Let Go of Emotional Overeating and Love Your Food

By Arlene B. Englander

Rowman and Littlefield     2018

167 pages     Health and Wellness

The Shortlist

The subtopic for the book, Let Go of Emotional Overeating and Love Your Food, is “A five-point plan for success.” And indeed it is exactly that. This is not a diet plan; there is no connected cookbook; and there is no daily eating guideline. Englander is a psychotherapist so she approaches the problem of overeating from the standpoint of the emotions. She helps her readers learn how to savor meals as a way to relearn how to eat to promote health and wellness. She uses the mnemonic device SELF to help develop awareness and growth. It includes stress, exercise, love your food, fluids and healthy foods.

Here is what Englander says about why she wrote this book: “Let Go Of Emotional Overeating and Love Your Food: A Five Point Plan for Success is meant to help those who’d love to eat what they like yet be able to stop just at the point of satisfaction without overeating. By learning the difference between healthy eating (which is eating for pleasure and the satisfaction of hunger) and emotionally overeating (eating to distract ourselves from painful thoughts and feelings ), we can learn to eat in a healthier more satisfying way. What’s equally important is to learn to successfully cope with stress away from the table, so we can actually find more pleasure in and more control of, not only our eating experiences, but our lives, as well.”

I read this book before a two week “taking care of myself” challenge to my wellness. Through my entire adult life, I have dieted, lost and gained, been alternately disgusted and proud of myself, and been emotional about it. Reading Englander’s book was a great start to a new chapter in my healthfulness. Easy to read and understand. Lots of good ideas.

Publisher’s Weekly review.

The book’s trailer.

Burn the Fat. Feed the Muscle

by Tom Venuto

 Harmony Books     2013

384 pages     Nonfiction

The Shortlist

Well, first of all, I am 70 years old, and I am more into Tai Chi than I am into body building, but I have a few comments about Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. I am a lifelong dieter, and I know diet gibberish when I see it. This book is not gibberish. It is solid advice for anyone, but particularly for people who are looking at their bodies realistically, and thinking, "What do I have to do to get fit." 

Two of the points the author makes are that "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is not only about looking better but also about becoming healthier." and "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle is a lifestyle, not a quick fix." Realistically, the author says that the program is simple, but it's not easy.

Over a career of many years, Venuto has created a comprehensive plan for four elements necessary to creating a healthy, fit body. They are: nutrition, cardio training, weight training, and mental training. Venuto uses his body-builder secrets to help readers reach their fitness goals. He says, "Almost everyone is missing at least one piece of the puzzle, and that's what holds them back." He suggests trying this program out for 28 days and seeing what it does for your long-term lifestyle.

As an example of the usability of this advice, here is his list of foods that he believes burn the most fat. This is a practical list--something most people can plan on using.

whole fresh fruit

vegetables

sweet potatoes

potatoes

unsweetened oatmeal

brown rice

beans and legumes

100% whole wheat or whole grains

low- or nonfat dairy products

chicken and turkey breast

eggs and egg whites

lean cuts of red meat.

Seen a list like that before? Of course, we all have. Venuto mentions that some readers who lost over 100 pounds started their body transformation by eating foods from this list.

Frankly, I spent little time in the sections on training primarily because I have little expertise in any training other than cardio walking, Zumba, and Tai Chi. The advice seems sound. This is an extremely practical book utilizing a program that Venuto calls L.E.A. N. It means Learn, Eat, Activate and New body. It is one of the more useful and sensible books I have read on this subject. Besides that, I have never had a picture of a body builder on my blog before!

A disclaimer: The publicist sent me this book to review. I probably would not have looked at it on my own. 

Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle website: http://www.burnthefatfeedthemuscle.com/

21-Day Tummy

By Liz Vaccariello

Readers Digest  2013

302 pages     Nonfiction

The Shortlist

Liz Vaccariello is the editor of the Reader's Digest books and the author of the Digest Diet which I looked over last year and wrote a blog piece about. 21-Day Tummy follows a similar format. It is big, attractive, and has a lot of good ideas and recipes. Its goal is to attack some specific dietary problems that cause people lots of problems.

The book is designed to diet away digestive disasters such as gas and bloating, heartburn and acid reflux, constipation, diarrhea, and irritable bowel syndrome. Yes, you can take medicine for all of those things, but Vaccariello suggests that many of these issues can be solved by diet. She names several belly buddies which will aid in losing weight but also in solving gastrointestinal problems. They include fiber, magnesium, and anti-inflammatory fats.  The system includes:

·         high-fiber and antioxidant-rich vegetables

·         balanced-fructose fruits

·         Low-FODMAP, high-fiber grains

·         Nuts and nut butters

·         Seeds

·         Healthy fats

·         Lean protein

·         Greek yogurt

·         Coconut milk

·         ginger

·         turmeric

·         maple syrup. 

