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The Writing Diet: Write Yourself Right-Size
Now in paperback, Julia Cameron's revolutionary diet plan: Use writing to take off the pounds!
Over the course of the past twenty-five years, Julia Cameron has taught thousands of artists and aspiring artists how to unblock wellsprings of creativity. And time and again she has noticed an interesting thing: Often when her students uncover their creative selves they also und...more
Over the course of the past twenty-five years, Julia Cameron has taught thousands of artists and aspiring artists how to unblock wellsprings of creativity. And time and again she has noticed an interesting thing: Often when her students uncover their creative selves they also und...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
December 26th 2008
by Tarcher
(first published 2007)
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By Angelique Mroczka
Author and creativity expert Julia Cameron is not a doctor or dietitian, but she did notice something interesting about the students in her workshops. As her students were tackling the blocks to their creativity, they were beginning to slim down before her eyes. “The Writing Diet” is the product of that observation.
Cameron explains her belief about how people use food to block out parts of their lives. In many cases, overeating also blocks the person’s ...more
Author and creativity expert Julia Cameron is not a doctor or dietitian, but she did notice something interesting about the students in her workshops. As her students were tackling the blocks to their creativity, they were beginning to slim down before her eyes. “The Writing Diet” is the product of that observation.
Cameron explains her belief about how people use food to block out parts of their lives. In many cases, overeating also blocks the person’s ...more
Having read and been completely transformed by Julia Cameron’s outstanding creative recovery book, The Artist’s Way, I noticed an incredible transformation in myself other than a blossoming of my creativity. As I uncovered all of the demons within my past that kept me from living a creatively fulfilling life, and as I grew more confident in myself and in my God-given talents, I found that I turned less frequently to food as comfort and consolation. The more I wrote and painted, the more I chan...more
Julia Cameron is not a doctor, a nutritionist, or any other kind of diet expert. She is, as she says, "a creativity expert [who has:] accidentally stumbled upon a weight-loss secret that works." (xv) Well, sort of. She found that participants in her 12-week creativity unblocking course were also finding themselves eating better and losing weight as they followed her daily assignments of writing three pages of stream-of-consciousness journaling and taking a 20-minute walk. Oddly ...more
What I like best about this book is its presentation. The information provided is not necessarily new and profound, but the way it is presented really works for me. The chapters are very brief and each ends with a writing exercise. Because of the chapters' brevity, I was able to read one each morning. It served as a kind of diet devotional. It gave me the motivation to start my day in a positive frame of mind. Cameron explains the importance of eating clean and this makes a lot of sense especial...more
An adaptation of Cameron's well-known "Artist's Way" method to deal with eating--specifically, journaling daily ("Morning Pages") to deal with both emotions and emotional eating, with some diet suggestions and tips for specifically stressful circumstances. Shannon sent me a link to it, and I thought it was definitely worth checking out--I've never been a serious journaler (journalist? hee), but it seems like something that could help on both a creative and an emotional level,...more
I have to confess I only picked up this book so I could shiver gleefully at the horrifying way Julia Cameron has continued to shill her particular brand of writing how-to. As I ended up having to admit mid-read, this book isn't nearly as hideous as I had anticipated -- and it might, for some, even be helpful.
Having become an amateur competitor in the world of weight loss, I'm familiar with many of the techniques Cameron proposes, and they come from reputable sources I like and admir...more
Having become an amateur competitor in the world of weight loss, I'm familiar with many of the techniques Cameron proposes, and they come from reputable sources I like and admir...more
I just read the first part, the tools (and skipped the essays). Tool 1; morning pages. Just write in a notebook every morning. Tool 2: the eating journal. Write down everything you eat in a journal.
Tool 3: Walk as much as you can.
Tool 4: The 4 questions: 1) Am I hungry? 2) Is this what I feel like eating? 3) Is this what I feel like eating now? 4) Is there something else I could eat instead?.
Tool 5: culinary artist dates. Write in your notebook: what would I love eating? Plan i...more
Tool 3: Walk as much as you can.
Tool 4: The 4 questions: 1) Am I hungry? 2) Is this what I feel like eating? 3) Is this what I feel like eating now? 4) Is there something else I could eat instead?.
