Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything

by Geneen Roth (Goodreads Author)

3.53 of 5 stars 3.53 · rating details · 6,569 ratings · 1,148 reviews

No matter how sophisticated or wealthy or broke or enlightened you are, how you eat tells all. After three decades of studying, teaching and writing about our compulsions with food, bestselling author Geneen Roth adds a powerful new dimension to her work in Women Food and God. She begins with her most basic concept: The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs abo...more

Paperback, 224 pages

Published February 8th 2011 by Scribner (first published January 1st 2010)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

Cosmic Ordering Connection by Stephen Richards

Best New Age Books

131st out of 154 books — 44 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Apr 01, 2013 Loretta added it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, on-food-and-body-issues

This was a worthwhile, thought-provoking book for me. Although I sometimes find the writing a bit "fuzzy", especially when talking about the more spiritual aspects she addresses, it is overall clear and well-written.

I want to re-read this book in conjunction with Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food. I found Mindful Eating very practical, and it has a lot of specific practices and exercises that would be useful to do while keeping Roth's words in...more

3 likes · like · see review

Feb 15, 2012 Ashley rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Maybe I entirely missed the point, but this book was the biggest waste of my time. Firstly, as other reviewers have pointed out, the "and God" part of this book is nonexistent. Not that I mind that, but don't put it in your title. Isn't that editing 101? Which is what this book seems to be missing: a good, thorough editing. Someone to remove the reaching, lofty language that struggles to make a point but doesn't really ever get there. Someone to concisely outline the goals for the book, for even...more

10 likes · like · see review

Dec 14, 2010 Jill rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: those who hate being fat, but are extremely, annoyingly spiritual

Shelves: audible

Yes. I have food issues. And God issues. And I'm a Woman. It seems I meet all of the criteria.

This is a BRUTAL book. I can only read a little bit at a time. Make it stop.

**********************************************************************
I don't know. I just don't know. I was going back and forth between 2 and 3 stars, but it's really more like a 2.5 for me. The epilogue was the best part of the book, in my opinion.

Hmmm. I'm confounded here. I was extremely surprised how little God there was i...more

11 likes · like · see review

Apr 25, 2011 Jennifer Lane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“Feel the Pain, Don’t Eat It”

This is a non-fiction book that I found enlightening and helpful, with many truths in its pages.

Author Geneen Roth had fluctuated between severe food restriction and severe binge eating all her life. Her self-worth was tied up in her weight and shape, and her existence was a miserable yo-yo of dieting and shame. She went to therapy, learned about herself, studied mindfulness and meditation, taught and wrote, and slowly began to deal with her emotional pain by learni...more “Feel the Pain, Don’t Eat It”

This is a non-fiction book that I found enlightening and helpful, with many truths in its pages.

Author Geneen Roth had fluctuated between severe food restriction and severe binge eating all her life. Her self-worth was tied up in her weight and shape, and her existence was a miserable yo-yo of dieting and shame. She went to therapy, learned about herself, studied mindfulness and meditation, taught and wrote, and slowly began to deal with her emotional pain by learning how to sit with it and feel it instead of eating to avoid it.

Her premise is that compulsive eaters use food to escape feeling emotional pain, and I think this theory is spot on. All addictions tend to be about difficulty coping directly with emotions, and eating disorders are no different. Ms. Roth holds workshops for women where they learn what feelings underlie their obsessions and compulsions with food.

Ms. Roth discusses the promise of diets, which simply don’t work:

“Diets are based on the unspoken fear that you are a madwoman, a food terrorist, a lunatic…The promise of a diet is not only that you will have a different body; it is that in having a different body, you will have a different life. If you hate yourself enough, you will love yourself. If you torture yourself enough, you will become a peaceful, relaxed human being.” (p. 77)

Can I get an amen? Why do we think that we need to be harshly self-critical in order to motivate us to change, when we all know that positive reinforcement works much better than punishment for behavioral change? We have some very messed up ideas about dieting in our culture.

Ms. Roth offers the “If Love Could Speak Instructions” as a counter to the resistance we feel to changing our eating habits:

“If love could speak to you about food, it would say, ‘Eat when you are hungry, sweetheart, because if you don’t, you won’t enjoy the taste of food. And why should you do anything you don’t enjoy?’ It would say, ‘Eat what your body wants, darling, otherwise you won’t feel so well, and why should you walk around feeling tired or depressed from what you put into your mouth?’ It would say ‘Stop eating when you’ve had enough, otherwise you will be uncomfortable, and why spend one minute in discomfort?’” (p. 168)

I love the compassion she implores us to feel for ourselves.

