Heads-up...a new blog!

For those that are tired of reading all of my book reviews -- especially the ones that aren't SOLELY about Intuitive Eating ((grin))-- I've created a whole new blog where I review books from the "Health & Fitness" category. From now on, all of my book reviews will go there. If they are IE-related, though, I will copy them here, as well.

The new blog can be found here. Be sure to bookmark it!

REVIEW: Diet Fads by Barbara A. Zahensky (for TEENS)

DIET FADS by Barbara A. Zahensky

Okay. Yes, I am once again reviewing a somewhat *diety* book. BUT, I am only doing so because this was a book written for TEENS, and it wasn't so *diety* after all. There were a few parts that mentioned watching calorie-intake, or avoiding a lot of high-fat foods.

But, overall, the book encouraged teens to stay away from fad diets (while explaining WHY), and encouraged them, instead, to listen to their hunger signals, to do some research into why they think they overeat, and to get more exercise.

I would recommend this book, definitely. I might give a word of "warning" along with it ((grin)), but only to say that we don't necessarily NEED to count calories, or avoid any foods so long as we're truly listening to our bodies' signals, paying full attention, and allowing any food in moderation. Moderation is key. ;o)

REVIEW: The Skinny by Melissa Clark and Robin Aronson

The Skinny: How to Fit Into Your Little Black Dress Forever by Melissa Clark and Robin Aronson

While some parts of this book were still a little "diety", MOST of the book promoted the principles of Intuitive Eating -- hence why I am sharing the book with you here! :-)

Basically, the authors encourage you to:

• Eat when you're hungry


• Eat what you WANT (don't settle for less)


• Don't eat to please someone else


• Don't eat what you don't want

They also say you should eat at least one fruit, and/or one vegetable with every meal. And, they promote eating slowly, and eating sitting down.

I liked that they gave you two perspectives -- one author is a Food Writer, and the other is married, and a mother. They show that their "plan" is a good fit for anyone, as it can be altered.

There were a lot of tips outlined....how to handle certain situations (eating out; eating in the presence of coworkers; eating at parties), and what to do if you find yourself eating emotionally.

The "diety" parts of this book (mostly just the usual, "Skip the junk food -for the most part- and go for the veggies") weren't all that bad. They even go so far as to say you can HAVE the junk food, but just make sure you have the veggies first. ;o) They don't count calories (or anything else, for that matter), so it's not anything I'm fully against.

Have a look through their website first, if you want to know more about their style, without having to buy the book. And, if you like their website, get the book! It'd still be worth your while! ;)

REVIEW: Secrets of Successful Weight Loss by Diana Burrell

Title: "Secrets of Successful Weight Loss"
Author: Diana Burrell (with "Psychology Today" magazine)
Pages: 336
Rated: B+

Comments:
I loved this book. It was soooo full of great information, covering
almost every aspect of weight loss and healthy living:

- a brief overview of most of the diet plans out there
- how to design your own plan
- exercise & eating healthy
- what to do when you hit a snag in your plan, or go through tough spots
- medical conditions caused by overweight/obesity
- what to do when you hit the maintain stage
- how to think differently once you've reached your goal
...and SO MUCH more!

This book has been put on my wishlist, as I'd like to own a copy. It
really was helpful, and it'd be a great book to reference back to from
time-to-time!

REVIEW: 100 Days of Weight Loss

"100 Days of Weight Loss: The Secret to Being Successful on ANY Diet Plan (A Daily Motivator)"
Author: Linda Spangle, RN, MA
ISBN: 0-7394-8914-7
See Also: the Weight Loss Joy website

I just have to recommend this book to you all... And, don't be frightened by the word "diet" on the cover, as this isn't really a "diet" book, in my opinion.

Basically, the author gives you 100 "days"-worth of tips for how to keep yourself motivated, and how to make a plan that really works for you. On the very last day (Day 100), she also tells you to pick your Top 10 favorites from the book, and keep those as your "tools" to help you keep on track, or to maintain for the rest of your life.

