It Was Food vs. Me ... and I Won [Hardcover]

Nancy Goodman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 2004

"I have a great life, if only I could stop eating." Those were the words Nancy Goodman used to describe herself. Like millions of women of all ages, she had an obsession with food. She was obsessed with her weight, obsessed with eating, and obsessed with not eating. It didn't matter that she "looked OK" or "good enough" to most people. She was trapped in a life of dieting and deprivation rather than leading a life true to who she wanted to be.

In It Was Food Vs. Me . . . and I Won, Nancy speaks directly to readers and shares her inspiring story and lessons for breaking free. As Nancy discovered, when she finally began to confront the true issues facing her, instead of the self-created ones about food, she was able to lose weight, start eating the foods she loved, stop obsessing, and flourish in more ways than she had ever imagined. With total honesty and a passion for helping others, she offers refreshing advice on dealing with everything from daily food choices, cravings, and emotional triggers to the realities of binges and setbacks, setting nonweight goals, and living one's dreams. As Nancy says, "Willpower is not about sticking to diets, it's about sticking to the truth . . . when you begin to live close to the person who lives inside you, food loses its control over you."

The real triumph of It Was Food Vs. Me . . . and I Won is Nancy's funny, intimate, charismatic voice, which comes through on every page of this powerful and timely book. Her enthusiasm, directness, and warmth will inspire and motivate anyone who wants to live a healthier, more rewarding life.

Be inspired and learn how to:
* Keep SAFE -- Separate Always Food and Emotion and understand what triggers your overeating
* Feed your cravings and accept your bingesóto take the fear out of food
* Structure your eating -- instead of dieting, to help you lose weight and enjoy the foods you love
* Exercise to feel strong and alive -- not just to burn calories
* Redirect your energy from food and weight to your life -- and discover who you really are

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Goodman suffered with a binge-eating disorder for more than 15 years, sometimes consuming 8,000 calories in a day and spending the next few days burning them off (for reference, a McDonald's Big Mac and Super Size French Fries add up to 1,210 calories). Now that Goodman has overcome her disorder, she's penned this candid autobiographical account of her food obsession, demonstrating that there is an escape route from binge-diet cycles. Based on the idea that "it isn't so much about what you're eating but how you are eating it," Goodman's method is to structure eating habits by keeping two journals. One diary monitors how, when and where food is consumed; the other documents the "dialogues inside your head." For Goodman, food is not the real problem; since "what sits behind food is a feeling." She describes in detail how therapy helped her find those feelings and work through them. In later chapters, Goodman discusses her strategies for food management, and uses personal anecdotes to illustrate such issues as eating only when you're hungry, eating in restaurants, eating junk food in moderation, and preparing for and accepting binges. Fellow sufferers will find Goodman's experience familiar, but her recommended recovery program is somewhat over-simplified. And her conversational, occasionally humorous style eventually becomes repetitive, although some valuable nuggets are buried between descriptions of dinner parties and therapy sessions.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Nancy Goodman is a mother and wife who overcame her lifelong obsession with food. Her story was featured on the Web site of bestselling author Caroline Myss and got an overwhelming response that led to the publication of this book. She has created a health and fitness program for children called Core Kids and speaks to many women’s and health groups.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (April 22, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067003312X
• ISBN-13: 978-0670033126
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #662,598 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not without some merit, September 14, 2004

By 

Carla Baku "newbaku reads" (Behind the Redwood Curtain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It Was Food vs. Me ... and I Won (Hardcover)

I bought the book on a whim; when I found out that Nancy's battle was with about 15 pounds I buried it on the bottom of my "to read" pile. I dug the book out later to give it a reasonable chance, and I must say that her candor and warmth won me over on many levels. While I don't believe that food issues are exactly the same for someone who wants to lose 15 pounds vs someone who need to lose 100+ pounds, there are some valid points where the obsessions cross.

The idea of eating when hungry and stopping when satisfied has been explored before (thinking here of Geneen Roth's good work). The idea of finding out what is really going on with emotions has been well done (Laurel Mellin is the QUEEN in this concern; if emotional overeating is a problem for you, please read her book "The Solution.")To be fair, though, Nancy Goodman makes these issues very personal, which makes the book quite readable. It is obvious that she has worked hard and come far in her journey, and I for one commend her for her honesty and genuine heart to help others. I do have some concern that Nancy is still tied very tightly to food; true freedom, it seems to me, lies somewhere beyond the need for things like "structured" binges.

