Book Review: Truly Healthy Now

Like many military members, David Léasure was devoted to his fitness routine. When he joined the Navy straight from high school in 2011, the first thing he did with his paycheck was to join an online exercise program. He adhered to the meal plans, took all the supplements he was supposed to, and generally saw the results he wanted through hours at the gym.

Despite being physically bigger and generally healthier, he began to wonder why he was doing it all. But looking better through all the time spent lifting weights wasn't making him any happier, and it certainly wasn't enough to make him get out of bed early in the morning.

"What is it that crumbles away and makes us give up?" Léasure writes in his book, "Truly Healthy Now." "It's our foundations or lack thereof. When a weak foundation falls away, you have to have the courage to build a new, stronger one. We do things for all the wrong reasons: we're told to eat better, look better, and be better. But what is better? When something isn't working, we usually try harder or go faster, when what we need to be doing is to let go and reevaluate." 
 
That kind of reevaluation led David Léasure to realize what he thought he knew about health and fitness wasn't just misguided. It was wrong. It led him to write the book he wished he had when he started exercising. "Truly Healthy Now" is not just a book about health and fitness. It's about the spirituality of accepting your body and prioritizing real health over looking fit. 

Léasure was not easily able to "bulk up." In his own words, he describes his body type as "skinny… with a hard time gaining muscle." He believed looking healthy actually meant he was healthy. Compliments on his muscular fitness fed his ego and contributed to a destructive cycle that would help him maintain his looks but kept him from being truly healthy. 

He spent three hours in the gym six days every week. He took his body through cycles of fasting and overeating, week after week. He began to forget why he started working so hard and putting his body through it in the first place. 

"Not everyone you see who looks great with their shirt off is actually healthy," he writes. "In all reality, a lot of them are probably doing something harmful to their bodies – whether wittingly or unwittingly – to look the way they do. To be considered healthy, you don't have to have two percent body fat or softball-sized biceps."

After much meditation, he decided to shed the ego that led him on that destructive path, focus on accepting himself, and stop comparing himself to others. "Truly Healthy Now" is Léasure's roadmap for how readers can do the same, achieving true health without the negative mindset that makes so many people give up before they ever start. 

For many who have struggled in fitness for years, words like "meditation" and "fitness journey" might make it sound like "Truly Healthy Now" is a new-age wellness cash grab, but Léasure's writing is personal, rooted in the years of research he's done as both a gym rat and a true fitness advocate. He writes from his personal experience, admits his failings, and uses what he's learned to redirect the reader's mindset toward an authentically fulfilling and healthy lifestyle. 

"Truly Healthy Now" is for anyone who's been struggling to reach true health and wellness while shedding the idea that looking healthy is more important than being healthy. The book is a gift from one sailor who wants to share his epiphany with a world consumed by the importance of style over substance.

"Truly Healthy Now" by David Philip Léasure is available in paperback for $11.99 and on Kindle ebook for $5.99 at Amazon. It's also available at Barnes and Noble for $9.99. Those with other ebook readers can find links at books2read.com