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Overcoming Overeating : Conquer Your Obsession With Food Forever
Originally published in 1989, a book offering advice on conquering food obsessions and compulsive eating in order to give up dieting and bingeing, claiming this will lead to increased self-esteem.
244 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1966
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
December 26, 2014
Read this book and like me, you will be sobbing uncontrollably over your buttered jammy English muffin!
No really, that happened.
I've put off writing this review because the risk of self-exposure is terrifying.
This is a scary scary book. But it can completely change your view of food and yourself and your life.
But change, even if it's good, doesn't necessarily feel pleasant.
So if you are sick of being obsessed with food and weight and fat and you are ready to not be miserable any more.... Read on.
So back to me crying over the breakfast table.
This is why:
I think about my weight all of the time. I ruefully assumed everybody else does too. I am always on a diet, planning my next diet, castigating myself for failing at my diet. I have a twenty pound rebound zone and at the top I hate myself and at the bottom I am grimly determined to stay there, but I also feel a little dead.
All of that? Completely unpleasant.
So I read this book-- recommended by a therapist friend who also is a recovered bulimic.
From the first, this book asks the impossible: promise never to diet again. Make a solemn vow-- you can't fake it. Diets don't work, stop forever.
Now, accept your body, as it is. This is you.
Now, go shopping. Triple stock everything you actually want to eat.
Then eat it. Kindly remind yourself that you can have what you want, the deprivation is over and there will always be more.
Pay attention to your reason for eating. Are you anxious bored happy frugal giddy sad proud efficient tired? Those feelings are all fine but they have nothing to so with food. Is your stomach rumbling? That has to do with food.
When you experience actual physical hunger, identify the Exact Thing you want, and then eat enough of it to satisfy that physical hunger.
So picture me, over breakfast, and all I want in the world is a toasted English muffin with butter in the craters and a smear of fancy raspberry jam with tea. I haven't had such a thing since I was a teenager. Lately carbs are taboo, breakfast not a thing. But it sounds amazing.
And then-- I make it for myself. I put it on a nice plate and I sit down and I take a bite and it is SO RIGHT and so delicious and here's the crazy part-- so kind.
Feeding myself, meal by meal, the things I actually want and that make me feel legitimately good-- it felt like true love. Like radical self-care. Feeling so loved-- I cried. A lot. For days.
And the amazing thing-- even with potato chips towering on top of the fridge and bags of snickers in the cupboard and four kinds of Haagen Dazs in the freezer-- since I obeyed the edict to really stock up so much you won't fear scarcity and snarf-- the amazing thing is, when I ask myself what do I want? I want white beans with sautéed red onions tossed with feta and couscous. I want runny eggs on whole wheat with Canadian bacon and cracked pepper. And I don't want that much of it.
I want two bites of red potatoes with truffle salt. And one handful of dried cranberries with sharp Irish cheddar.
All the restriction and moderation and calorie counting over the years could NEVER get me to reduce my serving size the way this process did. Feeling physical hunger, identifying EXACTLY what I want, eating as much of it as I need. Transformative.
The first couple of weeks were very intense-- every meal was a desperate experience-- what do I want? OMG I need frozen strawberries in sparkling water RIGHT NOW! OMG I need hazelnuts in dark chocolate STAT! Fresh mozzarella with balsamic! Chirashizushi! Now!!
And the satiation was just as clear-- yes I made this whole pot of beautiful ratatouille provencale but if I take one more bite everything in the world will turn to ash.
I noticed an amazing surge in energy-- running everyday suddenly felt good instead of like jangling my joints across the pavement-- and my mood lifted. Ask me how I am-- Yes I'm fine, I had the most perfect delicious breakfast and I'm going to have the most perfect delicious lunch and I am feeling loved and taken care of and worthy of kindness, thanks for asking!
That desperation has ebbed a bit now, a couple of months after first reading the book-- and my food cravings aren't as acute and the satiation isn't as cut and dry. The honeymoon is over-- I am facing the difficult prospect of living forever at a weight and body shape I am not excited about.
So even though for some people this approach will lead to weight loss, it's not a weight loss book. It sets out to wean us from obsession with food and fatness, and to lead us into a healthy loving relationship with food based on having needs and getting them met with kindness. For some that will mean eventually shedding weight, for others... Not so much. Go be alive anyway. Do fun things. Wear great clothes. Don't wait.
This is hard. Harder than believing if I just cut out XYZ ill finally morph into that beautiful person who is waiting inside, and THEN I'll learn to swim or join that class. THEN I'll buy new clothes that actually fit. No. Stop. You're there, it's now.
The point is to break the mental habit of turning to the familiar pain and noise of dieting and diet failure rather than experiencing actual emotions. And that's hard.
