Last week we kicked off our Ignite Book Club selection, Spent: End Exhaustion and Feel Great Again by Frank Lipman, MD. Dr. Tony gave us a quick introduction to the book and helped us get excited about what we might learn through this book. We’re starting out our review today with a look at Part 1 of the book.
In the first chapter – Spent: An Epidemic of Exhaustion – Dr. Lipman takes us through a sample scenario of someone who is Spent and provides a list of 13 questions which can help a person determine if they are Spent. These questions ask about all different aspects of our lives, such as how tired and refreshed we are, our digestive system, our concentration and our motivation. He believes that feeling run-down is not part of the normal aging process and his program is built on that experience.
During this first chapter, the author focuses on two interesting perspectives: Rhythms and Total Load. We learn that the program will address how our bodily rhythms should work, such as sleeping when it is dark, spending time in the sun and eating seasonally. The total load is the amount of stress we have – physical, psychological and environmental – and we can affect our total load through our lifestyle choices. (See page 12 of the book for a nice analogy between Spent and gardening.)
The second chapter – Prepare – focuses on getting our kitchens ready for the Spent approach to eating or restorative eating. We learn that this approach is not designed to limit the amount of food we eat, but the types of food and when and how we’re eating it. Through Dr. Lipman’s experience, he also found a common thread among people who are Spent – their digestive systems aren’t working optimally – often because the lining of the intestine may be damaged and the “good” bacteria aren’t thriving.
In the second half of this chapter, you will find a list of rules for cooking and eating (much of which focuses on preparation) and a method for cleaning and stocking up your kitchen – all of which is preparation to eat restoratively. To follow the Spent way of eating, Dr. Lipman recommends removing partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated fats (trans fats), artificial sweeteners, refined sugars (including high-fructose corn syrup) and several other additives. He provides a list of pantry/refrigerator staples, which includes organic, non-processed products (see pages 30-34 for a short list), such as raw nuts, organic canned beans, grains such as quinoa and fresh fruits and vegetables.
One of the more useful pieces of advice I got from Part 1 of the book is the importance of following our own bodily rhythms we make changes. Dr. Lipman recommends going at our own pace (not necessarily the pace of the book) and not beating ourselves up for making mistakes along the way.
On Thursday, Dr. Tony will discuss Part 1 of the book in more detail. Starting next Tuesday, June 2, we’ll delve into the healing program, looking at Week 1 (Nourish) first. And as always, if you have any thoughts on this first part of the book, please share them through comments to this blog.