The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Unlike so many diet books, this cheery addition to the self-help shelves wasn't written by a nutritionist or a fitness pro, but rather by a "creativity expert" who "accidentally stumbled upon a weight-loss secret that works" while teaching a creative "unblocking course." While this might sound like so much snake oil, the optimism and common-sense attitude of author Cameron (The Artist's Way) are winning. Her system is both simple and inexpensive, promoting exercise, food journaling, and something called "morning pages," which are stream-of-consciousness passages dieters record after getting out of bed: "A day at a time, a page at a time, we become mindful, acutely attuned to our personal feelings." The second half of the book is filled with exercises, some more goofy than practical ("if your museum has a gift shop, buy yourself five postcards glorifying the body type you've got"), and stories detailing chronic overeaters paths' to weight loss success. These stories are sometimes inspiring, sometimes repetitive, but should motivate dieters to give writing a try.
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Product Description

From the bestselling author of The Artist's Way, a revolutionary diet plan: Use art to take off the pounds!

Over the course of the past twenty-five years, Julia Cameron has taught thousands of artists and aspiring artists how to unblock wellsprings of creativity. And time and again she has noticed an interesting thing: Often, in uncovering their creative selves her students also undergo a surprising physical transformation-invigorated by their work, they slim down. In The Writing Diet, Cameron illuminates the relationship between creativity and eating to reveal a crucial equation: creativity can block overeating.

This inspiring weight-loss program, which can be used in conjunction with Cameron's groundbreaking book on the creative process, The Artist's Way, directs readers to count words instead of calories, to substitute their writing's "food for thought" for actual food. Using journaling to examine their relationship with food-and to ward off unhealthy overeating -readers will learn to treat food cravings as invitations to evaluate what they are truly craving in their emotional lives.

The Writing Diet presents a brilliant plan for using one of the soul's deepest and most abiding appetites-the desire to be creative-to lose weight and keep it off forever.

I'm a creativity expert, not a diet expert. So why am I writing a book about weight loss? Because I have accidentally stumbled upon a weight-loss secret that works. For twenty-five years I've taught creative unblocking, a twelve-week process based on my book The Artist's Way. From the front of the classroom I've seen lives transformed-and, to my astonishment, bodies transformed as well. It took me a while to recognize what was going on, but sure enough, students who began the course on the plump side ended up visibly leaner and more fit. What's going on here? I asked myself. Was it my imagination, or was there truly a "before" and an "after"? There was!

-from The Writing Diet

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Tarcher (December 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585425710
• ISBN-13: 978-1585425716
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #289,908 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

163 of 168 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well written book with a new approach to getting healthy, December 28, 2007

By	K. Yanar (Florida) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am an avid reader and recreational writer. When I heard about this book in a health magazine, I thought the concept sounded interesting and decided to check it out. I received the book today, and I have already finished reading it. Julia Cameron advises her readers to do what many weight-loss experts say works, write about your eating. Her idea is most people overeat because of stress or depression, or some other outside influence. As a writing teacher she witnesses the theraputic effect of writing with dealing with daily life problems. She intructs readers to write every day. Write about when they eat or when they want to eat. Why they are eating and why they chose the foods they did. She also instructs readers to walk everyday, even if it is only 5 minutes, just get some sort of exercise in. I look forward to starting the activities and daily writing assignments in the book. This book is training wheels for someone trying to control their emotional eating and a support system as you work toward writing and living a healthy lifestyle

143 of 149 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I liked this book, but......., February 2, 2008

By	Sarah Britton (Evanston, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Do read this book and be inspired to try some new techniques for healthy living! I especially liked the chapters on exercise (walking) and lingerie!

I was dismayed, though, that Julie Cameron appears to have an unhappy relationship with food despite her advice to have culinary adventures (makes me think someone else wrote that chapter!). She talks about good and bad foods, chocolate as being the devil's food, being "good" on your diet and eating "legally" and it seems that sugar rarely or never passes her lips. She also referred to dieting as a "war".

The concept of food as good or bad and moral judgements surrounding eating are, in my opinion, really misguided. I have lost a lot of weight and I have a happy relationships with all foods (even the "devil's food" - chocolate!). There is no such thing as a good or bad food - some foods should just be eaten more judiciously than others. I disagree with her recommendation of eating artifical foods like Splenda and sugar free Jello (Sugar-free Jello appeared in the book so many times that I started to suspect a product placement!)

It really seemed that Julie has a very adverserial relationship with food which negatively colored all the other wonderful things about the book. When she described having a third of her friend's dessert and then barely making it through her teaching that evening and waking up with a sugar hangover the next day, I thought, "This is not right". Anybody should be able to split a dessert three ways and feel great about themselves and certainly suffer no ill effect. Her reaction was either grossly exaggerated or she seems, to me, to be disordered in her relationship to food.

I hope Julie Cameron finds some peace in her relationship with food and that she does a rewrite of this book someday. Eating right should be joyful and relaxed - not a daily battle with forces of good and evil duking it out!

Having said that, there were nuggets in this book which made me glad I bought it.

76 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thank You, Julia Cameron!, January 4, 2008

By	Jennifer K. Peaslee "J. Peaslee" (Rome, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

From the second I purchased this book I was not able to put it down. It is simply inspirational. I have already implemented Cameron's advice into my daily life and have noticed changes not only in my weight, but also in my psychological well-being.

One of my favorite chapters was on walking. I used to think that I hated walking, but forcing myself to take daily walks and then write about them made me realize that I enjoy walking, but simply prefer to walk alone and not tell anyone I'm walking. For me, it's a secret hobby. I probably would not have realized this without daily reflection time in my writings.

As a struggling and overweight writer, I can say that this book has been pivotal to turning my life around. I'm happier, I'm thinner, and I'm able to write more each day.

Even if you're not a writer, I strongly recommend buying this book. Cameron makes it easy for everyone to follow this path. Best of all, she doesn't specify what you can eat and when, but leaves the choices up to you. She simply opens up your Inner Mentor and helps you realize who you want to be.