A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting

Pretty darn good imho

Casey has summarized her take on strength training in a compelling personal narrative. Information from her years worth of articles are available in this single volume. I highly recommend reading both this book and looking up her articles on strength training, both have helped my relationships with food, my body, and exercise. Thanks Casey!

This book is written as a memoir. The author provides unique and thoughtful insights on a topic I can relate to. She injects humor into her writing as well, which makes for a pleasant read.

I’ve read this book in a few sittings - it’s really good; a personal account of struggles with diet culture, eating and exercising, which I’m sure many women will identify with, and the benefits of strength training. I like how it’s well researched so it’s not just a personal account but factual and historical too. It’s encouraged me to keep up the strength work, up the weights and eat more. I’m doing it for the future me. Thank you Casey Johnston.

Highly recommend this book for all women who want to change their relationship to their bodies for the better!

Funny, witty, and a rare real-life look at how lifting can impact all aspects of your life for the better.This book does a fantastic job of explaining how people, especially women, are ALLOWED to take up space in the world. Each chapter was it's own anecdote, and I enjoyed reading it.Casey is a gem and a badass.

I have been wanting to lift weights as I think I have lost muscle through the years and I am worried about things like bone density and strength as I age. I saw a review and was excited to read it. I enjoyed her telling about her relationship with dieting and fitness, I also agree about toxic diet culture and applauded her finding what works for her and learning to love her body after her disordered eating. Her story is worth reading and Several things that were said resonated with me. I think it is perfect for those who are into heavy lifting and old school gyms. Lots of science and history but lots of books on dieting, other types of fitness have their own studies and science to back them up as well.I feel like she substituted one type of disordered eating for another. She is still was counting calories and micros and watching every bite but now it is a cycle of bulking(binge eating, eating quickly to get more calories in and stuffing herself.) followed by cutting(restricting to lose fat so her muscles will pop). How is that better? How is gorging on burgers and Ben and Jerry’s more healthy? She also is a weightlifting evangelist who berates others who aren’t into the exact thing she is. She talks bad about others who don’t lift just like she does, who like different types of gyms, weight machines, other types of exercise, wanting to be thinner or want to eat healthier foods. I felt bad for her mother who has her own disordered eating because she doesn’t want to gain weight by bulking up her muscles, i can’t imagine how demoralizing it was for mom to read all of that in a book😢 there are all kinds of ways to get healthy. Let mom do her core work and watch her calories without telling us all about how mom is wrong and you are right. Healthy and strong is the prize but not everyone wants huge muscles and to be busting out of their clothes.

Love this book! Smart, funny, and for me truly life changing.

Well written. Empowering. Life changing.

Reading this book felt like talking to a friend who really, honestly gets it. Although we don't agree on everything (I do love to run, and I absolutely adore deadlifts) but our core experience is so similar that I felt really empowered and enlightened reading this. This book inspired me to start my own weightlifting journey. I am three weeks in now, and my life has changed so dramatically!! I am happier, sleep better, my hot flashes have basically stopped, and I look and feel amazing. I cannot believe what I am capable of. Thank you for this book, Casey, you have truly saved a life.

truly a wonderful book for anyone who has ever felt weird in their body and thought - could this be different?

Absolutely refreshing view on fitness culture and a really great journey through the authors mindset and physical changes. 100000% recommend

This book changed my thinking about pursuing weight loss. I learned a lot about how eating low calorie leads to muscle loss and a lower metabolism, thus making it even harder to lose weight. I found Casey’s story very inspiring and she motivated me to try lifting.

Loved this book. Lots of useful information about strength training, but also unexpectedly poignant and funny in its analyses of our culture.

A poignant personal history alternating with science-based discussion of what strength training is all about. Humor, pathos, knowledge: a great read!

As a fan of Casey Johnston's "She's A Beast" newsletter in which she again and again reveals how the diet and wellness industry is doing everyone a disservice, of course I pounced on her memoir, _A Physical Education: How I Escaped Diet Culture and Gained the Power of Lifting._ Johnston details several years of her life, during which she ditched her toxic cardio and eating habits--kicking and screaming--and discovered the joys of strength training. In her typical journalistic style, Johnston also examines sources ranging from pop culture, to self-help books, to scientific journals, to--in an elegantly understated, YMMV fashion--draw parallels between her life experiences and larger cultural forces informing the experiences of the average woman in America. Highly recommend.