I’ve been wanting to practice mindful eating for some time now and I finally used her recommendation to eat without any distractions (e.g. THE COMPUTER!) for all three of my meals today. It was interesting to discover that I wasn’t as hungry for lunch after sitting at the table and eating my breakfast one-mindfully instead of wolfing it down while surfing the internet. How interesting! When I want to watch TV, read, or go online for my next meal, I’ll try to tell myself, “Eat without distractions, sweetheart, so you can enjoy your food more and feel when you’re full.” I’ll work on it one bite at a time. Thank you, Geneen Roth.
(less)

13 likes · like · see review

Aug 01, 2011 Liberty rated it 4 of 5 stars

A new take on a million-dollar/yr industry. Amazing notion really... That you don't have to atone, hate, suffer, or diet your self away.

As Geneen writes, "...once the belief and the subsequent decisions (about your worth and a lifetime of dieting) are questioned, diets and being uncomfortable in your body lose their seductive allure. Only kindness makes sense. Anything else is exruciating."

Excruciating is an utterly painful place to be when embodying your Self. This idea that there is neither a...more

1 like · like · see review

Jul 18, 2010 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As someone who has dealt with weight problems for many years, I have to say this book was actually very helpful. I had never read any diet books prior to Women Food and God and I was therefore hesitant to read it. At first, I thought it would be a waste of money, and that the book was based on different dieting “techniques”, and the "best way to lose weight", however, it wasn't even close to that!
I found it to be an interesting and insightful book that really thought me a lot about myself and u...more

5 likes · like · see review

Jan 29, 2011 Helynne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I had been intrigued by the title of this book for months before I read it, and after reading this collection of essays, I was not disappointed, although it should be noted that the author, does discuss women and food a lot more than she discusses God and spiritual aspects of weigh issues. Geneen Roth's main theme is self-love, and "coming home to oneself" as an overall approach to health and weight control. "We don't want to eat hot fudge sundaes as much as we want our lives to be hot fudge sun...more I had been intrigued by the title of this book for months before I read it, and after reading this collection of essays, I was not disappointed, although it should be noted that the author, does discuss women and food a lot more than she discusses God and spiritual aspects of weigh issues. Geneen Roth's main theme is self-love, and "coming home to oneself" as an overall approach to health and weight control. "We don't want to eat hot fudge sundaes as much as we want our lives to be hot fudge sundaes. We want to come home to ourselves" (174-75). Roth's style is easy and breezy. There are numerous sentence fragments, which I realize is just a part of her style, but as an English teacher, I can tolerate only so many of these before I want to freak out and run screaming for my red pen. Anyway, an interesting fact is that while reading these chapters, I found myself traveling back mentally to 1975 when I did not have a weight problem, but rather, some bewildering self-esteem issues; thus, Roth's advice is actually broader than she purports it to be, and useful to just about anyone who needs a boost of self-confidence. Her early chapters put the emphasis on the patholoy of eating--people who use food as a drug, eat to numb themselves from pain,etc. (I wish she had given more attention to those of us who tend to eat too much just because food is the bomb and there are so many "good eats" out there that are just plain delicious). Chapter 6 gives key advice on how to stop self-loathing and punishment. There are some good thoughts about NOT beating ourselves up over our imperfections. (Hating one's huge thighs is an image that comes up many times in this book). I liked Roth's warning that diets are based on the unspoken fear that one is a madwoman, a food terroist, a lunatic, and that women tend to believe they have to constantly loath and punish themselves in order to achieve positive change. "The shape of your body obeys the shape of your belief about love, value and possibility," Roth states. "If you force, deprive, and shame yourself into being thin, you'll end up a deprived, shamed, fearful person who will also be thin for ten minutes" (79). Chapter 8 has some good thoughts on meditation as an aid to self-love and Chapter 9 quotes one of my favorite philosophers--Vietnamese Buddhish monk Thich Nhat Hahn, who reminds us that "there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way." Roth's later chapters warn women to beware of the Voice, with a capital V that kicks in when we want to challenge the status quo or trust our own instincts. "The Voice usurps your strenth, passion and energy and turns them against you" (132) . . . . The moment you stop believing the voice, you are free" (136). Roth also states that most systems of weight loss fail because they do not live up to their promise. Weight loss alone does not make people happy, peaceful or content. Spiritual hunger must be satisfied before we can get a good handle on controlling physical hunger. At the end on the book Roth gives a list of sensible eating guidelines, such as "Eat when you are hungry, eat what your body wants, eat until you are satisfied, eat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure."

