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Best Health and Fitness Books to Read in 2021

These reads offer realistic plans and evidence-based tips to help you make lifestyle changes that stick.


The Pescatarian Cookbook

You don’t have to be pescatarian (a vegetarian who eats fish) to enjoy and reap the benefits of this healthy eating cookbook. Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D.N., C.D.N., author of Read It Before You Eat It, recommends it to her clients because she says most people don’t eat enough fatty fish.


The reason? They don’t know how to buy or cook it. With three weeks of meal plans, including shopping and meal prep tips, “this book will help you discover how delicious fish can be by highlighting this source of protein that provides a powerhouse of nutrients,” says Taub-Dix.









The Bloated Belly Whisperer

This book, written by Tamara Duker Freuman, R.D., C.D.N., will be a game-changer for those struggling to shed pounds to due to bloating, stomach pain, and other uncomfortable digestive issues.


Freuman takes a humorous, science-backed approach to common gut woes and what may be behind them with writing that’s easy to understand. In addition to 50 gut-friendly recipes, fans of the novel rave about the “invaluable” guide to digestive health supplements and GI disorders.







Smart Meal Prep for Beginners

The key to eating healthier and losing weight? Two words: Meal prep. “No matter what dietary change you decide to make, if you don’t plan ahead, it’s unlikely you will be successful in the long run,” says Erin Palinski-Wade, R.D., C.D.E., author of the 2-Day Diabetes Diet.


She recommends this book to her clients since it includes a 6-week plan to make meal prep a habit that sticks. It also includes helpful info for storing and reheating food, as well as grocery shopping lists. “That’s why I love this book. It shows you how you can save time, money, and take the stress out of deciding what to eat every day,”

Palinski-Wade says.




Train Like a Bodybuilder

By: Erin Stern

Natural bodybuilder and two-time Ms. Figure Olympia Erin Stern knows what it takes to build a body the right way. Now you can use the same natural bodybuilding techniques Erin uses to build lean, strong muscle and create a strong, ripped physique. In Train Like a Bodybuilder, Erin takes you through her techniques and teaches you everything you need to know, including how to plan workouts, how to bulk up, how to cut fat, how to use nutrition to maximize the benefits of your hard work, and how to take advantage of the essential mind-muscle connection to get the results you’re seeking.




The 4:8 Principle: The Secret to a Joy-Filled Life

By: Tommy Newberry

The 4:8 Principle is a book about thinking differently, about thinking in a way that maximizes your potential for joy. Because most people are oblivious to their habitual way of thinking, they experience less joy and a less-abundant life than God intends for them.

The 4:8 Principle helps you improve the one thing in life over which you have complete control: your thinking. This profoundly influences every other aspect of your life. All lasting change is preceded by changed thinking. Any other type of change will be only temporary. The place where real change begins is in your thought life, with a revival of your mind.





Weight Training For Dummies, 4th Edition

By: LaReine Chabut

Tone up, burn calories, stay strong

Weight Training For Dummies makes it easy to get started with weight training by offering trusted and straightforward guidance on the latest circuit and resistance training, and all-new information on the highly popular bodyweight and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). Whether you’re working with dumbbells, free weight sets, or machines, you’ll find out how to combine weight training with other exercise to properly strength train and get in the best shape of your life.







Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training

By: Mark Rippetoe, Lon Kilgore

Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training is the new expanded version of the book that has been called “the best and most useful of fitness books.” It picks up where Starting Strength: A Simple and Practical Guide for Coaching Beginners leaves off. With all new graphics and more than 750 illustrations, a more detailed analysis of the five most important exercises in the weight room, and a new chapter dealing with the most important assistance exercises, Basic Barbell Training offers the most complete examination in print of the most effective way to exercise.






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