A kinder approach to healthy eating
Author develops a kinder approach to eating
In A New Way to Food (Roost Books, 2019), Maggie Battista shares a profoundly relatable pursuit: self-acceptance. Contrary to numerous diet and nutrition-related books — peddling prescriptive plans and 30-day promises — she rejects restrictions. Instead, she embraces a spirit of body-positive generosity and a commitment to health. “I wanted this book to present a kinder approach to healthier living. One that was a little more mindful and a little more real,” says Battista. “I actually wanted to talk about real wellness and not the fake kind I grew up with, all these other diet books that really got me nowhere, ultimately. They just made me feel worse about myself.” During decades of yo-yo dieting, she tried many different regimens, including multiple stints at Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers, low fat, low carb and high protein. Each, for various reasons, failed to stick. But once she began to see her “full potential” — and learned to love herself and her body unconditionally — she vowed that this time would be different: “I would find ways to be mindful of my health forever.” Battista describes A New Way to Food as a cookbook hybrid, “a bit like my diary.” It’s a celebration of the small victories and realizations that propelled her on the path “from fat girl to mostly well and happy-to-be-just-me lady.” Through it she encourages a healthy relationship with food, shares 100 recipes true to her journey and offers ways to sustain a long-term approach, whatever that means to you.
After all, she emphasizes, our needs, experiences and how we see ourselves are all highly individual.
“A health change is more than just the food. And so I wanted to talk about all the parts of it that were touched in some way when I was going through this, and as I still go through this transformation. Because it took me decades to get here; it is not going to be solved in a year or two or three or five,” says Battista. Battista admits it wasn’t easy, which is why she decided to write the book in the format she did. Recipes are interspersed with personal essays, tips, mantras and advice so that others have more of a head start than she did. “I felt like fixing my body was the purpose of all my years on planet Earth and to some extent, that is still true,” she adds.