(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 14, 2012 Joy Weese Moll rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: health

This book promised more than it delivered for me. I saw myself on every page of Part 1, but the answers I expected in Parts 2 and 3 didn’t fully materialize. Partly, perhaps, because I am no longer the person that I kept seeing in Part 1, although I once was. I’ve taken a different path for this journey than this book delineates and it’s working for me. I’m not sure I would go back now to try this path, even if I could.

Still, it plugs some holes in the methods I've been using -- Cognitive Behavi...more

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 04, 2013 Saman added it · review of another edition

کتاب( زن، غذا، خدا) جزو کتاب‌هایی است که نیاز به یک ترجمه‌ی دیگر دارد. با این که ناشر این کتاب، ناشری‌ست حرفه‌ای و تقریباً کاردان، نمی‌دانم چرا برای چاپ این کتاب اینقدر ناشی‌گری و بی‌سلیقه‌گی به خرج داده است
آنچه بیش از هر چیزی نمایان است عدم تسلط مترجم محترم و بی‌سواد کتاب است بر زبان فارسی و دیگر حروفچینی شلخته، آماتور و پر از اشتباه ناشر

حاصل: یک کتاب خوب. یک اندیشه خوب. و اگر این‌هایی که برایتان گفتم مهم نیست و خیلی در چشمتان نمی‌آید بخرید، بخوانید و لذتش را ببرید ور نه صبر کنید تا یک چاپ حرفه...more

1 like · like · see review

Aug 08, 2011 Charlotte added it · review of another edition

I've always been skeptical and dismissive of the self-help genre, but I LOVE Geneen Roth and I want to shout it from the rooftops! She embodies the best Jewish/Buddhist mother, someone who knows you to the core, who tells it like it is, who's wise and spiritual, and all with a kick-ass, self-deprecating sense of humor. She resonates with a huge and devoted following of women, and I think that's why. This book offers nothing much that's new since the Refrigerator book,which I read first. It's per...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 26, 2011 Summer Lewis rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: body, food, self-and-life

Loved it--down to earth, easy to read, and really resonated with me.

Some quotes from the book:

There is a whole universe to discover between “I’m feeling empty” and turning to food to make it go away. The problem of weight is predictable. We know what to do when we have that problem. Beat ourselves up. Make ourselves wrong. Eat fewer donuts. But staying with the emptiness—entering it, welcoming it, using it to get to know ourselves better, being able to distinguish the stories we tell ourselves a...more

5 likes · like · see review

Feb 28, 2013 Amanda Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I just finished the book Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth. Her basic belief is if we eat what our bodies want when they want it we will lose weight and reach our "normal" weight. The problem is that most of us don't listen to our bodies, we listen to our minds and our minds often tell us to eat when we don't want to.

I enjoyed the book but I don't agree with her on everything. She believes that eating is a way to get closer to God. I don't believe this. I believe in living in the moment, making...more

like · see review

Jul 13, 2012 Reena Jacobs rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, reviewed, non-fiction

Find my review on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer: http://reenajacobs.com/blog/2011/04/n...

I only made it a few pages into Women Food and God before I knew I would enjoy this book. Ms. Roth filled the pages with story after story which were entertaining while also educational and touching. She had an interesting take on the relationship one has with food and spirituality. I don’t subscribe to her beliefs 100% but do find merit in a lot of what she preaches.

For example, I’ve never considered mysel...more Find my review on Ramblings of an Amateur Writer: http://reenajacobs.com/blog/2011/04/n...

I only made it a few pages into Women Food and God before I knew I would enjoy this book. Ms. Roth filled the pages with story after story which were entertaining while also educational and touching. She had an interesting take on the relationship one has with food and spirituality. I don’t subscribe to her beliefs 100% but do find merit in a lot of what she preaches.

