When I was vacationing in the Bahamas earlier this year, I took three books on fitness and nutrition to read. As I sat around in the sun doing next to nothing, I decided when I got back home it would be a good idea to improve my overall wellness; thus, I decided to spend my vacation reading something productive.
The first book was sent to me by the author, Luke Sniewski: PAIN: Why Your Productivity is Suffering. The book is aimed toward accountants (Mr. Sniewski is also a CPA) looking to improve their overall health, and I think it does a pretty good job reaching that goal.
First, the biggest negative about the book is the title. As a tax accountant, I deal with all sorts of acronyms. But I don’t think I’d use PAIN as an acronym in a wellness book.
PAIN stands for Poor posture, Aimless fitness, Improper nutrition, and Neglecting brain function. The recommendations on each of these subjects are, excellent.
For example, in the chapter on (aimless) fitness, Mr. Sniewski argues for using dumbbells and free weights rather than machines, compound exercise movements rather than isolation exercises, and working out on your feet rather than sitting down. These all match what I’ve been told by friends who are fitness trainers.
The area that most accountants get wrong is nutrition. I suffer from a form of arthritis; my doctor suggested I eliminate all wheat from my diet. Robb Wolf in The Paleo Solution suggests that wheat and other grains may be a cause of various autoimmune disorders (I’ll be reviewing Wolf’s book in another post); Mr. Sniewski’s recommendations mirror Wolf’s: eat real food, avoid high fructose corn syrup, sugar, and grains, and drink lots of water. I stopped eating wheat and it has definitely helped me. That’s not scientific, of course, but I haven’t had an arthritis flare-up since I stopped eating wheat.
This book is not a lengthy treatise on wellness. It’s a relatively quick read (146 pages), and you can buy it on Amazon for $12.95. If you’re looking to improve your life, it’s well worth your time to pick up PAIN: Why Your Productivity is Suffering. If you follow the recommendations, you will likely improve your life.