Member Reviews
I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this ebook. I heard about this book in a podcast - Happier with Gretchen Rubin and I was immediately interested. To my surprise, I came across it the very week here on NetGalley. Dr. Rangan Chatterjee does not disappoint in this book. Its filled with tips and changes to make your life simpler and easier. |
I’m a fan of the author’s social media presence so I was pleased to be given a digital version from Netgalley in exchange for my review. The ideas presented to introduce small healthy habits into your daily routine are great. Chatterjee calls them ‘health snacks‘, but they aren’t necessarily edible ;) I think there’s something for everyone in his book, what he suggests for body, mind and brain only takes minutes and can be slotted easily into your day. There are links to his website and podcast episodes for those who’d like more. I’m sure this book will be as popular as his previous offerings. I’m looking forward to buying a paper copy, which will be useful for quick reference for implementing the ‘snacks’ more easily, though the audio version does come with pdfs. |
The title grabbed me right off the bat. Dr. Chatterjee has lots of five minute ideas for improving your health and life. The positives for the book are that most are actionable and he includes stories of people who had success with them. I also liked the pictures of people doing the exercises. The negative was that he got wordy so I started skimming and lost interest. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. |
The title of the book was enough for me to pick it up. As you can guess, this book offers practical tips and suggestions on practices that can help us feel better in 5 minutes, such as mindfulness, movement, and heart-lifting. These are things most of us would already have tried or at least know of, but still, the book is a great reminder of incorporating these into our daily lives. I love how the emphasis is on the little time it takes to make an impact on our well being and mental health. I look forward to creating a more consistent practice and see the results for myself. Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ Thank you Netgalley for this e-ARC. |
Meli K, Reviewer
This book contains a lot of valuable information, but unfortunately, I felt it was too confusing. It is even worse in an ebook format because you can't go back and forth so easily. Maybe some other type of organization would be better. Otherwise, the book has good content. There are also some good tips on how to help your habits stick. I like the design and photographs that accompany the text. Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this! All opinions are my own. |
Feel Better In 5 is a self-help book by Dr. Chatterjee. This inspirational book contains step-by-step instructions for many 5 minute activities designed to change our habits and create a healthy body and mind. British Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, is also a TV presenter for the BBC and hosts his own podcasts. I received a digital copy from NetGalley. |
Educator 709329
Feel Better in 5 by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee is an practical, easy to follow plan. Dr. Chatterjee developed a plan that will help you to feel better within days, is easy to follow, and lead to long lasting change. It also requires only a little willpower. Typically, we all start diets/lifestyle changes with large plans with lot of steps and then are disappointed in a matter of weeks or months when we are unable to stick to the plan. This plan is an easy to follow plan that will take only 5 minutes of time, three times a day for 5 days a week. This plan is broken down into 3 different areas: mind, body, and heart. This plan will ask you to introduce three simple and easy “health snacks” or daily practices into your life to help you to feel better and make small adjustments for improvement of your overall life. By completing these health snacks a day, you will feel happier, calmer, and have more energy. Dr. Chatterjee lays out the plan in a step by step fashion and really helps you to believe that you can transform your health in just 15 minutes per day. Starting the plan is so simple. You choose one health snack from each of the 3 sections (mind, body, heart) and add them into your daily routine for five days of the week. This plan allows you to choose what you would like to work on however, Dr. Chatterjee has also laid out specific health snacks for particular health concerns such as: back pain, anger, chronic pain, excess weight, gut issues, headaches, high blood pressure, depression, and anxiety if you feel more comfortable following his recommendations. I highly recommend this book. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. |
I listen to Dr Chaterjee's Podcasts and have read his first book. I find his podcasts brilliant and his books full of super practical and helpful information and inspiration. I like that he is realistic about what someone can achieve and there is never a 'preachy' style about his work. He is encouraging people to change habits but not berating them when they fall short. He links it to himself and is open about his struggles which helps people to connect with him. I found that on an e-reader this was quite hard to get the flow of the book . I think this is one that would be ready in paperback format. |
