Sandra Bark - a book about the body. Cameron Diaz on the Body: The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Amazing Body We are what we eat

Dedicated to your body

with Sandra Bark

The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Amazing Body

Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reproduce the graphics:

p. 48: GRei/Shutterstock, Inc.; p. 99: Designua/Shutterstock, Inc.; pp. 120–121: Anteromite/Shutterstock, Inc.; Frank Anusewicz-Gallery/Shutterstock, Inc.; Tetat Uthailert/Shutterstock, Inc.; Valentin Agapov/Shutterstock, Inc.; Sarah2/Shutterstock, Inc.; Mathieu Viennet/Shutterstock, Inc.; pp. 124–125: Headcase Design; p. 147: Snapgalleria/Shutterstock, Inc.; p. 149: Okili77/Shutterstock, Inc.; p. 155: Stihii/Shutterstock, Inc.; pp. 166–167: Randall Reed/Shutterstock, Inc.; p. 181: Alila Medical Media/Shutterstock, Inc., Tetiana Yurchenko/Shutterstock, Inc.

This edition is published by arrangement with William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC

and Andrew Nurnberg Literary Agency

Translation from English by Irina Litvinova

Introduction. knowledge is power

Hello lady!

Thank you for choosing this book.

First, I would like to explain why I wrote it, what it means to me and what I hope it will become for you.

Know your body - what could be more important? I will tell you about nutrition, how to choose foods and prepare delicious and healthy food. You will learn a lot about fitness and how movement and physical activity affect your body. Let's not forget about the soul - let's talk about developing self-awareness and internal discipline. Because – not just words: these are effective tools. This is power. They will help you become tougher, smarter, more confident and at the same time remain yourself.

Know your body - what could be more important? A nutrition, fitness, self-awareness and discipline– not just words: these are effective tools.

It is no coincidence that I put the words in the subtitle of this book: “How to learn to understand and love your amazing body.” Your body is capable of delighting – I’m sure of that. No matter what shape you're in right now, your body can do a lot and does a lot - from providing your brain with oxygen by inhaling it to converting what you eat for breakfast into energy that allows you to speed up and catch the morning bus leaving in three minutes. Needless to say, how important it is to learn how to care for this wonderful complex mechanism and take care of it.

Your body is the only one, you won’t have another. The body you acquired at the moment of birth will remain with you at seventy-five. Yes, it has changed and will continue to change, but it is still yours. It doesn’t matter whether you love it or hate it, it doesn’t matter whether it’s tired and worn out or vigorous and full of strength, the body is the main asset that you have.

The body is your past, present and future. It carries the memory of your ancestors because it contains the genes of your parents and grandparents. Your body is the culmination of your entire physical existence, the result of what you ate and how you behaved - whether you moved a lot or, on the contrary, were too lazy to walk. By the appearance of your body you can judge whether you know well how it works and what care it needs. The quality of your life depends on how well you take care of yourself. In short, if you suffer from insufficient leg length, too much hips and bust size, or protruding ears, this book is for you. It will help you accept the body given by nature and fall in love him for who he is, appreciating his amazing physical capabilities. She will tell you how to make your body strong and resilient so that you conquer all peaks: in your career, in love, in creativity and adventure. The body will literally take you to any destination. And if you really want to achieve your ultimate goal, you must build the strongest, most capable, most powerful body.

But you can’t achieve a result without knowing how to get there. Unfortunately, we women live in constant stress, striving to be more beautiful and slimmer, to look younger or sexier, to become an even brighter blonde or brunette. We are constantly forced to compare ourselves with others, when we should focus on our own strengths, our abilities and our beauty.

