Four Books That Changed My Life That I Now Live by
Books You’ll Want on Your Bookshelf!!
I’ve been thinking of the top four books that have changed my life, have gotten me to where I am today, and are ones I live by. These are them! Just now as I’m writing this post I’m also realizing I have one for every major facet or love of my life: food/healthy eating, parenting, playing outside, accomplishing your dreams. Here is my top book for each of these categories:
FOOD/HEALTHY EATING:
100 Days of Real Food by Lisa Leake
PARENTING:
Screamfree parenting by Hal Edward Runkel
PLAYING OUTSIDE:
Balanced and Barefoot by Angela J. Hanscom
ACCOMPLISHING YOUR DREAMS:
Dream it. Pin it. Live it. by Terri Savelle Foy
More About Each Book
100 Days of Real Food by Lisa Leake
One day I was on our library catalog looking for a book. I can’t remember what it was, but it must have had “100 Days” in its title somewhere. Instead popped up “100 Days of Real Food” by Lisa Leake. Something told me to get it so I put it on hold. Then my mind drew a blank and I couldn’t remember the book I was looking for. After about 20 minutes of racking my brain for what it was, I gave up. I guess I wasn’t meant to get it, but get “100 Days of Real Food” instead.
When I picked up the book at the library I devoured it quickly. It was my oldest’s 17th birthday and we were going to her aunt and uncle’s house for a family celebration. We stopped at the library first to get our holds, then drove an hour to their house. When we got there, I took my 2 month-old into a bedroom to nurse her. I sat on my niece’s bed, and started reading “100 Days of Real Food” while I nursed. I meant to just browse through it, but I ended up starting on page 1 and reading for as long as I could before needing to go out and tend to my other 9 children. I remember hanging out with the other adults in the living room, but always gravitating back to this book and reading it. I was immediately hooked and right away started applying the principles Lisa talks about:Â
** Cutting out all white flour and rice and only eating whole wheat breads, pastas, cereals and wild or brown rice.
** Using only honey or real maple syrup for sweeteners.
** Finding packaged food with 5 ingredients or less.
** Eating only locally raised meat and eggs
** Switching to raw milk and eating raw or organic, unprocessed yogurt, cheese, and other dairy foods.
It felt so good! I felt alive. That’s the best way to describe it. When we eat dead, processed foods we feel dead, but eating live foods we will feel alive, vibrant, energetic.
Check out this life changing book and its accompanying blog with lots of tips and recipes: www.100daysofrealfood.com. Since reading it 6 years ago I’ve committed to eating at least 80% of my food as real food. I’ve easily kept all my baby weight off, feel happier, haven’t had migraines anymore, and have regular, light periods. See this post for all the benefits of real food.
Screamfree Parenting by Hal Edward Runkel
The full title of this book is “Screamfree Parenting: The Revolutionary Approach to Raising Your Kids by Keeping Your cool.”
In the introduction Hal tells the reader that if he will incorporate the principles in this book, he’ll enjoy the parent-child relationship he’s always craved–one “full of joy, cooperation, harmony, and most of all, mutual respect.”
My favorite takeaway of Screamfree Parenting is how Hal defines “screaming.” He says screaming isn’t just screaming, but any way parents react. This can be stonewalling, ignoring, eye rolling, slamming doors, arguing, manipulating, overcompensating (doing things for our kids so we don’t have to argue with them to do it), and any other way we react to our kids. This book will help you recognize the way you tend to react to your children and help you learn how to stay calm and connected. When you stay calm and connected you become the inspiring influence and calming authority your family needs.
I read this book right after my 10th child was born and I was feeling very overwhelmed and extra-reactive to the difficult toddlers, the trying teenagers, and even the sweet kids in the middle. I’m so glad I read it and changed myself to be calmer before I was divorced because I would certainly need it as I soon became a single mother with full custody. This book will change your parenting for the better and make your home the calm, peaceful, joyful place you’ve always envisioned.
Balanced and Barefoot by Angela Hanscom
This is the #1 book that convinced me to have my children play outside more. We had lived in Texas and North Carolina for a total of 15 years where we played outside year round. Then we moved to Utah where we were stunned at how cold it was. We got there on January 1 and unloaded the Uhaul in 5 degree weather. There was snow on the ground and it didn’t melt until March. We didn’t even know what our backyard looked like! When the snow finally melted we discovered a sport court, playground, and small grassy area. It was great for summer but after that cold, miserable, snowy winter I was convinced you could only play outside in Utah for 4 months of the year.
Then I read Barefoot and Balanced. It changed everything for me. Angela says how important it is for kids to play outside every day. She talks about being barefoot, swinging, spinning, hanging upside down, risky play, and so much more. She also tells about people in the Nordic countries who let their babies nap in their prams outside in cold weather.
I was immediately inspired to start getting my children outside more. I made an outside time chart where the oldest 7 kids were to use tally marks–one per half hour–to record how many hours they spent outside each day. My kids jumped on board and were excited to see how many tally marks they could get in one day. It was really fun to see their enthusiasm. They asked if we could do read aloud outside and eat dinner outside. They offered to mow the lawn and push the baby in the swing. Madalyn was studying for the ACT and all winter would park a camp chair in the sunniest place in the yard and sit there and study. She said if she’d been able to take the test outside she would have aced it, but she was thrown off a bit taking it in a stiff, tense, gym full of scared students. She said being outside really helped her study and focus a lot more than if she had studied on the couch.