After defining all of these things, Vaccariello and dietitian Kate Scarlata promote a 21-day eating plan which will help those who follow the plan lose weight and solve digestive problems. 21-Day Tummy is simple to understand and the dietary advice appears to be easy to follow. The recipes are appealing. Publisher's Weekly says, "With lively writing, inviting four-color format, pull-outs, sidebars, nine personal success stories (including the author’s), and enticing photography, this book is a winner."

Give it a try. See if it helps.

Here is promotional material from Reader's Digest: http://www.rd.com/health/diet-weight-loss/21-day-tummy-how-to-shrink-your-stomach/2/

The brief review in Publisher's Weekly:  http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-62145-111-2

Blood Pressure Down

by Janet Bond Brill

 Three Rivers Press, 2013

338 pages     Nonfiction

The Shortlist

Blood Pressure Down is another book about losing five pounds, eating more valuable foods like bananas and spinach, and exercising, although this time the book is about lowering your blood pressure. High blood pressure is not one of my physical problems, although I am eating less, eating mineral-rich foods and exercising more for other ailments that happen at my age. I still found the book valuable. I didn't know as much as I should about magnesium, potassium, and calcium. Brill, who has a PhD in nutrition, has a personal stake in getting people's blood pressure down; several members of her family have died from ailments related to high blood pressure.

This is a very clearly written guide to lowering blood pressure. It talks a lot about vitamins and minerals that aid in lowering blood pressure--magnesium, potassium and calcium in particular. It encourages the reader to cut the salt out of his/her diet and take Vitamin D3, CoQ10, Omega 3 fish oil, and low-sodium vegetable juice. It suggests a blood pressure reducing diet, and an exercise plan. Included are several good recipes and meal plans.

The best advice, I think, is to drink one glass of red wine every day and eat one to two squares of dark chocolate. This I can do!  Everything in Blood Pressure Down is very clearly stated, logical, and relatively easy to follow. Her message is this: “High blood pressure is the most preventable cause of premature morbidity and mortality in the United States and the world, and that lifestyle therapy is the cornerstone of treatment of the disease.” Her simple message is this: 

 1. Lose five pounds
2. Cut the salt out of your diet
3. Eat bananas
4. Eat spinach
5. Eat yogurt

This book came to me from the publicist. I can recommend it to readers who are struggling with blood pressure.

The Diet Dropout's Guide to Natural Weight Loss

by Stan Spencer

Fine Life Books 2013

152 pages     Non-fiction

read as an e-book

I need to read a nutrition or diet book every once in a while to keep myself on track. The Diet Dropout's Guide to Natural Weight Loss is the kind of a book that you could read several times over just to remind yourself of your nutritional and fitness goals. Stan Spencer, the author, is a biologist, and most of the science-based information is very practical and written in simple, meaningful language.

At the outset, I need to say that Spencer is not advocating a particular diet plan, but he is advocating a lifestyle change. He offers basic information about eating patterns that cause weight gain, some practical ways to break those destructive eating patterns, and suggests basic nutritional guidelines for healthy weight maintenance. He says, "Natural weight loss simply consists of changing the situations, habits, and thought patterns that caused you to gain weight in the first place." And while I would quibble with the concept that natural weight loss is "simple," I certainly can relate to the concept of changing situations, habits, and thought patterns. 

One of his key ideas is the concept of mindfulness. This is a concept that I have practiced many times in my life but I have never consciously used in conjunction with my eating goals. I certainly have planned meals, eaten meals, stolen lots of snacks and junk food, and dieted. But, I never have used meditation and mindfulness to control and confirm my nutritional needs. Practicing mindfulness could be as simple as taking a deep breath before eating, or it could be as complete as spending 12 to 15 minutes a day in meditation. "As you focus on the present, try to keep an accepting, nonjudgmental attitude toward whatever you are experiencing at the moment." When I think about it; I eat the most when I am not mindful...when I am just filling my face without thinking. I guess you would call that "mindlessness!"

One of the major goals of the book is to help people stop emotional eating. He suggests five ways to achieve that goal:

1. Focus on the present
2. Mental relaxation
3. Healthy Thoughts
4. Social Interaction
5. Do Something Productive

Spencer doesn't suggest any particular diet plan, but he advocates eating three balanced meals a day. Each meal should consist of 45-65 percent carbohydrates, 10-35 percent protein and 20-35 percent fat. This ratio will cut down on cravings and emotional overeating. Of course he advocates exercise as one of the key components to natural weight loss.

The Diet Dropout's Guide to Natural Weight Loss is geared to people who have found weight creeping up on them and wanting to stop the habits that have promoted those weight gains. I found a lot of the information very useful, although I didn't read anything that I didn't already know. Sometimes it is important to be brought back to reality. One reviewer said that the book took high level concepts and reduced them to a simple language with specific tactics to make for a healthy lifestyle. I think I would sum the book up the same way.

The book is short, inexpensive and valuable. The Kindle version is only $2.99. Well worth having.

I read a book last year on the same theme: Full-Filled by Stephens and Rose. You might check that one out as well. Another meaningful book was Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything by Geneen Roth.

Spencer's website: fatlossscience.org