I really enjoyed this book for all sorts of reasons. I was a little disconcerted to discover that it was written from a Christian perspective, but unlike some other reviewers, I didn't find its tone preachy at all and in fact the references from Scripture were to me a beautiful and timely reminder of the need to see our lives and health from a spiritual dimension. The author made reference to a wide range of the most up to date research in the field but was clear that he was providing only an overview. It is a book to maybe pick up again in the future to give oneself a little shake.
It was thought provoking and persuasive and I loved the author's humour. I wasn't entirely convinced that I would love him to be my GP, as it is much easier to come away with a prescription than to seek to make fundamental changes but there was no doubt for me that he is right. It has also encouraged me to check out other writing and that can only be a good thing.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for a free ARC

An interesting read but there was nothing new in the book. If you’ve read well-being books before then you’ve probably read about the content of this book before.

As a society, we have never had so much advantage and yet been so disadvantaged by this very same society which we have built for ourselves, by ignoring our basic needs when it comes to sleep, nutrition, movement, relaxation, relationships and purpose in life. We face a rising tide of physical health problems, such as obesity and diabetes, and mental health issues such as loneliness and depression. Our medical model is a broken, disease-based one that is not fit to meet our needs, particularly when it comes to preventing health and wellbeing problems.

Fit for Purpose is a book that you can read and then maybe putting aside and reread sections from time to time as you make small changes and keep aiming for even better wellbeing no matter what your starting point. I would urge the reader to make notes to remind you to take action on topics that strike you personally as relevant or easily doable
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This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

The author, Dr Richard Pile, of Fit for Purpose is a GP, Christian, husband and father, among many other things.. One of his four children has very complex needs with severe epilepsy which impacted the wellbeing of family members for many years. With his professional expertise and personal life experience he is well placed to write this book addressing our wellbeing as a whole and urging the reader not to expect the medical profession to be the only solution when our wellbeing is poor.

The topics of sleep, food, movement, stress and relaxation/mindfulness, relationships with others and having a purpose to our live are covered. They are probably not new to most who've considered this subject but they are all very relevant whether we believe our wellbeing to be good, average or poor. The author also believes that considering our spiritual health is as important as our physical , mental and emotional health. I agree very much with him on that but I did find the spiritual side in the book a little forced with Bible quotes backing up the topic of each chapter. I also found the spiritual sections and summaries of each chapter a little preachy and burdensome, especially when he is addressing church leaders and other leaders to ensure they practice what they preach. While this is indeed ideal I felt the way it was written was putting a guilt trip on those who haven't quite got there in the own wellbeing journey yet but are trying to encourage others.

In the main though, Dr Richard Pile, is clear that we need to accept people where they are and to not expect big changes but to embrace small ones which will eventually lead to a bigger change. He has some good anecdotes - I would have liked to see more with spiritual examples interwoven more seamlessly and less of the Bible verses 'backing' up his topics. I did like his light-hearted turn of phrase at times - I'm not sure I've heard anyone use the word 'piffle' in speech since my mother was alive who used to use it a lot! I also smiled to see wellbeing spelled correctly but acknowledged there is much debate on subject!

His experience as a GP is helpful and it was interesting to hear his views on statins, length of appointment times and the whole medical industry and why the way it operates is not necessarily in the best holistic interests of people needing help.

One or two things rankle as I didn't necessarily agree with them, including the use of some of the Bible verse interpretations. I was mildly amused when the paragraph after he stated that is was not unreasonable to take a 20-30 minutes lunch break in a 8am-7pm working day started "Don't honour work martyrs". Towards the end he says "Everything in moderation, including moderation" which I think is quite spot on. Going all out to be the best at exercising, eating healthily or whatever is rarely sustainable and doesn't encourage others. Aiming for the small changes is most likely to lead to better wellbeing and I wholeheartedly agree with the author's book recommendation (he has many) of Tiny Habits by B.J. Fogg.

Fit for Purpose is a book with reading and then maybe putting aside and rereading sections from time to time as you make small changes and keep aiming for even better wellbeing no matter what your starting point. I would urge the reader to make notes to remind you to take action on topics that strike you personally as relevant or easily doable.

With thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins UK for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fit for purpose will help you understand better ways to look after your body so that it serves you better optimising you.

I was looking forward to reading fit for purpose due to me trying to get healthy and there was some good tips in the book but there was quite a lot I already knew . The book was easy read and I enjoyed reading it.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book.

I can't say I found anything new in this book. It's a rehash of stuff that most of us already know if we've read any recent publications about health, with a few personal anecdotes about the author's own life and experiences..
The thing that makes this unique is the inclusion in each chapter of a "What does the Bible say about this?" section. I'll freely admit that I hadn't realised that this was a Christian book. That in itself doesn't bother me. Although I'm no longer a practising Christian, I've read some excellent Christian books. But these sections just felt rather tacked on and a bit irrelevant if I'm honest. It's ironic that at the very beginning of this book the author states that he doesn't read a lot of Christian books because "I find a lot of them very preachy" and he "can't relate". I have to say I found the tone of this book rather preachy and very irritating.
As I said, a lot of the information contained within these pages is out there already in many other excellent books. This book is nowhere near as well-written as those books. For example, if you want to know about your microbiome, you'd be much better off reading Tim Spector's The Diet Myth or Michael Mosley's Clever Guts. If you want a digital detox, read Catherine Price's How to Break Up with Your Phone. or Cal Newport's Digitial Minimalism.

I really didn't see the point of this book, there was absolutely nothing new in it. I enjoyed the writing style, it was easy to read, and entertaining, but was far too preachy for me. I have nothing against books written from a religious perspective, but did think this aspect was overused, and as I said, there was no new info in there at all