For example, I’ve never considered myself as one who eats to numb myself to feelings. However, I imagine a lot of individuals out there do. On the other hand, her examples of people she called permitters was all me. On page 156, she had this to say:

"You’re sitting in front of a chocolate cake and you notice you want the entire thing right now. You don’t care whether the band around your small intestine from the operation you just had breaks. You don’t care if anyone else in the group gets a piece. You want it all."

This is my relationship with food. I want it, not because I’m sad, not because I’m hurting, not because I’m broken. I want it simply because it’s there… and I want it all until it’s gone. It tempts me, it taunts me, it calls to me. And the only way to get the food to shut up is to eat it all right then and there.

A lot of the book was about learning or rather relearning to love oneself. To recognize and understand why one has the compulsion to overeat. I wasn’t always a gorger. As a kid, I gorged like nobody’s business. Of course back then, I was as thin as a rail. I left high school weighing only 112 lbs but could pack away food like a grown man. Sometime during my adulthood, I realized I didn’t have to eat EVERYTHING right then and there. I could save some for later. I didn’t have to leave the table with my tummy hurting. Women Food and God was a reminder of what I’d forgotten not too long ago. On page 157, Ms. Roth follows up with:

"Good thing you notice. You don’t judge yourself. You don’t think that wanting it all means anything about the kind of person you are. You don’t tell yourself how selfish you are, and if the others knew that you wanted it all, they’d throw you out. None of that. You bring yourself back to the present moment, and since your body is right here, right now, since hunger or lack of it is also right here, you ask yourself if you are hungry. Simple. Am I hungry?"

When I go back for seconds, thirds, and please don’t tell anyone, but fourths and fifths, I can guarantee I’m not hungry by then. I even know I’m not going to like the way my body feels after it’s stuffed, yet I persist. Now if that isn’t crazy, I don’t know what is.

Okay, so the example I used above may not apply to you. Here’s the thing, Ms. Roth addresses so many issues in this short book, one might be hard pressed to find everything applies to them. Like I said, I didn’t jive with all she said 100%, but quite a bit of it hit home.

One item I disliked about this book, but at the same time found beneficial was the repetition. Ms. Roth said the same thing a hundred and seven different ways… and sometimes exactly the same way twice. Here’s the thing, whenever I thought to myself, this doesn’t apply and can we just get on to the next part, she repeated the information in a way which was relevant to me personally. If I could take all the filler out and get to just the parts which inspired me personally, this book would be perfect.

If you’re struggling with weight, if you’re tired of dieting, if you want to love yourself, I highly recommend reading this book.(less)

like · see review

Jun 13, 2012 Donna D rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Not the best book I've read, not the worst. I hate to give 3 stars as it is a non-committal middle of the road ranking, but that is what this book is to me.

Reading books like Women Food and God is not for everyone. But I enjoy them because I enjoy taking the opportunity to pause, reflect, and readjust aspects of my life. If you are the same, or if have an interest in the psychology of eating and wellness, I am pretty certain you could find “food for thought” here. Or if not food, then perhaps so...more Not the best book I've read, not the worst. I hate to give 3 stars as it is a non-committal middle of the road ranking, but that is what this book is to me.

Reading books like Women Food and God is not for everyone. But I enjoy them because I enjoy taking the opportunity to pause, reflect, and readjust aspects of my life. If you are the same, or if have an interest in the psychology of eating and wellness, I am pretty certain you could find “food for thought” here. Or if not food, then perhaps some words from Geneen Roth that resonate with you like they did with me.

I picked up the book after hearing about it on Twitter in 2010. I have an interest in all things healthy lifestyle related, so picked up a copy of the book. I am not sure if I match the profile of the person who usually buys Roth’s book. I mean, the cover says “If you suffer in your relationship with food… you can be free.” I don’t suffer in my relationship with food. Sure, I am always looking for ways to eat better, cleaner, and more mindfully – but that is not suffering, that is a part of wanting to be healthy. Leaving the cover aside, in the prologue Roth says that anyone who eats should read her book, as should anyone who wants to get rid of their beliefs in their own limitations. So with an open mind, I read. And pleasantly I can report that Roth’s book spoke to me.

It is an easy read, using a lot of examples to make her points Roth illustrates that our relationship with food is a direct reflection of our relationship with ourselves.

