Peace with Food
I read a lot of weight loss stories. I’m always interested to see how others have gone about their journey. More than the path they chose and the foods they ate, I’m looking to see introspection. Not the diet, not the will power, not the tips. I want to know the ‘why.’ Because at the end of the day that is the only question that matters. Why did carry those earned pounds? Why did you decide to let them go? Why won’t you pick them up again? Confronting the ‘why,’ confronting the truth behind each ounce of flesh, with eyes wide open, is the answer.
If you read healthy living blogs then I might assume you also read magazines geared toward health-minded individuals. You read Shape, you read Health, you read Self and Women’s Fitness. You could probably be the editor in chief at this point. When you really think about the articles, the studies, and the advice that you read each month, you might realize that it is all the same information reissued over and over again. It feels vaguely familiar to read that study about the link between eating breakfast and consuming less during the day overall. Hey, haven’t you heard that getting more sleep could curb the constant sugar cravings you’re having? Or that people who exercise in the morning are more successful at developing a routine fitness program because they get it over with first thing? My point is that you know most of this information. If we can agree that the health focused magazines tend to rehash the same diet and fitness information each month (give or take a few great contributing articles), then I wonder what I hoped to get out of these monthly issues while losing weight. I know that I buy them now because I like the motivation they provide me with. I like to read about topics I’m interested in and I feel supported and encouraged to maintain a healthy lifestyle. But I realize that for years I paid $3.99 a pop for an answer to my weight battle that didn’t exist within the pages of a magazine.
The main reason I used to buy these health focused magazines during my weight loss was because I was seeking the plans, the recipes, and the research about how to feel good, look good, and be happy. I believed that just reading about nutrition and exercise would make me as bright and vibrant as the pages themselves. My best friend wouldn’t be Count Chocula. He’s a drag anyway.
The problem with my reasoning here was that I was treating compulsive eating and emotional eating as a physical problem that can be remedied with tips, advice, and weight loss plans. If I’m to be honest with myself, I know that this information, no matter how many times I read it, will never cure me. If there were real answers to why I have always felt like I need a Reese’s Blizzard and a large fry from Wendy’s to get me through the night, then maybe I wouldn’t have to write this now. But the magazines, the top selling books, the TV shows, and the national campaigns don’t have the answers I need. Because my compulsive eating is a problem of psychology. It is deeply rooted in my emotions and it will only be “solved” when I allow myself to feel the things I run away from. The magazines did help to motivate me to sprint to the finish line in my weight loss race, they left me hangin’ when I found myself thin and still unhappy.
Throughout my lifetime I developed what Geneen Roth calls “the inclination to bolt.” She is the incredible author of such books as “When Food is Love,” “Feeding the Hungry Heart,” and her latest, “Women, Food, and God.” She has a keen understanding of emotional eating and her writing has made a world of difference to me. Her book, “Women, Food, and God,” deals in part with this “inclination to bolt” as it refers to the intense desire to leave yourself, to flee, when life becomes difficult. It is the wanting to be anywhere but where you are. To escape boredom, anxiety, sadness, fear, and loneliness. Food is the place I go to escape. Many people do this. Obsession, in any form- be it with food, with schedules, with the future, with alcohol or drugs, is an avoidance of the present. It is a way of passing time, a way to “get through” life. Not to live life, but survive it.
Since I didn’t confront my emotional eating until I had lost all the weight, I met it at a time when I was sober from food. I was a thin person reconciling with two decades of compulsive eating. It’s like drinking yourself into an oblivion at night, getting sober by morning and having to clean up the house party you didn’t realize you threw. I came to understand that ending my emotional eating meant resisting Roth’s “inclination to bolt.” I had to stay here, to sit with myself. Just as I wouldn’t turn away from a friend who needed me, I had to love myself as much. I promised the little girl, the teenager, and the adult versions of me that I was going to stick around for the hard parts and that I was willing to feel. I made an agreement to fully live in the present moment. Because if I leave the moment when I feel uncomfortable, I am missing the opportunity to grow, to learn, to be strong, and to be loved.
