresses the physical, mental, and emotional effects of grief with practical advice and actionable inspiration, including:
•Starting with baby steps—how simple changes like taking a walk or being in nature can start you on the path to healing
•Learning to be comfortable with alone time and rediscovering your strength
•Pairing your unique set of circumstances and grief with the right exercise, whether it’s gentle yoga to ease sadness or intense kickboxing to release anger
•Embracing your community, and surrounding yourself with support that enables you to prioritize your well-being
With Healthy Healing, you'll learn how to channel your pain into something productive—and use tragedy as a catalyst for inspired change.
At thirty-five, Michelle Steinke-Baumgard became a widow in an instant when she lost her husband in a tragic plane accident. But in the darkest moment of her life, the mother of two young children found solace and hope in the unlikeliest of places: exercise. She recorded her journey in her blog, One Fit Widow, and soon had a community of devoted followers. Now, Michelle offers her revolutionary solution to grief to everyone struggling to cope with their own pain.
Healthy Healing isn’t just an exercise and nutrition plan, it is a guide to moving forward, and feeling better in the midst of grief. It’s common to shut down in the face of overwhelming loss. But as Michelle reveals, taking care of yourself may be the best thing you can do, for yourself and the people you love. Not only will strengthening your body give you the physical stamina to fight off depression and despair, exercise produces endorphins that make you feel good, at a time when you need it most. Exercise also helps you overcome sleep problems—a common side effect of trauma and sudden loss. In addition, proper nutrition boosts immunity when your system is at its weakest.
An exercise program, nutrition guide, and, compassionate companion, Healthy Healing addresses the physical, mental, and emotional effects of grief with practical advice and actionable inspiration, including:
•Starting with baby steps—how simple changes like taking a walk or being in nature can start you on the path to healing
•Learning to be comfortable with alone time and rediscovering your strength
•Pairing your unique set of circumstances and grief with the right exercise, whether it’s gentle yoga to ease sadness or intense kickboxing to release anger
•Embracing your community, and surrounding yourself with support that enables you to prioritize your well-being
With Healthy Healing, you'll learn how to channel your pain into something productive—and use tragedy as a catalyst for inspired change.
304 pages, Paperback
Published October 5, 2017
56 people are currently reading
629 people want to read
About the author
Michelle Steinke-Baumgard
1 book21 followersMichelle Steinke-Baumgard is the Co-Founder of My1FitLife, One Fit Widow, and the Live the List Nonprofit. After losing her late husband in 2009, she became engrossed in fitness not only as a lifestyle but also as a profession. After losing 80 pounds, Michelle decided that her love of fitness was more than just a pastime, and she wanted to spend the rest of her life empowering those with a loss to live their life to the fullest. Through personal experience, Michelle learned that exercise and endorphins were the most underutilized form of therapy, especially for those dealing with grief and trauma, and yet perhaps the most useful. With her personal perspective on loss, Michelle decided to leave her VP corporate job and become a certified personal trainer. Michelle started her fitness career as a coach at the gym that gave me weight loss success and eventually left to start My1FitLife. Her dream is to help as many people as possible find stress relief and renewal of life through health and fitness. Today, Michelle's coaching portal, My1FitLife has over 3,000 worldwide members reaching all over the world and The Live the List Nonprofit is helping the widowed live out their dreams so they can make deliberate steps forward with their life. Michelle has been featured in Fitness, Shape, Woman's World Magazine and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post where she writes on both grief and fitness issues.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
August 11, 2017
A special thank you to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
After losing her husband in a tragic plane crash, Michelle Steinke-Baumgard faced the darkest moment of her life. Widowed, with two young children, Michelle confronted her grief head on by choosing to strengthen her body, mind, and spirit. In doing so, Michelle rediscovered happiness through fitness and wellness.
Please don't let the title sway you into thinking that you have had to experience a loss to benefit from Michelle Steinke-Baumgard's book. She addresses the physical, mental, and emotional effects of grief juxtaposed against healthy eating and exercise in a 12-week plan that anyone can use.
Steinke-Baumgard dispels a lot of the myths not only surrounding grief, but also with diet and exercise. There is no one-size-fits-all in grieving, healthy living, or wellness—Michelle tackles these myths with knowledge and personal experience. Her approach is kind, motivational, and above all, honest. She has a huge following from her One Fit Widow community where she provides the same support, candor, and honesty to her followers (you can check her out on social media). Michelle is a wonderful writer and I have been following her for a while now.
If you are even remotely considering changing your lifestyle, and/or are struggling with grief, pick up this book. Not only will your body thank you, but in times of loss, your heart and soul will thank you. Michelle, you are a wonderful role model, woman, and coach—thank you for sharing your personal story of loss, your fitness journey, and your knowledge.
After losing her husband in a tragic plane crash, Michelle Steinke-Baumgard faced the darkest moment of her life. Widowed, with two young children, Michelle confronted her grief head on by choosing to strengthen her body, mind, and spirit. In doing so, Michelle rediscovered happiness through fitness and wellness.
Please don't let the title sway you into thinking that you have had to experience a loss to benefit from Michelle Steinke-Baumgard's book. She addresses the physical, mental, and emotional effects of grief juxtaposed against healthy eating and exercise in a 12-week plan that anyone can use.
