Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything Kindle Edition

I am a physician, who myself suffers with Binge Eating Disorder. I am trained in nutrition and metabolism and have given and received extensive counseling myself. It has been a long journey over the span of many years and using this book ultimately caused significant weight gain. I read this book several years back to assimilate all schools of thought. The truth is- this book can cause serious consequences to a person with Binge Eating disorder which is a true addiction, just like alcoholism. Yet Ms. Roth attempts to convince you that your problem is purely lack of self awareness and self control and she claims to fix it with her "guidelines". These guidelines that Ms. Roth preaches, instruct you to do exactly what you are not equipped to do- instinctively know what your body “wants” , how much, and when. Ms Roth-you have failed to explain to people what their body needs in terms of healthy portions, and instead you tell them to simply eat until they are satisfied while entering into a semi meditative state every time they eat. PeopleIn everyday life can not drift away into a zone. They have families and life to think about, and daily responsibilities. People with binge eating, by default, do not feel satisfied and by default they don't pay attention when they are binging. That is the game, to ignore what is going on. She admits and tells you that you will GAIN WEIGHT following her guidelines, but she promises you will plateau then begin to lose weight as you master her plan, which is not possible for an average person living a normal daily existence, not isolated to a bubble of spiritual/meditation where she expects you to float your way into thinness simply because her training has been in meditation and because it worked for her. I believe the author possibly suffers from borderline or narcissistic personality disorder in which a person centers their thinking on themself rather than facts. This is serious stuff, Ms. Roth, do not undermine people's confidence by giving them unrealistic l goals which they can not attain. Take responsbility for what you are saying to people and clarify your credentials. You should be held liable.

I've read an insane amount of books with this same type of theme and some blend into the pile while occasionally I find one that stands out in an amazing way. I can't quite pinpoint exactly what it is about it that makes it stand out, maybe I just read it at the right time of my life or something but it had a significant effect on my mindfulness with not only my relationship with food but a lot of other aspects of my day to day life.The book is written in such an extremely simple way, which can sometimes trigger part of your brain to tell you you don't need the information, but I pushed that little voice aside whenever it popped up and was rewarded with full body and mind "aha's" and "I knew it!"'s over and over.If you are the type of person that "doesn't believe in diets" but still haven't found a way to be happy with your body, OR struggle with yo-yo dieting in any way at all THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!It's a quick read and presents an unarguable truth that your body will LOVE and your mind will most likely refuse due to the simplicity of the facts presented, but I promise it actually works!! Before I had even finished the book and was only taking the small step of acknowledging any feelings in my body before eating, nothing more. And instantly I noticed my eating habits change DRASTICALLY! I did not do one other thing, no meal planning, no restricting in any way, I just mentally acknowledged and put a name to any emotions or sensations present in my body before I ate anything and I didn't try to change anything else. If I was sitting at my desk at work and reached for a candy bar I would sit down and while unwrapping it I would mentally say "I am feeling _________ in _________ part of my body and it's OK to feel ___________ right now." (ie. I am feeling incredible stress in my stomach right now and it's OK to feel this stress right now). But this funny thing started to happen... I would stop eating in the middle of my meals and snacks because I was full without even noticing I had stopped. I CANNOT tell you the last time I didn't finish my plate completely. I always eat everything I'm served. But when I started letting myself feel the feeling I was trying to eat in such a simple and non-resistive way, my appetite suddenly balanced to what my body actually needed.Becoming mindful in this EXTREMELY simple way will change your life.

Don't let the title fool you! This author has a lot of great therapist-like tips for helping women overcome the stronghold that is food, HOWEVER. Her idea of "God" is very new-agey. Whatever makes you happy type of thing. The peace within your soul type of thing. Not Jesus, not the one true God. She also thinks that the voices inside our head.. the voice of our enemy is really just ourselves. And that we learned that mean voice from our parents. Well, if it's MY voice telling myself that i'm a fat POS, don't you think I would have just flipped the switch and turn that off.. like.. a long long time ago? Just a lot of kooky messed up ideology here. For someone with a weaker faith, this might just lead them down a wrong path. I stopped reading halfway through because the wonderful tips she has aren't worth reading through false information about God.

I have binge eating disorder and I find Geneen Roth's ideas very useful indeed. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to deal with their eating disorder by starting from within and doing this very effective personal development work.Some of Geneen's writing I have found confusing and I was wondering did she endorse over eating but she explains this topic in the early part of this book very well and I now understand that she has never really advocated overeating as a way of ending compulsive eating.When you're trying out different foods at the beginning of recovery you're meant to eat mindfully and eat slowly and sitting down. I have also bought one of her other books called 'why weight? how to end compulsive eating'. I have spent twenty years trying to normalise my relationship with food and I feel excited by reading her books as there is so much to be learnt in them.

I found this book very long - much longer than I've found the author's previous books. There's nothing really new here and it feels like it's a book version of her retreat (which has successfully put me off ever wanting to go on said retreat!)I'm sure people will find something in this, but for me - I already know where God is in my life, so it didn't really hold the breakthroughs or revolutions of some of her previous works. Also, there's a bit of superiority creeping into the style of writing. She's a guru - great. but she's not God Almighty (or whoever your chosen Being/Empty Space is!) It's getting three stars because at least she's still getting the message out there about dieting and how there is another way - just remember Ms Roth's way is not the One True Way either :) Take what's helpful and leave the rest.

I ordered this book for my Kindle and within two days I had read it all. It's one of the best books I've come across, and I've already started to implement Geneen's ideas and noticed an amazing difference. Not only do I feel lighter, I feel happier! This is a major leap for someone who has spent the last twenty five years or more lamenting the size and shape of her body!The book is sprinkled with Geneen's humour as well as down to earth guidance for how to use the power of your mind to change your outlook and your life. Forget dieting, this is the way to overcome emotional eating and negativity.

I felt this book was incredibly powerful. As someone who spent most of her life overweight and always blamed the food and others for her shortcomings, this book resonated.The reality is I'm now not overweight in fact I work in the health and fitness industry - this book was recommended to me by a peer - and I'm now working on my mindset about food rather than the food itself.For you to get the most out of this book you must be willing to consider other options, one that is not only based on calories in/out and shaming yourself into a better body. If you can do that, then this book will be a great tool.

Loved this book, refreshing approach and gave me real ideas to help me with my issues. Would highly recommend reading