Review: INNER FITNESS for Girls by MaKenzie Peake and Alabama Heatherly with Rebecca Evans

Title: INNER FITNESS for Girls
Author: MaKenzie Peake, Alabama Heatherly with Rebecca Evans
Pages: 172
Publisher: InsideOut Publishing
Genre: Self-Help
Edition: Standard, A special thanks to author Rebecca Evans who generously sent me this book, along with INNER FITNESS for Celebrating Your Life



Perfect for : Personal reading for the girl in all of us, young and old alike, journaling

In a nutshell: Very similar in format to INNER FITNESS Celebrating Your Life. An easily-read book written in a journaling format to help take a closer look at your self and your self-image.

From Amazon:
Uncover Your Beauty and Treasures Within. This journal is a little book of wisdom written by two especially perceptive ten-year-old girls. Each month the journal offers inspirational ideas to explore, inviting girls to commit to self-love and a positive attitude. A must read for every girl and grown woman.

First Paragraph:
(This is the first paragraph in the section for January - Celebrate your Body)
Let's talk about beauty. The thing is, you already have it. You don't need a bunch of make-up to make you look pretty. For most girls, it's hard to look at beautiful models in magazines without feeling like we'll never measure up. But beauty is a tricky thing. Even girls who feel beautiful on the outside, often feel ugly inside. So, of course, it works the other way around, too. Even if you don't always feel gorgeous and perfect on the outside, you should. The beauty that matters more is on the inside. And when you feel beautiful inside, it has a way of coming to the surface. Beauty starts on the inside and goes to the outside. So you should know that you already are pretty, as gorgeous as the sun and stars.

My Review:
Very similar to INNER FITNESS Celebrating You Life, only less challenging for an adult. I enjoyed the journal, but didn't spend as much time thinking about my self, but rather how I would have written things as a young girl. (The two co-authors are 10 years old.)

This journal does not have dated pages, so it makes it easy to pick up at any point. It includes an Introduction by Rebecca Evans, "Creating a Workshop Within," "Personal Journey Contract" and a personal "Disclaimer" that tells us that we shouldn't feel guilty about anything we do not complete within the book. It also includes a "How to Use This Journal" which explains that there is no wrong way to work through the journal, go page-by-page, or skip around - it is all acceptable.

The journal does have general challenges for each month:
January - Finding my Beauty
February - Expressing Myself
March - Taking Great Care of Me
April - Healthy Attitudes
May - What I LOVE
June - Why I Need a Fitness Plan
July - Finding My Gifts
August - Embracing My Uniqueness
September - Eating is Important
October - Positive Self-Talk
November - Becoming a Team Player With My Family
December - How I Show Self-Love Each Day

The pages in between the monthly sections each have an inspirational saying, and plenty of space to journal.

Readability: This book/journal was very easy to read. Each month has a short passage, then inspirational sayings. Each month also features a different watermark type image on the pages, most in a floral design.

Overall: I enjoyed the book/journal. There were two particular sections I really enjoyed, in May (page 68), we are challenged: "Draw a flower, and inside each petal write the things that make you feel great. Then, along the stem, write how you can find time in your schedule to do them." I really enjoyed this simple task! I also liked the challenge in October to change a negative comment about yourself into an opposite and to laugh about it. Example - My hair is frizzy. Changes to: My hair is NOT frizzy enough. Ok - on my frizzy days, if I got any frizzier, I'd be able to power my house with all the static electricity! I am going to share this book with my niece and see how she likes it. She is a few years older than the girls who co-wrote the book with Rebecca Evans.

About the Author: (Taken from Amazon)
Rebecca Evans is a motivational speaker, author and empowerment coach. Her core philosophy, fitness from the inside out resounds for men and women of all ages. As a frequent columnist, radio show host and frequent television guest, she shares her empowerment techniques with thousands of individuals weekly. Her accomplishments as a business woman have landed her as Idaho Business Review s Idaho Women of the Year honors, the National Association of Women Business Owners Business Women of the Year honors, and Boise State University's Women Making History in Idaho . She is a former Girls on the Run program director, Mrs. Idaho International 2004 and a decorated Gulf War veteran. She is the author of The Art of Self Discovery, Inner Fitness for Celebrating Your Life, Inner Fitness for Girls and Inner Fitness for Empowerment and lives in Idaho with her husband and three children