One other concern is some of Nancy's nutritional advice. In addition to the inference she makes linking dairy and cancer, there are many places in which she seems to use her personal food preferences as nutritional gospel. For instance, she fairly dismisses fruit, saying that it is "full of sugar" and doesn't have much in the way of vitamins. Yikes! While it is true that there is a lot of natural sugar in fruit, it is also true that fruit is crammed with vitamins (oranges and strawberries pack vitamin C), minerals (a banana gives you more than your daily requirement of potassium), and phytonutrients we are just beginning to figure out (blueberries contain powerful anti-oxidants.)No, they are not vegetables, but then, neither is oatmeal. Please don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. She also gives the side of her hand to olive oil, lumping it in with all other fats as "slimy food." In Nancy's world, if you cook with or eat olive oil--which is a terrific mono-unsaturated fat--that's okay, because slimy food is what some people enjoy. I'd urge Nancy to defer to someone like Dr. Andrew Weil for information about the healthy use of fats in a balanced diet. Finally, Nancy tells us that couscous "is an interesting and healthy grain that cooks in just five minutes." People, PLEASE. Repeat after me: COUSCOUS IS NOT A GRAIN. Couscous is a tiny pasta product, typically made out of semolina flour just like your good old spaghetti noodles! It is tasty, and yes it does cook in five minutes, but if you want a grain, eat a GRAIN.

If you want a book that reads like chatty mail from a friend, you'll enjoy "Food vs Me." And you may find some of Nancy's tips useful in your own life. My advice is to read with a caveat that (as she freely admits) Nancy is not a nutritionist. Take her advice with a grain of salt...and maybe a shot of tequila.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Probably not the Solution that you are looking for, September 20, 2005

By 

loyola james "loyola james" (dc) - See all my reviews

This review is from: It Was Food vs. Me ... and I Won (Hardcover)

To prevent repetition, please read Carla Baku's review because I believe that the review highlighted some very important aspects of the book that the reader should acknowledge. If you are looking for a book that you can relate to because you have similar experiences with food and emotions as Nancy had, you've found it. I am still amazed at her ability to share and then publish some of her experiences. I have gone through very similar experiences and I can barely write about any of it on paper, let alone share with anyone else. If you are a person who is looking for a solution or an answer to what might be your problem with food... this is the wrong book. It is a comforting book though if you are someone with similar issues like Nancy because it makes you realize that you are definatly not alone. Nancy talks how she goes to see a therapist or a counselor and at first it was really difficult, difficult to admit her problems and difficult for her to face someone and to ask for help. Nancy realizes that her family and her marriage interplay with her issues with food. What I realized at this point was the power of asking for help. Not the kind of help from the late night infomercials selling equiptment that already filled my basement, not the kind of help from the latest diet books or solutions, but the kind of professional help like Nancy sought out and helped her to overcome her issues with food. Like I did and before I knew it, my issues weren't around food at all, food was just the distraction and for me is no longer a problem anymore. I think an important part of the book is the challenge and the power of asking for help. After 2 years with an eating disorder, I asked for help and found a therapist. Its the best thing I've very done for myself.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Feelings matter, July 18, 2004

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: It Was Food vs. Me ... and I Won (Hardcover)

There, I have told you what this book is about. You can save your money. Ok, I have read every single diet book out there and still have my extra pounds. So I read the great reviews and thought, I'll try this one. Well, what she has to say is that feelings matter. Yes, I knew this. She writes this book from her journals during therapy (I am guessing) and connects her eating to her emotions, and tells us all the details of her emotions, and therapy. Very very little on how she loses her 15 pounds. Some very iffy advice, including the advice that dairy causes cancer. Twice the recipe for a baked apple with low sugar maple syrup (nutrasweet if the iffy one in my opinion). Yep, 15. She was abandoned, she was molested - she has some real issues, but they were of no help to me on my journey. If you are seriously interested in connecting (and dealing with) feelings with weight loss try "The Solution" by Laurel Mellen - another good tip is "I Wish I Were Fat, I Wish I Were Thin" by Michele Joy Levine. If you are interested in what goes on in therapy read Irvin Yalom's latest book, or "Inside Therapy". This was a total waste of time.