Andrea, you are an amazing writer. Not only that, but a lot of what you write resonates with me as I found myself nodding in agreement with each paragraph… I appreciate you so much for who you are and for sharing your story.
Thank you for writing this post. Sometimes I find comfort in eating sweets but the last line rings true, that you have to be in the moment, both good and bad. Do not run away when it is uncomfortable. I might used that as a quote
[...] an oblivion for twenty years and then, over the course of thirteen months and four years, healing. Less the how and more the why. Because that’s what really matters and, on the deepest level, that is what changed me. But I [...]
You are beautiful, inside & out. Congratulations on going to the finish line & beyond. I am sure you are Thin for lIfe. I find myself in the place of knowing what I need to do and just stick with it. You are an inspiration.
It has been 11 years for me since my hysterectomy & then buried myself in emotional overeating to the point of making myself sick!
My brother died, I was diagnosed with Osteo arthritis of my spine, intense pain/emotional & physical.
I want to celebrate LIFE again/to FEELalive, to LIVE AGAIN!
Thank you! You have inspired me to forge on, move forward and take care of myself.
Wow, MeMe, what a journey you’ve had! Thank you for sharing! I believe in your ability to do what you want to do, to live your best life. Thank you for reading and for such a thoughtful, kind comment! You’ve made my day!
I love you!!!! I love Geneen Roth books too !!!! They really helped me understand me…..I don’t feel alone anymore……I know I will be able to lose the weight because I wan’t to enjoy life as it is I don’t want to let it pass anymore waiting for something better, I have everything that I wanted all my life, friends, family, kids, husband, but because of my fight with my weight I could not enjoy my life……I am starting a new life for me…..I am in peace with myself…..I am starting to love myself like I should have done before…..It is never too late………….
Exactly! You can find this peace- go with it. Thank you for reading!
It is so true! And yes, I own all “those magazines!” I find your stories so inspirational. Right now I am having a hard time with my emotional eating and I just can’t seem to get around it. It’s like I just don’t know where to start. Any suggestions……. I have read “Women Food and God” and I belong to Weight Watchers online. I joined the gym but feel like it won’t help if I don`t get a hold of my eating. I feel like I am going around in circles, Monday always comes and goes and we are back at square one. Please help if u can. thanxs
[...] and out. What I love about her blog is that she has a very poignant section describing who she is, her relationship to food, and her journey of losing the weight and how it was only when she was in the maintenance phase [...]
[...] Peace With Food [...]
That is amazing!!!I really admire you exploring the “why?” because I have constantly bought those magazines and explored how to “get fit”. The funny thing is I always bet myself up because I know that I am aware of what I “should” be eating and that I “should be exercising”. I know the “tricks”, but I can never stick to them because, as you said, the root is not physical. It has to do with the psychological! I am always wanting to run away and I am so inspired by your story!!! I think I will order one of those books very soon because I have a lot to face! Which would you recommend first?
Thanks Tina! Get “When Food is Love” first!
Today I found your website for the first time and I have to say, by far the best find I’ve come across in years!! Your recipes look amazing and I can’t wait to make them for my husband and myself.
Your story amazes and inspires me more than you could imagine. I am 21 years old and have been overweight almost my whole life – I had a very sad and traumatic childhood and used food to fill “the void.” Today I am 240 lbs and 5’11″, so I’m looking to lose about 80-100 lbs. It’s an important, difficult, long term goal but I am ready to finally do it…to finally be healthy! I shed some tears reading your story, you made me think very much of myself and have inspired me to get this plan into action more than anything else has (my hubby’s lean and fit but doesn’t care about my weight – not a great motivator in that sense!). Thank you for sharing your story, your recipes, your life. <3
[...] instance, I just read a great blog bio over at Can You Stay For Dinner. Loved how Andrea talked about only knowing two modes of eating-overeating and dieting. I am [...]
