Member Reviews
I've read a number of books by Dr Michael Mosley (and his wife Claire) and I always find them useful and realistic in how they translate to the general populous busy lifestyles. Plenty of pragmatic advice in this one on how small changes to lifestyle can have big and lasting impacts to your health. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This book was easy to follow. The author is well known for the 5:2 diet he's a Doctor and writes in layman's terms of ways to improve your and your health in easy, simple and cost free ways that barely takes any time at all and then he gives you science back evidence to prove the differance that makes to your life.
This isn't a book about going and joining a gym, this is a book about putting the kettle on and do some lunges towards the kettle and whilst you're there do some push ups against the kitchen counter! It's got me thinking! Definitely worth reading, I'd recommend the ebook as I think you will be about to click on to the studies at the back of the book too! Lots of advice for diet, sleep, and health.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy in return for an honest review.
Just one thing is full of research backed information along with relatable stories and practical advice. Very informative approach to making small changes in your life that lead to positive impact over time.
I enjoyed Michael's podcast so was excited to be able to read this. I loved the illustrations at the end of each change and liked how chatty each section was. It is basically the podcast though so if you have listened to them all then there are not many surprises. It is nice to be able to dip in and out of however and I will.buy a hard copy to have for when I want to make a small change. Another wonderful book by a fab author!
Great read, a book full of interesting bitesize evidence based tips. East to digest and pick up whenever you're looking for some inspiration to improve your lifestyle. Well presented with enough detail to understand the points, without information overload.
The principal idea behind ‘Just One Thing’ is a simple lifestyle action which will help you feel better. With the added benefit that it improves your health long term.
Content
The book is split into sections representing different times of day; from early morning to night. It shows how you can fit each tip into your day, but some can be done earlier or later. This is a quick read (about 200 pages) and the writing is accessible to all. Many of the tips can be done alongside existing activities e.g. standing on one leg whilst brushing teeth. Also, by hooking them to a pre-existing habit it makes it more likely the reader will stick with it. There’s a mini case study for each tip too. A real person tries out a tip and describes the impact it had on their life after a week. This lent credibility to the fact that average people can find time to do them. It also showed that some tips take a while for the benefits to show up.
Style
The writing is easy to follow and also persuasive. This is because Dr Mosley briefly speaks to the scientists researching the benefits of each tip. This means you get to hear the latest science from the people doing it. I really want to do each tip (not possible due to disability). I do think the average person can cram many of them into their day. Some tips I already do e.g. eating dark chocolate, playing alien shooter game, meditation. Many of the others would require little effort e.g. getting houseplants, visualisation. Some would take a bit more effort, so might be harder to do daily e.g. dancing, learning a new skill.
I can definitely see myself – and other readers – trying these tips. Not all at once, but ‘Just One Thing’ every couple of weeks. I think adding each one in gradually, will make them stick better. They’re easy to follow and have proven benefits.
This book has broad appeal for anyone wanting to tweak their health and live better for longer. It has an engaging style, is packed with ideas and is easy to follow (no prior knowledge needed) I highly recommend it!
Easy changes to pick and mix to improve your health and wellbeing
The book is based on Michael Mosley’s Just one thing podcasts on simple things we can all do to improve our mental and physical wellbeing. The refreshing thing is that Michael makes them sound like easy things we could all try that could make a big difference to our lives.
Each idea is presented as a bite sized chapter outlining the benefits and evidence behind it. To make it even easier for is they’re even organised by the best time of day for each one. It’s then simply up to us to take our pick and give them a go, gradually incorporating the ones that work for us into our routines.
I loved how this breaks down things that can seem big and daunting into simple steps that are easier, and far more palatable to try out. Whether it’s understanding how we can easily add exercise into our lives, improve our posture and balance, be happier, deal with stress, improve our diets and even lose weight there’s something for us to try. No spoilers but coffee and dark chocolate feature among the ideas - in moderation of course.
The real joy is that they’re all deceptively simple and effective things we can do. None of them requires drastic changes but adding even a few of them to our lives over time could make a real difference to our health, happiness and wellbeing. Some of them could even be springboards to delve deeper into some of the topics if we find them enjoyable or beneficial.
These ideas offer some simple, and real, win-wins for our mental and physical health and I would recommend this book to anyone.
