enLIGHTened: How I Lost 40 Pounds with a Yoga Mat, Fresh Pineapples, and a Beagle Pointer

“Recipes, philosophy, yoga poses, compassion . . . Even if all you can handle is ‘corpse pose,’ you’ll be glad for Jessica Berger Gross’s inspirational company.” —Catherine Newman, author of Waiting for Birdy Meet your new best yoga-and-healthy-eating friend in this smart, accessible, and funny memoir of dieting and discovery. For years, Jessica struggled with fluctuating weight and bouts of unhappiness. Like many of us, she found comfort in food and craved cigarettes and self-confidence. Then one day Jessica took her first yoga class in Katmandu. She lost forty pounds and changed her life forever. In enLIGHTened, Jessica shares the core principles of yoga philosophy, the ancient system of ideas that lies behind the poses and postures, drawn from a two-thousand-year-old text called the Yoga Sutras. Studied by devout yoga students and teachers, it offers answers to eating smartly, living right, and losing weight. Jessica goes beyond yoga’s merge into mainstream culture—beyond trendy diets, unsustainable exercise routines, and the quest for the perfect figure. Using spiritual philosophy, and personal stories everyone can relate to, she sets you on a journey to self-acceptance, personal peace, and long-term health. “Anyone who has struggled with weight will relate to Jessica’s story and her message . . . brave and honest, inspiring and heartwarming.” —Allison Fishman, author of The Skinny Home Kitchen and cohost of Cook Yourself Thin