The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter

This book was mostly great. I loved the way Easter mixed bits of his Alaskan adventure story in with insights about the benefits of discomfort; honestly, I think I would have enjoyed reading a book solely recounting his trip to the wilderness! As for the research findings he shared, the sections about boredom and exercise were particularly interesting and motivating.

The section about hunger felt a bid odd, though. While most of the book had a nice wholistic focus on overall well-being, the hunger section was primarily about eating less and losing weight. Clearly maintaining a healthy weight is an important part of taking care of yourself, but many people are concerned about weight loss to the point that their mental health suffers; I was disappointed that Easter didn’t touch on mental and emotional well-being in this section or at least talk about weight loss a bit more delicately. More background information about why maintaining a healthy weight is important would have been nice, too.

Overall, I thought that The Comfort Crisis did a good job of highlighting the many upsides of embracing more discomfort in our lives. Even without making any real changes yet, I already feel less bothered by a bit of cold, hunger, or tiredness.