My jaw drops when I read you wise words, you certainly have wisdom beyond your years. I have used my weight to shield me from emotions and to fill voids. Now that I have let go of the weight I am trying to find out what those voids are and feel those emotions so I can truly embrace myself and my life.
I bought Geneen Roth’s book “Women, Food, and God” recently and haven’t gotten around to reading it, or have been avoiding reading perhaps. But now I feel motivated to read it and see what discoveries about myself it will lead me to.
Thanks for the motivation Andrea, you are more inspiring that any of the numerous fitness magazines I read on a monthly basis.
Hi Andrea! I just wanted to say first of all that your story is so inspirationnal, I’m a 17 year old girl – 5’4 and 133 pounds – which is rather overweight for my height. Anyways I love the fact that your a proponent of eating to enjoy, and not necessarily working yourself out to death…but didn’t you lose 135 pounds *because* you completely limited your food intake and ran 5 miles everyday (something I struggle to do!) I really would like to lose weight, but alas, I do have a loving relationship with food, one I’m struggling to fix…Thank you again for your lovely recipes and wonderful writing!
I am 5 1 1/2, and in the 9th grade I could bench my weight, of 125. I have always been a little bit over weight. So now that I am almost 40(in October), and done having kids. I am now back on the road to being fit and healthy. I have worked out of and on for the last 20 years. Always watching what I eat, has kept me on my toes. I weigh 150, but would like to get to 135, more fit, toned and healthy. I have lost 7 lbs already. Slow and steady wins the race.
Hi Andrea!
I just so enjoy your website! What a refreshing and inspiring girl you are! Say, I’m interested in ordering a Geneen Roth book, which one would you suggest that I read first?
Thank You!
Kim
P.S. I read that you are in Washington, I’m in Idaho! We are neighbors!
Oh my goodness, I just read a few posts and see the answer to my question, I should read “When Food is Love” first! Sorry about that!
Wow! Your website is great Thank you for the book recommendation. Thank you for sharing your story. You are a wonderful writer! I am going out today to get that book.
thanks
erin
Hmm. I always factored my weight in with laziness. And, of course, that need to comfort with cookies. But, for me, I scoffed at the psychology. Reading those last few paragraphs, however, are opening my eyes. I do like to hide when life gets tough. I fantasize about hiding under the covers. Eating nachos and ice cream is the same thing. This is a very different perspective from the way I’ve usually thought. Hmmm…
I’m amazed by your experience and the way you write about them!
I just re-committed myself to the process of intutive eating which needed to be done as my life has changed dramatically.
I just wrote a post today about making peace with food!
I couldn’t have found this blog at a better time
In the reader you go!
Hi Val…
I’m so happy you mentioned intuitive eating. I didn’t realize much later into my weight loss “program” how important this is. I believe most of us who have dieted to solve overeating issues have damaged ourselves psychologically. We were/are so used to having outside influences tell us how to eat (doctors, weight loss clinics, mom, friends, etc) that we are totally disconnected from our physiological selves. Intuitive eating reconnects us to ourselves. Our individual eating is unique for each one of us. Since we all have different lifestyles, activity levels, metabolisms…we all hunger at different times. It’s so important to learn to listen to our bodies. I believe most of us with weight issues have been desensitized to our feelings, our thoughts, true hunger and our need for rest when we are fatigued. We are trained at an early age to do this. Well meaning parents, guardians force us to finish our plates even if we’re not hungry. We learn to disconnect from our bodies and listen to others tell us how we should feel. We were taught to be INSENSITIVE to ourselves. Most of us who do not listen to true hunger also ignored the need for sleep or rest when the body indicated it had done enough for one day. I made the same mistakes with my children: I “loved” them with food whether they were hungry or not. But it was I who wanted love….and it confused them. Fortunately I was able to share this (and apologize) to my girls. I have taught them the difference. I now ask my children if they are HUNGRY before I offer food. Val, thank you for mentioning a way to reconnect ourselves to our bodies. This has been the most difficult part of my journey. It’s not easy to connect when we have been disconnected for so long. Love, Dolores
Andrea,
In June of 2010 I set out on a mission to reclaim myself. I joined a gym saying that junk food had stolen my body so I was going to get it back. Well, the gym didn’t last too long. With no one to encourage me to drive 15 minutes to the next town over, I had waved a white flag. Pathetic. I know. A couple of months later I saw several photos of myself that made me cry. I thought, “Where did I go? Who IS that person?!” It was very scary, and I felt completely lost and alone.