I loved that soooo much of this book focused on the hunger-fullness principles, rather than on "diety" things. Ms. Spangle encourages you to pay attention to your body's signals, wait for true (physiological) hunger, stop at "satisfied", and be mindful while eating. Love it!

Some of my favorite "tips" were:

• Interested or Committed: "'interested' means you only stay with your plans until something better comes along; 'committed' means you stick with your plan...no matter what!"


• Half-Off Special: eat half as much as you normally would; never go back for 'seconds'


• Smaller Amounts, Less Often: don't feel deprived; no foods are 'forbidden'; just eat smaller amounts of your favorites, less often!


• The Eating Pause: when you naturally pause in your eating, you're usually at the exact point where you feel 'satisfied'; if you continue past this point, you'll probably find you've overeaten.

There are so many other good tips that I had a hard time picking *just* 10 for my "Top Ten". ;o)

Highly recommended book!

Read About the Author

SEE ALSO: the WEIGHT LOSS JOY Website!

NOTES: "The Best Life Diet" by Bob Greene

THE BEST LIFE DIET by Bob Greene

Disclaimer: I know this is a *diet* book, but I thought some of what it had to say was relevant for our Intuitive Eating journey, and those are the parts I'm sharing with you here. :o)

*****************************************

p.xvii - "What kind of life do you want, and how close are you to living it?" - Oprah (in the introduction)

** Approach a challenge step-by-step, and success will come. **

p.3 - "...the fast and furious approach to weight loss is also the fastest route to FAILURE."

- "...your body ~ and your mind ~ both have a powerful ability to adapt to change when it comes at you in measured amounts... lasting change just takes time."

For example: Athletes train gradually ~ they don't go from running 2 miles one day, to 26 miles the next. They built up to it.

p.17-18 - "Weighing yourself too often in the beginning of any program can really wreak havoc with your emotions because, chances are, your weight will go up and down as your body adjusts to your new eating and activity patterns. The frustration that comes from watching these fluctuations causes many people to quit before they see real results...
Weigh yourself on the first day...then step off of the scale and stay off of it for four (4) weeks. No good can come from watching the numbers at this stage...how your clothes fit is a better indicator of what's really going on than the scale."

p.22-23 - "...weight loss alone cannot make you happy. Sure, losing weight will boost your confidence and self-esteem for a short time, but real joy is only going to come to you if you clear up the issues in your life that send you running to the refrigerator."

Three Questions:
1) Why are you overweight?
--> dig deep; no "surface answers" (like "I have to eat out a lot for business"; "My family/spouse isn't supportive"; "The holidays always trip me up")
--> be TRULY HONEST with yourself

2) Why do you want to lose weight?
--> "I want to look better" is another "surface answer"; dig deeper!
--> WHY do you want to look better?

3) Why have you been unable to maintain weight-loss in the past?
--> negative beliefs in the back of your mind?
--> any self-fulfilling prophecies? (subconsciously believing you'll never succeed)

p.75 - "...your brain is getting a variety of different signals from your body, urging you to eat. One of these signals comes from a hormone called GHRELIN, which is produced when your stomach empties."

p.76 - "Further input is received by a hormone called LEPTIN. Leptin clues your brain into how much body fat you're carrying; if it's high enough, it contributes to the symphony of messages telling you that you can leave the dinner table."

p.82 - "Scientists are finding that lack of sleep disrupts the balance of ghrelin and leptin -- the hunger On/Off switches -- and that people who are sleep-deprived have increased appetites."

p.84 - "By not doing what's best for yourself, you aren't doing you and your family and friends any favors, either. To be happy & the kind of person others want to be around, you need to attend to your own well-being."

p.85-86 - "...don't wait until you resolve everything in your life perfectly before allowing yourself to take pleasure in your accomplishments...Allow yourself to take satisfaction in your efforts every day that you take another small step toward improving your well-being. Each of those small steps is going to get you closer to your goal, and being able to feel good about the direction you're going in is going to motivate you to stick with it until you reach the end."

