In this yoga memoir, author Jessica Berger Gross details how she “lost 40 pounds with a yoga mat, fresh pineapples, and a Beagle-Pointer.” With a subtitle like that, I had to read this book.

It’s a very relatable tale. After a challenging childhood (including an abusive father and an exhausted, cowed mother), college-age Jessica finds herself an overweight, chain-smoking wallflower. Envious of her slimmer, more energetic friends, Berger Gross assumes it’s her destiny to be heavy and sluggish. However, after spending a year in Nepal, finding her true love, connecting with her yoga practice and moving to a house in the mountains, she begins to realize that she can change herself, although she has a few false starts before she finds her path.

She begins writing for yoga magazines, deepens her home practice and starts teaching classes. She attends a yoga retreat with Baron Baptiste. She gets a dog and starts walking her regularly. And she revamps her diet, starting off every day with fresh pineapple (and ending it with a lot of black bean chili).

By taking the advice of her healthier friends, severing ties with her parents and taking control of her destiny, Berger Gross eventually loses the weight and finds her happiness, though not without some struggle and a lot of hard work, proving that none of us is a slave to our past. An inspiring tale, indeed.