Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love (Book)

At 32 years old, Elizabeth Gilbert was educated, had a home, a husband, and a successful career as a writer. However, she was unhappy in her marriage and often spent the night sleeping on her bathroom floor. After separating from her husband, initiating a divorce and giving up most of her asset so her husband would agree with the divorce , she get on a rebound relationship which continued for some time but did not work out, leaving her more devastated. While writing an article on yoga vacations in Bali, Gilbert met a medicine man who told her she would one day come back and teach him English. The medicine man drew a picture of how he see Elizabeth as a person. Gilbert spent the next year travelling around the world.

She spent four months in Italy, eating and enjoying life ("Eat"). Encourage a friend in a pizza parlor that today you should not worry of your weight, enjoy the best pizza in the world. She spent three months in India, finding her spirituality ("Pray"). She tried different meditation techniques to find peace in her life but sitting silently even when mosquito is biting her gave her the peace that she is looking for. Richard from Texas also a student was a guardian her at a moment when she needed a great deal of care. She once asked Richard if he was afraid of death. He said, "The only thing I know for sure about death is that it seems to take most people by surprise." He had been a heart patient for years, and it finally caught up with him. He passed away quietly, at home, with a smile on his face. She ended the year in Bali, Indonesia, looking for "balance" of the two and found love ("Love") in the form of a Brazilian factory owner.

Eat Pray Love (film)

Columbia Pictures purchased film rights for the memoir and has produced a film version under the same title. It was released on August 13, 2010. American actress Julia Roberts starred in the film; Ryan Murphy directed it. The film also stars Javier Bardem, James Franco, Richard Jenkins and Billy Crudup. Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner of Plan B, Pitt's production company, produced the film.[10]

A book review from Taniam

I find it so surprising--reading the angry, negative reviews--that the people who hated the book hated it for exactly the reasons why some steer clear away from the the spiritual-journey-memoir genre. Yes, the author is self-absorbed, yes, she seems to think of only trite stuff, yes, she seems self-indulgent with her problems. And yes, she's allowed. It is after all a book that is positioned to address these things in the author's self; who otherwise would not be searching for something more: more meaning and more appreciation in/of her life.
Here is a woman who shows all the possibly-perceived-as-lacking-substance thoughts of hers and we are throwing tomatoes at her. One thing, she obviously wasn't afraid of that. She wasn't aiming to be coming off as some deeply wise woman but a fumbling girl-woman trying to break out of what she felt was imminent disaster (had she had the baby and delayed her need to find out what she truly wants from her life she might have left not only her husband, but their child, or most probably ending up not leaving out of guilt and becoming crazy instead: exposing her family to that for years; not an uncommon reality). She is not one for anti-depressants, remember.
This memoir falls in the same category as the TV show Sex and the City (of which it was compared to in a review here). Both get trampled for being supposedly superficial, covering the silly plights of city girls who don't know what they want and yet have everything. But this book--as the TV show--actually are part of a wider story that is illiciting reactions from the public because it reflects the transition in which women in the modern world are experiencing: now that we have equality with men professionally, now that we are liberated from all the limitations being a woman dictated two generations ago, how does that affect us? From a distance, in a glance, it seems that women have all the cards to play with now. But this book and many other works by women and/or about women of this generation show that having all those cards does not mean Happiness.
There are still things in society--in regards to a woman's role--that grates. And then there are things within our Modernised, Westernized, Individualized, Ambitious selves, that are lacking.
This is what Miss Gilbert's search is about, and what she represents.
On a collective level, much of the modern world is in search of God, Spirituality (one just needs to walk through bookstores in the US and see the plethora of soul searching self help books on the shelves). This is what needs to be observed and understood as a phenomena in the West; the small voices, small cries, here and there by those who come up with the balls to share their journeys and thoughts with us--no matter how trite-sounding, how shallow-seeming--are part of a collective howl for the meaning of life.
Elizabeth Gilbert's voice is just one of many that calls for recognition as part of a chorus for something that firstly, many women are hollering about, and secondly, humanity in general--humanity in the first world--are crying for: some kind of guidance, indication, that the collective paths we fought for and chose (the best education, career ambitions realised, a certain amount of money needed to live that certain kind of magazine-lifestyle life--which is what Liz Gilbert's life is a reflection of, remember--love in the form of marriage and what society dictates) are truly the things that give us peace and happiness in the infinite sense.
Eat, Pray, Love might not be that deep, wise voice representing the deep, wise journey into the deep, wise self. But this book's packaging and tone, hell, its WORDS, never did say it was. It is a fumbling--almost child-like in its guilelessness--show of the ego's awareness and needs, and its attempt at searching for what many people from all walks of life only wish they could go out and find: THEMSELVES. SELF, being the keyword here. And in this memoir, ultimately, God, being in each of our selves.
To the people who were disappointed that the author didn't seem to give a hoot about India's poverty, they must have not read the book through: Miss Gilbert never ventured out of her ashram and the little village it is located in, after making a decision to further develop her meditation skills and thus skipping the rest of India. She also ignored Italy's corruption with her indulging in good food and focus on learning and enjoying the Italian language. Again, the critics missed the point of this memoir. It's a book about a writer, a New Yorker, a recently-divorced-woman-in-her-early-thirties' journey to heal and find spiritual strength through various means: pleasure first to recover (Italy), spiritual examination and purging (India), combining the two for balance (Bali), which would result hopefully in the kind of substance and depth and balance that so many critics mentioned she lacks.
One doesn't pick this book up to: 1. Be exposed to India's poverty and expect the author to discuss that in depth. 2. Be exposed to Italy's corruption and expect the author to discuss that in depth. 3. Be exposed to Balinese wiles and expect the author to discuss that in depth. (which she actually did in the account of the Balinese woman she raised money for to buy the land the woman needed to build a home).