Tool 5: culinary artist dates. Write in your notebook: what would I love eating? Plan i...more
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I can't quite say that I've read this book--I've only had the pleasure of skimming it. When my friend Melanie told me that the author of _The Artist's Way_ had written a diet book, curiosity overtook me, and I requested it immediately from OhioLINK.
It's hard to imagine how to take this book seriously, and it clearly comes from Cameron's own fixation with weight-loss (not an abnormal fixation in this country). But really, if writing three pages each day and taking the occasional walk...more
It's hard to imagine how to take this book seriously, and it clearly comes from Cameron's own fixation with weight-loss (not an abnormal fixation in this country). But really, if writing three pages each day and taking the occasional walk...more
Cameron, while no dietician, takes the (serious) reader, initially, back to the Morning Pages. She has suggested something that I did three years ago-clean out the fridge, freezer, and cupboards getting rid of all processed foods.
What I found interesting is a different "take" on using writing to more or less channel any cravings. Snack Attacks, as Cameron calls them, is not my problem, but I am writing every morning, walking every day, and just beginning to go back to my ...more
What I found interesting is a different "take" on using writing to more or less channel any cravings. Snack Attacks, as Cameron calls them, is not my problem, but I am writing every morning, walking every day, and just beginning to go back to my ...more
I loved the morning pages and do them every day.
I liked her different ideas for losing weight. Eating a clean diet is crucial--no white stuff (flour, rice, sugar, starches). Great suggestions for healthy snacks. Cleaning out your refrigerator was a good one too. Writing instead of eating is a great idea --figuring out what need you are trying to satisfy when you eat, but you are not hungry.
I thought it was an excellent point that when you start eating the wrong foods,...more
I liked her different ideas for losing weight. Eating a clean diet is crucial--no white stuff (flour, rice, sugar, starches). Great suggestions for healthy snacks. Cleaning out your refrigerator was a good one too. Writing instead of eating is a great idea --figuring out what need you are trying to satisfy when you eat, but you are not hungry.
I thought it was an excellent point that when you start eating the wrong foods,...more
Julia Cameron, guru author of The Artist's Way and other books on creativity has transformed lives
for 25 years. With this book she turns her inspirational style to the artist’s battle with weight.
The Writing Diet proposes writing as a weight loss tool to metabolize life. If overeating blocks
creativity and feelings, writing wakes up consciousness and returns clarity and productivity. Her tools
will work for anyone with food relationship issues.
She doesn...more
for 25 years. With this book she turns her inspirational style to the artist’s battle with weight.
The Writing Diet proposes writing as a weight loss tool to metabolize life. If overeating blocks
creativity and feelings, writing wakes up consciousness and returns clarity and productivity. Her tools
will work for anyone with food relationship issues.
She doesn...more
My reading of this book is definitely colored by my reading of Cameron's other--stronger--book, The Artists Way. I picked this one up because I noticed that I was losing weight while reading The Artists Way. In both books she suggests morning pages and weekly dates (among other things) in order to become more mindful. While this book is helpful, I'd probably recommend The Artist's Way first. Regardless, I'm down about 10 lbs, so yay.
I would give this book 3.5 stars. I think the subject matter (dieting) makes it a painful topic to read about and, as a result, makes it hard to be too effusive. However, I did enjoy this book because it focuses less on food (what exactly to eat and not eat) and more on creativity. Cameron seeks to inspire people to write in order to improve their relationship with food. She proposes guided writing in order to figure out what is "eating at" a person and, therefore, causing him/her ...more
There were a few ideas that struck me, but the main mantra of journaling with no intention or purpose, but like a brain-dump, doesn't work for me. If I'm going to do a brain-dump, I have to do it online on a blog because of speed, but then I get distracted... anyway.. I liked some things. It's staying on my shelf for future reference.
Despite my initial skepticism, I enjoyed and got a lot out of "The Artist's Way." After following the 12-week program, I found myself writing for the first time in years. I also kept up with the "Morning Pages"... now going on two years. So, when I saw that Julia Cameron had incorporated the "AW" principles into a diet book, I was curious. I liked this book. It is definitely highly familiar to anyone who has done "AW." Her advice doesn't veer far from that...more
Good basic advice for those who don't already understand about portion control and healthy eating but not a book I can or would recommend to anyone. For more:
http://satia.blogspot.com/2009/12/writin...
http://satia.blogspot.com/2009/12/writin...
really happy with this find. I have been doing some of the artists way exerccises so morning pages was not as frightening as it had been. I hope it works.