HUNGER SCALE

10 - STUFFED: so full that you feel nauseous
9 - VERY UNCOMFORTABLY FULL:
you need to loosen your clothes
8 - UNCOMFORTABLY FULL: you feel bloated
7 - FULL: you feel a little bit uncomfortable
6 - PERFECTLY COMFORTABLE: you feel satisfied
5 - COMFORTABLE: you're more/less satisfied,
but could eat a little more
4 - SLIGHTLY UNCOMFORTABLE: you're just
beginning to feel signs of hunger
3 - UNCOMFORTABLE: stomach is rumbling
2 - VERY UNCOMFORTABLE: you feel irritable
& unable to concentrate
1 - WEAK & LIGHT-HEADED: your stomach acid is churning


** Begin eating when you're at a 3 or 4
** Stop at 5, if you're trying to lose weight
** Stop at 6, if you're wanting to maintain your weight

** Learn to PAUSE --> stop after your first helping of food, and gauge where you are on the hunger scale. Get up and do something. (It takes 20 minutes for your stomach to signal your brain that you've had enough to eat).

p.152 - "Focus on the good things that happen in your life each day, rather than the bad. What went right today? What things did you do to benefit yourself?"

p.153 - "...take pleasure in persevering; that's what separates those people who keep pushing forward from those who throw in the towel."

- "Perseverance is born out of affirming each small accomplishment along the way to a larger goal. That's what's going to help you develop the optimism you need to succeed."

REVIEW: "You: On a Diet" by Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen

Now, before you get freaked out, YES, I'm going to review --sort of-- a *diet* book. But, not to worry -- there are parts of this book that are helpful to the Intuitive Eater, and such is why I present the following information for your reading pleasure. ;o)

A while back, Dr. Mehmed Oz, and Dr. Roizen (authors of You, On a Diet) were featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show to promote this book. I watched the program --though I rarely watch TV -- because I wanted to see if there was anything that I, as an Intuitive Eater-in-the-making, could use. :o) And, voila! there was. :o)

I'm not going to mention the parts that were "diet-y", because that isn't the purpose of this blog. But, here were the parts that meshed well with IE:

* There is something in everyone called the Omentum. It's hooked to the bottom of the stomach.... it's function is to pump chemicals through. The omentum causes the hormones that make us feel hungry.

Two Hormones That Regulate Our Eating:

1) Ghrelin --> hormone that tells us we're hungry

2) Leptin --> sends the satiety signal... tells us we've had enough to eat

* Eat/chew your food slowly --> this allows the Leptin signal to be clearly 'heard'


I didn't take any further notes on these, so I will leave you with two links to more information:

Wikipedia: Ghrelin

Wikipedia: Leptin

REVIEW: Mindless Eating by Brian Wansink

This is a very interesting book! I read it because it was featured in the
November 2006 issue of "O" Magazine, and I wanted to see how it meshed with Intuitive Eating. It sounds like they would go together really well because it's all about making changes to your environment. It's not a step-by-step plan, either. It gives you 10 "suggestions" of things you could do to cut back 100-200 calories per day, and you get to pick which of the suggestions would best work for you... which would fit with your life. And, much as you're cutting back "calories", you're doing so in a way that isn't really focusing on the calories, themselves. Mr. Wansink talks a lot about hunger & fullness, so I believe that he's a supporter of the Intuitive Eating method.

NOTES: "Mindless Eating" by Brian Wansink

I recently read Brian Wansink's "MINDLESS EATING: Why We Eat More Than We Think", and found it to be very interesting!

