One Bowl: A Guide to Eating for Body and Spirit

by Don Gerrard

A BOOK OF WISDOM THAT WILL INSPIRE YOU TO NOURISH BOTH BODY AND SPIRIT

We live in an age where people are obsessed with what, where, and how much they eat. To that end, One Bowl proposes a simple but extraordinarily powerful idea: By adopting a single bowl as the vessel for your meals, you will become more aware of the food you eat, how you eat, and the effects (large and small) of particular foods on your body and your spiritual and physical well-being. Author Don Gerrard guides readers through every step of the process of adapting to the one-bowl philosophy of eating, including choosing a bowl, focusing on how, when, and what you eat, and being attentive to every stage of eating. One Bowl is sure to strike a chord in everyone who aspires to rise above the controversy and focus solely on eating in a way that best nourishes their own body and soul.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Food, Spirituality, Foodie

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Kathy Peterman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written in 1974, this book uses a bowl as a method to bring mindfulness and moderation to eating. The goal is to enrich our relationship with food and eating vs restrict foods or count calories. A good read for someone exploring weight loss through mindfulness.

Take your time to find a bowl that inspires you and fits easily in one hand. Then use it for all meals at home. You can eat whatever you like, just fit it in the bowl and eat it while paying attention to hunger, visual impressions, taste, body sensations, mood, when you begin to feel full and how you feel after the meal. Was that food or meal harmonious to your body?

Weight gain is a symptom that something is amiss, listen…and listen with your body vs your head. Isolate the external noise to hear the internal symphony.

Gerrard has us start a Food Awareness Journal and explore our relationship with food. Who makes our food choices? How do we relate to hunger? How food affects our energy, mood and stability and choosing foods that support our health.

So far, I’m loving my bowl. It’s a very simple white bowl I bought from Cash & Carry for $1.67, but it just feels right when I hold it in my hand. At first it seemed so small and I worried about being hungry, but over the past two months I’ve learned, my fear of being hungry is far more common than actually being hungry.

[Connie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a a beautiful gem of a book, that has nothing to do with dieting. It is about being present with your food, and your body while you are choosing your nourishment and while you are eating.Lovely.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This seems like an idea that could really help with mindful eating, and with abstaining from absent minded nibbling. Basically, his idea is to eat whatever you really really want but first put it in the bowl and sit down in your favorite place to eat. The author says overweight is a symptom of being out of touch with what your body really wants, needs, likes, can digest, etc. He eats basically only one food at a time so he can pay attention to all the signals his body gives him about the food. It's a little tedious and too personal, but anyway, it does contain a lot of ideas in common with the Slow Down Diet and The Overfed Head, so maybe the one bowl will prove to be a useful tool.

As I have been learning more about Human Design (ihdschool.com), it seems that this way of eating is good for people with a certain type of digestive system in their design. I am not designed to need to eat this way (one food at a time IS one of the digestive types), but it is always good to try to pay attention to your eating.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I often read these types of books, especially when I've eaten left-over Halloween candy at every meal for days in a row and think that the advice might help wash away the shame of the Skittles film covering my tongue...

It was interesting, a little hokey and out-of-date, but I took away some good stuff for myself. Eating "one bowl" may not work for most people, and definately not for most families, but learning about your relationships with specific foods and practicing mindful eating practices is all good, and it's a very quick read.

[Anna McClaugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The overall concept is good, and I definitely need to be more mindful in this area. But many of his ideas are very challenging (if not impossible!) to implement if one eats away from home or with family members. I have tried his method for 1-2 meals per day and find it helpful. This will be especially helpful if you tend to overeat, but possibly less helpful if your issue is distraction.

[Heather Lomason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Some different approaches to thinking about food and eating.

[Han · Rating 2 out of 5]

i’ve been clearing out books i’ve had for years but hadn’t read, and this is one of them. i can’t say you won’t get something out of it, there’s a lot to be said about purposeful, intentional, patient eating, appreciation for the self and what you’re eating, and so forth — but this book is so padded and so dense that i feel like he could have got his point across with 90% less pages. i also tried to keep an open mind about the philosophy (and appreciated a lot of it: becoming connected to your food, preparing it yourself to make it more of an experience) but too much of this feel into a nebulous type of philosophy that might make one roll their eyes. also, this is quite outdated, there is very old language in here that we agree on not using in the modern day, and medicine has also advanced since this books time.

if you have time and patience and want to extract a hand full of interesting thoughts, give this a try. i sort of feel like i’ve wasted my time on ideas i’d have gladly learned and thought of if it was shown to me in 25 pages and not 150+.

[Matt · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first 40 pages or so is him writing in circles about how great the system is without actually explaining what the system is. As many of the of the other reviews state, the system can be explained in about 1 sentence, and doesn't need any entire book.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly this advocates mindfulness and portion control. It seems like a big lifestyle change that could be pretty disruptive to people with families, but big lifestyle changes are sometimes necessary.

[Michael Kitchen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read the first 82 pages before abandoning it.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little book that I picked up when looking for thoughts on eating mindfully. The author proposes that you become more aware and in touch with your food if you eat it in a single bowl of your choosing and eat it in a special place free of distractions where you can focus on the food and its effects on the mind and body. It's a bit of portion control as well as a way to pause and focus on how the body reacts to particular foods. A bit too new-agey for me in total--however, some of the different practices and exercises that the author suggests are thought-provoking and will be helpful for me as well as my health and wellness clients. A good resource for combating the urge to graze or eat standing up, shoveling food in your mouth without thinking about it.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some strange ideas about dieting. It reads as though it's specially designed to be a diet fad. Get an expensive journal, buy a small bowl, eat alone in a corner only out of that one bowl.

[Elbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coupe of years ago, when I was reading this book I obviously was not ready for these ideas yet. But now it all was perfect - timing, content and synchronicity with my own life. Full of insights and inspiration and the journey has just begun :)

[Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gave up because this was just a chore to read. The basic message boils down to this: pay attention to your food. Which is a good message, but I feel like this book just makes that simple idea way too complex.

[Julie LS · Rating 2 out of 5]

Co-worker loaned me this book to read...

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kept Attention : 5
Well Written : 3
Meaningful : 3
Must Read : 1
Accessible : 5