Steinke-Baumgard dispels a lot of the myths not only surrounding grief, but also with diet and exercise. There is no one-size-fits-all in grieving, healthy living, or wellness—Michelle tackles these myths with knowledge and personal experience. Her approach is kind, motivational, and above all, honest. She has a huge following from her One Fit Widow community where she provides the same support, candor, and honesty to her followers (you can check her out on social media). Michelle is a wonderful writer and I have been following her for a while now.
If you are even remotely considering changing your lifestyle, and/or are struggling with grief, pick up this book. Not only will your body thank you, but in times of loss, your heart and soul will thank you. Michelle, you are a wonderful role model, woman, and coach—thank you for sharing your personal story of loss, your fitness journey, and your knowledge.
April 9, 2018
As a grief professional, I am highly critical of grief books, yet Steinke-Baumgard withstood all of my typical criticisms. She recognizes the unique timeline and journey for everyone who is grieving and creates a customizable plan that readers can tailor to fit their needs. Prior to reading this, I was concerned that it might be too pushy or prescribed knowing that it is a fitness book as well, but was pleasantly surprised that she encourages readers to start with where they are at and work on baby steps each week.
I find that instrumental grievers, those who process things physically and cognitively rather than emotionally, are often left out of traditional grief support and literature. This book provides a palatable framework for them, one that doesn't make them feel like they are "wrong" and one that normalizes the experience of needing to process one's grief through physical outlets.
I highly recommend this book for those who are grieving, especially those who may feel like traditional grief support does not meet their needs and are looking for a different approach.
I find that instrumental grievers, those who process things physically and cognitively rather than emotionally, are often left out of traditional grief support and literature. This book provides a palatable framework for them, one that doesn't make them feel like they are "wrong" and one that normalizes the experience of needing to process one's grief through physical outlets.
I highly recommend this book for those who are grieving, especially those who may feel like traditional grief support does not meet their needs and are looking for a different approach.
October 5, 2017
A good story of one woman's survival techniques after suffering a terrible loss.
November 6, 2017
This book is a lifesaver! The author gives you step-by-step instruction on how to regain control of your life through fitness and health - even when it seems impossible. While everyone processes grief differently, we can all learn from the steps in this thoughtful book. I thoroughly enjoyed it!
March 22, 2019
I recently lost my husband and after a longtime friend sent me a link to Michelle's blog, I was happy to see that she had written a book as well. All in all, it wasn't at all what I was expecting even though the book is pretty straightforward. I found it a bit preachy in the beginning; a lot of information thrown at me about grief and so forth and to be honest a little of it sounded like 'bragging' or gloating, as though she was proud that she had been successful in getting through her grief. Maybe I should have waited till much later in my grieving process to read this because I wasn't (and am still not) ready to take on a full exercise program. I wasn't really motivated at all by the chapter that she intended to do just that. I skipped a lot of it that dealt with kickboxing, yoga, running, etc (things I'll probably never do) and honestly the only part in the exercise section that interested me was the swimming section (which is very small). Most of the book is about running and she talks a lot about the marathons that she's trained for. There is a large section on nutrition and so forth as well.
This isn't a bad book by any means and there was some good information; particularly the "myths" about grieving, but as I said before I think I should have waited a while before trying to dive into this. My life right now is very chaotic and I think a book that focused on the beginning of grieving would have been more informative. However in the future, I may give this book another try. It's not for everyone but it's worth taking a look at to see if it fits into your life.
This isn't a bad book by any means and there was some good information; particularly the "myths" about grieving, but as I said before I think I should have waited a while before trying to dive into this. My life right now is very chaotic and I think a book that focused on the beginning of grieving would have been more informative. However in the future, I may give this book another try. It's not for everyone but it's worth taking a look at to see if it fits into your life.
January 9, 2022
This ticked all my boxes and was a true lifesaver. Would highly recommend!
November 30, 2017
This is an excellent book for anyone who's grieving - whether you're ready to take steps forward today or not. By putting these positive ideas in your head, Michelle has provided the reader a foundation for the work that is to come. There were painful truths in this book, the kind that resonate for many of us, but it was also a very uplifting and positive book; powerful motivation to find what lies within. You learn so much through loss and this is exactly the kind of book that helps reveal these discoveries. The book includes personal and moving stories but also extensive and simply laid out healthy habits for taking your power back. Her message isn't about moving on, it's about moving forward. Highly recommended for the grieving and those who love them.
April 4, 2024
Love love love. I very much resonated with this book and where I am at in my grief. It’s personable and approachable. I only have it 4 stars because I read through without filling the 12 week process because I wasn’t ready to in that moment. However I know I will be referring back to it as I do
January 14, 2018
This is a wonderful book for anyone grieving. Will start giving to friends facing grief.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2018
Nothing new here-nothing a person couldn't find in any issue of any woman's magazine. The personal stories set the text apart but they are a very small part of the book. 1.5*
August 18, 2018
I found it a bit basic and repetitive. I love her as a person though.
December 4, 2018
2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge prompt: a book about death or grief.
I like that the author gives you a plan of action and not just platitudes.
I like that the author gives you a plan of action and not just platitudes.
March 12, 2019
I’ve been reading Michelle’s blog for several years so I didn’t get a whole lot of new information out of the book. Good organization and straightforward info.
February 10, 2020
Really enjoyed this book. Refer back to if often. Easy read and relatable.
May 29, 2020
Week #8 had sound advice. Looking forward to trying out the recipes in the back.
August 20, 2021
Love love love! Was a little too tactical for me at times but really enjoyed the insights Michelle had as well
January 16, 2023
Excellent, highly recommend it...take it from someone who knows it all too well
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews