每天讀一篇美麗英文：世間最溫暖美好的英文故事（簡體書）

Foreword
前言
Chapter 1 Liking Myself
第一部分　喜歡自己
　01 Ready to Listen
　準備好聆聽別人的意見
　02 Climbing Nevis Peak
　攀登尼維斯山頂峰
　03 My Transformation
　我的轉變
　04 Eat, Exercise, Brush Your Teeth
　飲食、運動、刷牙
　05 Wonderfully Made
　完美體形
　06 Taking Control of My Body Image
　控制對自己身體的看法
　07 The After Picture
　心態改變後的照片
　08 Just Breathe
　放下包袱就好
　09 Photographic Evidence
　照片證據
　10 Success by Failure
　失敗的成功
　Chapter 2 Having a Partner
第二部分　找個同伴
　11 Moving
　運動
　12 Partners in Craving
　渴望美食的夫妻
　13 Vanquishing Voldemort
　打敗伏地魔
　14 For Mind and Body
　思想與身體
　15 To Diet or Not to Diet
　減肥還是不減肥
　16 Ignorance Isn’t Bliss
　無知不是幸福
　17 My Friends Are Losers
　我的朋友都減肥
　18 My Husband Is on a Diet
　我的丈夫在減肥
　19 Bridge to Life
　重獲新生的橋樑
　20 It Pays to Keep Walking
　花錢繼續散步
　Chapter 3 Telling Myself the Truth
第三部分　告訴自己真相
　21 Lying to Myself
　對自己撒謊
　22 A Weighty Revelation
　沉重的真相
　23 A Bag of Potatoes
　一包土豆
　24 Cheating that Works
　有效的作弊
　25 Lip Service
　嘴皮子功夫
　26 How Much Does a Secret Weigh?
　秘密有多沉重？
　27 Eating My Idols
　吃掉我的偶像
　28 Taken by Surprise
　吃了一驚
　29 Weighing In
　稱體重
　Chapter 4 Foods that Made a Difference
第四部分　起作用的食物
　30 Soul Food
　精神食物
　31 No Meat for Me, Thanks
　不用給我肉，謝謝
　32 The Power of Words
　文字的力量
　33 Listening to My Body
　聆聽自己的身體
　34 Blessed Beans
　幸福的豆子
　35 Dairy-Free Queen
　無乳製品皇后
　36 The Power of Oatmeal
　燕麥片的力量
　37 A Diet for Living
　改變生活的飲食法_ 253
　38 It’s a Dog’s Life
　狗的一生
　39 The Condiment Queen Clams Up
　調料皇后閉口不言
　Chapter 5 Off the Beaten Path
第五部分　與眾不同
　40 The Decaf Coffee Bar
　無咖啡因咖啡吧
　41 Just Eat
　就是吃
　42 Arabian Abs
　阿拉伯式腹肌
　43 Face Workout
　臉部鍛煉
　44 The Amazing Newborn Weight Loss Program
　神奇的新生兒減肥計畫
　45 10,000 Steps in My Shoes
　穿著鞋走一萬步
　46 Taking Care of Me
　照顧自己
　47 Surgery Isn’t the Easy Way Out
　手術不是捷徑
　48 How I Clicked with Fitness
　我是如何喜歡上健身的
　49 Granny-Size Helpings
　祖母的分量
　50 Keeping Busy
　保持忙碌
　51 Three Easy Steps
　三個簡單步驟
　Meet Our Authors
　見見我們的作者
　About Richard Simmons
　關於理查?西蒙斯
　Thank You
　感謝詞
　Chicken Soup for the Soul Improving Your Life Every Day
　《心靈雞湯》每天改善你的生活
　Share with Us
　與我們一同分享

02 Climbing Nevis Peak
攀登尼維斯山頂峰
Self-conquest is the greatest of victories.
—Plato
My trips to the Caribbean usually include nothing but sun, sand, and umbrella drinks. But on a recent getaway to the West Indies my husband, Tom, and I ventured out of our comfort zones and climbed to the top of Nevis Peak, a dormant volcano in the center of Nevis, a small island nation located about 220 miles southeast of Puerto Rico.
We had spent our honeymoon in Nevis and had admired the beauty of the Peak but gave no thought to visiting the summit. In the weeks leading up to our return — to celebrate our fifth anniversary — we discussed climbing the mountain, though neither of us had ever attempted such a feat.
On our first full day in Nevis, we arranged a guide through the concierge at the Four Seasons. Early the next morning we met our guide, Sheldon, and traveled together by taxi to the staging point for the climb.
The hike started out pretty much as we’d imagined — a moderately uphill nature walk. We passed old, delightfully rundown sugar mills, breadfruit and banana trees, and mischievous green vervet monkeys that made us laugh.
“No need for dat, mon,” said Sheldon, as I slathered my arm with sunscreen. “We’ll be out of da sun in a few.” Wearing Dickies and a green logo T-shirt, his style screamed urban hipster, not mountain guide, and his thick Caribbean accent made his words dance.
He was right. Minutes later the forest began to close in on us and the sun was gone. We were dwarfed by the colossal roots and towering trees as we made our way through the dark, dense, and muddy jungle. The incline continued to increase until it seemed impossible to walk without falling off the earth. That’s when we encountered the first knotted rope, needed to aid our ascent, followed by dozens more. Hours passed; my heart raced and drops of sweat made my eyes sting. As I continuously climbed over rocks, maneuvered under fallen trees and used the rope to pull myself up nearly vertical slopes, it dawned on me — I had the strength to do so, because for most of my life, I wouldn’t have been able to.
Thanks to my general lethargy, combined with my love for ice cream and almost daily dates with jumbo bags of Doritos, I hit my all-time high of 216 pounds during my sophomore year of college. All the nacho cheese flavor and Cherry Garcia in the world couldn’t mask the shame I felt for letting my body pass the 200-pound mark. It took a nasty fall in which I severely sprained my ankle to change my ways. The fall forced me into six weeks of physical therapy to help strengthen my ankle. Ultimately, the fall and subsequent stint of PT were blessings in disguise. I discovered my body related really well to exercise and, much to my dismay, I relished working up a sweat.
And now, here I was, 65 pounds thinner and climbing a mountain; making my body work harder than any other time in my life. Even after my significantweight loss and ability to kick it out in a spinning class, I still didn’t think of myself as fit. But after reaching the cloud-covered summit and making our trek back down the mountain, I changed the way I thought about my body — physically powerful and beautiful.
As we approached the edge of the jungle, it began to rain. The light drizzle turned to torrential downpour and I felt an overwhelming sense of cleanliness. The mud that by now covered every inch of my body washed away, as did the negative feelings about myself that I’d harbored for years.
—Jennifer Leckstrom

征服自己是最偉大的勝利。
——柏拉圖
通常，我去加勒比海旅行，除了陽光、海灘和帶飲料傘的飲品就沒別的了。但最近在和丈夫湯姆去的西印度群島之旅中，我大膽跳出我們的舒適範圍，爬上了尼維斯山的頂峰，那是一座位於尼維斯中心地帶的休眠火山，尼維斯是一個距離波多黎各東南部大約二百二十英里的島國。
我們的蜜月是在尼維斯度過的，我們一直對尼維斯山峰的美讚不絕口，但從來沒想過要參觀它的頂峰。在重回尼維斯山慶祝我們結婚五周年紀念日的前幾個星期，儘管我們都沒有嘗試過這麼了不起的壯舉，但還是商量著要爬山。
在尼維斯的第一天，我們在四季酒店的服務台找了一個導遊。第二天一早，我們見到了我們的導遊謝爾登，然後一起坐計程車前往集結點準備爬山。
開始，這次爬山和我們想像中的差不多，就是一次適度地向上自然前進。我們見到了古老的、令人喜悅的蕭條糖廠、麵包樹和香蕉樹，還有讓人開懷大笑的淘氣小猿猴。
“沒必要用那個，女士。”謝爾登在我往手臂上狂塗防曬霜的時候說道，“一會兒我們不會在太陽底下走的。”他穿著迪凱斯工裝褲和帶有綠色標誌的運動衫，更像城裡的時髦人物，而不是一個山區嚮導，他那濃重的加勒比口音說出的話就跟跳舞似的。
他說得沒錯。幾分鐘之後，我們完全被籠罩在森林之中，太陽也不見了，在陰暗、農密、泥濘的叢林中一路穿梭的我們在巨大的植物和高聳的樹木旁邊顯得很渺小。坡度在不斷增加，直到看上去幾乎無路可走時，我們就用了第一根多節繩索幫助爬山了，之後我們還用了好多根。幾小時過去了，我心跳加速，眼睛被汗水刺痛。就在不斷地爬過岩石、周旋于倒下的樹木之間、用繩子幫自己爬上幾近垂直的山坡時，我突然茅塞頓開，自己有這個能力做到，卻從來沒意識到，因為自己大半輩子都沒想過要試試。
多虧了自己的懶惰，加上對冰激淩的喜愛和幾乎每天都要吃的大包大包的多力多滋玉米片，整個大二我的體重一直保持在二百十六磅的高紀錄。而全世界所有的烤乾酪辣味玉米片和櫻桃牛奶冰激淩都無法掩蓋我體重超過二百磅的羞愧，直到有一次我摔得不輕，嚴重扭傷腳踝才改變了自己的生活方式。那次跌倒迫使我接受六個星期的物理治療以強健腳踝，最後，那次跌倒和之後的適量體育鍛煉其實是件好事，我發現自己的身體真的適合鍛煉，而讓我驚訝的是，我喜歡上了汗流浹背的運動。
現在的我，輕了六十五磅，爬著山，身體比任何時候都要努力。即使在減掉那麼多體重、能夠玩轉動感單車之後，我還是覺得自己不夠強健。但在到達被雲彩覆蓋的山頂、按原路返回山腳之後，我改變了對自己身體的想法，自己是有力而美麗的。
就在我們接近叢林邊緣時，開始下雨了。毛毛細雨漸漸變成傾盆大雨，我感到一陣勢不可當的清爽。身體上的每一處泥巴都被雨水沖刷掉了，而自己隱藏多年的消極想法也隨之消失無蹤。
——詹妮佛•雷科斯托姆