That’s why I wrote “The Book of the Body”: so that we can figure out together what is hidden behind scientific concepts, so that you can gain confidence in yourself and your body - the confidence that only reliable knowledge gives, and not rumors and idle speculation. I'm not a scientist. I am not a doctor. I am a woman who has been studying the capabilities of my body for fifteen years, and for me this experience is the most exciting and useful. Everything I have, everything I have achieved is somehow connected with my knowledge about the body. I want you to achieve great things too. So that you know yourself, realize your strength, gain self-confidence. I want you to understand what it is like to feel your body, to feel every cell of it. So that this pleasure becomes available to you - to take care of your health, eat deliciously and move a lot. Then it will turn out that your energy is limitless, that you can handle any task. You yourself will be surprised at what strengths were dormant in you while you grieved over your imaginary flaws and shortcomings.

When you read this book, when all the information contained in it becomes your flesh and blood, a habit, you will no longer have to look at the textbook. Useful information will become part of you, it will become you. And then your energy will be transformed into positive energy, aimed at creation and creativity, and not at worries about appearance or extra pounds. Just think how many interesting things you can do and create if you feel free, strong, and confident!

Of course, you shouldn’t expect an instant transformation after reading the book. There are NO miracle cures or magic pills that will make you healthy and happy overnight. To truly change, you must not only know how your body works and what it needs, but also apply this knowledge constantly, day after day. This is not a single attempt, but a lifelong feat. This is why information is so important - only by deeply studying the subject will you be able to see all the possibilities hidden in you and correctly apply the knowledge gained.

Now about what you should not expect from the book. This is not a diet. Not sets of exercises. And not a manual on the topic “How to become a different person.”

"The Book of the Body" talks about how become yourself. As you get to know your body, you will begin to gradually transform inside and out. You will be healthier, which means you will be happier, and you will feel how pleasant it is to be strong and resilient; you will see that inner harmony improves the quality of life.

You will become the most beautiful, healthy and confident woman you can be. You. You deserve it because YOU ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOU THINKED.

After reading the book, you will know how your body lives and works. How body and mind interact.

I would love to help you discover your amazing body and make it the way nature intended it to be. Let this book truly become yours! Take a pencil and feel free to make notes in the margins. Fold the corners of the pages. Ask questions. Look for answers. And be prepared to meet your true, strong, healthy, confident self.

Part I
Nutrition. Love your hunger

Chapter 1
You are what you eat

Once upon a time you were microscopically small—impossible to see with the naked eye: just a cell in your mother’s womb, a tiny speck of dust. Then you became two cells... then four, eight... and the cells continued to divide, repeating and changing until there were a hundred trillion of them. In this multitude, each cell has its own role: there are brain cells and skin cells, heart cells and stomach cells, blood cells and tear cells; cells that make milk and cells that make you sweat; cells responsible for burying hair, and cells allowing vision.

The hand now holding the Book of the Body also began as a small cluster of cells. Your entire body was originally a barely noticeable point, and in some incomprehensible way you turned into an amazing creation of nature. How does this happen? How does an incredible, breathing, running, laughing living creature develop from a tiny speck of life? How did your bones and muscles grow and change? What about other organs – the brain and skin? Or is the main muscle the beating heart? What makes them develop and function, makes them healthy or sick, strong or weak?

The answer to all questions lies in one word, and that word is NUTRITION. The nutrients you eat determine how your cells develop, grow, and thrive (or wither). When you were a fetus in your mother's womb, your development was - at least in part - dependent on her lifestyle and diet (genetics, of course, your mother had no control over). You are now an adult made up of trillions of cells, and your health depends on what you eat.

Excuse me... but what is a cell?

When I started writing a book and collecting scientific materials about the human body, this question arose in me. Indeed, what is a cell? You will be surprised, but people have known about the existence of cells for only about 350 years. Before 1676, no one had any idea about cells because no one had ever seen them. This continued until the Dutch naturalist Antonie van Leeuwenhoek examined a piece of animal tissue through the strongest microscope of that time, discovering, to his great surprise, that living matter actually consists of tiny “cells,” which he called cells.

Your cells are worker bees. Among them are the blood cells that make the blood red. There are osteoblast cells responsible for building bones. And they all contain genes in the form of DNA. This means that all the information about you—from your hair and eye color to your blood type and your risk of developing certain diseases—is stored in the cells of your body, including the ovarian cells that create eggs, where a complete collection of your genes is collected for passing on to the next generation.

All types of cells work as one team to create your physical being, and whenever one of the team members gets sick, you are forced to go to the doctor. That's why you need to properly feed your cells, select and supply them with the most nutrient-rich foods, so that they do not need for anything and can fulfill their direct duties: protect you, energize you, heal, and also allow you to think and breathe. (Thanks brain cells and lung cells!)

Because we are what we eat.

we are what we eat

How old were you when you first heard this saying?

I have heard it since early childhood, but only as an adult did I understand the deep meaning of these simple words. In my youth, they seemed banal to me - I did not perceive them as life wisdom that would someday be useful to me. Then I still didn’t understand what was happening. I didn’t know that food affected how I felt, let alone that it literally energized my cells, which energized me.

Now I am much smarter and know: ultimately, what we eat provides the most important thing in our lives - life itself.

Your day can be filled with energetic actions and new discoveries, happiness and gratitude, useful work and success in work, but it can become completely different - lethargic, empty, filled with sadness and regrets... in general, a day of missed opportunities. It took me a long time to finally understand this, and now I can say with confidence: if I eat all sorts of nasty things, then feel I'll be nasty. Healthy food, on the other hand, gives me energy.

Today, tomorrow and twenty years from now, nutrition should be treated with due attention, because nutrition is health, and health is everything.

Ultimately, what we eat provides the most important thing in our lives - life itself.

What does it mean to be healthy?

Today everyone without exception is talking about health, so I want to clarify what I mean when I encourage you to lead a healthy lifestyle. For me, health is, first of all, a healthy human body functioning optimally. A body filled with energy that allows you to get through the whole day without interruption. A body that can fight disease and make you strong. For me, health is the delight that you experience when you wake up in the morning, get out of bed, prepare breakfast and move on towards a new day. This is clear consciousness, these are deep, meaningful and joyful thoughts.

If you are healthy, you are incredibly lucky, and you should do everything to preserve the happiness that has been given to you. If you have health problems, you need to support your immune system by providing your cells with all the necessary nutrients to help them mobilize the body's defenses to overcome the disease.

Knowing how debilitating the common cold can be, I can imagine how difficult it can be to cope with a serious illness that changes your lifestyle, or is even fatal. When my body doesn't work the way I want it to, when I can't spend time with friends and family because my body hurts every time I move, I HATE it. Even though I know I'll feel better in a few days, it's still annoying. And this irritation gives rise to a persistent desire in me to do everything possible to keep my body healthy.

It doesn’t matter where you start, but there’s one thing you need to do: adjust your nutrition so that every cell in your body receives exactly what it needs to feel great.

And don’t forget about taste buds, because these are also cells.

Chapter 2
Food, amazing food!

I love to eat, I love to cook - for myself and for others. I love when my friends and family cook for me. We exchange recipes, invite each other to dinner, bring food when someone is sick. I like to invite friends over and we cook everything together; Everyone has their own signature dish, so there are always plenty of treats. One of my fondest memories is the grand evening of Cuban cuisine that we organized last Christmas. My mom and I spent the day preparing Christmas dinner: roast pork, fried chicken, black beans and rice, avocado salad... It was a meal made with a lot of love. We invite friends and families and set a huge table. The kids are frolicking on the lawn, snacking on the go, while the adults are having a belly-fest.

I have always liked the emotional charge that we get from treating each other to all sorts of goodies. How warm it feels in your soul when someone cooks for you, and what a joy it is to cook for others! When I was little, in the evenings, as soon as my mother came home from work, she and I would go to the kitchen and cook dinner together. These family meals were food not only for the body, but also for the soul.