Here are some quotes / notes from the book:
------------------------------------

p.10 - "This book is not about dieting extremism -- just the opposite. It's about reengineering your environment so that you can eat what you want without guilt and without gaining weight. It's about reengineering your food life so that it is enjoyable and mindful.
.... [it] uncovers the hidden persuaders in our life that lead us to overeat and shows us how to eliminate them."

p.23 - "...They mindlessly ate. That is, once they were given a free glass of "California" wine, they said to themselves: 'This is going to be good.' Once they concluded it was going to be good, their experience lived up to confirm their expectations. They no longer had to stop and think about whether the food and wine were really as good as they thought. They'd already decided..."

p.24 - "Almost any sign with a number promotion leads us to buy 30-100% more than we normally would."

p.25 - "We are all tricked by our environment. Even if we 'know it' in our head, most of the time we have way too much on our mind to remember it and act on it. That's why it's easier to change our environment than our mind."

p.30 - "If we eat too little, we know it. If we eat too much, we know it. But there is a calorie range ~ or "mindless margin" ~ where we feel fine and are unaware of small differences... over the course of a year, this mindless margin would either cause us to lose 10 pounds, or to gain 10 pounds."

p.32 - "The best way to trim 100-200 calories per day is to do it in a way that doesn't make you feel deprived. It's easy to rearrange your kitchen and change a few eating habits so you don't have to think about eating less or differently. And the silver lining is that the same things that lead us to mindlessly gain weight can also help us mindlessly lose weight."

p.33 - "Cutting out our favorite foods is bad. Cutting down on how much of them we eat is mindlessly do-able."

p.46 - ** "...the faster we wolf down our food, the more we eat..." **

p.47 - "...This is one reason why the "clean your plate" notion is so powerful. The clean plate gives us a set target to aim for so we don't have to constantly ask ourselves, "Am I full yet?"... We can dish it out, space out, and eat until it's gone."

** Stop eating when you no longer feel hungry....
not when you're "full" or have "cleaned your plate". **

p.60 - "Why do we automatically eat (or pour) more from big packages? Because big packages (like big portions) suggest a consumption norm ~ what is appropriate or normal to use or eat.... we can eat about 20% more or 20% less without really being aware of it. Because of this, we look for cues and signals that tell us how much to eat. One of these signals is the size of the package."

p.71/72 - "...if people are offered an assortment with 3 different flavors of yogurt, they're likely to consume an average of 23% more than if offered only 1 flavor.... This behavior results from what is called "sensory specific satiation". In other words, our senses get numbed, or sated, if they continually experience the same stimulus."

p.72 - "Sensory specific satiety also affects our taste buds. The first bite of anything is almost always the best. The second is a little less, and the third less again. At some point we're tired of the yogurt & cake. But, if we add two more types of yogurt, or if we add ice cream to the cake, our taste buds are back to the races."

p.79 - "We eat more of these visible 'see-foods' (foods left where we can see them) because we think about them more... Out of sight, out of mind. In sight, in mind."

p.80 - "The more you think of a food (ahead of time), the more you'll eat of it."

p.90 - "...you'll eat more from these huge (bulk) containers for the first 7 days. After that you'll start slowing down because you become tired of the food."

p.94 - "When we eat, we often follow 'eating scripts'. We encounter some food situations so frequently that we develop automatic patterns or habitual behaviors to navigate them... some we're clearly aware of, but many more lurk beneath the surfaces of our daily activities."

p.190 - "...because we can tend to view foods as black or white, we can always fall into the trap of thinking something is either 100% healthy, or that it's not."

p.209 - "We can reengineer our personal food environment to help us and our families eat better."

p.210 - "Our body and our mind fight against deprivation diets that cut our daily calorie intake from 2000 to 1200 calories a day. But they don't really notice a 100-200 calorie difference because they're not as sensitive within this range ~ it doesn't ring the starvation alarm in our body's metabolism."

