As I was on my way to the gym this evening I decided to grab a book read while I was doing my cardio.  The book I picked up was Woman Food and God by Geneen Roth (a lovely birthday gift from a very close friend)  Geneen Roth is an author who teaches workshops and retreats on various issues, but is well known for her perspectives on people and their relationship with food.

I started reading the book in December, and it sort of fell off my radar when I began my Christmas Season binging… but lately I’ve been wanting to get back into reading it, so tonight I grabbed it and headed out.

And to my surprise I picked up at about chapter 3 and so much of what the author was saying was leaping off of the page and smacking me upside the head… lol.  As I read I thought I’d share one of the passages that was a bit of an ‘aha’ moment for me.  The author is basically sharing what she says to new people when they have arrived at the resort/retreat she has yearly for over/binge eating.

“I tell them that if compulsive eating is anything, it’s a way we leave ourselves when life gets hard.  When we don’t want to notice what is going on.  Compulsive eating is a way we distance ourselves from the way things are when they are not how we want them to be.  I tell them that ending the obsession with food is all about the capacity to stay in the present moment.  To not leave themselves.  I tell them that they don’t have to make a choice between losing weight and doing this.  Weight loss is the easy part; anytime you truly listen to your hunger and fullness, you lose weight.  But I also tell them that compulsive eating is basically a refusal to be fully alive.  No matter what we weigh, those of us who are compulsive eaters have anorexia of the soul.  We refuse to take in what sustains us.  We live lives of deprivation.  And when we can’t stand it any longer, we binge.”  Women Food and God – Pg37

This passage REALLY resonated with me…. I could see elements of my own struggle in much of what was written, so I thought I’d share it…

Hope it was as interesting/insightful for you, as it was for me.

CBM