Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise

by Robert E. Thayer

Obesity is reaching alarming proportions. In this insightful new approach to understanding why this is happening, acclaimed mood scientist Robert Thayer offers a new appreciation of the real cause--emotional eating. But this is not just emotional eating as previously known; rather it is a new scientific analysis of exactly how different moods affect eating. He shows how unprecedented stress in society and epidemic levels of depression have led people to food as a poor means of managing mood. In this original approach, Thayer describes how people's daily energy and tension variations occur, and how this knowledge helps overcome the urge to eat the wrong food and to achieve the goal of "calm energy." Also, in this most up-to-date scientific analysis of exercise and mood, he shows how physical activity is essential to psychological and physical health, yet why it is resisted. Thayer's work has been discussed in hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles, and here he outlines in
detail the cutting-edge theories and scientific research findings that have generated this extensive media attention.

Genres: Health, Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Science

275 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Marielle Ignacio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biggest key takeaway from this book is how mood is the lens through which we experience daily life. Like an underlying tide that inspires motivation to rest or play, mood determines our mental and physical state of being. As humans, our mood tends to rise and fall in tune with our circadian rhythms. It is when we experience low energy and high tension that we self-regulate through eating and exercise.

As pointed out repeatedly in this book, moderate exercise (such as a 10 min brisk walk) and the use of relaxation techniques (such as meditation and breathing exercises) remain to be the best ways of increasing energy and reducing tension. It is when we try to lift our negative mood with eating that we begin to have an unhealthy relationship with food. We eat out of our need to fix our emotions, which causes us to often eat more, mindlessly, and beyond our needed intake.

[Terra Wolski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as I was hoping it to be - lots of scientific info tho

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sooo boring. Read it for a class. Would never pick it up otherwise. It’s a lot of words describing something very basic.

[M Burke · Rating 2 out of 5]

"After hearing Thayer on NPR, I was expecting a well-written explanation of blood chemistry and societal trends, comparable to, say, Fast Food Nation. Instead, I got 150 pages of repetitive drivel in which the author cited 'scientific' studies. Not that they weren't perfectly sound—they appeared to be—but clearly this book's audience is the layperson who won't be convinced unless reminded that this information came from a namebrand research university by a real Ph.D. I started counting the instances of the word 'scientific' on each page."

[Beth Manautou · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think the concept of this book is what drew me to it; however, the information is not easily accessible and it was hard to finish the chapters. I ended up mostly skimming this book looking for key information. If you are looking for a helpful book on this topic, I would recommend "The Antianxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood, and End Cravings" by Trudy Scott.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was tough to want to read this book...the final chapter, Managing Your Mood, was the most useful for tips and tricks. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain may be a better choice for coverage on the topic.

[Maria]

I've had this book for at least four years and really need to read it!

[Emily Farrar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm reading this mainly for a research project. Well, originally I was just reading bits and pieces of it. But now I'm reading it for the educational advantage it'll offer me!

[Claire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bo-ring. I would have liked this pop science-y account as a 2-pager in Time Magazine, but 200 pages of the same basic idea reiterated again and again was a real snoozefest.

[Zoran K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Approachable, well researched and clearly researched book. Well worth reading.