** Make 3 small, 100-calorie changes, and by the end of the year we'll be as much as 30 lbs lighter than if we didn't make them. **

** Not every day will be perfect, but the idea is to start slowly, building the right habits. **

NOTES from "The Secrets of Skinny Chicks"

p.106 - "While these women do clamp down hard on occasion for special jobs or events, they keep their bodies in pretty tip-top shape year-round. What they do, they do all the time. They don't diet."

p.106 - "I don't believe in diets. Instead, I eat well in small portions when I'm hungry. And I stop when I'm not hungry any more." ~ "Skinny Chick", Anna Wyatt

p.126 - "Skinny Chicks don't make excuses."

p.129 - "...eat slowly and listen to the cues from your body. I can't tell you how often I heard them say that they stop eating once they feel full, even if they haven't finished what's on their plate. So, listen to your body and put that extra food away to eat later."

p.134 - "...when it's time for your [meal], sit down, focus on the food, and really enjoy it!"

p.135 - "Some people like to write off these much smaller, appropriately-sized meals, but the truth is, it's the way human beings were designed to eat."

p.137 - "This is not about dieting, this is about changing the way you look at food and your perception of how much you need.

p.138 - "Because skinny chicks don't diet, there is no end to what they are doing, and so they make sure what they are doing is manageable over the long term."

p.139 - "Studies have shown that when the end of a diet is celebrated with a binge, it's more likely that people will go back to their old habits because they have suddenly broken with their healthier lifestyle and gone back to their old ways, even if they think it will be just for one day."

RE: Emotional Eating:

• * keep a journal and write down how you are feeling about things going on in your life. Think about strategies for resolving any issues you uncover.


• * note on paper what's going on in your life whenever you've "fallen off the wagon"... you can head off this self-destructive behaviour in the future.


• * direct yourself to new forms of comfort (instead of using food)
  example: exercise, clean, call a friend, read, etc.

p.? - "Skinny chicks don't allow their social outings to be an excuse to lose sight of their normal lifestyles (intuitive eating, exercising)

** Don't compare yourself to others! **

* Plan ahead for what you'll do if you find yourself back in your old patterns (eating outside of hunger/fullness)

* Recognize the triggers and habits that lead you back into old patterns

p.193 - "In truth, I am free to eat whatever I want... But it's all about moderation. The key is to learn how to stop at that one portion so you don't go overboard."

Secret #39: LEARN TO REALLY LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!

p.195 - "...the only good reason to eat is because we are hungry. We've got to learn to get back in touch with our bodies and let them direct us."

p.196 - "Just because something tastes good doesn't mean you have to finish it." ***

* make your plan realistic & manageable for LIFE

p.210 - "[Skinny chicks] always keep their eye on the ball... they focus on their successes and how those successes make them feel."

p.210 - "If they slip up, they don't focus on that. They focus on what they're doing RIGHT." **

p.213 - "Skinny is a state of mind." -- Have a "thin" mindset!

* start exercising more days than not

* start eating only when you're hungry & stopping at "satisfied"

** "Embrace this way of life, and really push away that old, unhealthy mindset ["diet mentality"] that will at times try to rear its ugly head." **

p.214 - "When you've done things one way for so long, you will often drift back to those old ways. It can be terribly hard to venture off onto a new path. But IT CAN BE DONE!... If your mind focuses on the old groove, sooner or later your body will follow it back."

p.12 - "Most Americans eat 10-30% more than they need to."

p.16 - "...an estimated 80% [of women] suffer from poor body image."

p.17 - "Unfortunately, for many women body image and self-esteem are so closely related that a negative body image steadily erodes the core of their self-esteem. For many of us, if we do not like our bodies, we do not like ourselves."

p.24 - "...a woman can be just as fit and fabulous in a size 12 or 14 jeans as she can be in a size 4. It's about being and feeling strong and healthy. It's about feeling good in your own skin, and choosing what is right for you."

p.222 - "...it's because we use food for so many things other than fueling our bodies that we can find it so hard to stay on track and eat the things we should in appropriate quantities."

