From "Overcoming Overeating" by Jane R. Hirschmann & Carol H. Munter

Today I finished reading "OVERCOMING OVEREATING: Living Free in a World of Food" by Jane R. Hirschmann & Carol H. Munter. It teaches people how to get free of dieting, and how to relearn to feed themselves "on demand" ... basically, the principles of Intuitive Eating.

Here are some quotes from the book that I found insightful:

Page 11:
"Compulsive eaters consider themselves 'fat' or 'bad' because they measure themselves against two cultural ideals and find themselves lacking. First, they accept the idea that there is an 'ideal' body and that theirs is far from it; second, they believe that eating is something which must be 'controlled'."

Page 25:
"To be sure, many people welcome the rules and regulations of a diet. They like the structure. They feel relieved to have the decisions about what, when and how much to eat taken out of their hands. They find it easier to say 'I'm not allowed' than to struggle with their needs and desires... we live in a culture that applauds control."

Page 26:
"Once you understand that diets are punishments for bad behaviour, you can understand why they fail... Diets are, fundamentally, confinements much like prisons, and dieters, like prisoners, do time for not looking right. Prisoners share a common fantasy: Rebellion."

Page 87:
"You and your body are self-regulatory. You are going to learn how to let your body tell you how it should be fed, and in the process many of you will also lose weight. We recognize, however, that you haven't yet accepted the idea that you can self-regulate and that stopping dieting is a frightening step for you to take."

"SCOLDING AND WEIGHT-GAIN GO HAND-IN-HAND!"

Page 88:
"If you let go of rules and do not yell at yourself about food, you will eat less compulsively. Giving up diets is LIBERATING!"

"DEPRIVATION & SCARCITY ALWAYS INCREASE DESIRE!"

"Dumping the diet means you will never again think of ANY food as 'fattening' or 'forbidden'."

"FOOD RESTRICTIONS CREATE AN EXAGGERATED YEARNING!"

"Our goal is to get you to a point where it won't occur to you to eat unless you're hungry... Once your obsession is cured, you'll be able to have a terrible week without turning to food for comfort."