Imagine Living Healthier: Mind, Body, and Soul [Paperback]

Bridgette LaChelle Collins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2007

Discover the power of a lifestyle makeover, and get started on your journey to healthier living today! In Imagine Living Healthier: Mind, Body, Soul, fictional fitness consultant Trevor MacElroy inspires three of his clients to rearrange their priorities and embrace healthier lifestyles. Sarah, an overweight workaholic, gets a wake-up call from her doctor. Suzanne¿s hopes of starting a family are thwarted by a mysterious illness. Todd confronts his selfish choices and unhealthy habits after his wife leaves him and their children. Through emotional, physical, and spiritual revelations, these characters discover how to move beyond their insecurities and the stress of careers and relationships to make healthier choices. As you follow the progress of Sarah, Suzanne, and Todd, you¿ll learn to understand the reasons behind your lifestyle choices, choose healthy foods, make exercise enjoyable, lose weight, and feel better. Filled with practical tips for exercising and healthy eating, Imagine Living Healthier also features delicious, nutritious recipes, and health and fitness resources.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Bridgette L. Collins is the owner of MAC Fitness (Making-A-Commitment to Fitness), an organization that offers creative solutions for incorporating healthier lifestyle habits. Bridgette holds a Bachelor s degree in Business Administration. She has combined nearly twenty years of human resources and program development work experience with her training and passion to deliver health and fitness solutions. In addition to MAC Fitness, she works as a health and fitness coach for the Game of Health, a WEB-Based lifestyle management program. She has worked as a certified personal trainer, both privately and for Bally s Total Fitness. She is a personal trainer certification through AFAA (Aerobics and Fitness Association of America), the largest professional fitness certification organization in America. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Origins Publishing Company (January 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097909321X
• ISBN-13: 978-0979093210
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,409,390 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's More To Your Health Than Meets The Eye, August 11, 2007

By 

Apex Reviews (Durham, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Imagine Living Healthier: Mind, Body, and Soul (Paperback)

Sarah wants to lose weight, but hates exercise and prefers happy hour with her girls to the Stairmaster any day. Suzanne, on the other hand, lives for 26-mile marathons, but the onset of a mysterious illness points to a deep affliction that may not necessarily be physical in nature. Todd, for all his years of striving and hard work, suddenly finds himself abandoned by his wife one day, left to care for three children on his own while trying to launch a lucrative new enterprise. Three different people from three vastly different backgrounds united solely by one issue: their health. And, if their past is any indication of how they'll fare, their collective outlook isn't very promising.

All is not lost, though, so long as they learn to identify the real roots of their current afflictions - and therein lies the lesson of our own lives that we can learn from theirs: much like Celebrity Fit Club, Imagine Living Healthier seeks to remind us that the cure for our ills lies not in the food that we eat, but in the lifestyle choices that we make. In keeping with that sentiment, though, we must first understand exactly how those choices come about.

A common misconception regarding obesity is that people make voluntary decisions to eat unhealthily, which would explain why many overweight people are readily isolated, ridiculed, and don't evoke sympathy from others who look down upon their conditions in a judgmental light. In Imagine Living Healthier, though, Collins does an impressive job of properly framing the problem of obesity, showing that its root causes are really psychological in nature, making it no different than alcoholism, drug abuse, or sexual promiscuity.

For example, as we follow Sarah's progress from gorging on greasy lunches & drinking her friends under the table to exercising regularly and abstaining from alcohol, we learn of her molestation as a child. As long-repressed memories of the heinous act come to light, she realizes that food became an escape for her, a safe place to which she could escape when the lingering pain became too much to bear. This epiphany is crucial to achieving the full restorative lifestyle that she longs to live, finally able to rid herself of the demons from her past that previously shadowed & influenced her every unhealthy move.

Likewise, in the wake of his wife's abandonment, Todd realizes the self-centered nature of many of the choices he's made in life, which have led to his present unhealthy lifestyle, as well as created distance between him and those he cares most about. The path for his healing is thus set, and he welcomes the chance to redeem himself for the years of damage his unchecked ambition have caused his family and his own health.

In addition to being an inspirational testimonial, Imagine Living Healthier is also a veritable self-help encyclopedia of tips for healthier living, including guides to caloric intake, even recommendations for hair care products that prevent premature balding and hair loss. There's even an appendix chock full of recipes for healthy meals designed by Sarah, Suzanne, and Todd themselves, including everything from chicken spaghetti to fish tacos.

Tired of getting winded while walking up stairs? Want to put that fried chicken down and start eating healthier, but not sure where to start? Imagine Living Healthier is your best bet.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lifestyle Changes, March 31, 2008

By 

OOSA Online Book Club "O.O.S.A. Gets It Read!" (World Wide Web, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Imagine Living Healthier: Mind, Body, and Soul (Paperback)

Everyone goes through lifestyle changes - whether good or bad. "Imagine Living Healthier - Mind, Body, and Soul" by Bridgette L. Collins is a very good inspirational book that gives excellent advice regarding lifestyle changes.

Sarah was a successful woman with a great career and good friends but had a problem with her weight. Sarah finds help through a co-worker and decides to make changes to establish a healthier lifestyle.

Suzanne is a healthy runner who loves to run marathons, but is faced with an illness that forces her to make changes in her life.

Todd is a hardworking fitness consultant, who has been betrayed by his wife and then forced to make lifestyle changes. Todd is left taking full responsibility for things he never realized were important until now. Todd finds himself faced with new challenges and begins to turn his life around.

I recommend this book to anyone that seeks change. I will look forward to more books from Bridgette L. Collins in the future.

Reviewed: Tekisha

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars (RAW Rating: 3.5) - A lifestyle makeover, July 29, 2007

By 

The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers (RAWSISTAZ.com and BlackBookReviews.net) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Imagine Living Healthier: Mind, Body, and Soul (Paperback)

Still very much in the mindset of gaining prominence and affluence, we too often actively pursue challenges and embrace lifestyles that place us in vulnerable and sometimes dangerous situations. We put too little importance in goals and activities that can perpetuate our lives. If we do not learn how to shift priorities, the things we value most will always be in jeopardy: finances, possessions, careers, and relationships. Ms. Collins has fashioned a book of parables, that highlights health crisis and medical facts, as she unveils what unhealthy lifestyles do to the mind, body, and soul.

Using the accounts of Trevor MacElroy, a renowned fitness consultant, she introduces three of his most inspiring clients and shares snapshots of their personal lives. You'll witness how Trevor's passion to save the uncommitted, undisciplined and unhealthy minimizes self-inflicted health hazards.

IMAGINE LIVING HEALTHIER, structured in a conversational tone, is intended to inspire and empower readers to rearrange their priorities, shift their thinking and unleash the spirituality that lies within. The three short stories are warm and inviting, and should help readers grasp and nurture the plan God has for them. There is something inspirational for today's highly-stressed and highly-competitive society. There are also healthy innovative recipes, plus a list of online resources to answer questions regarding illnesses or conditions that afflict the natural body.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers