When a woman goes through the nine months of pregnancy, her body goes through an amazing transformation from supporting one life to supporting two lives. Whenever we hear medical talks about pregnancy the talk always focuses on the child, how it goes from zygote to embryo to fetus to infant to a glorious noise, drool, and poop machine.
But we rarely hear about all the changes that are going on inside the woman’s body to accommodate every step of the child’s development. We hear about outward signs like nausea, back pain, and cravings, but when all is said and done there’s an amazing and dizzying amount of change that a woman’s body goes through, not just physically but also mentally and metaphysically. And it seems while there are a zillion and one books on what women should do during pregnancy, there are precious few that talk about what to do afterwards.
And so after the 9 weeks are over, very often women are left with a body that looks very much unlike the one they started with. And all too often, physiological changes can also affect emotional, mental, and spiritual states too given how closely integrated all these things are.
For women who are suffering with these changes and trying to get their lives back, Body Back is the book for you.
Heather Porter is an author who has perhaps the best qualifications to write a book on getting your body back after pregnancy–she’s the mother of four. Heather experienced many times what it was like to see her body fall apart after pregnancy. She looked all over to find books to help her, but no book seemed to be satisfactory–all too often they were incomplete or good advice was spread out over different books and not in the same place.
Heather decided to write it herself, and boy did she ever write one. I had a chance to review a copy. First of all, this isn’t a small book. It’s a hardcover book measuring in at 9.4 x 8.1 x 1.3 inches and weighing over 3 pounds. Heck, just bench pressing this book might be enough to get you in shape.
If you read through the table of contents, you’ll get an idea of the topics the book covers:
- Introduction
- The Naked Truth
- Hair Back
- Face Back
- Brain Back
- Teeth Back
- Neck and Decollete Back
- Breasts Back
- Arms Back
- Hands Back
- Nails Back
- Back and Shoulders Back
- Tummy and Waist Back
- Hip and Thigh Back
- Legs and Ankles Back
- Feet Back
- Skin Back
- Posture Back
- Power of the Mind
- Internal Systems
- Medical
- All About Food
- Diet and Nutrition
- Drink
- Exercise and Sport
- Environmental Toxins
- Alternative Health
- Relax
- Woman
- Nip ‘n’ Tuck
- Non Surgical Procedures
- Dressed
- Dressing the Face
- Conclusion
- Vitamin and mineral glossary
- Acid and Alkaline Chart
You’ll be very, very hard pressed to find another book like this. Each chapter could be (and is) a book in itself. Turning to the “Feet Back” section, Heather talks you through the reasons your feet can get hurt during pregnancy (the main one being that you’re carrying upwards of 28 pounds or more of weight they weren’t accustomed to carrying!). Then, she talks about common foot problems that women face during pregnancy, from dry feet to developing hard skin to developing blisters, fungi, or viruses, to having cold feet or poor circulation or cramps. She talks about the proper shoes to wear, creams to apply, how to properly massage the feet, and even what to tell a pedicurist. She also gives practical DIY tips, such as how to properly soak your feet, make your own healthy food scrub, and how to help your feet absorb more moisture. Here’s a peek at the page about taking care of your teeth after pregnancy.
And that’s just the feet. Multiply this by just about every part of the body and mind that can be affected after pregnancy,
And one thing I find very appealing about the book is how easy to read it is. Despite its length and its comprehensiveness it’s not like a dry medical textbook or encyclopedia. Heather’s writing reads like a friend talking to you and giving you advice each step of the way. While some may read the book cover-to-cover, I see it more as a resources that you can pick up any time to learn just about anything that’s going on with your body. Granted, a lot of this information is on the Internet, but instead of wasting your time surfing through thousands of Web pages (some of them accurate, some of them not so much so) to try to find the nuggets, this book provides the best of the best nuggets all in one place in a fun and interactive format.
Here’s Heather herself talking more about the book and how it came to be.
One awesome thing about the book is its tie-ins to charity. Prior to the book launch date, Heather donated 20% of all pre-sales to Jenny McCarthy’s autism charity Generation Rescue. After speaking to one of Heather’s representatives, I learned that Jenny McCarthy and Heather Porter have become great friends; Jenny loves the book and its plans as a mother and a woman whose physical appearance is very important to her in many ways, including her career. Heather also loves Jenny’s charity as it is something that affects all mothers and families, and so it was a perfect fit. Through Generation Rescue, Heather wanted to give back not only with the information in the book, but also find a way to add a philanthropic angle as well.