But even though it feels overwhelming, the authors break it into a simple daily rubric: how many times did I eat what I want from physical hunger, and how many times did I eat for some other reason? The goal is eventually to replicate that experience of physical hunger and feeding as often as possible, and the eventual extinction of eating for other reasons.
Imagine: Two columns with tally-marks: belly or mouth hunger. Get more tallies on the belly side, and fewer on the "mouth hunger" side. That's the goal. Eat for just the right reasons.
This is not an easy book, not an easy idea. But it's life-changing to have tools to dismantle a major source of misery, and free up all that emotion to live life and deal with what's really happening. And to have permission-- no and injunction! To make sure you feel taken care of.
No really, that happened.
I've put off writing this review because the risk of self-exposure is terrifying.
This is a scary scary book. But it can completely change your view of food and yourself and your life.
But change, even if it's good, doesn't necessarily feel pleasant.
So if you are sick of being obsessed with food and weight and fat and you are ready to not be miserable any more.... Read on.
So back to me crying over the breakfast table.
This is why:
I think about my weight all of the time. I ruefully assumed everybody else does too. I am always on a diet, planning my next diet, castigating myself for failing at my diet. I have a twenty pound rebound zone and at the top I hate myself and at the bottom I am grimly determined to stay there, but I also feel a little dead.
All of that? Completely unpleasant.
So I read this book-- recommended by a therapist friend who also is a recovered bulimic.
From the first, this book asks the impossible: promise never to diet again. Make a solemn vow-- you can't fake it. Diets don't work, stop forever.
Now, accept your body, as it is. This is you.
Now, go shopping. Triple stock everything you actually want to eat.
Then eat it. Kindly remind yourself that you can have what you want, the deprivation is over and there will always be more.
Pay attention to your reason for eating. Are you anxious bored happy frugal giddy sad proud efficient tired? Those feelings are all fine but they have nothing to so with food. Is your stomach rumbling? That has to do with food.
When you experience actual physical hunger, identify the Exact Thing you want, and then eat enough of it to satisfy that physical hunger.
So picture me, over breakfast, and all I want in the world is a toasted English muffin with butter in the craters and a smear of fancy raspberry jam with tea. I haven't had such a thing since I was a teenager. Lately carbs are taboo, breakfast not a thing. But it sounds amazing.
And then-- I make it for myself. I put it on a nice plate and I sit down and I take a bite and it is SO RIGHT and so delicious and here's the crazy part-- so kind.
Feeding myself, meal by meal, the things I actually want and that make me feel legitimately good-- it felt like true love. Like radical self-care. Feeling so loved-- I cried. A lot. For days.
And the amazing thing-- even with potato chips towering on top of the fridge and bags of snickers in the cupboard and four kinds of Haagen Dazs in the freezer-- since I obeyed the edict to really stock up so much you won't fear scarcity and snarf-- the amazing thing is, when I ask myself what do I want? I want white beans with sautéed red onions tossed with feta and couscous. I want runny eggs on whole wheat with Canadian bacon and cracked pepper. And I don't want that much of it.
I want two bites of red potatoes with truffle salt. And one handful of dried cranberries with sharp Irish cheddar.
All the restriction and moderation and calorie counting over the years could NEVER get me to reduce my serving size the way this process did. Feeling physical hunger, identifying EXACTLY what I want, eating as much of it as I need. Transformative.
The first couple of weeks were very intense-- every meal was a desperate experience-- what do I want? OMG I need frozen strawberries in sparkling water RIGHT NOW! OMG I need hazelnuts in dark chocolate STAT! Fresh mozzarella with balsamic! Chirashizushi! Now!!
And the satiation was just as clear-- yes I made this whole pot of beautiful ratatouille provencale but if I take one more bite everything in the world will turn to ash.
I noticed an amazing surge in energy-- running everyday suddenly felt good instead of like jangling my joints across the pavement-- and my mood lifted. Ask me how I am-- Yes I'm fine, I had the most perfect delicious breakfast and I'm going to have the most perfect delicious lunch and I am feeling loved and taken care of and worthy of kindness, thanks for asking!
That desperation has ebbed a bit now, a couple of months after first reading the book-- and my food cravings aren't as acute and the satiation isn't as cut and dry. The honeymoon is over-- I am facing the difficult prospect of living forever at a weight and body shape I am not excited about.
So even though for some people this approach will lead to weight loss, it's not a weight loss book. It sets out to wean us from obsession with food and fatness, and to lead us into a healthy loving relationship with food based on having needs and getting them met with kindness. For some that will mean eventually shedding weight, for others... Not so much. Go be alive anyway. Do fun things. Wear great clothes. Don't wait.
This is hard. Harder than believing if I just cut out XYZ ill finally morph into that beautiful person who is waiting inside, and THEN I'll learn to swim or join that class. THEN I'll buy new clothes that actually fit. No. Stop. You're there, it's now.
