This one is for the readers! Here are the top wellness books I recommend for your 2023 reading list.

The month of January holds it’s own personality. Fresh starts, resets, settling in and hope all seem appropriate traits. For me, it’s pulling down the social calendar, stepping back from eating out, and in general hunkering down. It’s a nice balance to the feasting and saturation of the holidays. Admittedly, by the end of the month I’m ready for some DoorDash, but it’s also nice knowing I’ll be taking everything down a notch. 

This also lends itself to sticking my nose in more books. Instead of Saturday afternoon college football whistles, it’s cozying on the couch with a lightweight blanket and a good read (it’s still pretty warm here in the Houston area).

I read a nice mix of nonfiction and fiction. What kind? Basically ones I can learn from. Every now and then I enjoy a good memoir, especially if it’s author-narrated on Audible, but even fiction books I appreciate the most have this characteristic. How do I learn from fiction? I read about new experiences, situations, and perspectives. 

This year, I leaned into my local library, which somehow meant I read more chicklit than I prefer. That’s on me, as I blindly put books from lists I saw on Goodreads, Amazon, and other places without checking into them much.

Because I’m a supernerd in all things health, I also read various wellness books. Most of these are for my own education and development, but sometimes I read as a prep for a podcast guest. And in some cases, I read a book, fall in love with the author’s message, and invite them on the show.

If you’re looking for some wellness books to enjoy while on your walk or curled up on the couch, check out this list. I’ve read every one of them and wholeheartedly recommend them. This isn’t a “oh I need to promote this book” list or one that has ulterior motives (with the exception of the last one). It’s a list of books that I read and think “this would help or benefit my community.”

And because we categorize everything into physical, mental and spiritual health on the Graced Health Podcast, I’ve lumped these into the same.

Best Wellness Books for 2023 

Food Wellness Books

Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tibole and Elyse Resch

The general premise of this book is to trust your body. Eat what you want and stop when you’re biologically satisfied (basically when your stomach says “I’ve had enough.” There’s a difference between that and saying “my stomach is full but my mouth wants more!”)

All of the ten principles outlined make sense. Those principles are:

1. Reject the diet mentality
2. Honor your hunger
3. Make peace with food
4. Challenge the Food Police
5. Discover the satisfaction factor
6. Feel your fullness
7. Cope with your emotions with kindness
8. Respect your body
9. Movement – feel the difference
10. Honor your health – gentle nutrition

When you think about it, God designed us to eat this way. Despite all the nutrition science out there, we survived for years on eating without all the other nonsense. 

Having said all that, I still struggle with fully engaging all the principles. But I do agree it all makes sense. This is one book I wish I’d read and incorporated into my book, Your Worthy Body. 

If you’d like a new way of thinking about food, I highly encourage you to check this out. In fact, we’ve had several guests and registered dieticians on the podcast who focus on Intuitive Eating, including:

• Erin Todd of the Intuitive Eating for Christian Women Podcast and Facebook group “How intuitive eating may give you the grace and freedom you need” Season 12 Episode 32
• Brittany Brasewell, RD “How do I know if my loved one is dealing with an eating disorder ”   and host of the new podcast The Joy-Filled Eater.
• Sallyanne Pisk, RD “How to stop emotional eating without giving up your favorite foods” Season 13 Episode 16
• Shelly Najjr, RD “The Food Police is Harming your body, mind and soul” Season 15 Episode 10

Food Story by Elise Museles

Most days when I have lunch, I sit down with my laptop and read the news. One day I stumbled on an article that talked about a Food Story. I loved the article so much I ordered the book that day, stalked down the author, Elise Museles, on Instagram, and invited her on the show.

Many of us have complicated stories when it comes to food. Sometimes, there were pretty traumatic events or relationships that caused it, and others were never ill-intended but nevertheless caused an unhealthy relationship with food.

I loved this book. It will encourage you to consider your own Food Story, and Elise did a masterful job of inviting you to work through some of this with interactive end-of-chapter elements. And as a bonus, she provides some glorious recipes in the back. Because she spends some time discussing how different foods affect our moods, she has these divided into recipes that will help you feel happy, focused, radiant, strong, comforted, sensual and calm.

Food Story is a profound book that will definitely change the way you eat, think and live. If you’d like to hear my conversation with Elise Museles, you can tune into Season 13 Episode 11, entitled “Rewrite your Food Story to change the way you eat, think and live.” 

