I'm definitely a work in progress and day to day concentration and therapy is helping me. But I've been looking at books on amazon about overcoming binge eating & emotional eating and some of them seem to have good reviews. I'm just curious to see if anybody has used any of these kinds of books and if they helped at all?
I am also an emotional/comfort/reward eater. I haven't looked at bood specifically on the topic, but I used to work with a psychiatrist who specialized in weight & ED and he recommended I read "Mindless Eating." I picked it up from the library & plan to start reading when I finish my current book.
I've read a few books on emotional eating. All have enlightened me in some way or another, but none have given me the secret to curing it! I have not read Mindless Eating, I'll have to look into that now that you've mentioned it owlmonkey. I honestly can't come up with one title at the moment, but even the books that weren't that great did help me to have a better understanding of what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. One thing that I have noticed is that the books that are about emotional eating are really mostly about the topic of emtional eating and what it is, but, not about how to fix it! Lol, the ones I've read devote a very small portion of the book to how to overcome it or learn new habits. But it's still something. I'll review some of the ones I've read and if any stand out as exceptional I'll post them. Mind you, even with the reading I'm still struggling. Understanding it doesn't seem to make it much easier for me to cope with...it's a journey.
Thanks guy, reviews would be really helpful. As I'v said I'm actually in therapy and I don't expect miracles, but if any of these books can certainly help me gain a better perspective that's got to help towards curing it, right?
I have read a book entitled "When Women Stop Hating Their Bodies" by Jane Hirschemann and Carol Munter, who also wrote "Overcoming Overeating" which I haven't read yet. I think "OO" was their first, but from what I gather, you really could benefit from getting either one. These women know their stuff and try to promote healthy attitudes towards our bodies and food. At first their suggestions such as "legalizing food" seemed quite radical, but when you equalize all food (a carrot = a tub of ice cream) then the power that food has quickly dies and the allure of it soon dies with it. It's a great read and I recommend it to anyone who thinks that dieting is the way to happiness... because it's not.
I did read Overcoming Overeating, one of the books skinnymel mentioned. That one was really facsinating. She's right, these women have been there. They described me to a T. The only thing I would caution about is the legalization thing. That whole part can just get really out of control if you can't handle it. I couldn't do it. But, the rest of the book was good.
Another one I read recently was Beyond The Food Game by Jane E. Latimer. That deals with psychological issues that we developed from childhood. I though it was really enlightening, but it can get a little intense with the 'inner child' stuff. I know there are a couple others that I've read but I can not for the life of me rememeber the titles. If they come to me I'll mention them.
Last edited by Gogirl008; 10-13-2008 at 08:44 AM.
Reason: sp
I'm reading Mindless Eating right now, so far he's describing the cues, based on reseach, that lead to eating more than intended (like the size of a popcorn bucket even though the popcorn in it was 5 days stale!) I'm fascinated!
Also, I just saw a book titled "The Rules for Normal Eating..." Has any one read that? I was going to check the library. I just requested the Jane Hirschemann books from my library.
Honestly my best cure was WW, I still slip up every now and then but I find when I am having a bad day I don't run right for the pantry anymore or if I do I find I run towards different kind of foods. There are nights I still reach for the comfort of my two favorite men (Ben & Jerry) but I guess I have reached that point that I have worked to hard and I don't want to over eat and put back the weight I have lost. What made me start going to WW was the night I ate a bag of popcorn right after eating a huge dinner, then scarfing down two poptarts with a huge glass of milk and thinking to myself I am not even hungry yet I keep stuffing my face to the point where I am going to throw up. I went to a meeting the next day!! I am still not perfect but I am LOADS better than I was a year ago.
I really liked eating less by Gillian Riley. She uses the same system to stop over eating as tp stop smoking. Most of the book is about sorting out your relationship with food.
I think the best thing for me will be to identify all the occasions I use to eat that are apart from normal hunger/meals. As someone who grew up with the "clean your plate" mentality, I often feel guilt when I don't finish a meal. Wasted food guilt is one issue. Next is being a woman who has struggled with depression much of her life, I know I have used food for comfort when I could find solace no where else. I also have used food as a reward system. Theae are my primary downfalls when it comes to eating.
I was reading "Mindless Eating" and there was a really good trick that one of the people used. Every time he was going to eat something when he wasn't hungry he would say-out loud- "I am going to eat this <insert food here> and I am not hungry" Or something like that. I think I will try that when The urge is really strong to eat something when I'm not hungry. I know my dad, when he was quitting smoking, used to say out loud "I'd really like a cigarette" which helped him get past cravings. Maybe acknowledging that I am about to eat something, when I know I'm not hungry, will be helpful. Or I can say "I am not hungry, but I am eating this food because I am sad/happy/rewarding myself and it will help me to be more mindful.
OOOhhhh- reference books! A topic I love! I've liked "The Rules of Normal Eating" by Karen R. Koneg and "French Toast for Breakfast- Declaring Peace With Emotional Eating" by Mary Anne Cohen for help finding my way back to a sane eating mentality. For support and humor, my quickie favorite is Geneen Roth's "When You Eat At The Refrigerator, Pull Up A Chair". It contains 50 supportive, short essays for when you need a boost. And my spiritual go-to book is "Eating By the Light Of the Moon" by Anita Johnston, who uses feminine myths and stories to help understand our inner needs for comfort and control that underlie many women's eating struggles. Happy reading!
Hey; My little two cents here, and it isn't a self help book, but the Confessions of a Carb Queen was sooooo good. She describes her obsession with food so well, that as a binger I totally understood. I got it and how she felt.
Overcoming emotional eating
I have not read Mindless Eating, I'll have to look into that now that you've mentioned it owlmonkey. I honestly can't come up with one title at the moment, but even the books that weren't that great did help me to have a better understanding of what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. One thing that I have noticed is that the books that are about emotional eating are really mostly about the topic of emtional eating and what it is, but, not about how to fix it! Lol, the ones I've read devote a very small portion of the book to how to overcome it or learn new habits. But it's still something. I'll review some of the ones I've read and if any stand out as exceptional I'll post them. Mind you, even with the reading I'm still struggling. Understanding it doesn't seem to make it much easier for me to cope with...it's a journey.
