Just picked up Geneen Roth's Women, Food and God

[Guest guest]

Good Morning All,

I'm new to this forum, so I wanted to introduce myself and say hello. I

appreciate all of the posts and all of the support here. I've really needed it

at this time. Over the past 15 years, I read and followed a couple of " no diet "

lifestyles such as Weigh Down, Thin Within, The Light Weigh, and Intuitive

Eating. Loved them all!!

Of all of the many diets and plans I've heard about throughout my life, this

concept has rung the most true for me, has made the most sense and has given me

success. This concept of listening to our bodies and eating only when hungry is

very grounding for me. And of course, trying to explore the drive to eat when

we're not hungry has been very inspiring as a means of spiritual and personal

growth. It all made perfect sense (still does!) and it was a big help for me in

losing the weight I wanted to lose 15 years ago.

However, in the past five years, I've gone through some huge life changes that

have thrown me way off track. All in five years, I got married, moved three

times and changed jobs three times. Plus I turned 40 in the middle of all of

that, and have been struggling with infertility. So, needless to say, the

weight crept back on (with interest!) due to all of the stress (good and bad

stress) and I'm back at square one again. I'm so disappointed with myself for

letting this happen!

When my doctor diagnosed me this week as pre-diabetic, I wasn't surprised.

Instead I was overwhelmed at the thought of losing the weight again. I can still

hear his words ringing in my head " You need to lose 20 pounds. You are seven

points away from being a diabetic. " Diabetes runs in my family on both sides

and I'm a high risk.

The first time I followed the program (it was Weigh Down about 15 years ago) I

only had to lose ten pounds. Now I'm facing losing 20 pounds. Again, I'm

overwhelmed by it all.

So, with that all said, I'm grateful for this supportive forum. I live in

Northern California (in the wine country) and I wish wish wish there was some

type of actual meeting to go to around here (whether an Intuitive Eating support

group, a Thin Within support group, a Weigh Down support group or a Light Weigh

support group) but have never been able to find one in my area.

I find I do much better when I have somewhere to go every week, see other women

(and men, as well) who are also working on the same issue/growth, check in with

eachother, support eachother, and actually make friends as well. Does anyone

else have that same experience? That in-person meetings are the most helpful?

If anyone knows of any type of support group in the wine country area of

California, please do let me know! Thank you!

In the meantime... I continue to gather support from wherever I can, and I have

just picked up a great book. Which leads me to my subject heading.... I

recently heard about Geneen Roth's latest book " Women, Food and God " . I picked

it up yesterday for myself and am savoring every word of it. Has anyone else

here read it yet? Or are in the middle of reading it? Would love to discuss

it.

I'll close with a quote from Geneen Roth that I found to be helpful: In

discussing the women she's come in contact with through the years who are

struggling with weight and eating, Genee says, " ... the promise of weight loss

is that it will allow them to live on a magical piece of earth from which

everything else will be manageable. "

I found this to be helpful in that it reminded me that this weight loss journey

is not ALL about the end result. Life isn't going to be perfect when I reach my

ideal weight. I don't need to be 125 lbs to deal with my life and problems. I

won't magically have that ability if I lose the weight. Geneen Roth's idea is

that when we look at the reason (and more importantly, the emotions) that go

into eating when we're not hungry, if we explore those issues and emotions, be

kind to ourselves and learn how to manage them without food, THEN the weight

will come off. She asserts that weight loss is only the end result of looking

at why we eat when our body isn't calling for food.

I know this is a concept we all know well, but Geneen puts it in a wonderful

clear way (for me anyway!). Thanks for listening, and it's great to be part of

this group!