book by Geneen Roth | reviewed by June Milligan |
Geneen Roth states that, “No matter how sophisticated or wealthy or broke or enlightened you are, how you eat tells all.” She believes that what and how you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. She explains that our relationship with food is an exact mirror of our feelings about love, fear, anger, meaning and transformation. The basic theme is about going beyond both the feelings and the food, which takes us deeper into realms of spirit and soul. Despite the title, rather than bringing a traditional idea of God into the discussion, she focuses on how our own spirituality and relationship with our self can clarify and inform our relationship with food.
Since adolescence, Roth lost and gained more than one thousand pounds. Then one day, on the verge of suicide, she stopped trying to fix, deprive and shame herself. She began questioning her beliefs and started trusting her body. She realized that instead of trying to fix her eating problems. She needed to use them in order to see within herself, so that she could grow and heal and create a permanent end to her struggle with weight and self-image.
Roth authored many books on eating problems over the years. Some of the titles include When Food Is Love, Breaking Free from Emotional Eating, When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull up a Chair and Feeding the Hungry Heart. She also holds seven-day intensive retreats for women with eating problems. After more than three decades of studying, teaching and writing about what drives our compulsion with food, she created a process that works for many women.
For instance, an important awareness for all of us to notice is what she calls THE VOICE. She is referring to that voice in your head that continues to repeat the old judgments and learned ideas about food, how you should behave and what you are supposed to look like. A large part of that comes from family or the media; some of our dysfunctional programming comes from our youth-and-beauty obsessed culture. When seven-year-old American girls are dieting, there is something seriously wrong. The author is refreshingly honest in describing how destructive the dieting industry is to women. She feels that it is important for us to know how we are being managed by a multi-billion dollar industry.
This book definitely stands apart from the crowd of books on overeating, self-help, dieting, eating styles, etc. The message the author offers is one of mindfulness, presence, self-love and feeling your feelings. As you read through the book, you might identify with the childhood programming and frustrations of the women in Roth’s retreats, to the point where one little comment will enlighten you and bring on an “aha” moment. This book is well worth reading if you have food challenges of any kind.
For more info, contact June Milligan, specializing in helping people let go of unproductive thinking at (775) 786-9111 or visit online at www.joyfulchanges.com.
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