Oprah, the world’s most famous yo-yo dieter, recently declared: “The battle is over.” She says he’s found peace in her war against extra pounds-and gives credit to Geneen Roth’s Women Food and God, the mega-bestseller that promises a gentle, diet-free path to a healthy weight. Does it really work? The approach, developed by Roth as she led overeaters’ support groups and retreats, has no hard science to back it up-yet a range of obesity experts believe it offers yo-yo dieters hope of a cure. Roth herself endured years of extreme yo-yoing. bouncing between morbid obesity and anorexia; she says strategies revealed in Women Food and God finally allowed her to reach a “natural weight” and stay there for 30 years. Today, Roth is down about 100 pounds from her all-time high, and strongly recommends her techniques to compulsive overeaters and anyone “who wants to know why they can’t stop eating.”
Oprah is 100% hooked. “If you’re sick and tired of being fat and miserable,” she said, “this is what you’ve been waiting for!”
Never diet again!
Let your body make decisions
“Your body wants to feel good. It wants to feel energized and vital and able to move,” says Roth. But your mind-for a zillion complicated reasons-might tell you it wants greasy fast food that will leave you sick and bloated and exhausted. “Here’s the distinction: Your mind will go on and on about what fabulous-tasting thing it would like, but you body wants to feel good. So you say, ‘Uh-huh, I hear you, mind. Now I am going to ask my body what it wants’ Roth insists that if you only eat what you body says will make you feel good, and you stop when you are physically satisfied, you will reach a healthy weight. Period. To make mastering this process easier, use the eating guidelines, right.
Get your mind to cooperate.
“As Oprah mentioned on her show, you must ask yourself why you mind wants to over eat. What are you trying to fill that can’t really be filled with food?” asks Roth. the answer may be boredome. You may be lonely and realize calling a pal will soothe you more than cookies. Or you may be dealing with a devastating loss that can’t be easily soothed: even in this case. Roth says, just recognizing you pain and being there for yourself will reduce your desire to numb discomfort with food. “With curiosity and kindness, there is a softening inside. Something relaxes,” she says.
“This isn’t about losing weight quickly,” Roth says. She urges you to honor your body and allow your weight to normalized at its own pace. For her part, Oprah is pleased with her progress. “I’m still working on it, but I’ve been having epiphany after epiphany,” she said. “Everyone is always looking for a miracle, and I always said, ‘Honey, if there was a miracle, I would have it.’ I believe this could be it.”
A course in weight loss
