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Health books for Summer living

Discover the secret to living happily and healthily with this summer's best health books

Now’s a great time to catch up on a spot of reading. Here are some suggestions of books on health-related topics that may inspire you to make your wellbeing a priority in 2012.

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**Women’s stuff

Kaz Cooke **(Penguin, $65)

Although not strictly a health guide, this whopper of a book by acclaimed Australian author Kaz Cooke includes information on general health and wellbeing, eating and exercise, hormones and mental health.

It tackles subjects from badbreath and period pain through to body image and contraception. The book also includes input from ordinary women giving their opinions and experiences on subjects from cosmetic surgery and maintaining good health to suffering from anxiety and depression.

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This extremely well-researched resource is written with Kaz’s trademark sense of humour.

**Losing the last 5Kg

**Susie Burrell (Hardie Grant, $24.99)

This book by nutritionist Susie Burrell is aimed at people who are carrying just a few more kilos than they should be and need to make some simple changes to get to a healthy weight.

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Written in clear and easy-to-understand language it focuses not only on the food you eat, but also why you might be eating it in the first place, and looks at a variety of ways of changing your eating habits to safely shed weight.

Susie offers tips on everything from making small changes that lead to big results, to eating smarter without feeling deprived.

**The feel good factor

**Patrick Holford (Piatkus, $39.99)

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Prolific author Patrick Holford is a leading expert on how the food you eat can affect your mood and this book will hopefully provide a beacon of hope for anyone who often feels low, unmotivated, anxious or depressed.

He points out feeling sad is not all in your mind and there are often physiological reasons behind it. The book includes lots of practical advice, backed up by scientifi c research, and there are even mood-boosting recipes.

Run fat bitch run

Ruth Field (Sphere, $36.99)

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It’s hard to look past something with a title like this! This book, which is aimed solely at people wanting to take up running, does include advice on healthy eating and relationships with food, but it is mostly a guide to starting a running regime and sticking with it.

Author Ruth Field is not a fitness expert but a former couch potato who was inspired to run and found it changed her life. She shares her experience and wealth of knowledge on everything from motivating yourself to getting back into pounding the pavements after having a baby. And she doesn’t mince her words – as you can tell from the title.

**Release your worries

**Dr Cate Howell and Dr Michele Murphy (Exisle, $36.99)

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There are a range of different clinical treatments available for dealing with stress and anxiety. And now two Australian health professionals, who regularly use them to treat their patients, have written a book explaining how they work and how people can apply them to their own lives.

The authors make rather daunting-sounding therapies, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, easy to understand and to use. The book can be used as a kind of workbook, with spaces to do exercises designed to reduce stress and change thought patterns.

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