Roth’s writing had quite a few thoughts that resonated with me. I found myself reading her words, and reflecting on my where I currently am in life.

I like that Roth approaches the issues around body image as a journey in discovering one’s sense of “loveliness”.

Pick it up for some self reflection, to flip through now and then or to read in one sitting. I suspect if you have a disordered relationship with food it may be of more value to just the vehicle of self-reflection that I found.(less)

like · see review

Mar 10, 2012 Deb rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

*Soul food*

If you're the type of reader who highlights and makes margin notes in books when you come across a body-jolting insight, it is likely you're not going to have much white space when you've finished this book. Although the book is relatively short and the tone is casual, there is more food for thought (yes, pun intended) here than in the shelf-loads of books surrounding it. Geneen's book is nothing short of amazing. Showing how our approach to food is an exact microcosm of our relations...more *Soul food*

If you're the type of reader who highlights and makes margin notes in books when you come across a body-jolting insight, it is likely you're not going to have much white space when you've finished this book. Although the book is relatively short and the tone is casual, there is more food for thought (yes, pun intended) here than in the shelf-loads of books surrounding it. Geneen's book is nothing short of amazing. Showing how our approach to food is an exact microcosm of our relationship to life itself is no small feat. But, Geneen accomplishes it completely, beautifully, and gracefully.

The book is so engaging. It's almost as if Geneen is sitting right there chatting with you. And, then all of a sudden, she'll share these profound insights that suddenly make the chaos so clear. (On my second read of this book, I typed up this collection of profoundness. Needless to say, my document is many, many pages long!)
Here's just a sampling:
---"When you believe in yourself more than you believe in food, you will stop using food as if it were your only chance at not falling apart." (p. 81)
---"Truth, not force, does the work of ending compulsive eating. Awareness, not deprivation, informs what you eat. Presence, not shame, changes how you see yourself and what you rely on." (p. 81)
---"If you don't allow a feeling to begin, you also don't allow it to end." (p. 123)
---"Once you realize that it's possible to feel good by not eating certain things, and including others instead, the compulsion begins to fall away because you've found something better: getting your life back." (p. 171)
---"We don't want to _eat_ hot fudge sundaes as much as we want our lives to _be_ hot fudge sundaes." (p.174)
---"Spiritual hunger can never be solved on the physical level." (p. 177)
---"If you pay attention to when you are hungry, what your body wants, what you are eating, when you've had enough, you end the obsession because obsessions and awareness can't coexist."(p. 194)
---"There is something better than endlessly pushing the boulder of obsession up the mountain: putting it down." (p. 200)

As Geenen says again and again: It's not about the food and it's not about the weight. But, it is about discovering, nourishing, and nurturing our true selves that have been hidden underneath the obsession. Only when we can harness and redirect the energy of of the food obsession towards fully experiencing and accepting our present-day authentic selves can we finally feed that spiritual hunger that has been starving for life.

I can't rave enough about _Women Food and God_ . But, I can describe it in just two words: soul food. (Eat up and live fully.)(less)

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 18, 2012 Jessica Sisson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I originally bought this book for my mom for Christmas. I was leery to gift a self-help book, but as the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, she has struggled with eating, emotions and spirituality since I can remember. It is no surprise to me that I have found myself in the trenches battling such harmful beliefs as Roth describes in this book. Nearly two weeks after I gave it to her, I received a bubble-wrapped package in the mail from my mom. I wondered what on earth it could be until i open...more

like · see review

Aug 08, 2011 SwensonBooks rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: jill

Geneen Roth's new title is almost banal. I had a really hard time getting through it and it was a very quick read. Promoted by Oprah Winfrey [book selection and guest appearance], the book follows the classic genre of self-help diet books. For all the hype, it reads like most every other diet book sans recipes, menus, points, weights, and measurements. Roth gives the formulaic fat book a twist: you can eat what your body needs and feed your soul without counting calories or stepping on the scale...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 30, 2011 Susan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love my public library. Each time I've moved to a new town, the first place I visit is the public library to sign up for my library card. Most Methodist preachers no longer travel from place to place on horseback, but we still spend a lot of time in the car. My routine for years now has included trips to the library, exploring the audio book collections, and checking out volumes that seemed interesting. I've discovered a love for non-fiction that I never knew I had and that genre fiction is ev...more I love my public library. Each time I've moved to a new town, the first place I visit is the public library to sign up for my library card. Most Methodist preachers no longer travel from place to place on horseback, but we still spend a lot of time in the car. My routine for years now has included trips to the library, exploring the audio book collections, and checking out volumes that seemed interesting. I've discovered a love for non-fiction that I never knew I had and that genre fiction is even better on audio book with a good performer.

