i made a goal this year to read more books. since i'm not in school i have more free time on my hands than i have ever been used to having! and i like learning. so i read. a couple books i have read lately have really made an impact in my life. i'd thought i'd share them with you.

Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch

you may or may not know, but I work at a residential treatment facility for women and girls who have eating disorders. the foundation of our dietary approach is Intuitive Eating. Intuitive Eating is a concept that Tribole and Resch came up with years ago. At first it was looked at very skeptically, but since then many researchers have found that it is very effective. There are 10 principles of intuitive eating, and they are all covered in chapters of their book. To give you a basic idea of what intuitive eating is, and what is covered in the book, here are the principles.
     1- Reject the diet mentality
     2- Honor your Hunger
     3- Make Peace with Food
     4- Challenge the Food Police
     5- Respect your Fullness
     6- Discover the Satisfaction Factor
     7- Honor your Feelings without Using Food
     8- Respect your Body
     9- Exercise- Feel the Difference
     10- Honor Your Health
i loved reading this book because it not only helped me understand the premise behind what we do dietarily at my job, but it also gave me a chance to analyze my attitude toward food, and helped me takes steps to becoming a more intuitive eater. this book does get a bit scientific at some points, so it may be hard to read if you are looking for a narrative or a novel. but if you are interested in health and nutrition i highly recommend it. if you are interested in intuitive eating and don't want to read the book, you can check out the website here.

My Story by Elizabeth Smart
when i got home from my mission and met my friend Hannah, she was reading the book. now you may not know, but for years i had a slight obsession with Elizabeth Smart. i was the one in my family who first heard she was missing- and i followed her story for years, even after she was found. i have newspaper clippings going back to when she was first taken up to the court trials in 2010. is that weird? maybe. i think maybe i related to her a little because i was also blonde and had similar features. or maybe it was because she was close to my age. i realized what happened to her could have easily happened to me. her book is fabulous! she is detailed and honest. i love that she is not afraid to talk about her faith and how it sustained her. her story is difficult to read, and i am sure there are details she is not telling us that would be just too harrowing to hear. there were times in reading when i had to put the book down, because it's one thing to hear of fictional horror stories- it's another when these stories are real.
as hard as elizabeth's story may be to read, i loved that this book is laced with life lessons, for all of us. because we all go through trials. elizabeth is honest, compassionate, and shows no judgement.  my favorite quote is after she tells the story of how when she thought she was going to die of thirst, a cup of cold water miraculously appeared by her head in the middle of night- something she attributes to the love and mercy of God. it is a reminder that God loves us and knows what we need to just keep pushing forward. "In my life, I have come to believe there are lots of examples where God provides us little miracles to give us hope. Most of these experiences are not as obvious as waking up and finding a cup of water. Some of them are much more subtle. We may even have to look for His miracles along the way. But they are there. And they're important when we are struggling with the challenging battles of this life."

i've got a couple more books i'm reading right now and i'm excited to tell you about them! 

what are you reading this summer?