[.ca] Why Can't I Stop Eating?: Recognizing, Understanding, ... (ISBN 1568383657)

Too structured:
The title is far better than the actual book. All it does it make you even more obsessed with food, and now even sugars in fruits are bad! I don't like the strictly outlined nutritional program--I don't think that works for people who "can't stop eating". I know that strictly outlined nutritional programs don't work for me. I know from personal experience that most of the time when people can't stop eating, someone giving you a new list of things you can't eat isn't going to help much. All this book did was make me feel more helpless in the face of my binge-eating disorder.

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.

THIS BOOK HAS LITERALLY SAVED MY LIFE:
I have been a food addict for longer than I can remember, but I thought I was the only one who lived the way I did, hiding food, lying about food, eating past the point of getting physically ill and still not being able to stop. When I found this wonderful book, I was relieved to find that I wasn't the only person with this problem, and that it's a disease, NOT the result of a weak mind. This book explains why I was addicted in a way that makes so much sense. I find the food plan easy to live with, and I have ZERO cravings. This book was written by a woman that has lived the same miserable life of an overeater, therefore, she knows exactly what she's talking about. She is living proof that you can overcome this disease. Even if you have given up, please, do yourself a favor and buy this book. I have so much hope for my future, when before, I was afraid I didn't have a future at all.

So right, it scared me:
The more I read this book, the more I find out about myself and my addiction. It has been so much more helpful than any of the several books I have read previously. If you know you have a binging disorder, or even just think you do, reading this book will help you find peace with it...and maybe a road to recovery from it.

A disappointment:
What a disappointment! The authors⬠answer to binge-eating is simply eliminating all sugar, flour, fat, caffeine, or whatever your â¬Striggerâ¬ý foods are from your diet. Not only that, but they insist you must weigh and measure your food all the time for the rest of your life. Thatâ¬s hardly what I consider freeing yourself from obsessing about food. They actually recommend keeping an emergency food kit in your car to be sure you always have measuring cups, a food scale, and several cans of â¬Ssafeâ¬ý food available to you at all times. Perhaps this is wise advice for people who are morbidly obese, but for those of us who are at a normal weight, or only slightly over, and are looking for some insight and realistic advice on dealing with compulsive/binge eating, this book is NOT the answer!