Customer Reviews

Why Can't I Stop Eating: Recognizing, Understanding, and Overcoming Food Addiction

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I read this book with high hopes that it would finally give me the tools to understand why I binge and what to do about it. However, it seemed to me that most of the book was devoted to telling the reader that she is not to blame for her food addiction. That is true, of course, but a couple sentences about it would have been sufficient. I wanted more of a scientific explanation of why I'm addicted to certain foods, but there really wasn't any.

Most of the book is spent building up to creating your own food plan, but when you get there, it's just a very strict meal plan with pretty much no suggestions on modifying it. The authors insist that you won't be hungry following this plan. I have eaten exactly the same breakfast they suggest, and I have rarely made it past 3 hours without feeling ravenously hungry; they insist that you must wait 4-5 hours between meals.

The authors do not seem to take variations in activity level into account. I made a rough calculation of the calories allowed, and it looks to me like there are about 1700 calories/day for women. This might be fine for someone who does only the 30 minutes of walking 3x/week as is recommended in the book. I, however, exercise fairly intensely for about an hour 6x/week. I need more calories. No recommendations are given for adapting the meal plan for this kind of situation.

The meal plan includes a nighttime snack, which consists of cereal, milk, and fruit, and is intended to prevent middle-of-the-night binging. That meal is one of my favorite binges - if anything, it's going to make things worse! No alternative meal arrangements are suggested. And besides, I have never once gotten up in the middle of the night to eat, but the authors seem to think that all food addicts do this.

On the positive side, I did appreciate that the book validated my belief that I am physically addicted to sugar and refined carbohydrates. It also opened my eyes to the possibility that I am addicted to wheat, refined or not.

After I read the book and was very disappointed, I went on-line to write this review. I find myself agreeing completely with the reviews that gave this book a low rating. It is yet another attempt to espouse the virtues of the 12 step Overeaters Anonymous program. While I think there are good aspects of the 12 step program and that it may help some, there are many that the program simply wouldn't work for, including myself. Mainly, I think, because it mandates that you cut flour, sugar, and other foods completely from your diet. I feel that this sets a person up to fail because one ends up feeling deprived, which leads to binging. In fact there is a whole chapter in the book that talks about case studies and nearly every person mentioned has relapsed and is valiantly trying to get back to abstinence and lose the weight yet again. I would suggest that instead of working a program that obviously isn't working, they should perhaps seek another solution, maybe in the form of professional counseling. I would recommend "The Solution" by Laurel Mellin, which is a comprehensive support solution with groups and pyschologists around the country practicing the methods given in the book. I have found this method much more helpful than Overeaters Anonymous ever was. If OA is working for you, then I think that is great, but if you are like me and do not find that it fits you, I encourage you to look elsewhere. The Solution is a great place to start, and if you want to check out the website go to WWW.Sweetestfruit.com.

What a disappointment! The authors answer to binge-eating is simply eliminating all sugar, flour, fat, caffeine, or whatever your trigger foods are from your diet. Not only that, but they insist you must weigh and measure your food all the time for the rest of your life. Thats hardly what I consider freeing yourself from obsessing about food. They actually recommend keeping an emergency food kit in your car to be sure you always have measuring cups, a food scale, and several cans of safe food available to you at all times. Perhaps this is wise advice for people who are morbidly obese, but for those of us who are at a normal weight, or only slightly over, and are looking for some insight and realistic advice on dealing with compulsive/binge eating, this book is NOT the answer!

The majority of Americans is overweight according to national statistics. Television, radio, and newspapers report new weight reduction diets, books, pills and shakes. Weight loss is a multi-million dollar industry and most of us who have tried some of the diet methods may have lost weight, only to gain it back, which becomes a way of life. Diets, shakes, medications, portioned meals we discover are "quick fixes," but they do not provide permanent results. Society has stigmatized the word "addiction," and many of us with weight problems are reluctant to admit we are addicted to food. Ms. Danowski's book presents medical facts, undeniable data, and we are forced to look at our eating behaviors which many of us find as "ugly" as our overweight appearance. This book provides the rationale and the path to stop eating, to lose weight and to keep off that weight. This is not another fad; it is a sensible way to lose weight and not gain it back, by taking the steps to change our behavior. Debbie Danowski's story is real; this author is brave enough to tell the story of all who do not like what they see or how they feel, but few take the steps to change permanently. For anyone who has been disappointed with all of the marketed diet plans, anyone who wants to like himself/herself, this book can change your life. Why Can't I Stop Eating?: Recognizing, Understanding, and Overcoming Food Addiction

The title is far better than the actual book. All it does it make you even more obsessed with food, and now even sugars in fruits are bad! I don't like the strictly outlined nutritional program--I don't think that works for people who "can't stop eating". I know that strictly outlined nutritional programs don't work for me. I know from personal experience that most of the time when people can't stop eating, someone giving you a new list of things you can't eat isn't going to help much. All this book did was make me feel more helpless in the face of my binge-eating disorder.

This was the first book I read that actually compared sugar and junk food to alcohol. While some people may think this far fetched, many of us who have binged and/or purged know that destructive food can be addictive. The author's view that moderation does not work for many has helped me greatly. Completely avoiding all junk food has prevented me from bingeing and losing control. This book will completely change the way you think. Highly recommended.

We have all read the diet books. How to, how not to, and everything in between.

If you want a straightforward, logical and real look at the problem of overeating, buy this book. This is NOT a diet book. It is a book that explains why you eat and how you can stop overeating.

The book is honest in telling you that it won't be easy and that you need help. You CANNOT DO IT ALONE. The book will tell you how to get help (OA, friends,) and explain that there are tools out there to helpp you through the hell that is overeating.

Do yourself a favor and read this book.

The word "diet" will never have the same meaning after reading this book. The advice given is so powerful you'll want to read it in one sitting. Danowski provides simple, practical tools for achieving freedom from devastating yo-yo dieting tactics. How? By creating an actual food plan for life. Pick up the book to find out more. You won't be sorry you did.

The book was very interesting. It confirmed what I believed all along and that was that sugar and carbohydrates can be addictive to certain people.This book helped me in alot of ways because it made me aware of things that I didn't know. I recommend this book to people who might be carb/sugar addicts.If it doesn't do a thing for you, it will make you more aware of food addiction.

I have been a food addict for longer than I can remember, but I thought I was the only one who lived the way I did, hiding food, lying about food, eating past the point of getting physically ill and still not being able to stop. When I found this wonderful book, I was relieved to find that I wasn't the only person with this problem, and that it's a disease, NOT the result of a weak mind. This book explains why I was addicted in a way that makes so much sense. I find the food plan easy to live with, and I have ZERO cravings. This book was written by a woman that has lived the same miserable life of an overeater, therefore, she knows exactly what she's talking about. She is living proof that you can overcome this disease. Even if you have given up, please, do yourself a favor and buy this book. I have so much hope for my future, when before, I was afraid I didn't have a future at all.