Food Triggers
by Amber Lia
Amber Lia writes Food Triggers from the perspective of a certified health coach and a Christian. She began her journey to develop healthy eating habits when she was sixty pounds overweight. She views the journey to health as both a physical and a spiritual battle. She began her personal changes with a “medically designed plan” in consultation with a health coach for accountability. She combined that with examining her food triggers one at a time. This book does not tell you what to eat although she clearly avoids sugars and excessive carbs. She intends her book to be read one chapter per day for 31 days. Each chapter addresses a specific motivation or food trigger, some external and some internal.
Lia backs up the information with research and with Scriptures. She encourages the reader to “exchange unhealthy patterns for God-honoring habits.” Some of her chapters resonated with me and others did not apply. She addresses how others can try to sabotage your healthy eating plan and the temptations that may arise when you are in community settings that involve food. There are many difficult areas she addresses including travel, portion control, and boredom. Food Triggers is not a diet plan, but is another tool with insights and practical tips that those struggling with weight loss and/or healthy eating can add to their toolbox.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Nonfiction, Christian
Notes: Although I am in support of portion control, I did not agree with the author’s emphasis on following the serving sizes indicated on packaging. I have always viewed those as the food industry’s efforts to simplify the nutritional labeling. The FDA, however, says that the goal for their newly revised labels is to “bring serving sizes closer to what people actually eat so that when they look at calories and nutrients on the label, these numbers more closely match what they are consuming.” In other words, the serving size is not what people should eat, but what the “average” person consumes. These revised figures have gone up for ice cream, but decreased for yogurt. The government in this case is not leading consumers to healthier eating. You know the old saying, “just because he jumps off a cliff, doesn’t mean you should too.” A good example of that is the marketing of soda in huge cups. Along with that we have a huge increase in obesity and diabetes.
Publication: January 4, 2022—Bethany House (Baker Publishing)
Memorable Lines:
In many ways, our culture has brainwashed us with massive portions and helpings that are, well, NOT helping.
Your health journey will present you with hard choices, and it won’t just be saying no to onion rings—but saying no to people or jobs or places that are not moving you toward God’s best for us.
[part of a prayer from the chapter on holidays] Transform my thinking so that I learn to focus on the people and meaningfulness behind times of celebration, instead of all the things to put in my mouth.
education pathways 
Sounds like a unique approach. I like that the author backs things up with research and Scripture. I agree with you – the serving size information isn’t helping anyone.
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Quite the opposite!
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I’ve always ignored serving sizes, they just seem out of place. I gave up soda years ago, and don’t miss it a bit.
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I did too and don’t miss it either. At first it was hard to not have it with pizza, but that soon passed. I can’t have caffeine and I don’t want high fructose corn syrup or sucralose. If I want something fizzy, I occasionally drink mineral water with lime. It’s just not that big of a deal anymore.
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Interesting approach to dieting~
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It is. She does emphasize having a health coach, which is understandable since she is one. Clearly that is a good approach for some people; I don’t think it would be the right one for me. I do like her emphasis on our bodies being the temple of God and so we should take care of them. Your blog shows that healthy eating doesn’t have to be boring or tasteless.
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Personally, I think moderation is what works best for me. I don’t believe depriving myself of foods I enjoy will bring success in my case, but eating a little of those foods is a good balance. We are all made up differently. There is no one right way for everyone. Some eat very healthy foods and still have high cholesterol or diabetes. Others eat junk food continually and don’t struggle with those problems. A lot of it is genetics. We have to do what works best for us individually. 🤷🏽♀️ Just my opinion of course. 😉
I’m not sure how scripture plays into this. I mean, the Bible definitely doesn’t support gluttony. But it does want us to enjoy all types of food, and equates joy with eating delicious foods. “He said to them: “Go, eat the choice things and drink what is sweet, and send portions of food to those who have nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord, and do not feel sad, for the joy of Jehovah is your stronghold.”—Nehemiah 8:10
“My son, eat honey, because it is good; Honey from the comb is sweet to the taste.” —Proverbs 24:13
There are lots of Bible verses that link joyful occasions with eating. God wants us to enjoy food. Unfortunately, processing is responsible for a lot of our woes. There was plenty of bread eating back in Bible times, and it was encouraged. Even the manna was a type of sweet bread or cake-like substance.
Anyway…interesting book. Thanks for sharing, Linda. I don’t celebrate secular holidays so I’m curious as to how the author aligns those with scripture. 🤔
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It is more a matter of eating healthy foods. The problem is that what is the “super food” today may be the one to avoid tomorrow. I agree that we can and should find joy in foods. Also, processed foods are not the foods of the Bible–white bread, high fructose corn syrup, etc. She doesn’t go into specifics of what to eat, but the more processed the foods, the more I avoid them. When the ingredient label sounds like a chemistry experiment, red flags go up for me. Moderation is Biblical.
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Agreed. 😊 In Bible times the food was natural and healthy. Today it’s packed with preservatives and fillers and who knows what. When I read some of the food labels!! 🤦🏽♀️😖
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Interesting! I thank you for the review. I try my best at eating healthy and as I get older I realize the importance of doing so much more.
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Our metabolism does change as we age, but I like your approach of making meal times special.
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I agree with you about portion control and food labels.
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Choosing to eat healthy and not indulge is an overrated challenge when we are socialised into eating out.
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This sounds like another interesting book about healthy eating. Thanks for sharing, Linda.
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I have yet to read a book about healthy eating that checks off all the boxes and will stand the test of time. Mainly because recommendations for healthy foods keep changing, and our food sourcing keeps changing too.
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You are absolutely right Linda. You have to take everything with a grain of salt and use your head as well. It gives some good starting points too.
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