Last year was more than difficult. I was laid off from my job of 7 years, had an unfortunate falling out with one of my closest friends, ended things with a serious boyfriend, and sat at my grandmother’s bedside and watched as she took her last breath. Food became my escape from reality – a reality that I didn’t want to face.
In December, things turned around for the better. I found a new job and took charge of my life. I came to terms with things that had happened… that were beyond my control. I have since lost 25 pounds and I’m finally finding the person I always knew was hiding under the pain.
As I read through your beautiful words, I sat at my desk staring at a cupcake that someone had given me. I ate a small bowl of Cheerios instead. That’s will-power!
Sometimes we just have to realize that things don’t always go the way we want them to. Things go the way they need to in order for us to become stronger, more amazing people. Thank you so much for sharing your journey. It is truly inspirational. Keep up the determination, courage, and strength.
Best wishes,
Liz
You’re absolutely fantastic!
Amen!
love everything you said. and i LOVE geneen roth i cant tell enough people about her and her books. I dont think “diet” plans like WW talk enough about “how things came to be this way” and just dive right into how you should eat. as you pointed out most of us overweight people could WRITE the book on how to lose weight! the problem is WHY we cant seem to do it. and i think the answer lies in what got you here in the first place. in my opinion, this is where the REAL work lies, and often hard work and how so many of us fail and gain it all back.
congrats on all your success im still so amazed at what you peave you’ve found with yourself and your body. i hope to make it there one day! thanks for your blog!
WOW very WELL WRITTEN. Great jog. This has certainly opened my eyes to the “inclination to bolt” I truly need to stop and realize what I am feeling and “why” I choose to eat something when i am not even hungry. I have had baby #4 and he is 3 months old right now, all I think about is that small size 6 I was when i got married. I want to release the skinny girl living inside. You are beautiful and congratulations on your success and sticking with it. I am very inspired to be healthier and wiser in my day to day eating choices.
“job”
First of all let me say very loudly that what I am writing is my own opinion..applying to me only. I have always been the chubby kid in my family, my mother always let me know it, she called me fat, made fun of me in front of people. I ate all the time. Yes, I was molested as a young girl by an uncle. Yes, I was the fat kid in school. I was also the smartest kid in the class and was popular. I was a fat pre-teen but lost a lot of weight my sophomore year and had my first boyfriend. I regained all that weight and more and stayed that way forever. I did get married and had kids. I was married for 26 years, divorced a few years ago. I still have a mother who lets me know I am fat. I found out the reason my sister was so thin growing up is that she was bulimic because she didn’t want our mother picking on her..is that sad or what? I could blame my weight problems on a cruel mom, or being molested, any of a dozen sob stories..but the bottom line for me is that I’ve always like to eat and to eat a lot! And to eat a lot of food that is delicious and usually not good for me. Greasy, sugary, calorie laden, etc. My name is Liz and I’m a foodaholic. In the past 11 years I have lost 115 pounds, 45 of them since the end of March when I was diagnosed with diabetes–that scared the hell out of me. Now my motto is “I am eating to live, not living to eat.” (Oh, the other weight I lost, before the diabetes scare was because of my thyroid and radiation treatment I had to get..not the most fun way to lose weight!)