Food is an integral part of our life. At the table we celebrate cultural, family and religious holidays. People eat at weddings and funerals, at luncheons and dinners, at receptions and parties. We eat on dates, we eat at business lunches. Food has become an attribute of secular and social life. But food is food, and our health directly depends on What is on our plate.

If we want to be healthy, we must eat good, real, wholesome food. More than anything, I love good food - I'm one of those people who will lick the plate clean. Fortunately, we can eat not only to satisfy our hunger, but also to pleasure. You can choose foods that you like while providing the nutrients that your body craves.

Real food. Good food. Tasty food. Sticky, crunchy, spicy, delicious food. Healthy and satisfying food is the source of our vitality, health, energy and longevity.

Fast food is not food after all

When I talk about food good, real and useful, I mean only those products that are grown on the earth or given to us by the earth, but certainly not those that are born of new technologies.

How to be? Avoid fast food and processed foods. Choose good grains, vegetables and fruits that appeared on the counter almost immediately after harvest. Fast food and processed foods may have originally been food, but by the time you met them they were so saturated with preservatives, artificial colors and flavors that you can’t even call them food. Seriously. I don’t even consider such “products” to be food, because they are completely useless for my health. As for yours. In fact, as you'll soon learn, they don't even satisfy your hunger.

We have to figure out why modern inventions like snacks and fast food cannot be considered healthy eating, and understand how detrimental the lack of healthy eating is to the body.

I know firsthand what fast food is – I grew up on it. My mother cooked every night, we always had dinner at home, but, like many teenagers, I did not neglect fast food. My friends and I were regulars at the diner, and I tucked into double cheeseburgers with fries and fried onion rings. My friend's brother worked at a diner Taco Bell. After school, I would definitely go there and order a burrito with beans and double the cheese and sauce, but without the onions, and he, out of friendship, always gave me two. Just think about it: every day I ate two burritos and washed them down with Coca-Cola. And I ate this way for three years – every single day.

If you believe the saying, “A man is what he eats,” I was a burrito with beans, double cheese and sauce, but no onions.

All the time I was stuffing burgers, burritos and fries, washing it all down with soda, I had disgusting skin. It couldn't be worse. This embarrassed me terribly, and I did everything possible to hide the acne. I tried to disguise them with makeup. She resorted to pills and ointments and followed the most severe instructions. Nothing helped.

Acne remained with me even at the age of twenty, when I was already mastering the profession of a model and actress. It was hellish work to cover them up before filming; I was embarrassed and ashamed, I was angry at everyone, and above all at myself. But I remained a loyal fan of fast food, not giving up the habits formed in my teens, when I had no idea that food could affect my energy and performance - as well as the condition of my skin. It never even occurred to me that there was a correlation between what I ate and how I felt or how my skin looked. I continued to treat myself to grilled chicken with cheese and bacon and, of course, my favorite fried onion rings with fries and hot sauce.

I didn’t leave the diner; they knew me by sight.

I've always been skinny—a skinny kid, a skinny teenager, a skinny woman. At the table I invariably heard: “How lucky you are! You can eat whatever you want and still not get fat!” I wasn't gaining weight, and I didn't have a microscope to show what was going on inside my body... I never thought that diet could be the cause of my skin problems. But in fact, everything we put into our body affects its condition, regardless of body type. Some foods - healthy and wholesome - charge us with energy; others - devoid of nutrients and loaded with chemicals, artificial colors and preservatives - can disrupt hormonal levels and cause serious disruption in the body.