Next time you pick a book up at the bookstore, call up your powers of perception before purchasing it. A book IS pretty much its cover. Did everyone really expect a book titled "Eat, Pray, Love" A Woman's Search for Everything, to be an experience of religious fervour, one that would reveal the secrets of the universe? It's a story about a girl who thought everything she thought she wanted, would bring her happiness. It didn't. It didn't for her, and possibly not for many other women. If it took this one woman to go to Italy, India, and Indonesia, to get away after a difficult and painful divorce to heal and get perspective--instead of festering and turning into a pile of flesh in depression--then by all means. Yes, she financed her travels through her book advance--after giving away the suburban home and NYC apartment to her ex-husband. And if she wrote this book for us, it's really for us to appreciate and enjoy the ride with her. Anybody else who got so upset needed only to put the book down and pick another one to their taste. If anything, that's this book's lesson: Do what makes you smile and thankful for life.

Dr. Oz Top Ten Tips To Be Healthy

1. Develop a short morning routine.
A daily schedule is critical, especially in the morning when you’re rushing. Oz starts his day at 5:45 a.m. with a 7-minute yoga stretch.

Set aside time to eat too. “You don’t have to have breakfast as soon as you wake up – just don’t skip it,” Oz says.

A morning meal sets you up for a day of healthy eating, he says. But that doesn’t mean Pop-Tarts. Choose high-fiber and high-protein foods, which will keep you satisfied longer.

2. Load up on fiber.
Fiber stabilizes metabolism and prevents you from making bad choices later in the day.

“Having fiber in your breakfast results in less hunger in the afternoon, when you're most likely to be tired and binge on sugar,” Oz says.

Aim to eat 25 grams a day.

Some foods rich in fiber:
• Bran cereal
• Whole-wheat breads and pasta
• Vegetables such as spinach, kale, collards and broccoli
• Almonds and pistachios
• Legumes and lentils
3. Get your zzz’s.
Easier said than done, we know. But a full night’s sleep is critical for good health… and a trim figure. Lack of sleep can slow your metabolism (which makes it harder to lose weight), according to a 2004 study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Oz recommends getting at least seven to 7-1/2 hours of snooze time a night.

4. Take supplements.
A woman's most important supplement is vitamin D, Oz says: It's essential for bone health and calcium absorption.

Vitamin D is found in some foods (such as salmon, liver, eggs and fortified milk), but a typical diet doesn't provide us with enough. Depending on your age, you should get at least 200-1,000 international units (IUs) a day.

Another way to boost your vitamin D levels? Spend time – but not too much – in the sun: Just 10 minutes a day without sun-block.

Oz also recommends that women take omega-3 supplements: 600 mg for adults and 100 mg for kids. It can help reduce inflammation, improve memory and concentration, prevent breast, colon and prostate cancers, and protect against heart attack and stroke.

The supplement is similar to fish oil but without the side effects, which can include fishy-tasting burps, upset stomach, abdominal bloating and acid reflux, heartburn or indigestion.

Eat foods rich in omega-3 fats too – specifically, DHA-omega 3, Oz says, which is found in plankton and seaweed.

