Title: The Jane Austen Diet
Author: Jane Austen, Bryan Kozlowski
Published: March 2019, Turner
Format: Paperback, 304 pages
Source: Publisher
Summary:
What can Jane Austen teach us about health? Prepare to have your bonnet blown…
From the food secrets of
Pride and Prejudice to the fitness strategies of Sense and Sensibility,
there’s a modern health code hidden in the world’s most popular
romances.
Join Bryan Kozlowski as he unlocks this “health and
happiness” manifesto straight from Jane Austen’s pen, revealing why her
prescriptions for achieving total body “bloom” still matter in the 21st
century. Whether that’s learning how to eat like Lizzy Bennet, exercise
like Emma Woodhouse, or think like Elinor Dashwood, explore how Austen’s
timeless body beliefs are more relevant, refreshing, and scientifically
sensible now than ever before. After all, it’s a truth universally
acknowledged — Jane Austen’s heroines don’t get fat.
My thoughts: This book has been sitting on my shelf for way too long and I thought that January was the perfect time to finally get to it. After-all, isn’t January the time we all start the year with those pesky resolutions about healthy eating and fitness?
I loved this book. I admit I was originally drawn to it because of Jane Austen’s name. Who knew that Jane Austen herself was so forward-thinking in health and the overall well-being of our bodies, and yet that is exactly what you will find if you take the time to read this book. Not only does Bryan Kozlowski take the time to dig into her life and her books, but he does so with a breath of fresh air and wit. This book was downright funny at times.
This book is chock full of little tidbits that Jane employs for living a life of enjoyment not one based on any one specific type of diet. Jane was a proponent of healthy living and that included the whole body – skin, size, appetite, energy and spirits (mood). And if you’ve read any of her novels, this was the yardstick by which she measured their health. And let’s not forget that in all Austen novels there is movement of some kind – dancing, walking horseback riding, etc. My favorite is always the “taking a turn” about the room. These characters did not sit idly for too long.
I loved this book and know it will have a treasured spot on my bookshelf. I’m not a fan of “diets” but rather eating in moderation and moving with purpose every day. There is no one plan for all but I think at the end of the day, you have to find what works for you and this book, is just one way of looking at a healthy lifestyle from someone well ahead of her time.
