Book Review: the planet friendly diet

THE PLANET FRIENDLY DIET

Your 21-Day Guide to Sustainable Weight Loss and Optimal Health

by Cat Smiley

OK, for the good stuff. It is a user-friendly book. Truly, there is nothing new in this book. Yes, it fits a busy lifestyle, as well as food choices (diabetic, kosher, vegan, halal dietary choices). The book is simply laid out, and if you stick to it for the 21 days, it will give you a chance to change your diet and eating patterns. I think it takes a lot longer to change one's eating habits, but this is something we all have to wrestle with. This is only a start.

What I like about the book are the menus, and the shopping lists, that will simplify those living a busy life. Personally, our lifestyle is pretty slow and simple, being retired, but I'm sure young people would like this plan.

What I've learned about living, habits, lifestyle and nutrition, is simple: get good nutrition, simple foods, less meat, more plants; exercise, get outdoors; change up your menu every four days. What isn't simple is finding the motivation, the self-control for new habits.

I have a couple of problems with this book. Let me begin with the title. The use of hyphens for compound adjectives is sadly lacking, generally. This book title perpetuates this love for bucking the rules. Secondly, we capitalize titles in English. It shows the importance, reveals the blood, sweat and tears that goes into a book.

With so many self-publishing, it would seem that they are ignoring the rules of written English. I want a self-help book that show that the author has credibility. This means that they are educated, and have listened to their teachers, or at least understand that there is a standard English. If you cut corners on accepted practices, where else are you ignorant? I presume she has done her research on nutrition, but she runs a fitness retreat.

Also, let me get this off my chest, this trend towards anti-gluten is driving me nuts. So many have specific allergies or food intolerances, and all of these recipes and eating guides are not based in facts, but the current trends by foodies. Vegan is a choice, and one I understand, yet there are many of us who like to eat meat. With hubby unable to eat yeast, dairy or eggs, it severely limits our menus. To further add veganism, non-gluten, et al, means we are missing something out in our diet. Already managing his cancer issues, we must balance proper nutrition.

The book includes all single-portion recipes and every meal shares the following benchmarks: Designed to eliminate food waste Fresh, every day ingredients Costs less than $5 Is under 500 calories Takes no more than 20 minutes to prepare All meals fit a variety of healthy lifestyles including diabetic, kosher and halal dietary needs Fully illustrated with mouthwatering images of each internationally inspired recipe, it's like having a dedicated nutrition coach and a personal chef while you not just learn how to cook, but also how to understand the science behind your food choices.

About the Author Cat Smiley, is an award-winning body transformation specialist and owner of Canada's popular weight-loss retreat for women, Whistler Fitness Vacations (The Planet Friendly Diet is the official nutrition plan for her retreat). A former world-class skier, Cat has been named as Canada's top trainer three times by the International Sport Science Association, and is a renowned body transformation specialist. * * * New Society Publishers January 2016 $29.95 US / CAN Original Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-0-86571-811-1

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@Barrie Summy

Book Review: The Making of a Palestinian Suicide Bomber

This is from a Canadian author, originally from Palestine. An educated man, I thought it would be interesting to gain some insight from his point of view. For, indeed, we are faced with those who use a skewed, mistaken form of religion to justify their civil action.

This book makes a case for the suicide bombers feeling frustration with the political process, as well as the case for Palestine having their own state. It, in fact, justifies the actions of the bombers. It was a shame. I was hoping for more insight. Musleh's first book covered the territorial fights over land and political power, against Israel. This might be more of the same.

I really didn't grasp his claim that if we understand the motivation of a Palestinian bomber that we will be able to resolve the problem. It certainly isn't a book that answers the bigger problem of those who are motivated to commit murder in the name of religion, civil rights, glorification, violent tendencies, or jihad. That is a book that would be timely, for many have murdered civilians for many reasons, from The Crusades, to modern-day barbaric Daesh.

Positives

The maps really help! They are  bit small for my feeble eyes, but the give context. They show the territory granted Palestine, slowly lost, and then taken over by Israel. Good graphics.

Editing and errata

Unfortunately, a big mistake many writers make is to use a self-publishing, on-demand group like Xlibris.com, without hiring an editor. Often, with such books, there are far too many simple errors. They range from lack of use of commas or hyphens, too many homophonic errors, run-on sentences, or grammatical errors that take attention away from the reader's concentration as she tries to determine the meaning of the sentence. It makes one fight with a sentence, having to decipher its meaning. Standard English allows us to quickly read, and understand, what it is that the writer means.

The last couple of self-published books I have read include much repetition. This author uses such phrases as, '[the suicide bomber] is dead, terminated, expired and of no use to serve himself, his people or his objective.' I found this exact statement on page 11 and page 13.

And this, on page 34 and page 45, 'to end all hostilities between the two foes once and for all.'

On page 27, 'the put an end to the state of Israel.'

The use of hyphens for compound adjectives should read: well-financed, Israeli-built, ill-prepared, and are sadly lacking in many cases. This short book is published in e-format, as well as hard cover, and I hope corrections can be made. 

About the author

Mitri I. Musleh earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and political science, then later in social studies, both from the University of Regina. He earned his masters in political science from Atlantic International University. This is Musleh’s third published book after “The Ambiguous Triangle” and “In the Eyes of a Foreign Student”. He currently resides in Regina, Saskatchewan.