Why Weight? A Workbook for Ending Compulsive Eating

by Geneen Roth

With the publication of her ground-breaking books, Feeding the Hungry Heart and Breaking Free From Compulsive Eating, Geneen Roth has helped hundreds of thousands of people win their battle against the destructive binge-diet cycle. Now this remarkable companion workbook shows compulsive eaters - in a constructive, non-judgemental way - how to stop using food as a substitute for handling difficult emotions or situations...and how to enjoy eating and still lose weight naturally. By using the liberating exercises and techniques developed be Geneen Roth in her highly successful Breaking Free workshops, dieters, who've tried every conceivable diet - losing weight again and again, only to gain it back - and bingers, who are harming their health, can learn wholesome, beneficial ways to achieve their goals. This proven program offers reassuring guidelines on :

Letting food become a source of pleasure rather than anxiety Kicking the scale-watching habit - forever! Recognizing the difference between physical and emotional hungers Learning to say no Listening to, and trusting, your body's hunger and fullness signals Distinguising "forbidden foods" from those you truly want Uncovering the conflicts that stand between your desire to lose weight and your urge to eat compulsively Discovering other pleasures besides food

Genres: Self Help, Health, Nonfiction, Food

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Geneen Roth's pioneering books were among the first to link compulsive eating and perpetual dieting with deeply personal and spiritual issues that go far beyond food, weight and body image. She believes that we eat the way we live, and that our relationship to food, money, love is an exact reflection of our deepest held beliefs about ourselves and the amount of joy, abundance, pain, scarcity, we believe we have (or are allowed) to have in our lives.

Rather than pushing away the "crazy" things we do, Geneen's work proceeds with the conviction that our actions and beliefs make exquisite sense, and that the way to transform our relationship with food is to be open, curious and kind with ourselves-instead of punishing, impatient and harsh. In the past thirty years, she has worked with hundreds of thousands of people using meditation, inquiry, and a set of seven eating guidelines that are the foundation of natural eating.

Geneen has appeared on many national television shows including: The Oprah Show, 20/20, The NBC Nightly News, The View and Good Morning America. Articles about Geneen and her work have appeared in numerous publications including: O: The Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Time, Elle, The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. She has written monthly columns in Good Housekeeping Magazine and Prevention Magazine. Geneen is the author of eight books, including The New York Times bestsellers When Food is Love and Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything. Her newest book, to be published in March 2011, is Lost and Found: Unexpected Revelations about Food and Money.

Reviews

[Harriet Levy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am currently finishing Week 2 of this workbook with a support group. I am astounded at what I'm learning about myself each day.

[Stephanie Kreiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

She's a very good writer and I love the way she thinks. I highlighted stuff and did many of the exercises. I intend to go back to the book to do the rest of the exercises and review the highlights.

How wonderful it will be when my weight gets down to where I want it to be!!!

[Yochi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Geneen's book This Messy Magnificent Life: A Field Guide and liked it a lot. Popped into my libraries overdrive to see what else she had and found this one. I am not at an unhealthy weight, but I do have some questionable habits and some hang ups, so I gave it a go. I don't think this book is what I need at the moment. I got some good tools out of it that I threw into my mental tool bag for another time. It reminded me of many concepts I got from Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works. 3 stars just because it wasn't for me right now, but I think this could be a great book for lots of folks.

[Becky Schulman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Therapy in a book!

[Spook Sulek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd like to own one, and possibly get my sis one as well, as the exercises are so useful!

[macaniada · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro ha sido excelente tanto a nivel personal, como con mis pacientes, para mejorar la relación con la comida. Los ejercicios abarcan una serie de temáticas relacionadas a la autoimagen, infancia, necesidades emocionales, placer, entre otros, que han sido sustanciales dentro de este proceso.

Geneen Roth es la apuesta segura a mejorar la relación con la comida! Desde la compasión y la comprensión, compartiendo a la vez su experiencia personal... Este libro es una joya, al igual que cada palabra que sale de sus manos.

[Christine Mathieu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too many questions to fill out. Sentences that I couldn't figure out how they were supposed to be answered.
I found this book rather confusing and it didn't help me.

Fortunately Geneen Roth continued to write better books later on like "Appetites".

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good companion workbook to Breaking Free from Compulsive Eating. Not a lot of repetitive text with exercises to reinforce some of the concepts in the book. The workbook is the same size as the book, which is also a plus.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

truly this book has run it's course for me. there are still many exercises left but I feel they are 'useless' right now because my mindset has shifted. was it bc of her? no. but did my intuitive eating journey start when I first found this books 2-3 years ago? yes. go geneen!!!

[David L King · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read for men also

Great book made a lot of good points and makes you think through your issues and thoughts to reflect on your life.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great workbook with so many good journaling prompts. There was a lot I had to think about and the chapters are perfect to do small 20 minute sessions in the evening reading and journaling.

[Chazz Glaze · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical, to the heart of the matter, actionable.

[Mary Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book in particular, was the most affective of Geneen Roth's books of her series on eating. I feel this is the case, because it is a Work Book, not just a "my memoirs of how i came up with this idea, and what was causing me to over eat." We all have our reasons for what we do; including incidentally, not eating to fill our bodies, but to fill our "happy". It clicked with me, that once I started eating mindfully, to fuel my body, not just to make my mouth happy (or mind happy, because certain foods release certain brain chemicals, okay?), my body took care of itself. Cravings i found are two part: 1. Biochemical: we are lacking certain minerals, vitamins, balance in our diets, so we become 'hungry' for certain foods over and over again. 2. Emotional. This book will help you start realizing why your eating what you are, and why you run to certain things (or running away from certain things, like bathing suits, okay?).

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The real deal, no bullshit. Geneen Roth hits the nail on the head. I've never heard or read anything so accurate about compulsive eating. This is a workbook, there are A LOT of exercises. A pretty good amount of them are going to make you feel uncomfortable, but I think that's fantastic in a way... Because with these types of addictions, I don't think that people can learn as much from a completely comfortable place. You have to look within yourself and pull out the shit you've been hiding forever. I got a lot out of this book, but at this moment in my life, I cannot adapt her plan. I'm just not ready. I will definitely be reading another one of her books on this subject.

[Megan Lillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book really useful. Obviously, self-help books are subjective in the sense that there is not only one way that works for everyone, but Geneen Roth is pretty great. Worth checking out for anyone with eating issues, or the people who want to help those with disordered eating. I would recommend working through this book from front to back, with an open mind.

[Alison Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful book to understand why people "USE" food. It is a workbook that I have used. I have not completed it....sadly. Right now it is back on the bookshelf for when I feel the urge to "Get Back To It".

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a working journal for anyone bugged by body image and constant thoughts about food. I would recommend it; in fact I already have told my psychologist about it because I think it could be helpful for many women.

[Mtennisonyahoo.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great counseling resource. I encourage you to do the exercises yourself if you really want to see things about yourself that you haven't before.

[kmm1985 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. Dig a lot of digging out with this one...

[Robin Bayn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good information and the workbook is fun and engaging. Im glad i read it, but i do not find the mindfulness approach works for me.

[WillowRaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. I would recommend many of her books to those suffering w/emotional eating, or B.E.D. ( Binge Eating Disorder ). Her books were very helpful.