He also recommends North American ginseng for adults. The herb has antioxidant properties and has been used to treat sexual dysfunction and type 2 diabetes.

5. Work out early in the morning.
Do you always plan to exercise, but never do? It’s a common problem with women, which is why Oz recommends working out first thing in the a.m. - “before everyone can get to you.”

Start with a stretching routine. Oz likes yoga because it simultaneously stretches and builds muscles.

The best way to burn fat is to build muscle, so include strength training, he adds.

But don’t worry about weight – focus on waist.

“The dangers of obesity are much more related to your waist size than weight,” Oz says.

Flabby abs means you have fat next to the liver, which may affect organ function and lead to a host of other health problems, including type 2 diabetes.

The average American woman should have a waist circumference of 32.5 inches or less; greater than 37 inches could increase your heart disease risk, Oz says.

Which is an important reason to do cardio exercise at least every other day – even if only for 10 minutes.

And don’t get discouraged or make excuses – “I’m getting too old” or “It’s not in my genes” – for not completing a fitness routine.

People 50 and older are plenty capable of staying fit. Physical fitness is determined more by lifestyle than genetics, he says.

6. Ditch junk food.
Avoid products with simple sugars, syrups, saturated fats, trans fats and white flour. They don’t have essential nutrients and, when we eat too much, they’re turned into fat and stored in the body.

Also, make smart decisions at the supermarket. Buy leafy greens, such as arugula and spinach − they detoxify the liver, which helps the body filter toxins

Eat locally grown or organic produce. Shop at farmer’s markets. Or pre-pay a grower to deliver baskets of fresh produce weekly – a sort of subscription-based food supply, Oz says. To find a consumer-supported agriculture program, check out Local Harvest.

And remember: It’s OK to occasionally gobble a bowl of ice cream.

“About 90% of Americans will try to diet but fail,” Oz says. Just don’t lose your confidence or determination when you falter – get back on track the next day.

7. Don’t drink two alcoholic drinks in a row.
Dehydration and snacking on fatty foods are just two of the regrettable side effects of knocking ‘em back.

Instead, alternate between a cocktail and glass of water or juice. The volume of fluid will keep you hydrated and prevent a hangover. Plus, drinking in moderation will cut calorie consumption.

When you’re socializing at happy hour, keep one hand free, Oz advises. If you keep both hands full with food and a drink, you’ll feel forced to scarf them down quickly.

8. Have regular sex.
It is key to mental and physical health. A person’s life expectancy climbs three years with twice-weekly sex, compared to a person who has it just twice a year, he says.

“Frequent sex proves your body is functioning the way it’s supposed to, and having sex with someone you love is one way we achieve that Zen experience.”

A study published in the January 2010 issue of Journal of Sexual Medicine refuted the existence of a female G-spot – but Oz disagrees.

“The G-spot is a place where nerves come together,” he says. “Women shouldn’t feel guilty if they can’t find it. Some women may have nerves that are close there and can be stimulated, others [may not].”

Learn How to Find Your G-Spot.

Even if you don’t know which group you’re in, do the “research” with your mate, Oz says.

And there’s another physical act that’s just as important: cuddling.

“Getting comfortable with cuddling without expecting sex makes you feel more comfortable with your partner.”

9. Get mammogram and Pap smear cancer screenings – just not as frequently.
New Pap smear guidelines from the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommend that women wait until they’re 21 before getting their first screening for cervical cancer. And Oz agrees – for the most part.

Teens may not need a Pap as often as older women do, Oz says. That’s because younger girls have many hormonal changes that could result in false positives, which may lead to unnecessary biopsies.

But, according to guidelines posted on Oz’s Web site, a Pap smear for cervical cancer should begin three years after the onset of sexual activity or at age 21, whichever comes first. Afterward, women should have annual screenings.

What about mammograms? Oz feels the downside outweighs the benefits of yearly exams.

“The chance a mammogram will save your life is so small that it’s not worth the stress you’ll go through during the procedure,” he says.

Wait until age 50 to have a mammogram – as long as you don’t have a higher risk, he advises.

He also encourages all women to perform breast self-exams regularly.

10. Instill exercise and healthy eating habits in your children.
Pass your healthy habits forward – to your kids.

Childhood obesity has more than doubled in the past 20 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in part, because kids haven’t learned healthy habits, Oz says.

“We have to change their environment to make physical activity seem more natural to them.”