The Living Diet: A Christian Journey to Joyful Eating

by Martha Tatarnic

The Living Diet invites us to consider our relationship to food from a Christian perspective.

can’t live with it or without it. We are bombarded with messages that the secret to health and weight loss can be unlocked with the right product or magic discipline, but we are getting neither thinner nor happier. Reports suggest that we are losing our battle with obesity, while the anxiety people experience in relationship with food increases. We are taught that bodies are fundamentally a problem to be solved, or worse, a war to be won, while a misguided worldview suggests that our food choices are of concern to us alone; an individual act of pleasure or consequences.

Few resources speak to our food problem from a distinctly Christian perspective. Drawing on a rich assemblage of personal and collected stories grounded in the teachings of Jesus, The Living Diet offers a joyful alternative to the desperation and dissatisfaction that have become cultural norms for both eating and body image, inviting us to consider our choices in the context of community. Ancient wisdom yields a surprisingly modern response to the dieting dilemma, as well as to the realm of public, or popular, theology, helping the reader discover the real joy of eating and the true gift of embodied living.

208 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2019

About the author

Martha Tatarnic is an Anglican priest. She leads the big, busy downtown congregation of St. George's, St. Catharines in the Niagara region of Ontario. Martha’ second book, "Why Gather? The Hope and Promise of the Church" is published in June 2022. She has also authored "The Living Diet: A Christian Journey to Joyful Eating," an exploration of our relationship with food and our body through a Christian perspective. Details on writing, speaking engagements and her author’s journey can be found at https://marthatatarnic.ca

Martha and her husband Dan are parents to two wise teenagers and two funny dogs. Martha keeps emotionally and spiritually grounded by long distance running, singing as often as possible, and enjoying cake and great conversation with friends.

Reviews

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like the perspective of this book. It's an interesting and useful way to look at how we work against ourselves and our bodies, mostly without realizing what we're doing. North American diet culture can be so damaging and unhelpful. It just makes us feel bad because we can never measure up to the "ideal" we see all over the magazines and social media/the web. Martha Tatarnic gives us a way to view our selves from a Christian perspective, with God's love front and center. She is a Canadian Anglican priest with her own personal story that lead her to write this book. It is thoughtful, generous, kind, gentle and loving; just how we should think of our bodies and how we eat. It is not a diet book. It is, to quote Martha "...we can learn and relearn how to choose God's abundant life, that finicky recipe of both restraint and indulgence, recognizing our agency in choosing to not have something that we can have, and giving thanks for the sweet gifts we also receive along the way." And, "In this vigilant thoughtfulness, there is grace." Beautiful!

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, warm, funny, and so satisfying. Like savouring a piece of pie.