Review of Food Addiction: The Body Knows: Revised & Expanded Edition (Paperback)

After trying (and failing) for years to lose weight with Weight Watchers and dieting, I had almost concluded that significant weight loss was for me, not possible.Then I was introduced to the principles of Kay Sheppard's food regimen, and in four months, lost 30 pounds.I am still losing, and for the first time, without having to fight feelings of deprivation and those terrible food cravings.If this is a diet, it is the easiest and most effective diet I have ever been on. My friends and family are amazed.
There are two major aspects of Sheppard's food regimen: (1) the physiological aspects of food addiction that derive from low blood sugar due to a hypoglycemic response to flour and sugar in the diet, which is what causes the food cravings and binging, and (2) the moral, spiritual and pyschological support needed to get through the early withdrawal phase, and for many, to stay in recovery.
Sheppard mentions support organizations like Overaters Anonymous and Food Addicts Anonymous, which provide sponsors, information, and moral support for the morbidly obese and other food addicts. I have personally met several individuals in such organizations who have lost over 100 pounds (one young woman had lost 150 pounds)with the result that their lives had turned around and their health restored. The reviewer below who reports that she failed in this food program should try again, this time with a sponsor and an organization to help her.
If you have a significant weight problem or eating disorder, read Kay Sheppard's book.It will be the first step on your road to recovery.

Product Description
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Are you a food addict?

Do you gain more weight than you lose after every diet?

Can one cookie destroy all your good intentions?

Do you eat when you are disappointed, tense or anxious?

Since its publication, Food Addiction has become a primary resource for food addicts and compulsive eaters. Now it is updated and presented in a revised and expanded edition, with a new chapter on relapse. For a food addict, relapse is an ever present danger which begins in the mind before reaching for that cupcake or other trigger food.
Here food addiction is defined, trigger foods are identified and consequences of food addiction are revealed. A lifetime eating plan demonstrating how to stick with a healthful food plan for the long term is also provided.
"For some people, foods can be as addictive as alcohol," Kay Sheppard explains. "Gummy bears and marshmallow chicks can be vicious killers whose effects can lead to depression, irritability and even suicide. The terrible truth is that for certain individuals, refined carbohydrates can trigger the addictive process. This book is an effort to help you understand and solve the problems of compulsive eating."




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Review of Breaking Out of Food Jail: How to Free Yourself from Diets and Problem Eating, Once and for All (Paperback)

If everyone followed the advice in this book, it would put a lot of eating disorders therapists, as well as diet gurus out of business. The author's theory is that eating disorders are biological in origin rather than emotional, and that the artificial food restriction of dieting causes a rebound effect in the body. If you stop the artifical restriction, and eat according to your hunger signals, your normal eating patterns will return and your weight will normalize. Unlike some books that advocate a similar philosophy, the author does not advocate eating poor quality foods. She explicitly states that you should eat high quality real foods whenever you are hungry. Thus, this book DOES NOT ignore good nutrition which some of these books do. She states that if your appetite always satisified, you'll soon lose interest in poor quality foods. I cured my own binge eating problem by following this advice, and don't eat much in the way of junk type foods anymore. I don't understand why more obesity researchers don't advocate this approach,and why Ms. Antonello seems to be a lone voice of sanity crying out in the wilderness.

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FINALLY YOU CAN SET YOURSELF FREE
If you've tried every diet out there, if you've counted every gram of fat, every last calorie and every meal exchange, and you're still fighting the food wars, it's time for Breaking Out of Food Jail, a commonsense approach to food, eating, and appetites.
Jean Antonello's practical, step-by-step program pinpoints and eliminates the most common cause of eating problems -- the fear of overeating. That's right -- if you've tried everything and you're still battling your appetite, it's probably because you're not getting enough to eat at the right time. When you deprive your body of food for any reason -- and as you do on most diels -- your body goes into a famine state. Your hunger soars, along with cravings for fatty foods and sugars -- the foods your body can most quickly turn into stored fuel to protect you from starvation. If you're like most dieters, you eventually respond to those signals by bingeing. And then you go back to your restrictive eating and start the cycle all over again. Breaking Out of Food Jail will release you from this trap and show you:
* How not eating enough results in cravings, overeating, disturbed eating behavior, and weight gain
* How the "feast or famine" pattern undermines even the most conscientious eater
* How to have a normal relationship with food -- including learning to eat whenever you're hungry and stopping when you are full
* Why most eating problems are not psychological but physiological
* How to prevent eating problems in children and young adults by teaching kids how to tune into their hunger and eat right
Filled with self-tests, affirmations, simple exercises, and the latest research on dieting, as well as Jean's list of "real foods" that should be in every refrigerator and pantry, Breaking Out of Food Jail will transform your relationship with food and your body and eliminate dieting from your life, once and for all.

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Review of Meal by Meal: 365 Daily Meditations for Finding Balance Through Mindful Eating (Paperback)

I was familiar with the work of Donald Altman from his earlier 'Art of the Inner Meal' and was impressed how his writing has found a fresh and densely pragmatic new form. 'Meal by Meal' is a fluid read of inspiring quotes coupled with practical insights by the author. This book is extremely handsome, a beautifully laid out composition making this both useful and pleasurable to read. If you have the discipline to read a page at a time, you will find this helpful day by day. I personally had trouble putting it down and would read a month at a time... but the suggestions are valid and useful on a second slower read. Worthwhile investment for someone wishing to calm their compulsive behavior for a more reflective perspective.

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Meal by Meal is a book of comfort, guidance, and insight for anyone with an unhealthy relationship with food. Its power is in its approach: each day is a self-contained journey of conscious eating to help people nurture new and sustainable attitudes and practices. Although bad habits cannot be changed overnight, the author, Buddhist devotee Donald Altman, shows how to find peace by focusing on food issues one meal at a time. He shares inspirational daily meditations, including quotes from Zen stories, Native American practices, Hindu scriptures, the Bible, and sages from all major wisdom traditions. He also explores food preparation, rituals, and social attitudes and examines questions like "How can we learn that eating is not a pleasure race, but an area to find grace?" and "How can we stop using food to fill ourselves up, and instead use it to fulfill ourselves?" Through daily reflections, Altman enables people to make wise food choices and create balance in their lives.

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Review of Making Peace With Food: Freeing Yourself from the Diet/Weight Obsession (Paperback)

After years of learning negative behaviors around food, and years of an unhealthy relationship with food, I found a book that challenged my ideas about food and weight. I read a review on this book that mentioned how upset they were about this book telling you that it is ok to gain weight. Well, what this book really says is that we all come in different shapes and sizes and that is ok. Maybe it is not healthy to be the weight that we desire? I loved this book because it helped me to learn that food is no longer my God or my enemy. It taught me that it is ok to eat.

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For millions of diet-conscious Americans, the scientifically proven, step-by-step guide to overcoming repeated weight loss and gain, binge eating, guilt, and anxieties about food and body image.

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