This is really interesting and I am going to look into that book you mentioned. About 2 years ago I lost 45 lbs and kept it off very easily my first year. But this past year has been hard. I have gained 10 lbs, though unnoticeable by other, to me it is steps back to my old ways. I realize it goes back to my unhealthy relationship with food. I think it is so interesting that it is a source to “get away”. Why do I need to get away? This is a deep rooted question I need to face. Thank you for sharing your story.
you are so right! i too am a compulsive eater, i kind of feel like i will always be one, and the only way i’ve managed to triumph is to acknowledge what is going on with my mind when i have the impulse to overeat. like the “inclination to bolt” — so me! you’re right, i DO read a lot of fitness and women’s health magazines. and i’ve never read anything that described me and my relationship with food so accurately — i can completely relate. i can’t wait to read the rest of your blog. yep, this is the first i’ve read of it, and i just HAD to say something! cheers!
Yes, yes, yes. Thank you for putting to words what I’ve thought and felt for SO long!! I am new to your blog (linked through Saavy Julie), and a huge fan already.
Funny how sometimes we’re “guided” to a certain place or people…
There’s a blog that I follow all the time; which had a comment by someone that caught my eye; which had you listed as one of the blogs they read; which lead me to you…
I am excited to take the time to really read everything here, but what got my attention at the beginning was “Peace With Food”. I’ve been a stress eater for years, and have reached the point where I can’t stand being 50 pounds overweight anymore! I want to get off my meds. I want to have more stamina and energy. I want to feel good in my skin and in my clothes… And, I want it for ME, no one else, ME!
I think you’re going to be able to help me… and for that I want to thank you in advance.
We never know who will see/read what we write, or whether we will be able to make a positive impact in someone’s life. I think you’re going to make a difference… at least for me.
Andrea,
Peace with food is all I’ve really wanted, but I didn’t know that until I read your blog. Someone mentioned your blog on the weight watcher’s forum and said to read “what I miss from 135lb ago”. So I did, and then I read the “journey to lose 135lb” and then I read the recipes. Then I thought I NEED to know more! I started from the beginning of your blog and read it all in chronological order! I’ve been thin and fat, but more importantly I’ve been either gaining or losing weight for almost 20 years. I know no middle ground, either I’m having a battle of wills with myself or I’m letting it all go. If I’m sitting at work with a deadline looming and I’m eating whatever sweet I can find, it’s not that I can’t deal with stress, I can, and have done quite well. It’s that I’m eating to stuff that feeling of anxiety down, that maybe I won’t succeed. I think I’ve always used food as an escape, it’s just when I was a girl I was exercising so much (competitive swim team up through college) that the impact was not as great. I’m exploring the why I feel the need to eat everything that isn’t nailed down in the evening. Boredom? Exhaustion? It certainly isn’t hunger.
Soul sista! This brought me to tears and spoke to everything I have been learning this year. Gracias, amiga!
Thank you for this. I know this has been up for years, but I was swirling around between the diet and intuitive crap..and I thought to myself I’ve gotta find that blog..yours. After reading your last paragraph it all clicked again for me. Stop bolting and trust. Thank you.
You are wise beyond your years. I am 60 years old and still struggling with these issues. Your story touched me deep in my soul. Thank you for sharing from your heart.
[...] Can You Stay for Dinner?, Peace with Food [...]
Andie,
I’ve been battling being consistent at the gym or cuddling up with my husband in the mornings.
“The magazines did help to motivate me to sprint to the finish line in my weight loss race, they left me hangin’ when I found myself thin and still unhappy.” I love this line! I am newly married and at 5’3″ 130 pounds I’m not a big girl by any means, but I’m not lacking a stomach!
Society has convinced me that to be a better wife, I need to lose about 15 pounds.
My husband loves all 130 pounds of me and if I lose 10 or gain 10 he’ll still love it all.
Having a great relationship with the creator of the universe and a fantastic marriage are what make me happy, not six pack abs and 5% body fat.
Thanks for giving me perspective!!!
You are such an inspiration!