I was given this book from the author via netgalley only for the pleasure of reading and leaving an honest review should I choose to.
I love this book so much that I'm going to order the paperback - and buy it as presents for other people . Not only is it full of interesting ideas, along with the science to back them up, the writing style is extremely engaging. It feels like Michael is chatting to you. There's lots of relatable content and from singing to cold showers, everything is doable. Very inspiring and I'd highly recommend.
What a great short book! Lots of really accessible tips that can easily be incorporated into your lifestyle. Mosley presents practical changes which have been clearly researched and are clearly explained.
Tweaks to increase your exercise and healthy eating are most welcome to many people - Spend the time exploring this title and you won't regret it!
A useful book for gaining inspiration for small changes that can make a difference to health and wellbeing.
I first came across "Just One Thing" on BBC Radio, in programmes in which Dr Michael Mosley explores small, simple changes we can make to our lifestyles in order to improve our health and wellbeing, This book is a handy distillation of the radio series, giving plenty of inspiring ideas as to little things we could all do to make ourselves feel better. The wide range of options means there should be a change to suit everyone, whatever their circumstances.
Thank you to #Netgalley and #Octopuspublishing for allowing me access to this arc for review.
Unfortunately, this book was not for me. Although Just one more thing does contain encouraging tips and information, I found the content very similar to that of a magazine feature rather than a book.
Just One Thing is a really good and very useful book if you are looking to make improvements in your health and well-being.
I liked the way the book is written and structured, so that you can choose to read it all, or just take it one small change at a time before you dip back in again for the next change. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by trying to make too many changes in one go, so this book ensures that the reader doesn’t have to do that.
I found the author’s writing style easy to read and understand, which is always a good start in a self-help book.
I definitely recommend this book.
My thanks to the author, the publisher and to NetGalley for gifting me this ARC. I’m leaving this review voluntarily.
This is a very readable short book packed with good ideas for improving one's health. There around 30 different things that you can build into a habit and each can be read independently if you do not want to read the whole book from start to finish. The author gives plenty of personal anecdotes about his own experience as well as referencing research projects that back up his ideas.
Each change is relatively small and manageable. Some may choose to embrace all 30 or so, others maybe just a few. The reader may even find that they already do a few such as 'drink coffee' or 'eat chocolate'.
I found the research projects of interests as often they show that little and often is a lot more effective than huge and exhausting, especially on the topic of exercise. There were also interesting facts about things like walking downhill or down stairs is more beneficial to health than walking uphill or going up stairs.
I found the book very inspiring and have jotted down a number of the ideas which I intend to try and make part of my daily or weekly routine.
With thanks to NetGalley and Short Books for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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I loved the Just One Thing podcast series and so to have the book version of this is wonderful. Unlike many self help books this one really is about incorporating tiny things into your lifestyle that can actually improve your standard of living and health.
As someone with a longterm health condition it is refreshing to have a book that isn't just about increasing exercise and changing diet and I've already added Just Two Things to my routine.
I'm not still not 100% sure about the 5:2 fasting but the idea of changing daily eating times is certainly something fresh
This book should be compulsory reading and provided by the NHS for all patients.
Dr Mosley gives us so many simple things that can be easily introduced into our daily lives but that seem to be able to make such a difference to our health. Some of the suggestions you may have come across before but I bet there are many that you have not. . All are backed up by hard medical evidence. Who knew that walking back down several flights of stairs may actually be better for you than walking up them?! I always enjoy Dr Morley’s style of writing - very down to earth, informative and easy to understand. This will be on my gift lists for friends and family - what better gift than your health? This is a small but very important book in my opinion.Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and Dr Mosley for such a small, but important addition t9 my health library.
Good motivational book, but one to dip into rather than read all the way through. More than one chapter at a time is fat too much for me, I immediately felt that it was all unattainable and gave up the idea of self improvement although everything is broken down and explained well.
I thought I would give it a try as 5/2 diet was an ok idea for me, still unattainable though….maybe a theme here!
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.
Great book, easy to read, easy to follow without feeling too daunted by the recommendations.
Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.
Flicked through this short book quickly. Nothing new here, particularly for fans of Michael Mosely, but good to have a reminder of some easy habits that can make a difference.
Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.
This is a good an informative book, really enjoyed all the tips given to help with food and exercise