While I occasionally wander the stacks of branch libraries, now that I'm in Houston I depend on various newsletters sent by the library for new reading recommendations. Women, Food, and God was such a recommendation. From the description I thought it was going to be more of a sociological, psychological, spiritual exploration of women's relationship with food. It is, rather, a more new agey self-help book. So, my rating of 2 stars probably has a lot to do with the fact that the book didn't live up to the description in the public library newsletter. That's not the author's fault, but it is what it is.

Geneen Roth's basic premise is that we need to eat mindfully. This does resonate with me because, in addition to doing most of my "reading" in the car I also eat most of my meals in the car. I dare say that the audio book diet is much healthier for me than the fast food diet. Occasionally I try to take care better care of myself by forswearing any food that comes in a bag through a window, but I don't have a lot of success with that. I do think that following Ms. Roth's advice and techniques of eating good food, paying attention to it, and being grateful for it would be healthier for me in both body and soul. It just took a lot for her to get to the point. Ms. Roth spent much of the book describing the retreat, the resentment of some of the women on the retreat, some details about her own thoughts about food, none of which really resonated with me. I think first-person narratives from those who have attended Ms. Roth's retreats, their stories, what they learned, what changed for them from practicing the techniques would be more effective. Instead, Ms. Roth tells some pieces of the stories as they were told to her, leaving me with an incomplete picture where Ms. Roth is the focus of the story as the one receiving it.

I think there's some good practice here, but not much of the academic exploration I was hoping for. I also think that there are some among the women attending Ms. Roth's retreats with whom I would resonate. It's too bad the author got in the way.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 15, 2011 Candice rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book because Oprah highly recommends it (Anne Lamott does too!). I thought it might be a good book to read as I seem to be forever trying to lose the last 10 baby pounds. (Interestingly, also while watching a Meryl Streep interview on Oprah, Meryl said the one thing she knows for sure in life is that the 10 pounds I speak of never goes away. haHA!)

A good portion of the book I found hard to relate to, but the part that I *could* relate to was indeed life-changing. Geneen's basic prem...more I read this book because Oprah highly recommends it (Anne Lamott does too!). I thought it might be a good book to read as I seem to be forever trying to lose the last 10 baby pounds. (Interestingly, also while watching a Meryl Streep interview on Oprah, Meryl said the one thing she knows for sure in life is that the 10 pounds I speak of never goes away. haHA!)

A good portion of the book I found hard to relate to, but the part that I *could* relate to was indeed life-changing. Geneen's basic premise is that there is a direct correlation between how we eat and how we view God*. She believes we should explore this correlation daily, stop dieting and she offers simple "Eating Guidelines" (only eat when you're hungry and stop eating once you're full, to name a few) to help practically accomplish this suggestion. Geneen says that when we eat when we're not hungry food becomes a drug. She also encourages us to, essentially, live in the tension (that Rob Bell often speaks of) instead of trying to escape it by overeating. She writes: "Staying where you are with what you are feeling or seeing or sensing is that first step in ending the obsession with food." (p. 39)

More often than not I find myself reading books that fit right in with where I'm at in my spiritual journey. Lately, I've found myself questioning why people behave (or don't behave) towards me in a certain way based upon the feelings *I* think they *should* have for me. As I was reading the chapter "Tigers in the Mind" which discusses our feelings I wrote in the margin "Love Me Enough". I was really challenged to deeply look at myself, and my past, and ask "Why don't I feel loved enough?" How does this relate to my sin, and how do I try to "make up" for not feeling loved enough, for feeling inferior? There was some good stuff going on, which I'm still working through and should probably continue working through for some time. This might seem kinda heavy for a book review, but I thought it was important to include because I think this is what classifies something as a "good" book: long after reading the last page, you're still thinking, challenging, growing.

I just have to add one more quote. Out of the entire book this was most interesting observation by Geneen. She wrote: "There are worse things in life than a broken heart." (p. 48) This is a huge concept for me, and one I'm still considering. Deep stuff. Good stuff. I highly recommend this book!