Thankyou for sharing. I’m so happy to find your blog and really relate to your struggles with emotional eating. What do you mean by sitting with myself and resisting hhe urge to bolt as I believe this is what I need to do but not sure how?? Thankyou
Andrea,
What an honest account of your journey. Thank you for so clearly translating what you have felt and continue to feel. I too, have had a long life of deep food dependence. I lost 40+ pounds last year ( in a very healthy, conscious way) only to put it all back on within a matter of 5 months. The only way I can describe how I felt after losing the weight was that I was coming undone. I felt so vulnerable, lonely and anxious. As soon as I put the weight back on I started to feel more settled, yet unhappy because I know this isn’t where I want to be. I am going to check into Geneen Roth’s books. I also grew up with an addict for a dad and as far back as I can remember, I have used food to calm that deep anxiety in the middle of my core. Wow! This little post has even been therapeutic, thanks hon!
You are immensely inspiring and insightful. I’ve struggled with eating disorders since I was 9; I am 30 now. The emotional component to eating disorders is not something I’ve really addressed and then there is the addictive component to sugary foods that one should be aware of. I’m finally in a great place in my life and have an incredible, supportive boyfriend, and I believe I can start confronting the complicated relationship I have with food. I applaud you for your courage and am grateful to have found your site.
I adore your writing style. The words you write feel. They make me feel. It’s like my soul is talking to me through the words I am reading.
The inner and deeply emotion, psychological part of the weight loss journey is, for me, the most fascinating, the most important. The more pure the motivations, the longer the physical transformation will last.
I am motivated by needing me back. Finding myself, the self that was lost in a long and unhappy marriage. Buried under layers of comfort in food, hiding from hurtful words and a controlling husband.
I love the new me, the old me that is new again. The woman I am discovering I am from the girl I used to be. I walk. And I look ahead.
Wow. I’m sitting here bawling reading this. Thank you. THANK YOU for writing all this out. Your incite and willingness to be open truly helps me.
I come from a long family history of addictive behaviors including those involving food and have faced my own personal demons- this in part led me to working as a clinical exercise specialist for females struggling with eating disorders and I just wanted you to know that I think your story is beautiful and perfectly describes the dreams I had for myself, my sister, and all of the girls that I work with. In a world with so many distortions about food and weight and exercise, finding that healthy balance can feel impossible, scary, and beyond our ability. . but I know it is possible, because I have both expereinced and seen it happen for so many. YOu convey what I wish every woman could understand very eloquently. Thank you for sharing your story with the world- it’s a message that so many of us need and will never hear!
I found your blog through a link on pinterest. I have to say I’m so thankful I decided to click. I always hear stories of the struggles with weight loss and someone wakes up one day and decides “This is the day!” Well, I have never had one of those moments until now. I’m 5’3 and 270. I was always telling myself and my family that I don’t know how I got to this point. I try to exercise and I try to eat right. It’s all a bunch of bull. After reading “Peace with food”, I really tried to take a look back at when, why and how I started putting on weight. I was a ballerina from age 5-15. I was very active and athletic. I was 16 and my parents were getting divorced. I never tried to show my dissapointment to my parents because I had always been the mature and responsible child. They would talk to me about things that they couldn’t with my other siblings. They would say, “We know you understand”. But, really I didn’t. I would go to school and not even want to talk to people because I knew they knew what was going on in my family. I would hide in a bathroom stall during lunch and stuff my face because I was so embarrased. That was when I started mindlessly eating to keep my emotions in check. It’s now been 20 years and I’m still doing it! I need to end this misery and learn to live with my emotions and take them head on! Thank you so much for giving the inspiration!
Geneen Roth’s book “When You Eat At The Refridgerator Pull Up A Chair” helped me through losing my first twenty pounds at the beginning of this year. Unfortunately, I’ve gained half of it back, but I’m not done yet.
There needs to be more real, honest content like yours out there.
