Women, Food, and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything by Geneen Roth
My enjoyment rating: 2 of 5 stars
Book source: personal copy
Genre: Non-fiction; self-help
Objectionable material: None
June Book Club selection -- our book club discussion was 5 stars!
I was put on my first diet at in kindergarten. Needless to say…my issues with food have been screwed up since then.
In her book, Women Food and God (there are no commas in the title), Geneen Roth tries to shed light on compulsive eating habits and how we as women can take control of our “voice,” our bodies, and our relationship with food.
My first issue with this book was her mantra – that if we just listened to our bodies and when we were hungry, we’d solve all our problems. Well duh! Don’t you think I know that?? That’s the point – after 40 years of obliterating my natural ability to gauge my hunger, it’s not quite so easy to say, ‘well yes, I am full…I really don’t need another piece of cake.” Fat people know this, trust me.
Also, that people with food issues have them because their parents sucked. Her's may have, but my parents rocked. I blame the psycho doctor that put a 6 year old on a diet.
There are a few quotes that are clever – like, “overeating does not lead to rapture. It leads to burping and farting and being so sick that you can’t think of anything but how full you are. That’s not love, that’s suffering.” And, “We don't want to EAT hot fudge sundaes as much as we want our lives to BE hot fudge sundaes. We want to come home to ourselves.”
I suppose there is some value in the things she said…it just took her an entire book to say what she accomplished on the last page:
“The Eating Guidelines"
1. Eat when you are hungry.
2. Eat sitting down in a calm environment. This does not include the car.
3. Eat without distractions. Distractions include radio, television, newspapers, books, intense or anxiety-producing conversations or music.
4. Eat what your body wants.
5. Eat until you are satisfied.
6. Eat (with the intention of being) in full view of others.
7. Eat with enjoyment, gusto, and pleasure.”
Save yourself the time…that’s all you need to read or know.
Our July book club selection: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult
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