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Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 17 Oct 2020, 09:42
by Adanna Inya
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Health And Wellness" by lloyd l bridges.]
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3 out of 4 stars
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I belong to the Christian Medical and Dental Association (CMDA), and our goal is to care for the whole man. The whole man consists of the spirit, soul, and body, through which excellence can be achieved. Pursuing Excellence through Optimal Health and Wellness by Lloyd Bridges, MD, seeks to achieve this same goal.

The book approaches how humans can pursue and attain excellence from eleven angles. These include skin, heart, gut, immunity, breath, emotional, men, women, renal, musculoskeletal, and spiritual health. The author opines that if we have all these aspects of our beings fixed, we can achieve optimal health, and the work towards our goals will be easier. He also asked a couple of thought-provoking questions, which I wrote down. One of my favorite questions is, "How can our best be attained in a world of chaos, cynicism, and pessimism?" You'll find the answer when you read this book.

I love that Lloyd Bridges, MD, began this book by taking the readers through his life. Readers will learn about his parents, education, marital life, children, medical practice, and faith. All of these factors shaped him into the man that he is. I enjoyed his approach to this book because it looked at optimal health and wellness holistically. The author also spoke as an authority because he was informed. The information supplied by the author was backed up by evidence from credible sources. There is also a ton of references at the end of the book.

Each chapter began with a quote that further strengthened the topic. My favorite quote was, "We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our flesh and blood and bones. Any nobleness begins at once to refine a man’s features, and any meanness or sensuality to imbrute them." This quote is by Henry David Thoreau. In discussing each chapter, the author left no stone unturned. He highlighted the components of our systems, their contributions to optimal health, the potential diseases that could occur, and how to keep them healthy for the longest time. This could be through foods, supplements, physical, or mental activities.

Two chapters that had more of my attention were "Optimizing our Emotional Health" and "Optimal Women's Health." While discussing the former topic, he dived into the limbic system, which is the emotional control center of humans, and broke down the details. People can now understand why they act or react the way they do, and this will go a long way to help stabilize their emotional health. In the latter topic, raising the girl child to greatness was detailed in twelve steps. One of the steps talked about encouraging the girl child to compete because it builds confidence and character. When she loses, her character is built, and when she wins, her confidence is built. These two traits are essential for success.

I didn't find grammatical errors in this book, however, there were formatting issues. The chapters were clustered, and the fonts were large. Also, people who aren't medically inclined may easily get bored even though I believe that this book is intended for everyone. I think that peppering the book with related stories and humor would have made it more interesting. It felt like I was reading a medical textbook. Additionally, I noticed that the author digressed a lot, and this made continuity difficult. Some paragraphs presented as being disjointed even though they contained important details. For the reasons that I cited, I rate Pursuing Excellence through Optimal Health and Wellness by Lloyd Bridges, MD, three out of four stars.

I recommend this book to adults who do not just want to live but thrive in optimal health and wellness while pursuing their goals and attaining excellence.

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Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Health And Wellness
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Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 24 Oct 2020, 05:07
by Saint Bruno
I appreciate the topic that the author seeks to give us insights into. I am interested in it! Thanks for the great review and recommendation.

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 24 Oct 2020, 05:20
by Chigo Nwagboso
Keeping the body, emotional and spiritual being in check is very vital to our health. this book will definitely be of a great help. Great review.

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 24 Oct 2020, 13:25
by Adanna Inya
Chigo Nwagboso wrote: 24 Oct 2020, 05:20 Keeping the body, emotional and spiritual being in check is very vital to our health. this book will definitely be of a great help. Great review.
Saint Bruno wrote: 24 Oct 2020, 05:07 I appreciate the topic that the author seeks to give us insights into. I am interested in it! Thanks for the great review and recommendation.
Thank you for commenting guys.

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 24 Oct 2020, 13:42
by Raluca_Mihaila
I would love to learn about a new holistic approach of human well-being. Thank you for introducing this book and for the informative review!

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 25 Oct 2020, 02:28
by Adanna Inya
raluca_mihaila wrote: 24 Oct 2020, 13:42 I would love to learn about a new holistic approach of human well-being. Thank you for introducing this book and for the informative review!
Thank you so much.

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 25 Oct 2020, 08:42
by Prisallen
This sounds like an excellent book to take a look at if one would like information about how to improve his/her life, which is probably most of us. I think I would enjoy reading it. Thanks for an interesting and informative review!

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 25 Oct 2020, 08:46
by Adanna Inya
Prisallen wrote: 25 Oct 2020, 08:42 This sounds like an excellent book to take a look at if one would like information about how to improve his/her life, which is probably most of us. I think I would enjoy reading it. Thanks for an interesting and informative review!
You're absolutely right. Thank you so much for commenting.

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 25 Oct 2020, 16:00
by Rashida10
I think the content of this book serves the majority of us as it is essential to improve on oneself to become a better personality. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 25 Oct 2020, 18:04
by kandscreeley
Since I struggle with my health, I'm very curious as to what the author opines on this subject. Thanks for your thoughts.

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 26 Oct 2020, 01:07
by Adanna Inya
[/quote]
Rashida10 wrote: 25 Oct 2020, 16:00 I think the content of this book serves the majority of us as it is essential to improve on oneself to become a better personality. Thanks for sharing.
kandscreeley wrote: 25 Oct 2020, 18:04 Since I struggle with my health, I'm very curious as to what the author opines on this subject. Thanks for your thoughts.
Yes, the book is quite informative. I hope you get better kandscreeley. Thank you for commenting.

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 26 Oct 2020, 03:14
by Eutoc
I've always thought about finding a smooth path in such a chaotic world, it appears the book has answers to my question. Thank you Adanna for recommending.

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 26 Oct 2020, 23:42
by Josephe-Anne
Many health books only focus on diet and exercise, so I like the fact that this one contains information on spiritual and emotional well-being also. The quotes you included were fascinating and thought-provoking. Despite the issues you mentioned, I think it's still worth reading.

Thank you for your honest and well-written review.
:tiphat:

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 27 Oct 2020, 01:43
by Adanna Inya
Josephe-Anne wrote: 26 Oct 2020, 23:42 Many health books only focus on diet and exercise, so I like the fact that this one contains information on spiritual and emotional well-being also. The quotes you included were fascinating and thought-provoking. Despite the issues you mentioned, I think it's still worth reading.

Thank you for your honest and well-written review.
:tiphat:
Eutoc wrote: 26 Oct 2020, 03:14 I've always thought about finding a smooth path in such a chaotic world, it appears the book has answers to my question. Thank you Adanna for recommending.
Thank you for commenting guys. I hope you enjoy the book.

Re: Official Review: Pursuing Excellence Through Optimal Heal...

Posted: 27 Oct 2020, 17:38
by Fabulous mind
I think I'm also caught up with this question, How can our best be attained in a world of chaos, cynicism, and pessimism? This is my kind of book, I'm adding this to my shelf..