The point is to break the mental habit of turning to the familiar pain and noise of dieting and diet failure rather than experiencing actual emotions. And that's hard.
But even though it feels overwhelming, the authors break it into a simple daily rubric: how many times did I eat what I want from physical hunger, and how many times did I eat for some other reason? The goal is eventually to replicate that experience of physical hunger and feeding as often as possible, and the eventual extinction of eating for other reasons.
Imagine: Two columns with tally-marks: belly or mouth hunger. Get more tallies on the belly side, and fewer on the "mouth hunger" side. That's the goal. Eat for just the right reasons.
This is not an easy book, not an easy idea. But it's life-changing to have tools to dismantle a major source of misery, and free up all that emotion to live life and deal with what's really happening. And to have permission-- no and injunction! To make sure you feel taken care of.
August 25, 2011
I wish I could give this book MORE than 5 stars - I first read this book decades ago when it first came out and it "saved" my life - literally!
Man or woman, but especially if you are a woman and have food compulsions, shame about food, have used food to take care of yourself, this method is the ONLY one I know of that works. It takes years and loads of self-care, which by the way, is really the basis of the method - learning to give yourself the self-care you didn't get as a child, but used food instead.
It can feel stressful at first to stock up on formerly forbidden foods, throw out the scale, throw away (or donate) clothing that doesn't fit and some of the other items in the book, but stick to it, remember you don't have to do it all at once and perfection is not the answer.
Man or woman, but especially if you are a woman and have food compulsions, shame about food, have used food to take care of yourself, this method is the ONLY one I know of that works. It takes years and loads of self-care, which by the way, is really the basis of the method - learning to give yourself the self-care you didn't get as a child, but used food instead.
It can feel stressful at first to stock up on formerly forbidden foods, throw out the scale, throw away (or donate) clothing that doesn't fit and some of the other items in the book, but stick to it, remember you don't have to do it all at once and perfection is not the answer.
June 24, 2025
This was a very interesting and educational read. A different take on weight loss and overconsumption that I never considered before. I will definitely be using a few bits of this book in therapy with me.
February 7, 2017
I've read many books and blogs on this topic and listened to podcasts galore. So I want to start off by saying that the message the book is giving, I give 5 stars. There are three parts to this book and it took me ages to get through the first part because it's pretty repetitive. I think the first two parts could be thinned out a little while still maintaining the quality intent. I think there were a lot of good bits in here, and will likely read the third part of the book again.
February 6, 2018
PROFESSIONAL READING: This is the earliest example I can find of a book that promotes a non-diet approach to health (originally published in 1988). Hirschmann and Munter outline a step-wise program to address bingeing/compulsive eating by throwing out the diet mentality, eating the foods that make you nervous, identifying root causes of anxiety, and practicing radical self-acceptance. This book does not beat around the bush when it comes to coping with food, but does make a lot of promises about weight loss that may or may not pan out for readers struggling with chronic dieting.
July 16, 2023
This feels like the millionth intuitive eating book that I’ve read - ok, it’s probably only the sixth. Interestingly, the approach is more my style. An honest discussion of why overeating occurs for various people, with an explanation of how it’s a protective measure. It’s easily the most practical book in its genre.
January 13, 2022
Full disclosure, I didn't finish it. The premise of being able to eat what you want , when you want, and not care if you gain weight just wasn't going to work for me. I understand that you may eventually get to a reasonable weight but not sure it would ever happen.
Read
June 27, 2022Great. Read for a university class
April 23, 2024
I read this over a decade ago and it changed my life.
July 23, 2024
One of the best books about diet culture I’ve come across
January 23, 2025
One of the best books on the binge-restrict cycle and one that handles it pragmatically.
December 17, 2016
Uhummm... It is hard to write this review... Because... For someone who does not know this ideas ( excelent ideas which i have been knowing for years..).. Well this book it would be thw greatest. Dont get me wrong, I think this book is wonderful..still.. The teory lacks of something.. It is not complete. i dont believe we always eat either for "mouth hunger" or " real hunger".. Most of the time, it is just the habit, the automated pattern which became independent of any reason or emotion.. Still... I agree with most of the ideas here.. i just need more light...
January 3, 2010
The main gist of this book is the idea that dieting makes people become obsessive about food and puts them in a diet/binge cycle. They also talk about how many people use food as a way to try and relieve stress and emotional issues and how that doesn't work. They claim that if you give up diets and weighing yourself, make no food off limits and strive toward only eating when you hungry; eating what your body is craving; and stopping when you are full - that you will be able to return back to a normal relationship with food and the self-regulating processes of the body will put you at the weight you were meant to be at genetically.
