I was ready for this book. I knew diets were not working for me, as I sit here 5 pounds heavier (yet again) than my previous peak weight--- and this was after 2 years of trying Meridia, Xenical and Phentermine. I had already gotten past beating myself up for yet another failure; already gotten past ridiculing myself mentally when I saw myself in pictures. No, I had already decided diets were making me miserable, and I didn't know what the answer was, only that I refused to go on another diet again.
Then a friend (overcoming bulimia) recommended "Intuitive Eating" (2003 edition) and Overcoming Overeating. Little did I know I had already vocalized the ideas in these two books. And little did I know these books would change my life.
I must admit, Overcoming Overeating was hard to get into. The forward was dry and written in a very formal tone. Chapter one read like a textbook. But, I stuck it out because what I read did make sense.
I am so glad I stuck with this book! Overcoming Overeating discusses in moderate detail eating disorders, one of which is called binge-eating disorder. I saw myself in every example of these people. I had no idea I had an eating disorder, though I became certain after reading this book, that I do indeed have this medically-recognized disorder.
This discovery was freeing and painful at the same time. I was so relieved that now all the puzzle pieces fit. I had already started the work on my own before this book, but by the time I was finished I was ready to work on my disorder with my therapist. The two days following the completion of the book, I was flooded with emotions... anger, sadness, regret, joy, peace etc. It was almost overwhelming.
I will be eternally grateful to the authors for allowing me to see that I don't suffer from a lack of willpower, that it wasn't my fault that I "failed" at another diet, and that my success and happiness in life doesn't depend on whether I am thin or not.
Don't get me wrong! This isn't a book that tells you give up and stuff your face for the rest of your life. This is a book for people who want to fix their eating disorders and fix their relationship with food and fix their response to emotional issues that they have repressed for years and suppressed by going into a food coma.
You must be ready for this book. I recommend therapy and perhaps antidepressants in addition to reading this book because eating disorders are biological, psychological and environmental. You may not be able to conquer this on your own, though I do think this book is a good start if you don't want to do therapy and meds.
Anyone who asks how do they lose weight if they can't diet didn't get the point of the book and isn't ready to change their life.
Dieting is one cause of eating disorders. Points, carbs, counting calories, food diaries, scales (both food and poundage) are ALL tools of a dieting world. In order to follow this plan, you must be mentally prepared to rid your house of ALL dieting materials, which is much harder than you might realize since throwing away dieting materials means throwing away all the hope that came with each diet. This was mentally challenging for me. This is a serious change of life!
To address the reviews that said this plan will cost hundreds to implement... maybe, maybe not. Part of the plan is to refeed yourself without restrictions (glossing over the idea here). This means you not only have to go out to the grocery and buy ALL the foods that you like, you also have to buy several of them and keep restocking the pantry as you need to. This is a hard concept for people like me who always kept a bare pantry because "you cannot eat what you did not buy." You MUST buy food and you MUST buy a lot of it.
That part of the plan deals with eating what you want, when you want to and to stop when you are full. You must retrain yourself that you can indeed take good care of yourself by paying attention to your hunger signals and then feeding yourself exactly what you want. (glossing over the plan here).
This book was so logical, so compassionate, so forgiving that I have no doubt that I will no longer be eating-disordered, but while also knowing that I live in an eating disordered world.
Giving up dieting is the solution. Getting to your natural weight you were meant to be may be a nice surprise result of paying attention to your body's hunger cues. You will stop bingeing. You will have plenty of food on hand. You will NOT go out of control and eat it all. You'll be surprised if you give yourself some credit and the chance to prove it to yourself.
I am so contented and peaceful now. Good luck!
*****Updated 6/06********
I've been finished with therapy for a while now and my doctor still follows my progress. I can with certainty say that I am a healthy overweight person.. my blood pressure, triglicerides, cholesterol and everything is better than my doctor's results she said. My doctor is in complete agreement that a) a person can be fat and fit and b)it is o.k. to deal with the emotional side of an eating disorder without worrying about the weight.
I followed the Overcoming Overeating plan to a T and now I have naturally progressed into an Intuitive Eating approach while keeping all the tenents of the OO approach: nothing is off limits, I will never diet again, I accept myself fully as I am right now today and a bad body thought is never about the body. (I dont' even have bad body thoughts any more). I eat what I want when I want it and I stop when I am satisfied, which for me isnt' even to "full"; it is like one stop before full.
I know weight loss isn't the "prize" so I don't want to relay the false impression that my goal was ultimately to lose weight. No, my goal was ultimately to love myself as I am and to get to the bottom of by distorted thinking that weight was my problem all along. I have accomplished my goals. And as a result of that, my body is restoring itself to its natural set point. MY BODY is restoring itself... I am NOT trying to control this at all. It is happening just like they said in the book: you can't achieve that which you are looking for. If you want weight loss, it won't happen (or at least it will be temporary); when you stop caring about weight loss and start caring about yourself... ironically, weight loss will happen as a side effect of self-love and acceptance.
It's hilarious when people ask me "what's my secret" to losing weight and I say "I stopped dieting and I eat what I want." and then they just stare blankly at me and look confused and walk off. No doubt had I said, "Oh, I was addicted to sugar and so I ate eleven pounds of bacon a day and then gave myself low carb enemas five times a day" they would have wanted to know ALL the details and then everyone they know would have done that.
My weight is the result of a problem I no longer have. And therefore, because I no longer need it, it is shedding itself.
Thank you to the authors.. you have helped me achieve my freedom from weight and body worries and freedom from that prison of diet mentality and self-hatred and I am now living a full life of peace and happiness and self-love.
