Appetites: On the Search for True Nourishment

This book follows a series of books by Geneen Roth in which she addresses the connection between food and our emotions. Emotional eating or not eating is a way in which we manage our feelings. She is a wonderful writer who is able to clarify difficult issues by sharing autobiographical vignettes with humor and insight. She tells the story of how she overcame emotional eating. It's a book everyone who struggles with food should read.

My first encounter with Geneen Roth's books was with this well-titled book, Appetites, which reflects upon but also goes well beyond her earlier focus on why women overeat and how to deal with their daily struggle. I was wary of a book of this genre, but enraptured by the insights Roth has evolved over a number of years, and with her often beautiful writing, as they emerge from her personal stories. A true friendship is virtually as valuable as true love, she relates, but true nourishment is ultimately deeply personal. Anyone who has at least partially overcome addiction's silent takeovers by evolving her own understanding of her misfocused longings will be inspired by Roth's personal yet widely relevant story.

Reading this book and exploring the issues addressed helped to lead me back to the time before I worried so much about my body. Geneen expertly uncovers our tendencies to use food as a substitute and a weapon for punishment. I feel more relaxed about myself and my weight than I have since junior high school! I am finally reaching my normal weight naturally and it is like a dream!

I read the book and have listened repeatedly to the audiotapes. Some topics are expanded upon in the tapes, and the set concludes with an interview with Geneen Roth which is probing and fascinating to those of us struggling with body issues, the victim stance, and what we are here in this life to "do". She addresses the first reviewer's concern about her credibility as someone who has had many dreams come true and to whom the talk comes easily...I truly think that is not the point. Rather, it is the "hollowness" of having any dream come true and we can all relate to that! What are we looking for beyond the things that we dream about? The has been an important sounding board for me in my own search for meaning.

To say this book can change a life is an understatement. Geneen Roth helps us (overweight or not) make sense of the emptiness in the pit of our stomachs. With her insight we can start the process of not only understanding but accepting ourselves. I think one of the hardest things to learn is how to love oneself unconditionally. Our society tells us how to look, act, and feel. Geneen helps teach us how to accept what we see in the mirror and not to hold our happiness for the day when we are ...beautiful ...rich ...famous ...loved or whatever your hang up is. Thank You Geneen!!