p.261 - "Yes, many women do shift their mindset and find a way to enjoy food in moderation, and to eat healthfully most of the time." - Linda Craighead, Ph.D.

p.262 - "Pay attention to why you are eating to see if there are places you are willing to make other choices." - Linda Craighead, Ph.D.
[note when you are eating for reasons other than hunger]

p.262 - "The better strategy is to eat fairly frequently & focus more on when to stop - not overeating or getting stuffed." - Linda Craighead, Ph.D.
[instead of letting yourself go beyond hungry to the point where you're *ravenous*]

p.263 - "Fall off the wagon? Just get right back on! --> Don't make old patterns your 'norm' any more!"

p.264 - "We all know we should eat less and eat better. We all know we should exercise more. But when it comes down to it, all the best-laid plans can fall apart when our emotions take over. That's why it's so important to take a good, hard look at how emotions are affecting how and what we eat. By being aware of what we are doing and, more critically, what we are likely to do the next time we get upset, we can arm ourselves with plans, resolutions, and strategies to help us stay on track as much as possible." ***

p.87 - "Start today. 'Tomorrow' never comes." - "Skinny chick", Sherry Boudreau

REVIEW: "The Secrets of Skinny Chicks" by Karen Bridson

I recently read a book called "The Secrets of Skinny Chicks: How to Feel Great in Your Favorite Jeans When It Doesn't Come Naturally" by Karen Bridson. I got it out of the library thinking it would be a book about Intuitive Eating -- on the back, it talked of waiting for hunger, and eating just 'til satisfied. Well, upon reading it, I found that it's not *truly* a non-diet book... The author repeatedly encourages you to count calories. (True Intuitive Eaters know that you don't have to do this! You don't have to count anything!)

But, I continued to read, because she *did* talk about hunger/fullness on the back... there had to be *something*...

And, sure enough, there were many instances where the women profiled talked of only eating when hungry, and stopping just at satisfied. There was also almost a full chapter that talked of "mindful eating" (same thing as Intuitive Eating -- listening to your body's cues). And, I loved the parts where the author talked about loving your body for its uniqueness, and about loving yourself for YOU. She talked quite a bit about overcoming Emotional eating, too.

So, I am going to recommend this book! But, I will do so with a WARNING: ** This is STILL a "diet" book! Do not read it with the intention of a "quick fix"! No diet is going to work for you forever... they just don't. ONLY Intuitive Eating will keep you going for life because you don't have to count anything, you don't have to restrict anything ... it's something you can live with for the long haul! *** ;-)

STAY TUNED for more! I'll be posting my NOTES from the book next!

Notes: "Intuitive Eating" by Tribole/Resch

Here are some quotes from "Intuitive Eating" by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch:

p.34 - "If you focus on how you feel as the goal, rather than on weight loss, you will find, ironically, that you can't help but lose weight. If, instead, you continue to focus on weight loss as the goal, you'll get tied up in the old diet-mentality thinking and find that permanent weight loss is [elusive]."

p.45 - "They may be physically off a diet, but the dieting thoughts remain. The problem is that dieting thoughts usually translate into diet-like behavior, which becomes (unconscious) psuedo-dieting."

** Some "Dieting" Behaviors in Disguise: **
- paying penance for eating "bad" foods (cookies, cake) by vowing to "be good tomorrow"
- pacifying hunger by drinking something (coffee, diet sodas) to put it off
- limiting carbohydrates
- putting on a "false food face" in public to appear "virtuous"
- competing with someone who's dieting
- not eating at certain times of the day (ie: after 7pm)

p.102 - Eating "healthy" snacks (fruits, veggies) is okay ONLY if there's no "hidden agenda" (thinking that healthy foods will aid in weight loss)

** FOOD IS NOT THE "ENEMY" -- IT'S FUEL! **

p.195 - Three things that work, but are often ignored, are VARIETY, BALANCE, and MODERATION.