I’m reeling from the beauty and raw transparency of your writing. Found you through a friend’s Facebook posting of recipes. Just had to keep reading and reading. I dared to write down your suggestion of Geneen Roth’s book. Now to be brave enough to read it and believe that I too might actually figure out a way to get a handle on my emotional eating. For 30 years I was supper skinny. Then 20 years of being 100+ overweight. I want to change. I need to change. I’m ready to change. Thanks for encouraging me to see that I’m beautiful fat or thin or somewhere in between.
[...] writing is insightful, inspiring, and even lyrical. Here’s some good stuff from her Peace with Food post: Throughout my lifetime I developed what Geneen Roth calls “the inclination to bolt.” … [...]
THANK YOU!
For writting this.
My dietician suggested that I take a peek at your blog.
AND I am glad I did.
This is so true.
Just lost 65 pounds and it has been ever increasingly hard.
I am trying to learn how to be me in this newness.
It is a weird place to be…65 down, but
I feel even more self conscious than in the begginning.
ON the journey!
THANK YOU again.
Thank you, THANK YOU! I’ve cried and laugh while reading your blog. I have found answers to questions I did not even know I had. Your blog has truly been a revelation.
FINALLY! A weight loss story that actually addresses the psychological problems and reasons behind it! FINALLY, FINALLY FINALLY!! Once I hit my goal weight, I already know what my Facebook status is going to be “After 5 years of emotional work and 10 months of physical work, I’ve reached my goal weight!” Thank you for being emotionally honest about what it can take to lose weight and keep it off!!
[...] one of my new favorite bloggers, wrote a really incredible post called, “Peace with Food,” and it hit me – I need to find my peace with food. I need more [...]
Hello,
I was turned onto your blog by a friend of mine who found it. I have constantly struggled with weight since I was 15. I now have over 100 lbs to lose. At the beginning of 2011 I lost 50lbs in 6 months. But then it all stopped. I wasn’t motivated anymore. And through the last 7 months I have been struggling with the why. The more days go by I realize I am addicted to food. But how can I go cold turkey? I can’t. So unlike an alcoholic I cannot just stay away from the food I am addicted to. I have to learn how to control it. I know I like to eat food because it tastes good but I also like the feeling it gives me. I have been using it to help me hide from my feelings as well. What you have described in this post is exactly what I struggle with. You mentioned some books and I am interested in reading some but I am not sure which one would be the best to get. Could you suggest one that was most helpful for you to be able to fight your feeling of wanting food anytime time something happens?
Thanks,
Mina
Thank you Mina! I’d recommend that you read each and every one of Geneen Roth’s books. But as a start, go with “When Food is Love” followed by “Feeding the Hungry Heart.”
Andie
[...] Peace With Food [...]
Women, Food and God was my key to understanding what I had been doing for 53 years. Love this story. Love this writer. Girl, you rock!!!!
Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
This is so true. I am a chronic dieter (since I was 8 years old). I lose 30lbs, maintain it for a day, and then gain 40lbs back. This cycle is not working and I am finally realizing it isn’t about the food. I feel I know all there is to know about dieting- but I haven’t addressed why I am overeating. Thank you for your insight, Andie. You’re such an inspiration.
Andrea, I just have to thank you for your inspiration. I’ve tried just about every diet out there, but always end up gaining every pound (and then some) back. I’m a very impatient person and really struggle with seeing my current 2 lb loss per week as a success. I can just smell food fumes and gain 2 lbs. I have a hard time being consistent and motivated. You have given me hope and courage that I can continue on my journey to physical freedom. Thank you for helping me to see that my inside is beautiful–and that I need to be content with me no matter my state of fitness. I’ve always thought it would be easier to work on my “inner me” when I don’t loathe my physical appearance as much as I do now–and that I’d work on my state of happiness later. I thought somehow that would just “come to be” after the weight loss. Well, later has turned into years of detatchment. From myself, my husband, my family, and my friends. But it’s time to make a change. I’m writing through tears and a heart full of gratitude to you and your insightful, honest writings. Really hits home and gives me comfort that I’m not alone in this struggle. Thanks. <3