Customer Reviews

Stress Eater Diet: A Simple Guide for Women Who Want to Stress Less, Lose More and Look Fabulous!

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
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I was given Stress Eater Diet by Robert Posner and Linda Hilvka to review while I was still doing Weight Watchers. It's amazing how all diet books stay the same thing to lose weight- eat less, exercise more. But this books puts it all in a great way, comical even. From the image on the front cover to the decorative fonts throughout the book, the book just says relax and have fun- stress less.

The other thing I realized while reading this book was that I am not particularly stressed. And when I am stressed, I don't eat. I eat when I'm bored, not stressed. But this book did serve as a good reminder to a lot of things I've learned about weight loss including a lot of great tips like these:

Drink more water
Eat more protein
Eat low calorie snacks often (string cheese, fruits, yogurt, etc.)
Do resistance/weight training
Use interval training
Fidget
Get enough sleep
Stop eating when you're full
Don't engage in other activities while eating and don't eat quickly.

There wasn't a whole lot in this book that I hadn't heard in other places, but it was written in an entertaining and fun-to-read style that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would recommend this book to anyone that is looking for ways to revamp their lifestyles to lose a little weight or just get healthier. Or on the flip side of that, anyone that is looking to decrease their stress even just a little. It really was a fun and easy read, and I'll keep it on my bookshelf to look through tips every now and again.

This "diet" is normal and healthy - real food and no "cleansing" - and it places a strong emphasis on mindful eating, behavior modification, and stress-reducing techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga and exercise.

I was really glad to see the question, "Who are you losing the weight for?" asked almost right away. God knows enough of us have lost (or are are still losing) weight "for" someone else, "for" something else, like "just for me" isn't good enough.

The "spin" to this diet (and you know every diet has a spin) is its emphasis on serotonin imbalance. The authors recommend eating foods that contain tryptophan (an amino acid essential for normal growth and metabolism). Foods include: turkey, chicken, fish, pheasant, partridge, cottage cheese, bananas, eggs, nuts, wheat germ, avocados, milk, cheese and legumes. They also want us to get out in the sun more.

Another big reason I can recommend this diet is because it encourages journaling, both food and emotions. I'm all about journaling, even before you start to lose weight. Figuring out WHY we overeat, WHY we treat ourselves the way we do, and WHAT we eat can help us develop personal strategies for overcoming old patterns.

The book includes an Emotional Eating Worksheet which I can see would be very helpful, very "journaling-like."

Tips for "Breaking the pattern of stress eating" include waiting 15-30 minutes before eating, keeping a diet log, changing your snacking routine pattern, making it a habit to eat only when you're sitting at the table and not occupied by another task, putting a note such as "Why am I eating?" on the refrigerator or pantry (I like this one the best), and "As a last resort, if you cannot stop yourself from eating a particular food, limit the portion and STOP after you have eaten that portion. Do not feel as though you have ruined the day and might as well eat everything else in sight. Start fresh from that moment on."

The book includes several other practical tips like how to reduce stress in the car, managing stress and anger, and how to "sniff" away stress. They recommend one of my favorite essential oils: frankincense. I always thought it was some ancient perfume long buried in the ruins of old Bethlehem until I found some at the place I get a massage.

The heart of the book is the actual diet. The last section deals with stress-reducing foods and outlines a four-week eating plan. It includes the best explanation I've read on why it's important to "eat your colors," and what those certain foods do in terms of health benefits.

The meal plan gets two thumbs up. There a lot of emphasis on protein, fruits and vegetables, and while the plan suggests several kinds of meat, I can see how it could be easily adjusted to accommodate those of us who choose not to eat meat.

Your Stress Eater's Diet is full of fabulous information and honestly couldn't be coming at a better time. Right now 80% of Americans are stressed because of the economic downturn and the associated stressors of job security or loss, housing and stock market declines, healthcare concerns, rising prices, etc. Close to 70% report an average of two sleepless nights per week. With all this stress people need to learn how to manage stress and cope with it in a way that spares their emotional sanity and keeps them from stress eating.

And that's what this book offers. The Stress Eater Diet provides a solution for determining stress triggers, dealing with stress, as well as increasing metabolism so more calories are burned efficiently. It will provide a step-by-step approach to reduce and or eliminate stress along with nutritional guidelines that will make weight loss easier, enhance energy, and improve long-term health. The important part of to The Stress Eater's diet plan that I particularly love is their focus on understanding the importance and making permanent behavior modification.

The Stress Eater Diet plan was developed by Robert Posner, M.D and Linda Hlivka, Clinical Nutritionist through a medically supervised program. The Stress Eater Diet includes a four week jumpstart plan. The plan promises that the "jumpstart plan shows that in 4 weeks, coping and eating habits can be modified. Stress can be reduced and up to 15 pounds can be lost in that time frame." While I haven't followed the jumpstart plan, reading over it everything about it looks sane, grounded in science, and do-able. This is not a complicated program. There are some very simple things outlined in the book that can be done easily to reduce stress levels. With regard to weight loss, there are simple guides and meal plans that can be adapted to a busy lifestyle.

I was disappointed by this book. It seemed very basic in many areas, which would have still been very useful if it could have really pulled it all together in an integrated approach. Instead it seemed that someone realized the title would be a bestseller, so they googled and threw some information together.
I will say I have been pleasantly surprised by a simple little book I picked up- to deal with the same issue- called Eating Mindfully, by Susan Albers.
[Stress eating and overeating can seriously impact quality of life- there are support groups, including OA- overeaters anonymous- if stress eating makes you feel out of control.]