p.196 - "It is CONSISTENCY over time that matters!" ***

p.214 - "Learn to operate out of curiosity, not judgement!" ***

p.53 - "The simple act of being told what to do (even if it's something you want to do) can trigger a rebellious chain-reaction."

p.89 - "The only way that you will come to believe that you will be able to stop eating is to go through the food experience, to actually eat... This is not about knowledge of food, but rather rebuilding experiences with eating... it's like learning to play the guitar by reading a book on music theory. You may understand the components -- but only when you practice and struggle with the strings personally will you truly know how to play. And, the more you practice, the more confidence you'll have."

p.115 - "When you're dieting, you think in terms of 'all-or-nothing'... black-and-white thinking can be dangerous and is often based on the premise of acheiving perfection. It gives you only two alternatives, one of which is usually neither attainable nor maintainable. The other then tends to be the black whole in which you inevitably fall after failing to get the first. You set your sights too high, constantly chasing an ideal that you can grasp only moments at a time..."

p.116 - "Give up the notion that you must eat in an all-or-nothing fashion. Let go of your old black-and-white dieting rules! Allow yourself to eat the foods that were always restricted, while checking your thoughts to be sure that they support your choices."

REVIEW: "Intuitive Eating" by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch

Intuitive Eating by Tribole, Resch

This book details the steps you need to take to become an "intuitive eater" -- a person who follows their body's natural cues of "hunger" and "satiety" in order to eat in moderation and shrink down to their natural body weight.
(10 Keys)

I especially liked the chapters called: "Challenge the Food Police" / "Make Peace With Food" / & "Respect Your Body". Challenging the "Food Police" means undoing the "diet mentality" that's been so ingrained in us by society, and substituting positive statements every time you hear a negative one regarding food or your eating (in your head).

Making peace with food reminds us that NO food is "good" or "bad" or "forbidden", and we need to give ourselves "unconditional permission to eat" the foods that we love and that satisfy us.

Respecting our bodies means not having negative things to say about yourself when you look in the mirror, and it means buying clothes NOW (not later when you've lost X number of pounds, first) that make you look and FEEL great!

This is an awesome book that I'll be recommending to a ton of people! :o)

More notes from the book....

[from "Thin People Don't Clean Their Plates" by Jill Fleming]

** ""Change the way you think about your trigger food. Instead of thinking that you can't stop eating it once you start, think that you are the one who chooses to continue to eat the food. In the second scenario, you are in control, not the food. Remember, you are ultimately responsible for what goes into your mouth and body." (p.68) **

* Re: Carbohydrate Addicts / Carbohydrate Sensitive people: should stay away from or limit simple carbohydrates and processed foods. "...the fewer of these items you eat, the less intense your cravings will be. You will experience fewer fluctuations in blood sugars, which will help you feel more in control of your food choices." (p.69)

* Benefits of drinking water:
- helps rid body of fat & toxins
- keeps skin healthy & resilient
- helps minimize sagging skin as you lose weight *
- helps maintain proper muscle-tone
- will help relieve & prevent constipation
- helps suppress appetite
- essential for digestion, absorption of vitamins & minerals, circulation, excretion, transporting nutrients, building tissue, maintaining body temperature.
- more water intake = increased energy levels *
- more you drink = more your body craves it **

* "Another advantage of SLOWER EATING is that chewing your food thoroughly aids your body in digestion." (p.31)

* "When you consume fat following/in combination with sugar (ie: Coca Cola!), the fat is then more easily stored in your fat cells." (p.57)

** "Your attitude will determine your success... you alone are responsible for your body and its size." (p.11)

** "...the more positive choices you make, the more positive choices your body craves. The more unhealthy choices you make, the more unhealthy choices your body craves....
Remember: your body will start to desire more of the choices you predominantly make. IT WILL BECOME EASIER WITH REPETITION." (p.118) **

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."