Why Can't I Stop Eating?: Recognizing, Understanding, and Overcoming Food Addiction
Author: Debbie Danowski, Pedro, Md. Lazaro
List Price: $15.00
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ISBN: 1568383657
Publisher: Hazelden Information Education (May, 2000)
Sales Rank: 7,014
Average Customer Rating: 4.3 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 3 out of 5
This book could have been so much more
I read this book with high hopes that it would finally give me the tools to understand why I binge and what to do about it. However, it seemed to me that most of the book was devoted to telling the reader that she is not to blame for her food addiction. That is true, of course, but a couple sentences about it would have been sufficient. I wanted more of a scientific explanation of why I'm addicted to certain foods, but there really wasn't any.Most of the book is spent building up to creating your own food plan, but when you get there, it's just a very strict meal plan with pretty much no suggestions on modifying it. The authors insist that you won't be hungry following this plan. I have eaten exactly the same breakfast they suggest, and I have rarely made it past 3 hours without feeling ravenously hungry; they insist that you must wait 4-5 hours between meals.
The authors do not seem to take variations in activity level into account. I made a rough calculation of the calories allowed, and it looks to me like there are about 1700 calories/day for women. This might be fine for someone who does only the 30 minutes of walking 3x/week as is recommended in the book. I, however, exercise fairly intensely for about an hour 6x/week. I need more calories. No recommendations are given for adapting the meal plan for this kind of situation.
The meal plan includes a nighttime snack, which consists of cereal, milk, and fruit, and is intended to prevent middle-of-the-night binging. That meal is one of my favorite binges - if anything, it's going to make things worse! No alternative meal arrangements are suggested. And besides, I have never once gotten up in the middle of the night to eat, but the authors seem to think that all food addicts do this.
On the positive side, I did appreciate that the book validated my belief that I am physically addicted to sugar and refined carbohydrates. It also opened my eyes to the possibility that I am addicted to wheat, refined or not.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Help with food addiction.
Debbie Danowski is an excellent human being, great teacher and a survivor. Her book will help any individual go through a process of stepping back from food. It is incredible how many great tip she gives and how her story along with a doctors fact about loosing weight and stop eating can help you face your problem and solve it.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Traditional 12 step approach
After I read the book and was very disappointed, I went on-line to write this review. I find myself agreeing completely with the reviews that gave this book a low rating. It is yet another attempt to espouse the virtues of the 12 step Overeaters Anonymous program. While I think there are good aspects of the 12 step program and that it may help some, there are many that the program simply wouldn't work for, including myself. Mainly, I think, because it mandates that you cut flour, sugar, and other foods completely from your diet. I feel that this sets a person up to fail because one ends up feeling deprived, which leads to binging. In fact there is a whole chapter in the book that talks about case studies and nearly every person mentioned has relapsed and is valiantly trying to get back to abstinence and lose the weight yet again. I would suggest that instead of working a program that obviously isn't working, they should perhaps seek another solution, maybe in the form of professional counseling. I would recommend "The Solution" by Laurel Mellin, which is a comprehensive support solution with groups and pyschologists around the country practicing the methods given in the book. I have found this method much more helpful than Overeaters Anonymous ever was. If OA is working for you, then I think that is great, but if you are like me and do not find that it fits you, I encourage you to look elsewhere. The Solution is a great place to start, and if you want to check out the website go to WWW.Sweetestfruit.com. Similar Products
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