Women, Food, & God..on Oprah Show

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Hey Guys!

I just saw the Oprah Show and it had a new guest on named Geneen Roth who wrote a book called Women, Food, & God. It just aired today so I am not sure who saw it. Oprah has always struggled with her weight, but HIGHLY recommends this book. She says that dieting and counting calories is not the answer. That the answer is to change your relationship with food. In it she talks about how we feel sad and eat and dont deal with the root of the problem. Its nothing super new, but its sort of a new twist on something I have heard before. It was a good show and Ms. Oprah got really teary when she talked about being physically abused as a young girl and how that is the root of her over-eating today.

The book does not tell you WHAT to eat or to even exercise, it says that we need to get in touch with our feelings and deal with what is making us overweight etc. Its kind of interesting and they are going to do a follow up show two months from today on July 12, 2010.

Here is a link to it if you dont know what I am talking about. Its a short read, check it out!
 
My sister told me about this book. I looked it up and read some reviews. One person said that you don't have to even belive an any kind of god to like the book. I don't know what it''s like because I haven't read it. I just think it should have been called something else. Kinda like they were trying to jump on the chinken soup band wagon with God put in the title.
 
Well I'd be interested to read some of it since I know that 90% of battle with my weight stems from the fact that I am emotional eater.
I'm not fussy, I like healthy food, I like exercising, I just EAT anytime I feel ANYTHING.
Happy, sad, mad, scared.
I totally self medicate with food.
I'm not sure a book can change that but it would be nice to read it from someone's point of view who does the same thing.
I don't feel like there is a lot of focus put on relationships with food v. the science of it all.
We all know the science of it, it's the motivation and or fear of putting it into practice.
 
Bedsy81 said:
Well I'd be interested to read some of it since I know that 90% of battle with my weight stems from the fact that I am emotional eater.
I'm not fussy, I like healthy food, I like exercising, I just EAT anytime I feel ANYTHING.
Happy, sad, mad, scared.
I totally self medicate with food.
I'm not sure a book can change that but it would be nice to read it from someone's point of view who does the same thing.
I don't feel like there is a lot of focus put on relationships with food v. the science of it all.
We all know the science of it, it's the motivation and or fear of putting it into practice.
Click to expand...

I eat for emotional reasons. I know for a fact a book cannot put that right, only I can put that right but its safe to say that repeatedly eating when I feel x,y and z only stregnthens my reactions to eat without thinking based on how I feel not how hungry I am.

The only thing you can do is change the way you eat. I have given myself a diet plan, stuff to eat through the day, enough calories and macros to get me through. If I want to eat more I have to seriously consider why, I should not be so hungry I can't omit that desire- I have eaten enough already. Its then up to me to realise that its not actual hunger, its a desire for something else, something I don't have but something food is not going to get me.

Its one thing to realise that, its another to put it into practice.

There are electrical type wirings in your brain, read about them in psychology/biology books, its how our minds work, one current ties one part of out brain to another. You do something repeatedly such as eat when you feel X, you create a sort of current which then promts you to feel hungry when you next feel X without even thinking...see how dangerous it is? I do think it can be altered, various forms of C.B.T treatment show you can alter the way your mind processes things.

Its about concerntrating on what you do, why you do it and then working on altering it. Either re-establishing your thoughts or putting something in its place: eg I feel X, I think a hug/good book to read/chat with a friend would help me more then eating something. Then going to do this or as close you can get to doing it (if your friends not available try connecting with someone else, writing a letter as if you were talking/writing a diary...) keep repeating this and over time (about 2 weeks is a noticable difference) and it will get easier. The fact that your in control of your eating feeds into it and you feel motivated, and hey, you may even lose some weight!

I think its normal to have lapses, fall back into old habits and realise your mistake after you have done it. This is why I keep to a daily food plan, my mistakes are all the more obvious to me and its easier to catch and correct them. If you make a mistake, simply pick up where you left off- no waiting till tomorrow, next week or next month, correct it the instant you make it, do not eat anymore, do not finish the plate, do not buy more. Stop. The next meal you eat needs to have been one you have planned to have not one you felt you wanted after feeling x,y or z. Don't beat yourself up over your mistakes, you need to remember your battling a huge brain wiring issue, its not so easy to just correct things on a whim, it takes time and repeatidly being on the ball, doing the right thing over and over.

Just my experience but works for me.
 
There are already tons of books out there that talk about changing your relationship to food. This is not a new or revolutionary concept. Check out a book called "Mindful Eating" if you want the original ... and IMO a pretty good book.

This, however: She says that dieting and counting calories is not the answer. That the answer is to change your relationship with food. Is utter and complete BS. Many people are overweight simply because they have no knowledge about food. They're ignorant of everything about nutrition and calories. The only way they'll learn to make good food choices and to build a good relationship with food, is to learn about food. How many calories it has, what kind of nutrients it has, etc. Until you learn that, how can you possibly change your relationship with food?

Or as Steve has brilliantly said before - Listening to your body is only good if you speak it's language.
 
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