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September 19, 2022
I am a compulsive eater, and I borrowed this book from my therapist. I have been so encouraged by the genuine comprehension by the authors of how my mind works regarding food. The ideas in this book are well thought out, easy to understand, and very freeing. As soon as I had a question, I would flip the page and it would be answered. I have every intention of not only following the book's instructions on how to listen to my body and feed my stomach, but also to purchase my own copy to keep for reference and lend to others.
June 17, 2014
If you've struggled with your weight then read this book.
I'm only halfway through so far but I think this book might have the answer. Also, check out Mindfulness in Plain English because it's to do with paying attention to how you feel. With these you have everything you need. Stop dieting and read this now.
I have to go now as I'm off to read the rest of this book. Happy eating...
UPDATE: Ive just finished reading this book, its definitely worth a read and may help change your perspective on food...
I'm only halfway through so far but I think this book might have the answer. Also, check out Mindfulness in Plain English because it's to do with paying attention to how you feel. With these you have everything you need. Stop dieting and read this now.
I have to go now as I'm off to read the rest of this book. Happy eating...
UPDATE: Ive just finished reading this book, its definitely worth a read and may help change your perspective on food...
June 27, 2014
Well, I have completed this book and there are a lot of things to take away with me. it is refreshing to think about food in a different way and there are many things that I will include in my every day life. i still find some of it to be somewhat vague and lacking a little structure which is ironic because that is the whole point of it. Considering the amount of anxiety I often deal with, thinking about how to deal with mouth hunger is interesting. Anyway, I have purchased my full length mirror amd will try to stay off the scales.
August 27, 2016
This book goes right along with Intuitive Eating, and was really helpful in learning to heal my relationship with food. If I had to choose one, it would definitely be Intuitive Eating, but this one, while it seemed a little more extreme, did help my brain to make some connections with ideas that I hadn't fully understood.
September 29, 2018
This book has really made me think. A year ago I made the decision to stop dieting after almost 3 decades of yo-yo dieting in one form or another, and to my astonishment my weight has stayed the same ever since. However I have still flirted with restricting my food in various ways occasionally, and that does make me a bit stressed. Now that I’ve read this book I think that I am going to try to honestly eat exactly what I want, when I want, and see how that goes.
November 7, 2019
I know a lot of folks who are proponents of Health at Every Size (HAES) are turned-off by the title of this book, but it is almost 100 percent aligned with intuitive eating and HAES. I think it's also important to acknowledge that while not all obesity is caused by overeating, an obsession with food, and diet/binge cycles are very common among American women who have a lot of pressure to diet for weight loss. This book was really instrumental in helping me change my relationship with food.
September 16, 2021
I spent a very long, slow time reading this book because I wanted to let myself internalize it. A few months ago, I came face to face with the realization that I have a binge-eating problem, & someone I follow on social media recommended this book as having helped her. While I am probably not going to follow everything I learned in it, I did, in fact, learn a lot from it, & I feel like it's already starting to help me.
February 8, 2024
Loved this book about letting go of diets and trying to control your body. The authors do a really good job on explaining how to do on demand feeding and address different types of concerns. They also write about "the fantasy of fatness" can keep us stuck and how weight loss can play a role in this. This book came out before the Intuitive Eating, but I think it's a perfect companion to the OG book.
April 13, 2008
I found that this book takes you way back to the beginning of your life to discuss where you learnt your overeating and in really good detail about emotions and why you eat. It also discusses ways to stop the overeating. A little hard to understand occassionally, but a very good book, that I would recommend.
August 2, 2021
Some of the content in this book is perhaps outdated and some of the language is relatively body-shamey. Still, revolutionary in how we could and should approach the diet-binge cycle. If someone were considering reading this book, I’d recommend Intuitive Eating instead as it has much of the same content and messaging but without the aged language or ideas.
July 31, 2012
It's quite some time since I read this but I will always be grateful for the way it helped me change my damaging relationship with food and dieting (and the resulting eating disorders). Don't diet, do yourself a big favour and read this book instead.
September 6, 2015
There were a lot of points in this book that made sense in theory, and I am sure I will consider some of them in the future. Not convinced by the idea of ditching the concept of dieting all together though.
October 26, 2016
Best summarized so you don't have to read it: Nice theory, though I believe true change comes from inside. Wish best luck to anyone buying this.
August 2, 2010
Made a huge difference in the way I approach dieting.
November 27, 2011
a truly life-changing book
far more valuable than any dieting book could ever be
far more valuable than any dieting book could ever be
March 3, 2013
How to distinguish between mouth hunger and stomach hunger? How to grow to accept both? Read this book to learn how; the many Q&A sections helped guide me through the material.
September 19, 2013
A great book that helps to identify ways in which those of us with food issues use food improperly. It deserves a closer reading from me, and maybe even a purchase.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews