Enlightened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer

by Jessica Berger Gross

Book Overview

Meet your new best yoga-and-healthy-eating friend in this smart, accessible, and funny memoir of dieting and discovery. For years, Jessica struggled with fluctuating weight and bouts of unhappiness.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1602396396
• ISBN13: 9781602396395
• Release Date: May 2009
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Can't Get Enough...

If I could give this book more than 5 stars I would. I read it on a whim and it has changed my life. I find myself re-reading it whenever I need a boost. She has inspired me to re-think the way I eat and live. I'm aspiring to the healthy vibrancy she emanates. I love the way Jessica writes, lives and motivates!

This book changed my life!

Part spiritual memoir, part how-to manual for diet and lifestyle change, the words filling these pages are both relevant and inspiring. Jessica Berger Gross succeeds in making friends with her readers by doing something we rarely get the chance to see- she exposes her very real past pain for all to see, and allows herself to remain real and accessible as she does so. Sharing hurt from a dysfunctional and abusive childhood, emotional over-eating, ineffective coping strategies, getting on and falling off the diet wagon, and eventually making a sustainable change in her own life, Berger-Gross reaches out a compassionate hand to us all, cheering us each on in our own path to happiness and health, with pages and pages of touching and humorous anecdotes along the way. I have tried nearly every one of the recipes she has included in her book- all to wild success and a huge hit for several dinner parties I've thrown since. She peppers the book with yoga poses- all intended to be used by real people- no impossible poses intended for those perfectly sculpted, impossible hollywood bodies. With the poses, she gives the traditional title, along with meditations to ponder and integrate with the practice itself. Her recommendations for music, books, websites and more was tremendously helpful for me, and I have happily used several of these resources to support myself in my own food/yoga life. Since reading her book, and the few books she recommends in her pages, I have moved from a committed vegetarian to a passionate, and compassionate vegan. I have never felt healthier, happier or looked better. Reading EnLIGHTened, I felt I had made a friend for life, and will enjoy every re-read of Jessica Berger Gross' words. I have purchased this book for friends and family, and highly recommend it to everyone and anyone! [...]

Honest, helpful, hopeful!

This book is like a pep talk from a friend about taking responsibility for your body, your mind and your choices in your life -- it tells you things you may already know, probably have thought about repeatedly, have made failed resolutions to attempt, but for whatever reason, you haven't actually been able to JUST DO IT already! Jessica Berger's words are encouraging and hopeful, and this is the kind of book you can read and continue to come back to when you need someone to set you back on track. The chili recipe was my favorite and is already in heavy rotation at our house!

An inspiring self-help memoir

An inspiring read for all those trying to gain control over their eating, their emotions, and their lives. It can be done! Jessica tells us how she struggled with weight and depression and then discovered a healthier, more empowering lifestyle to overcome her difficulties. For those times when life seems beyond our control, it's nice to read a story that reminds us that there's still much that we can do for ourselves and for others, starting with caring for our bodies. Jessica weaves together her story with helpful information on yoga, nutrition (good recipes!), eastern thought, and mental health in a very readable, informative, entertaining fashion. The book reads like a conversation with a good friend. Jessica is honest, funny, insightful. Though she's an avid vegetarian and yoga teacher, Jessica's advice for gaining vitality is practical and non-judgmental. She meets readers where they're at in their own lives. The book made me realize that my six-year-old daughter is learning a lot more than how to bend and stretch in her once-a-week yoga class at school. For that, I'm thankful.

Inspirational

I really loved this book! EnLIGHTened is a perfect mix of the practical and inspirational. It is written in a very user-friendly manner. The descriptions and pictures of the yoga poses are clear and helpful. Ms. Gross also highlights important take-aways in each section that can serve as great references. But in addition to being useful, Ms. Gross' story is motivating, candid, funny, and touching. As I read it I felt as if I was talking to a girlfriend. Her journey to wellness can serve as a motivation for all of us.