New books ...

The Charm of Making

In old Irish: Anl nathrach, orth bhis bethad, do chl dnmha.

In modern Irish: Anil nathrach, ortha bhis is beatha, do chal danaimh.

PHONETIC: Anal nathrah, uthas bethud, do-ol di-enve.

In English: Serpents breath, charm of death and life, thy omen of making.

Happy Friday everyone, I hope all is well! It has been a while since I have posted any books or book reviews so I thought that I would write one today for the blog. The first book I picked up was one I had bought at Barnes & Noble book store while shopping with Aurora Skye on Beltane weekend. It is called "Dancing With Dragons" written by D. J. Conway. I have several other books written by her and so when I saw this one I could not resist. I only began reading it this past week and so far I truly do love it! It has plenty of historical and mythological information about dragons and dragon lore in it as well as some very good rituals and such. As soon as I am finished reading it I plan on writing a full book review.

Now, the second book I ordered on Amazon.com this past Tuesday. It is book that my dear friend Kiki-girl recommended and it is not so much intended to be a "lose weight" diet book than a "recondition your body in your eating habits" type diet. First, just let me say that Kiki looked great and it turns out that the weight she lost was merely an additional benefit to this diet plan.

This book is called, "Whole30" written by Melissa & Dallas Hartwig. The book arrived yesterday and as I began reading it, I was not exactly encouraged to say the least about a few things involving the authors 30-Day "diet plan." To start with, it eliminates ALL whole foods groups including milk and milk products such as any types of cheese, rice (unless it is cauliflower rice), all grains and wheat, no potatoes unless they are sweet potatoes (not a fan of them personally), NO sugar unless it is natural (that one is not so bad I suppose), NO alcohol (not even using it to cook with), no peas, corn or foods with skin on them, no yogurt, peanuts, soy. This list of "do's and don'ts" goes on and on. 

Also, you have to eat a lot of MEATS (steaks, hamburgers, chicken, etc.) and you also have to make your own mayonnaise and ketchup and the like. You must substitute just about EVERYTHING you normally would eat (if it happens to be on the approved food list that is). AND, you must follow this plan to the letter for the 30 days straight! If you mess up, you must start completely all over again. 

Now, in my opinion, this diet plan is far too extreme for me and I personally do not think it is completely healthy because you are depriving your body of  some things it may need. Granted, this plan supposedly works for some people but let's face it: everyone's body chemistry is different and not all the same types of diets will work for everyone. This diet plan is expensive (you must use ONLY fresh meat and vegetables every day - NO processed food what-so-ever) , very time consuming, must be planned out ahead of time even if you go out to dine somewhere, and, worst of all it is extremely restrictive. Which, in my opinion anyhow, makes it unrealistic for many of us.

On the bright side; however, this book includes lots and lots of delicious looking recipes which I plan to try out soon. As for the diet plan itself? Not at all interested ... I lost weight before and I know what I need to do. I lost a lot of weight by walking/exercising at least four times a week for 45 minutes straight and I cut out high sugar and fat foods and drinks such as iced tea, soda, candy, etc.

Have a Blessed weekend ALL!!!