The 7 older kids enjoyed having a friendly competition to see who could spend the most time outside. The middle kids would sleep outside and come in in the morning, thrilled to mark down all those tally marks, already ahead of their older siblings. The toddlers love playing outside and were too young to write their hours down but having a focus on outside time helped me take them out more often or to the park, or to even sit outside at the dentist office instead of the waiting room. I took the baby on long walks, bundled up in the stroller, and didn’t feel bad for her like I used to. I used to go when she was napping because I thought it was too cold (and too much work getting her bundled up!) but now I learned how good it was for her development.
My interest in getting kids outside snowballed from there. I devoured books on outdoor play, nature school, nature journaling, anything. I’d grown up in the country and played outside every day. And I’d encouraged my kids to play outside a lot too. So none of this was new. But my commitment to it was new. I’d learned new benefits and became newly dedicated to spending as much time outside as possible. It was definitely life changing.
I’d always wanted to raise my children in the country but after moving to Utah I wondered if, like playing outside in the winter, that was something we wouldn’t do anymore. But then I read Balanced and Barefoot and wanted even more desperately to raise my children in the country in a mild location where they could play outside all day year round. I was super blessed to find our little house on 36 acres. Now we’re outside as much as possible and I run nature camps for other children because I want them to reap the benefits of playing outside too. I’m so glad I read this book 6 years ago!
Dream It. Pin It. Live It. by Terri Savelle Foy
Of all the books that have changed my life, this one has been the most instrumental. Without it, I wouldn’t be here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I’d still be in Salt Lake County with a million other people, paying high rent, and engaged in the busy life there that wasn’t me. Instead I’m living on my dream property in a small town, growing my own food, drinking my own raw milk, raising chickens, playing outside every day, and enjoying the slow life I’ve wanted.
On January 1, 2020 my sister-in-law was visiting for the holidays. We went for a walk and she talked to me about this book called Dream It. Pin It. Live It. She told me I need to go for my dreams and make a good life for myself. I was in the middle of a divorce and feeling my life was out of my control. I never thought I’d get divorced. My sister-in-law left me with her copy of this book, all highlighted with notes in the margins. I loved all the examples in it from other people like Tim Allen who, when he was in prison, decided to go for his dreams of starring in his own show when he got out. I wrote down my goals, plans, and dreams and posted them where I could see them every day. I made a vision board with a country house on it, blueberry bushes, a brown jersey cow, big trees with a spiderweb swing in one, a wood burning stove, and several other things. Guess what this house has? All of those things! The house itself is a lot smaller and older than the one on my vision board, but our blueberry bushes look the same, and the trees look very similar and we even have a spiderweb swing in one! The driveway is very similar, being ¼ mile back off the road. In 2023 we were given a dairy cow. My friend dropped it off at the end of the driveway and when I saw her I thought she was beautiful. It wasn’t for a few weeks when my 6 year old was looking at my vision board and said, “That cow looks exactly like Maisy!” I looked at the picture and sure enough, she looked exactly like our cow. Or rather, our cow looked just like the one I’d put on my vision board in 2020 and left there, waiting for that dream to come true. It hit me that the dream had come true!
I own very few books because I’m somewhat of a minimalist and can get any book I want from the library. However this book I did ask for for Christmas so I could have my own copy to write in and pull off the shelf anytime I needed a boost to keep going for my dreams. Being a single mom out in the country, I don’t have a lot of daily encouragement. So I love to pick this one up or check out a few similar types from the library to keep me going. I especially recommend reading it as you start a new year. It will inspire you to make goals for the year, the next 5 years, and for your whole life. Before you know it, your dreams will be coming true! Definitely the best book to change your life!
More books for each category:
For more real food books, I list a whole bunch in this post! So I won’t rewrite them all here. Check it out! (Or search for any “Real Food” books at your library and I’m sure it’ll be great.)
My other favorite parenting books are:
** Real Love in Parenting (also love Real Love and Real Love in Marriage)
** Tough Love: Raising Confident, Kind, Resilient Kids by 18 top experts
** Mind in the Making. The 7 Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs by Ellen Galinsky
** It’s OK To Go Up the Slide. Renegade Rules for Raising Confident and Creative Kids by Heather Shumaker
My other favorite playing outside books are:
** Let Them Be Eaten By Bears by Peter Hoffmeister
** Free Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy
** Any Wild and Free books by Ainsely Arment
There’s also this fabulous list of books written by authors who are interviewed on the 1000 Hours Outside Podcast: https://www.1000hoursoutside.com/blog/1000-hours-outside-podcast-books
My other goals/motivational books are:
** Think and Grow Rich For Women by Sharon Lechter
** No Matter What! 9 Steps to Living the Life You Love by Lisa Nichols
** Hidden Treasures. Heaven’s Astonishing Help With Your Money Matters by Leslie HouseholderÂ
** Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol DweckÂ
** The One Thing. The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller
If you read these 4 books you’ll enjoy good health, have a peaceful home, raise healthy children who play outside more than they’re on screens, and achieve all the dreams your heart can contrive. Go buy the books right now or put them on hold at your library and start enjoying the life you deserve. Happy reading! Happy life!