Re: [CR] The Solution, part one

[Guest guest]

On 30 Nov 2003, Bell wrote:

> ... Then, while strolling through & Noble two months ago,

> I came across a book called the " Pathway " written by

> Laurel Mellin M.A., R.D. (a clinical professor of family and

> medicine at UC San Francisco School of Medicine)

This book is the title and author of the book we should purchase,

your #1 recommendation, right? I went to books at www.amazon.com,

to check the reviewer ratings. There were 31 book reviewers who

rated the book. Each reviewer rates from " one star " to " five stars " .

I ordered the 31 reviews from lowest stars to highest stars, so I

could see all the 1-star, 2-star, 3-star lowest reviews first.

Of the 31 reviews, here is how the number of stars came out,

from lowest to highest.

1-star reviews -- 0

2-star reviews -- 0

3-star reviews -- 0

4-star reviews -- 0

5-star reviews -- 31

Out of such a large number of reviews from so many different people,

I have never until this day seen such unanimous consent among all

of the reviewers. My conclusion: Buy this book.

> Highly skeptic of any claims, I took a look at it to see if

> anything resonated with truth from my own personal experience.

> In a matter of just several pages, I was awestruck over the

> number of references regarding compulsive eating that I knew

> as true from years of experience.

Yes, all 31 reviewers felt the same way as you.

>

> Knowing that this might need a further look, I bought the

> book and made a preliminary yet still skeptical reading.

> What I found is that Mellin's work, based on past studies,

> has further developed the understanding surrounding the core

> issues that Overeater's anonymous only danced around.

>

> She has included all the techniques from a cognitive and

> behavior point of view to promote effective change.

The battle of the bulge is not just physical, but much more subtle.

To capture the essence of the battle in words is a victory of

major proportions. The book is a major victory.

>

> When I had a drive to go to excess, I tested a " cycle " ,

> I found the internal drive to go to excess was severely

> diminished. I actually had instantaneous measurable results.

> In addition, her organization appears to be first class.

>

> I will post a second part to this post with an article

> written in Health Magazine. They named it one of the top

> 10 Medical discoveries of 2000.

>

> Talk more later,

> Mike Bell

>

This one posting was worth 10,000 words. Thank you.

-- Warren

[Guest guest]

Based on this recommendation, I purchased a second-hand copy of 'The

Pathway' by Ms. Mellin. I can honestly say that this book has

changed my life in the space of 4 days (the full cycle takes 18

months). Having done a lot of work in the past few years on my

emotional tendencies to overeat, not much of what she said came as a

surprise, and this might explain my rapid acceptance of her ideas and

techniques. Her nurturing/limiting method for dealing with external

comforts (food, alcohol, drugs, people pleasing, over-working,

putting up walls, etc.) make a lot of sense and seem to be very

effective. I feel happy the last couple of days, which is something

I don't feel too often. Three people have told me in the last 2 days

that I look 'beautiful', 'ravishing', and 'glowing'. I never get

told things like this. It really is true that your emotions shape

your face and your perceptions. I have done various cycles, as she

recommends, and I can say without a doubt that this is not like any

other self-help book out there. This one works, and it makes sense.

Thank you for the recommendation, and thank you Warren for

pointing it out with enough energy to get me interested in reading it.

Katrina.

....

> > When I had a drive to go to excess, I tested a " cycle " ,

> > I found the internal drive to go to excess was severely

> > diminished. I actually had instantaneous measurable results.

> > In addition, her organization appears to be first class.

> >

> > I will post a second part to this post with an article

> > written in Health Magazine. They named it one of the top

> > 10 Medical discoveries of 2000.

> >

> > Talk more later,

> > Mike Bell

> >

>

> This one posting was worth 10,000 words. Thank you.

>

> -- Warren

[Guest guest]

As this is a copyrighted work, I don't feel that I should reveal too

much of the inner workings. However, in the interests of encouraging

people to eat less, I will give a brief overview:

The basic concept is that you learn to provide yourself the nurturing

and limiting that your parents should have given you. You start by

asking yourself how you feel using key base emotions which she

explains, then you ask yourself what you need and what support you

need. This is considered the nurtuting cycle, and it helps you to

identify what is causing you to be " below the line " of emotional

balance. Then you use the limiting cycle to figure out which of your

expectations are realistic, what is positive and powerful, what pain

you must feel, and what rewards you will feel. All of this is done

within the feeling part of the brain, and the thinking part is left

out of it to avoid the confusion that results with traditional

psychotherapy.

Now, I don't claim to be an expert in these matters, but some

fundamental chemical shift occurs within you when you do these

cycles. You suddenly pop " above the line " into emotional balance and

you start to see things clearly for what seems like the first time in

ages. Of course, you fall out of emotional balance again at some

point and you do another cycle and pop yourself back up. It's quite

amazing to go through it, and you learn to develop an inner sanctuary

for yourself. Over time, you also help the brain to re-program

itself to be more realistic and balanced and therefore less extreme.

All of this stops you reaching for external comforts such as food.

That's the basics of it. The book is full of tips and pointers on

how to get through each step, and she attempts to cover some of the

studies and possible causes behind its success.

http://www.sweetestfruit.org

It does require a lot of honesty and constant work, and it's best

done with someone who is willing to listen to you go through these

cycles (a partner, family member, support group, friend, etc.).

This program is used by many hospitals around the country and has

numerous studies to back up its effectiveness.

I'm trying to think of more negatives, but as I am only 4 days into

this it's hard to do so. I do get the feeling that those who feel

numb a lot of the time, or those who simply don't know if they feel

anything at all, have a harder time initially.

I hope this brief summary was useful? I'm not sure I can really tell

you anything the other reviewers on Amazon haven't already said.

Katrina.

>

> > Based on this recommendation, I purchased a second-hand copy

of 'The

> > Pathway' by Ms. Mellin. I can honestly say that this book has

[Guest guest]

Seems like " Dr. Phil " has usurped this topic....

> As for " The Solution " and " Pathways " I bought both books and

quickly turned

> them in to our library. They were good reinforcement, but the

messages that

> you must be good to yourself (your upbringing may have been shabby

but was

> well-intentioned) and you must set limits for yourself, told it

all. Peg

[Guest guest]

For me, it is often impossible to separate hunger pain from emotional

pain. When I am feeling in need of nurturing and limiting, I get a

hungry-type feeling and I eat ice cream or something similar to make

me feel better. Better, in this case, is simply more numb - which is

better than the pain. This happens very rarely these days.

If you never feel the need to do anything to excess: overeat,

overwork, overspend, people please, put up walls, overdrink, etc.

then you will find little benefit in it. Although, some would argue

that CR is a form of excessive behaviour.

I am already finding it easier to stay on the CRON diet after doing

The Solution for about a week, and I had to force myself to eat 150

calories last night to meet my current 1800 target. I find my hunger

pains more accurately reflecting physical hunger and not also

emotional hunger. I might lower my daily amount to 1700-1750 next

week if the benefits continue and I do not relapse.

Katrina.

> I have no doubt that it works for many people. But there are those

of us

> who had enough nurturing in our childhoods and who do set limits on

> ourselves. It's not " one size fits all " . I wonder if this works

for those

> who do " emotional eating " . I don't. I just get hungry.