As many of you know, we are a Whole 9 Life Partner. Several times a year, we will have nutritional challenges based around their Whole 30 program to many people’s personal success. As a coach, I have been blessed to see this program change many people’s life in just a short 30 days. As an avid supporter of this program I was pleased to hear that the Whole 9 folks, Dallas and Melissa Hartwig were writing a book. And being a partner gym, we were lucky enough to receive an advanced copy in order to read and review.

As I thought about this review, I thought it would be great to have one of our members who successfully completed several Whole 30’s have the first opportunity to read the book and write a review. So I asked Kristen M to read and write the review. It goes on sale tomorrow, order here:

Here is her review.

It Starts With Food: Released TOMORROW

If you’ve met Dallas and Melissa Hartwig of the Whole9, or followed their blog (http:whole9life.com/9-blog/), then I’m sure you are aware of how comically entertaining and informative a book they’ve authored could be. And that is exactly what you’ll find in It Starts with Food. So, stop reading and go pre-order. If you are unfamiliar with them, read on!

It Starts with Food is one of the newest nutrition books that will guide you on a path to a healthy diet AND a healthy relationship with food. It’s just science-y enough to properly explain the reasons behind their opinions, and logical enough that you don’t need to understand the science. It’s all about whether what you are putting into your mouth will make you more or less healthy… it truly is as simple as that.

They outline their “Good Food Standards” which food should conform to in order to optimize your health. These break down into 4 easy criteria. Food should:

• · Promote a healthy psychological response.
• · Promote a healthy hormonal response.
• · Support a healthy gut.
• · Support immune function and minimize inflammation.

The book covers a full 86 pages breaking down the science and reasoning behind these criteria before even beginning to extrapolate to what should or shouldn’t be part of a healthy diet. Everything is individualized back to YOU, and they outline a 30 day challenge to get your eating dialed in, enabling YOU to know exactly how the food you eat is affecting the way your body functions. From there, you will find chapters providing strategies to lifelong success, and chapters covering specialty dietary requirements. The appendix is packed with references to peer-reviewed journal articles, in case you are a science geek who wants to read up on the studies supporting these decisions.

Did I forget to mention the COLOR photos of amazing-looking meals with recipes included, created by Melissa Joulwan (author of Well Fed)? That alone will up your kitchen inspiration.

You will not be disappointed with It Starts with Food.