*thank you to Netgalley, Dr. Rangan Chatterjee and BenBella Books for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review* 4.5 stars I highly approve this book. Not only is it informative, it's easy to understand and follow and it just makes so much sense. So many people think they are to blame if they find losing weight so hard. Which I get. It takes a massive amount of mental energy and focus and by the end of the day you are usually so drained that it feels not worth it. But it shouldn't be this hard and this book can help with that. It's easy to dismiss how important and helpful a teeny tiny baby step of a change can help. But this book explains how much it can. Weight loss isn't about going full force or even 50% full force. That's simply too much. Dr. Rangan Chatterjee knows this. He's a GP and has had alot of experience with clients trying and failing to lose weight. He knows what he's talking about and I am so glad for this book. Not only does this book include information on his experiences with clients, but also so many helpful tips covering a wide range of areas including exercise suggestions. Now I know that for alot of people, the very suggestion of exercise comes with a groan and not surprising because most people think that they need to set an exercise goal to be meet each day or every however often, per week goal ASWELL as tackling and setting up too many food rules. No wonder it overwhelms and drains people so fast. It's simply too much. But if you take Dr. Rangan Chatterjee approach and take things very slowly and in very small amounts, it is possible to change something that seems like a task to becoming a habit that you don't think twice about doing. I can definitely see this book helping alot of people. I also really liked the photos in here. There was something so calming about them. Maybe it was the objects themselves in the photos or it was the colouring, I don't know. But they were definitely a nice welcomed touch to this book. I highly recommend. |
Dr. Chatterjee is a genius. I have never read a book that made the pathway to be healthy so achievable! His explanations are brilliant. I feel energized and ready to add these little health "snacks" to my routine 3 times a day for 5 days a week each snack only taking 5 minutes. If you play with your smart phone, you can swap out 15 minutes a day playing a match a three game. These are things everyone can do from 5 to 80 years of age. Everyone should read it, doctors should have it out like a prescription! There are three people on my Christmas gift list getting it this year. All you need to do is pick one five minute health snack from each category : Mind, Body, and Heart, to do each day for 5 minutes 5 days a week. Doing this regularly, these snacks will become habits like brushing your teeth. You will see your health improve. It has worked for me these past two weeks I have been doing my snacks, Simple Breathing, Desk Jockey workout, and Daily Pleasure are my go to snacks. What will yours be? |
Interesting concept...to feel better in five. Simple approach to giving yourself five minutes three times a day to help heal your mind, body, and heart. Something that pretty much anyone can give and the goal is as simplistic as the work. What did I like? Kudos to the author at handing us a simple approach to a healthier life. I approve of the method and enjoyed the complimentary e-book. I feel like this could become the new dog eared book in my life. We all deal with life’s issues differently but most people need a healthier way to adapt to life. Five minutes....three times a day could give us that healthy kick to succeed. From exercise, meditation, yoga, all the way to helping forgiveness....I loved it. Would I buy or recommend? Absolutely think this book is a must have ....and I’m going to buy some copies to give to people I think it will help. Not only do I feel like it will help me but it’s simple. Ebook copy is fun but I’d rather have a paper copy. I’ve read a ton of books on all these ideas separate and this is the first time I’ve seen something like this all in one book. I received a complimentary copy to read and voluntarily left a review. Five stars! Great book! |
Holly G, Librarian
This is one of those titles best served by a physical copy. The advice given on particular issues often references an appendix like list of "fixes." It's well written, easy understand and apply, but not overly user friendly for an e-reader. I'd rather be able to flip here and there, tag with post-its and write, which I know can be done with an e-reader, but it's so much more difficult. Format aside, I enjoyed the book and have implemented quite a few of the tips! |
This is an excellent self-help book from a medical doctor who proposes doing just three five-minute "health snacks" a day to greatly improve physical and emotional health. He breaks them down into sections -- mind, body and heart. You anchor each of these new habits to something you already do every day, like brushing your teeth. All you have to do is commit to doing each one for 5 minutes, 5 days a week (I plan on every day, personally). What I especially like about the plan is that you get to pick which habits you do, and you're supposed to do the ones that sound the most enjoyable to you. There are several that really appealed to me, like painting for 5 minutes a day. I never would have even considered painting for 5 minutes because it would take that long to just get out the supplies, but it occurred to me that if I had the supplies all ready in one place and had little index cards as canvases I could totally paint for 5 minutes each morning sometime and would likely do more (which is fine). Many are much simpler, like just going outside in the sunlight and being outside for 5 minutes at the start of each day. There are habits that strengthen connections with others, help relieve stress and much more. Chatterjee also has recommended habit lists to help a huge variety of issues, from diabetes to depression. The book is a quick read and has illustrations of all of the yoga poses and such to help you. It's also very encouraging, with case studies of his patients who greatly improved their lives with small changes like these. I never stick to huge changes but the combination of short duration and getting to choose habits that sound fun makes this something I'm excited to begin. I read a digital ARC of this book for review. |
This book takes an interesting approach to incorporating new habits into your life. The idea is that you choose three new habits: one for body, one for mind, and one for heart. You practice each one for five minutes a day, five days a week. You tie each one to an already established habit (like making coffee in the morning) to make it easier for the new habit to stick. The author gives dozens of simple, actionable behaviors to choose from, but it's important that you only choose three new habits at a time. Otherwise, you can become overwhelmed.. It would be helpful, before reading this book, to read "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg. He provides a a powerful analysis of how new habit formation works. "Feel Better in 5" provides a cursory overview of these principles, but it felt 'salesy" to me. I was eager to get past the introductory material and get to the meat of it. Also, I found the organization of the book confusing and difficult to use in ebook form. The book isn't really meant to be read linearly—you're choosing three habits out of dozens—and there was no easy way to navigate from one habit to the next. Maybe in the final, published form, this problem has been fixed. If you're willing to put in the work, this book provides actionable, small steps you can take to make big changes in your life. I received an ARC from NetGalley and this is my honest review. |
May P, Reviewer
I like a lot of the ideas in this book. Not all of them will work for me but there are many, many good ideas and advice. Will try it and see if it works for me. A terrific and helpful book! |
Sophie F, Reviewer
I am a huge fan of these kind of self help books. There's so many different ways to coping and emotional support and strategies |
Susie F, Reviewer
I really enjoyed this book and found it helpful. I already want to re-read it, as I think it’s very useful and informative. I like the way it’s written and easy to take on board the information/advice. Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review. |
Who doesn't want their bodies to feel better? And what if I told you that all it took was 5 minutes, three times a day? "Feel Better in 5" by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee lays out a roadmap of a variety of 5 minute activities that will arguably improve both your mind and your body. Implementing these habits is easy and functional, often creating a more sustainable routine than other health practices. The biggest perk of this book is the specificity of not only the "Feel Better in 5" routine options, but also the detailing of each 5 minute routine. Chatterjee leaves no aspect without a description, unlike some health routines. Even exercises are explained and modifications given. These details leave people with little excuse to not create these habits. Everything is flexible and personalized to whatever you're looking to improve or gain. I also love how Chatterjee works with our natural behaviors to create new behaviors. He often encourages patients to add in the new behaviors to things you already do, such as brushing your teeth or boiling a pot of tea. These routines are already a natural part of your day. By connecting the new thing to something you always do, you are more likely to pick up the new habit as well. Chatterjee goes a step further and encourages you to place the items for the new routine next to your old routine items, like placing a journal next to your coffee pot. By keeping items in plain sight you will be more likely to complete the habit. I gave this book 4 stars. I like the routines and the practicality of it all, but I think that this book is missing a new step on what to do after you have established the new habits. Is there a next step or is this it? In the end though I think this book is extremely helpful and a great place to start focusing your mental health, especially as Covid continues to plague many of our minds and bodies. Thanks to NetGalley and BenBella Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is now available for purchase! Be sure to check it out and see if this book could be beneficial to you! |
Claren G, Educator
Didn’t connect to this book. The idea of the health snack doesn’t connect. I do like the idea of starting with 5 minutes of redirection a few times a day. |
Amazing tips and suggestions! Wellness culture is often defined by its unattainability, but Dr. Chatterjee is turning that narrative on its head, as he offers simple and easy ways to improve your mood and your life in just a few minutes, with suggestions ranging from breathwork exercises, to yoga poses, and ways to take care of your gut. |








