Customer Reviews

Emotional Eating: What You Need to Know Before Starting Your Next Diet

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I really liked this book-I gave it 5 stars. I don't have an eating disorder, but I have been a yo-yo dieter for more than 20 years. After reading Emotional Eating, I think I've figured out why I have had some success dieting but then get frustrated and give up. I've tried a few of the ideas in the book, and so far, I like the results. I recommend it highly to anyone who is concerned about their weight and might be using food to deal with their emotions.

This book serves as a good introduction to making to reader understand the basic mechanisms of common eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and compulsive eating, although not much detail is given for each disorder. It focuses on how an emotional eater should identify her/his emotions before deciding to eat, and how to deal with the emotions. Although this book alone would probably not be of great help for people who are seriously stricken with eating disorders, it gives the reader an incentive to seek further help and to avoid self-blame and self-abuse.

It is written on an intellectual level. Some of the other leading books in this area are watered-down to appeal to mass audiences. This book combines mass appeal with good, thoughtful counseling. It really makes you think about WHY you eat (or don't eat). It also acknowledges that a combination of physical and emotional factors might be at play in your life; so it is doesn't try to explain it all based on psychology. Abramson identitifies the following situations as ones that most commonly lead to binge eating: depression, anxiety, loneliness, boredom, and anger (expressed and unexpressed). These really resonated with me. He offers some techniques for dealing with these emotional states. As someone else said, this is a start, but will not solve all of your problems. I think it is a great addition to a treatment plan.