I tend to run screaming from self-help books these days (and tend to get more life-lessons from literary novels), but this book was good with a strong message. The most important things to remember about food involve self-awareness, and journaling lends to that, among other exercises encouraged in this book. Delicious living and patience are also good partners here. I recommend this book if you are a writer or not, as it will strengthen your dialogue with yourself, but I have to admit--I had ...more
I would read this book as a reminder that I can read it over n over. its just how she explain it so well in what you need to do....
I think I started this book around later 2008 or early 2009. I then lapsed into what I call my "I forgot how to read" phase. I simply stopped reading and kind of shut down intellectually. Needless to say I am glad to be done with that and after finishing this book I completely see why I would shut down on a book like this. The Writing Diet has some great and clear incites that completely relate to the push and shove you may need to do to yourself for yourself. I may have been blocking ...more
Didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know. I wouldn't buy it, but it was a quick, easy read.
Love the exercises in here, even if I don't agree with every single thing she says
Amadéa
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
dieters, artists, writers, almost anyone
A great read and a refreshing take on diet books. I really like the way a lot of opinions are given in this book. It's extremely easy to relate to as well as get excited about. Unlike most diet books that stop after: eat, exercise and drink lots of water, this book goes on about several aspects of life. I really think this a great read and would please a wide variety of readers and dieters.
Good use of her Morning Pages idea to live a more mindful life.
Some aspects of this book are good, but there is an eating disorders rigidity to her that I do not like. Cameron tells a story about splitting a dessert with her daughter and a friend and writes about how the act of eating the sugar makes her stupid. Really? That seems like an awfully pleasure denying attitude to me. I think that I am more of an everything in moderation kind of girl myself.
I liked the concept of journalling to help you lose weight but I just couldn't make it through the whole book. There is a website by the author but I would need a support group in my neighborhood to help me be successful with this diet style. There are just too many questions that need answering that are not answered in the book.
My life coach gave this to me, in support of writing my memoir, and other stories.
So far, it's interesting, good. The daily writing was off to a flying start but my August took a turn for the busier and I've cut back on that (for now), though it was very helpful maintaining focus on my emotions, especially the triggers I had before eating - when I wasn't truly hungry.
When summer calms down a bit, I plan on finishing this.
UPDATE: and here it is, summer again, and I...more
So far, it's interesting, good. The daily writing was off to a flying start but my August took a turn for the busier and I've cut back on that (for now), though it was very helpful maintaining focus on my emotions, especially the triggers I had before eating - when I wasn't truly hungry.
When summer calms down a bit, I plan on finishing this.
UPDATE: and here it is, summer again, and I...more
Personally, I think this book would have worked better as an essay. Part One, Tools, was the best (and shortest) part of this book. Cameron gives you seven tools to use to "write" your size down to whatever you want. The second part mostly works as a big long pep talk, that walks readers through various Scenarios of what-if. While I enjoyed reading about how people used their writing time to shape themselves into the person they wanted to be... I thought that dedicating two-thirds of t...more
Two of my favorite pastimes in one: Eating and writing. Mostly I was delighted with the Culinary Artist Dates, the task at the end of every chapter and the morning pages. One would say, "it's common sense in the act of writing, you're not eating thus weight loss." But the book is so much more than just that. It's validation, acceptance and a break in the usual. Just Brillant.
Very effective. Julia Cameron really makes it achievable, seemingly with little effort.
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Julia Cameron has been an active artist for more than thirty years, with fifteen books (including bestsellers The Artist's Way, Walking In This World and The Right to Write) and countless television, film, and theater scripts to her credit. Writing since the age of 18, Cameron has a long list of screenplay and teleplay credits to her name, including an episode of Miami Vice, and Elvis and the Beau...more
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“I ask to be made beautiful like the trees are beautiful, each growing according to a unique plan. Lop off a limb and and the tree will accommodate it's loss, still growing and still beautiful. It is my hope to be able to flourish in a similar fashion, taking on the shape and dimensions that is intended for me.”
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