Skin problems tormented me until I was thirty, until I gave up fast food. As my diet changed, leaving no place for processed foods, an amazing thing happened... My skin began to clear up. The acne has not completely disappeared, but the overall condition of the skin has noticeably improved. Looking back, I realize that I did not need drugs, lotions and ointments at all. I shouldn't have been angry at myself and my skin. I just needed to LISTEN TO MY BODY. I may not have had a microscope, but acne was an alarm signal that my body gave, calling: “Stop! Give me what I need so I can work properly!” As soon as I switched to healthy food, excluded salty, sweet, fried, and fast food from my diet, my body gradually restored its balance and my skin cleared up. It is possible that hormonal changes and other factors played a role in eliminating the acne problem, but this is what it is: my skin problems disappeared when I changed my diet. Quite quickly, I began to notice other reactions of the body to this or that food: for example, my stomach is calm or bloated. I began to realize that by simply changing the nutritional system I can influence not only the condition of the skin, but also the internal processes in the body, in other words, not only the appearance, but also the WELL-BEING. If you and I are similar, you probably also had a question about why you were uncomfortable in your own body, or felt as if the body was not yours at all - it seemed like you were living in someone else’s. Well, if you, like me once, are addicted to fast food, then you really live Not in your real body. But this is not a death sentence; everything can be fixed.

I began an exciting journey into the world of healthy eating. Having realized that one should not look for solutions to problems in cosmetic creams or in the medicine cabinet, I wanted to expand my knowledge. I had friends who were nutritionists, and I asked for some professional advice. The more I learned, the more questions I had about the effects of nutrition on the body, so I began reading specialized literature and watching television programs on the topic. The more answers I received, the more I wanted to know. We can say that any new information was an invitation to continue the journey. And I’m still searching – reading, listening, learning.

Now that I understand that the quality of my life depends on what I eat, I myself have changed. So if you have a problem that you just can’t cope with, be it a skin condition, excess weight, heartburn or a bad mood, instead of rushing for pills, creams or other emergency remedies, start with the main thing: with nutrition. Because I promise you, the food you eat has a huge impact on the kind of person - physically and mentally - you are today and will be for the rest of your days. My life changed when I fully realized that “I am what I eat” and decided to do everything to feel my best.

When we were little, our parents took care of our health - making sure we got enough sleep, had breakfast, and went to school with a packed lunch or money for lunch. For some reason, as we age, we lose sight of all this, and the healthy habits established in childhood are forgotten in the bustle of everyday life.

Responsibility for your own health lies with you; no one will do anything for you. So ask yourself a question: do you want to live in a body that will allow you to do everything you want, a healthy and active body that you could be proud to call your own? The choice is yours. And the most amazing thing is that you don’t have to choose between health and delicious food. You can enjoy your food without compromising your health.

Now that I understand that the quality of my life depends on what I eat, I myself have changed.

Cameron Diaz, Sandra Bark

A book about the body. The science of strength, the law of hunger, the formula for longevity, or How to learn to understand and love your amazing body

Dedicated to your body

with Sandra Bark

The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Amazing Body

Design © Headcase Design www.headcasedesign.com

Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reproduce the graphics:

This edition is published by arrangement with William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC

and Andrew Nurnberg Literary Agency

Translation from English by Irina Litvinova

Introduction. knowledge is power

Hello lady!

Thank you for choosing this book.

First, I would like to explain why I wrote it, what it means to me and what I hope it will become for you.

Know your body - what could be more important? A nutrition, fitness, self-awareness and discipline– not just words: these are effective tools.

Now about what you should not expect from the book. This is not a diet. Not sets of exercises. And not a manual on the topic “How to become a different person.”

You will become the most beautiful, healthy and confident woman you can be. You. You deserve it because YOU ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN YOU THINKED.

After reading the book, you will know how your body lives and works. How body and mind interact.

Nutrition. Love your hunger

You are what you eat

In recent years, Cameron Diaz has become famous for her passion for a healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition and frank conversations about the female body. The actress recently released The Body Book: The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Fabulous Body. From this book, HELLO.RU has chosen 6 of the most interesting tips for you.

Cameron Diaz presents the book

Cameron Diaz's book is not a collection of general advice about nutrition with the phrases: "You are what you eat." The actress talks in detail about the biological processes that occur in your body. What really happens to that piece of toast you ate at lunch? What are its chemical components, and how will your body "work" with it? Diaz says that once you start thinking about nutrition as actual fuel for your body, your view of dieting will change.