Happy I purchased this instead of waiting for it from my library. A relatable experience of disordered eating and body obsession, and most importantly a hopeful path out. Humorous. Appreciate the shorter chapters to digest in small bits. I will share this with friends for sure.

Synopsis:In A Physical Education, Casey Johnston recounts how she ventured into the brave new world of weightlifting, leaving behind years of restrictive eating and endless cardio. Woven through the trajectory of how she rebuilt her strength and confidence is a staggering exposé of the damaging doctrine spread by diet and fitness culture.Johnston's story dives deep into her own past relationships with calorie restriction, exercise, and codependency. As she progresses on her weightlifting journey, she begins to eat to fuel her growing strength—and her food cravings vanish. Her physical progress fuels a growing understanding of how mainstream messaging she received about women’s bodies was about preserving the status quo. Previously convinced that physical improvement was a matter of suffering, she now knows it requires self-regard and patience. A little pushing at a time adds up to the reawakening of parts of herself she didn’t even know were there.A Physical Education asks why so many of us spend our lives trying to get "healthy” by actively making our bodies weaker. Casey Johnston is a voice for those of us who feel underdeveloped and unfulfilled in our bodies and are looking to come home to ourselves.What I really loved:- I LOVED Casey's transparency, honesty, and vulnerability. Starting out into lifting brings about a million different thoughts (skepticism - no way if I just "do this" I could look, feel, be "this" - fear of failure, fear of "what if it doesn't work and I just get fat," fear of getting to "bulky," fear of ... everything! She laid it all out there for you to follow along with, and I found myself saying so often "that was me - I had those same thoughts too!" I'm just fresh enough into lifting that this resonated so wildly with the path I've just started to take myself, and man, so motivating.- I loved the science, the research, the straight-forward "this is how your body works" aspects. Anyone can sell a supplement or a workout program, but science at the end of the day is science, and how your body works is how it works, and strength training is fully backed by science and facts, and if you pair it with nutrition ... well, welcome to the Matrix, a whole world you never knew existed because you'd been lied to your whole life and discovered you've been living in the Upside Down the whole time instead.- This book helped everything to officially "click" in my brain. I get it now, and I'm ready to GO!What I didn’t love:- Nothing. There was absolutely nothing I didn't love. The only thing I wish was that I could've had more to read - it felt like a conversation with Casey just nerding out on this revelationary change in her life and how we could have it, too. So, I guess I'm off to find her newsletter and sign up for it, because I want more of this positive body talk sponsored by science and a dash of hope!Overall:Where do I start to sum up how much I loved this book? I follow Meg Gallagher (Meg Squats) on socials and have started following her program decently closely in the last 10 months. I didn't pick up a barbell officially until 11 weeks ago (finally feeling more confident and ready to take the leap). A handful of days ago, Meg posted a story with the cover of the book and said she was excited to read it. So of course I ran to Netgalley to see if I could snag an early review copy, devour it, and review it. And here I am. Best book I've read of 2025, and a pivotal book in helping me see the world, food, my body, and strength/lifting in an ENTIRELY new light. It's as if the curtain has been pulled back and I can see everything for what it is. And Casey hit on ALL the same thoughts and feelings I've had as I've begun on this little journey - the hesitation and skepticism, the mind-blowing moment of understanding where strength and nutrition clicked, the immediate liberation, the empowerment ... the list goes on. I can't recommend this book enough, especially to women. If you're caught in the cycle of "diet" culture, signing up for the next fitness class or cardio-whatever hoping it might work this time ... do your future self a massive favor and just pick up the book - stay open-minded and willing to listen, and your life will change drastically for the better.Thank you to both Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for allowing me to read an early review copy! I will be buying a physical copy as well, because man, this was a good one.

Intelligent, thoughtful, thought provoking and well written.

I have been waiting for a book like this. A story of unapologetically taking up space. A raw, authentic journey of leaving societal expectations in the rear view and embracing strength and size. Casey Johnston's story is so inspiring I started lifting heavier weights, and have felt my own personal goal shift from "strong and svelte" to "strong at whatever size I end up being, because that is where my body is meant to be." This book is also incredibly informative. I feel like I now know more about strength training than I ever did before, and I have been lifting for years. Casey's meticulous research, approachable writing style, engaging humor, and refreshing candor make this a must-read for any woman who is tired of feeling like she has to stay small.