Diet Book Review- Fed Up by Wendy Oliver-Pyatt

I love diet books. I read them as a hobby. Because I am a cheapskate, I am limited to what I find at the library. I thought this blog was a perfect place to review the books I do read.

Today, I read Fed Up! : The Breakthrough Ten-Step, No-Diet Fitness Plan by Wendy Oliver-Pyatt.

The author struggled with her weight and eating disorders for quite a few years. She realized that she had an extremely unhealthy relationship with food and exercise. Her purpose in writing "Fed Up!" is to encourage a "nationwide rethinking about whether dieting and maintaining mental lists of so called good and bad foods actually leads to long term health and weight management." She feels like we, as women, hold ourselves to an impossible to attain standard of beauty. See Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty ad to show just how impossible it is to fit the traditional model of beauty.

I thought she made some great points. There's a lot of people out there who have labeled certain foods as "bad" or "evil" that really aren't. I don't think it's healthy to completely eliminate entire food groups from one's diet unless there is a religious, allergic, or personal issue with them.

She encourages the reader to be more in tune with his/her body. If it is hungry, feed it, but listen to cues, eat slowly and ENJOY the food, and stop just before you feel full. It's a very rational approach.

However, I think that she does seem to forget that people do develop food addictions, and unhealthy eating habits. If someone is addicted to sugar, they need to be encouraged to fill their diet with other foods, and try to retrain their body to crave the healthier options.

I also felt like her advice on how to deal with an overweight teen or child was a little too ineffective.

Will I follow her diet completely? No. However, there were certain parts that I really liked, and WILL take away from it.

I will view food as a source of nutrition and fuel for my body. I will not view food as "bad" or "forbidden" or as the enemy.

I will respect my body for the amazing things it has done, currently does, and will do. Each day, I will find something about my body that I find attractive, and I'll tell it to myself.

I will listen to and honor my body- I will eat when I am hungry. I will stop an exercise if it hurts too badly. I will eat slowly and truly savor and enjoy each bite, and I will stop eating when I feel full. If I am truly craving something that should be eaten rarely, I will eat it, but I will have only a small portion.