1. You need to stop comparing yourself to others.
I read recently that comparison is a cruel attack on oneself, and I thought that this is true. When you compare yourself to someone else, you feel like you're not good enough, which releases negative energy! It’s better to direct this energy to something useful, the actress advises. The main thing is to accept your body and stop being embarrassed by it. If we just thought, "Oh, I'm not worried about losing another 10 kilos... I already have a healthy, amazing body like I've never had before, so don't compare me to others."

2. You need to think about the right food in any circumstances.
If I have a busy schedule and don't get anything done, I can't just sit down and enjoy a healthy meal. Even if you are hungry, you need to restrain yourself and not run into fast food. Here the actress is unoriginal, but her reasoning is logical: why spend money on something that will make you feel bad for the rest of the day?

3.You can’t make immediate decisions
I ask women to think about the trend that currently exists - permanent hair removal with a laser or some other method. I don't really care what you do, but ask yourself a question - what does it mean to get rid of something on your body for the rest of your life? Cameron argues that such a desire may be momentary. It’s great that modern technology allows you to do this painlessly, but think about yourself in 15 years, the actress urges. Diaz compares this to our decisions as children:
When I was 11 years old, I painted my room pink and hung posters of rock bands. It seemed to me that they were my love forever! But now I understand that this is not so, and that this is not at all what I need.

4. Andsometimesit's worth pampering yourself

I pamper myself. I ate fried chicken last night! Because I give my body healthy food every day. So in the morning I ate a salad with tomatoes and pumpkin, so if I need to go with friends on the weekend to eat fried chicken, there is nothing to worry about. I know that 90 percent of the time my nutrition is balanced. That is why the actress does not recommend focusing on weight in her book. If you have a goal, then you adjust your training and nutrition to suit it. If you want a flat stomach, then your diet will be more strict, and this is good, but it does not mean that you now need to eat only green salad and water for the rest of your life.

Healthy lunch Cameron Diaz

5. Even the busiest business women need time for their own body.
Time is one of those things that we never have enough of. Sometimes I sit with my phone, start scrolling through my feeds, looking for something unnecessary, until I catch myself thinking, “What am I doing?” It's all about priorities.
Cameron actively encourages setting priorities correctly. If we spend a lot of hours on the Internet, social networks and other things, how can we say that we don’t have time for our body? This is what we live in, and what we are, how everyone around us sees us.

6. You need to stay in shape with a special diet.

Now I understand what it means to eat right and satisfy all the body’s energy needs. Every day is different: if today I play sports, then I eat carbohydrates that will give me energy. If I do strength training, I choose proteins that help build muscle.

These simple everyday tips from the actress are worth taking note. Visual proof that the recommendations work is 41-year-old Cameron Diaz herself, whose figure and slender legs can be the envy of any girl.

Grateful acknowledgment is made for permission to reproduce the graphics:

This edition is published by arrangement with William Morris Endeavor Entertainment, LLC

and Andrew Nurnberg Literary Agency

Translation from English by Irina Litvinova

Introduction. knowledge is power

Hello lady!

Thank you for choosing this book.

First, I would like to explain why I wrote it, what it means to me and what I hope it will become for you.

Know your body - what could be more important? A nutrition, fitness, self-awareness and discipline– not just words: these are effective tools.

Sandra Bark - a book about the body. Cameron Diaz on the Body: The Law of Hunger, the Science of Strength, and Other Ways to Love Your Amazing Body We are what we eat

Introduction. knowledge is power

Hello lady!

Part I Nutrition. Love your hunger

Chapter 1 You are what you eat

Excuse me... but what is a cell?

we are what we eat

What does it mean to be healthy?

Chapter 2 Food, amazing food!

Fast food is not food after all

Part I
Nutrition. Love your hunger

Chapter 1
You are what you eat

Chapter 2
Food, amazing food!