Monday Musings 09/06
It has been far too long since i’ve written on here.. but a lot has changed for me over the last couple of months. Since finishing my first year of the dietetics degree in London I decided to move to Italy for the summer. So, after taking some time out to reset and completely immerse myself in the new culture, here I am ready to start writing again! I thought a good place to start was with a Monday Musings post.
This is my weekly update on three, positive things i’ve enjoyed recently. It can be anything from food and nutrition to books, podcasts, people, or general life thought. This week I thought I’d share my favourite three books i’ve read since having a little more time on my hands here in Italy.
Lessons In Stoicism - by John Sellars
I’ve been interested in learning a little more about stoicism for a while now and I think this was a great entry level book to start with! Sellars breaks down a fairly complicated history of stoicism clearly and briefly. Stoicism is a group of philosophy which has many lessons which are directly helpful and impactful on how we live our lives today. It focuses a lot on how we react to situations, and to think clearly about what we do and do not control over in our lives. Anything we don’t should not be a source of pain or worry, we can retrain our minds and judgements in any given situation. Another key part of Stoicism is where we fit in with nature, and how we respect mother nature, I really liked the explanation of this part from Sellars and I really felt a lot of resonance. It was a great starting point, and gave me a lot to think about with how I manoeuvre things in my life and how I choose to face any adversity. I look forward to reading into the subject further!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lessons-Stoicism-Ancient-Philosophers-Teach/dp/0241382777
2. What We Owe Each Other - a New Social Contract - by Minouche Shafik
This was recommended to me by my sister-in-law, Jess who’s an avid reader and someone I admire greatly for her breadth of topics she reads about. This book was incredible, I highly recommend it, especially after the year we have all had. I’m sure at some point you’ve thought, ‘there must be a better way to do this’, whether it’s about the education system, maternity leave, the healthcare system. There have been some holes in the current social contract especially over recent years… and Shafik writes with incredible analysis of countries across the world and provides an eloquent and hopeful framework for economic, social and political renewal. The book goes through the lifespan from cradle to grave and discusses the social contract for each stage of life. How can we provide everyone with a good education, keep more women in work, make healthcare accessible to all, look after an ageing population and create a stable job market for all; Shafik takes on the impossible task of answering these questions with her extensive knowledge and experience.
3. Food Isn’t Medicine - Challenge Nutribollocks and Escape the Diet Trap - by Dr Joshua Wolrich
The third book which I’ve really loved is in the nutrition field. This book is really amazing and I take my hat off to Wolrich, as he is tackling many hard, emotive, divisive topics in this book. But, he has done it incredibly effectively and this is 100% a book I will be buying for many people in my life and am sure I will be recommending it to patients in my future career as a dietitian. Diet culture is evasive, and sadly something we have most likely all experienced, especially if you have come to my page for wellness or nutrition information. These are the very reasons I am studying dietetics as I want to fight the fight against people spreading misinformation, pseudoscience, snake oil or ‘nutribollocks’ as Wolrich so accurately labels it. It is incredibly harmful and everyone deserves accurate information about food and nutrition. I highly recommend this book, if you want to dismantle what diet culture installs in us all, or if you’ve ever wandered about a particular food rule you are following or have been told to follow from a friend, colleague or even doctor.