23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stop Dieting to Lose Weight, November 21, 2002
"The only effective means of protecting yourself from developing an eating disorder is to avoid diets that push you, both psychologically and biologically, toward a destructive new level of food restriction and weight preoccupation." - Wendy Oliver-Pyatt, M.D.
In Fed Up! Wendy presents a back-to-basics approach to healthy living. First, she dispels the myths associated with dieting and boldly declares:
"Dieting wreaks havoc on the mind, body and soul."
Dieting has failed us. Dieting preys on our insecurities. Scientific research indicates that dieters only succeed in weight loss 2% of the time. Dieting also leads to a tense and uncomfortable relationship with food. In fact, Diets can in fact encourage eating disorders.
In reality, the less I eat, the more weight I seem to gain. Wendy explains why this occurs! I'm a big fan of the Suzanne Somers' approach because I'm now a believer that it is not really how much you eat, but more the combination of what you eat and when. The only time I've ever lost weight and kept it off was when I was eating more food! Imagine that.
Personally, I think dieting is depressing and I'm happy to see Wendy saying that diets don't work. I don't have time to count all those silly calories and I get so stressed out trying to figure out how much of this, how much of that. I give up in a day.
With a diet, you know that all the weight you are trying so hard to get rid of is going to come back as soon as you go back to your regular routine. So it seems you should try to find balance and a healthy lifestyle that includes foods that are good for you and will encourage a healthy approach to eating. There are foods you should be eating to encourage health. Those foods are not discussed in this book. This book deals with eating from a psychological perspective.
Wendy also deals with the following questions:
Why do we allow the diet industry to get rich while we become overweight?
Do you have an eating disorder?
Why do we accept our cultural myths about dieting?
Are you addicted to exercise?
Is your weight gain related to a medical condition?
What effect does cortisol have on your body? Can the stress of being on a diet actually make you gain weight?
So, we are still hungry, we crave foods we are told are bad for us and we want to have the perfect figure and the perfect life. Wendy gives us a dose of reality by stating the facts.
Our society has presented a pleasing view of an unpleasant situation. Models are unhealthy. The images we see flashing across our screens, in magazines and on every billboard scream "Be like me," "I'm attractive," I'm what you want to be." Yet have you ever heard that some models lay in bed all day because they feel so sick and depressed they have no life besides modeling? I've heard these stories.
The advertising industry is doing more harm than good all while filling their pockets with our money. They are feeding off our insecurity, our desire to belong and be loved. America is obsessed with beauty. As Wendy points out, "Perfectionism breeds low self-esteem." The harder we try to become "perfect," the more "imperfect" we feel.
"With the advent of the mass media, however, women now find themselves being compared not just to the girl down the street, but also to the most beautiful (and often surgically enhanced) women in the world. It's no longer good enough to look normal'; instead, you need to look like Calista Flockhart or Demi Moore." pg. 35
Wendy gives us back a calm sense of control. She encourages the reader to achieve a sense of balance in their life through maintaining a healthy view of life.
While she encourages us to evaluate our own lives, she also explains what didn't work for her and what isn't working for millions of Americans. She herself struggled with an eating disorder for ten years.
Her purpose in writing "Fed Up!" is to encourage a "nationwide rethinking about whether dieting and maintaining mental lists of so called good and bad foods actually leads to long term health and weight management." She wants her readers to think seriously about the impact of cultural pressures and the pursuit of unrealistic beauty standards.
Wendy's book provides steps you can take to achieve a healthy mind and body. You will become more relaxed in your relationship with food and consider the psychological barriers to health and fitness.
The steps are:
Step One: Recognize Your Exhaustion: Is Food Preoccupations Running Your Life?
In this chapter, you can take a "Are You Exhausted?" Self-Inventory test. The results may surprise you.
Step Two: Reject the Cultural Myths That Make You Diet and Gain Weight
In this chapter you will find information on how to calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index). This will help you figure out what weight you should be as opposed to how much you weigh now. With a few simple calculations you will find out if you are actually underweight, a healthy weight or overweight.
Step Three: Decide That You Are Good Enough Today to Love Yourself Today
Step Four: Learn to Experience, Trust and Enjoy Hunger and Satiation
Step Five: Straight Talk about Exercise
Step Six: Get Your Doctor on Your Weight-Loss Team
Step Seven: Learn to Wait to Lose Weight
Step Eight: Break Through the Secrecy
Step Nine: Redefine Your Life: What's More Important to You Than Dieting?
Step Ten: Give to the Next Generation: Preventing Eating Disorders and Obesity in Children
This is not a book about fancy meal plans, supplements, exercise equipment, foods you should and should not eat. There are no diets in this book!
This book is about taking control of your mind and body. Wendy offers advice on how to develop an enjoyable, effective and sustainable fitness program. She also discusses how parents can help prevent eating disorders in their children.
"Fed Up!" shows you how to enjoy the primordial pleasures of eating
while focusing on how to avoid the modern madness of diets.
If you are ready to break free from the prison of dieting, this ten-step plan will help
you to control your eating, lose excess pound and maintain your ideal weight.
Inspirational and Insightful.
~The Rebecca Review
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