Movement Wellness Books

Smarter Workouts by Pete McCall

If you’re a longtime listener, you’ve met Pete McCall a handful of times on Season 12 Episode 1 “High intensity benefits you don’t know about” and Season 9 Episode 1 “How to slow the aging process with exercise.” Pete is someone I consider an online mentor, though we’ve never had that formal relationship. But I’ve learned so much from his podcast, All About Fitness, as well as his books, which are heavily researched.

Smarter Workouts is Pete’s first book (second was Ageless Intensity). Honestly, both of these are fantastic, but I really like the workouts in the back of Smarter Workouts. He provides full workouts with accessible equipment like stability balls, resistance bands, sandbells and of course body weight. I’ve been known to pull out Smarter Workouts when I need a new workout or just don’t feel like coming up with my own programming.

Joy of Movement by Dr. Kelly McGonigal, PhD

If you want to be inspired to move, especially in a group setting, this is the book for you. Dr. Kelly McGonigal, PhD uses her research to explain how exercise helps us find happiness, hope, connection and courage. Practically every page of my book is underlined as Dr. McGonigal intertwines two of my loves: exercise and research. 

If you struggle with mental health and don’t love moving, this may be a great one to encourage you to get moving to support your mental health. It may even push you to find a group setting, whether it’s a group fitness class, running club or other gym that’s community focused.

Mental Health Wellness Books

Keep Sharp by Sanjay Gupta, MD

If you read one book about overall wellness, this would be my recommendation. While Keep Sharp is focused on building a better brain and cognitive health, the principles in this book apply regardless of your health goals. In addition to a discussion about food science (spoiler alert: eat lots of plants in their whole food state), he also emphasizes movement, relationships, sleep, and having purpose, which fits right in line with what we say here about “your eating, movement and body don’t have to be perfect, you just need to be able to do what you’re called to do.”

Dr. Gupta makes a compelling case and gives a strong “why” for taking care of ourselves. That “why” is to live a full and functional life with optimal cognitive health. He talks a lot about dementia and Alzheimers, so if that runs in your family or is a concern of yours, grab this book ASAP!

Sacred Rest by Saundra Dalton-Smith, MD

This is another heavily underlined book and totally transformed how I think about rest. The subtitle is “recover your life, renew your energy, restore your sanity.” So, while this isn’t necessarily a book about psychological health, it certainly promotes it by providing the seven different types of rest we need: physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, sensory, and creative. If you’ve ever gone to bed on a Sunday evening and thought “I am more tired now than I am on a weekday morning!” this one is for you. I had the pleasure of having Dr. Saundra on the podcast in Season 8 Episode 7 entitled “What kind of rest do you need? (did you know there are 7)?” and you can check that out if you’d like to hear more.

Spiritual Health Wellness Books

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer

I have to admit, I’m not sure I would have picked this one up had it not been part of the study my Young Adult Women’s Small Group did. I am so glad this book was chosen. If you’re looking for incentive to take the pace of your life down a bit, this is for you. The books focuses on four main pillars: silence and solitude, sabbath, simplicity and slowing. I was especially challenged by the discussion on Sabbath, which in theory I love but in practice find very difficult. Same for simplicity. Great idea; terrible execution on my part.

Today is Going to be a Good Day by Dr. Michelle Bengtson

Dr. Michelle has been a guest on the Graced Health Podcast three times. As a neuropsychologist, she obviously has a significant amount of wisdom on our thought life. As a believer, she lives this out daily with her own health battles by leaning into God in inspiring ways. Today is Going to be a Good Day stems from one period when she just made a choice to worship God despite her pain and health issues. It started with a Facebook post, then another, then another, and we now have 90 new entries on why today will indeed be a good day.

This is an easily digestible small book that is perfect to throw in your bag and read even when you don’t have it in you to do anything else. I happened to have a copy in my bag one time when one of my precious young adult small groups was having multiple difficult days. I pulled it out and passed it on to her so she could get bite-sized encouragement.

General Health and Wellness Books

Your Worthy Body by Amy Connell

I know, this is a shameless plug. If you’ve been with me a while you know that Your Worthy Body: Find Freedom in Health by Breaking all the Rules breaks health and fitness rules using exercise science, nutrition science and faith. It’s designed for the woman who is tired of and overwhelmed by all the things the internet says she should be doing and is ready for a balanced way to take care of herself. Most chapters provide resources like recipes, workouts, journal prompts and more. 

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As you curl up on the couch with your blanket, no matter how heavy or lightweight it is, I hope you learn as much from these books as I did. And don’t forget to record it on GoodReads (properly).

(Note: links are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission when you purchase by clicking on the image. You do not pay any more; it just helps offset my costs.)

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Amy