(*) I will note that Geneen is a practicing Buddhist. Her spiritual practices weave in and out of the book. Even though I may have different spiritual practices I wasn't hindered by her particular journey, and I still found countless universal truths about Love & God throughout the book.(less)

like · see review

Jun 09, 2011 Janet Young rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this book up for $1 in my church book swap. Having read and admired one of Roth's first books, WHEN FOOD IS LOVE, I had forgotten about her for years, and rediscovering her work was timely for me.

Five years ago I got down to a very attractive weight with Weight Watchers. I've been on and off WW since and have often become preoccupied with what and how much I'm eating, but the preoccupation hasn't paid off in weight loss. WOMEN, FOOD, AND GOD reminded me that the diet industry is detrim...more

like · see review

Jun 09, 2011 Ileana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an amazing book. It is not just about we overeat, it can be applied to anything we might use to numb ourselves in order to prevent feeling pain. Loved it!

I do believe there are frozen places in ourselves - undigested pockets of pain - that need to be recognized and welcomed, so that we can contact that which has never been hurt or wounded or hungry.

"To discover what you really believe, pay attention to the way you act -- and to what you do when things don't go the way you think they shou...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 03, 2011 Gere Lewis rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The reason I rated this book with 3 stars is because my mother read it and found something in it that caused her to start dealing with her problems and start eating again. She has been a die hard anorexic for more than 20 years. Any book that can get her to eat a meal without guilt and fear is worth reading, which is why I read it. For me, I found nothing. If it weren't for my mother's experience I would say that the author is full of crap. I think that my problem with it was that the author onl...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 06, 2011 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I first received this book in the mail, I wasn't sure it was for me. I consider myself to be more of a spiritual person than a religious person, so I was concerned that the book might be preachy -- it is not. The title is very misleading, and the author even states that God means different things to different people. As I read a few pages, something about what the author was saying seemed to resonate with me. The author states:

"The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about be...more When I first received this book in the mail, I wasn't sure it was for me. I consider myself to be more of a spiritual person than a religious person, so I was concerned that the book might be preachy -- it is not. The title is very misleading, and the author even states that God means different things to different people. As I read a few pages, something about what the author was saying seemed to resonate with me. The author states:

"The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. Your relationship with food is an exact mirror of your feelings about love, fear, anger meaning, transformation, and yes, even God."

The author, at an early age, began to use food as a way to ease her pain. She has gained and lost some 1,000 pounds over the years and has dealt with obesity, bulimia and even anorexia. Roth writes:

"At eleven, I felt like a raw nerve, as if the fact that I took up space at the red Formica table was the reason for the hatred between my parents and their violence toward each other. They threw things, left the house, stayed away for hours or days......Enter food........The sight of a Hostess Sno Ball turned the world into a riot of color. The fluffy, pristine mound of marshmallow sprinkled with coconut. The promise of chocolate cake inside........I turned to food for the same reasons that people turned to God: it was my sigh of ecstasy, my transport to heaven, my concrete proof that relief from the pain of everyday life would be possible. Then it would be gone."

The book is not about dieting or about how to lose weight. Anyone who has struggled with weight knows what they need to do to lose weight. It is more about getting in touch with your feelings and the triggers that drive some of us to food as a means of escape. It is about learning to confront issues and your feelings: loneliness, anger, resentment etc, and dealing with the issues instead of trying to avoid them with the temporary pleasure our foods of choice might provide. Temporary satisfaction is all one can expect, before the feelings of loathing and shame resurface, and the cycle is repeated.

"Compulsive eating is an attempt to avoid the absence (of love, comfort, knowing what to do) when we find ourselves in the desert of a particular moment, feeling, situation. In the process of resisting the emptiness, in the act of turning away from our feelings, or trying and trying again to lose the same twenty, fifty, eighty pounds, we ignore what what could utterly transform us. But when we welcome what we most want to avoid, we evoke that in us that is not a story, not caught in the past, not some old image of ourselves. We evoke divinity itself. And in doing so, we can hold happiness, old hurts, fear in our cupped hands and behold our missing hearts."

Roth explains why for some people losing weight, and keeping the weight off is more complex then it may seem to those who have never struggled with serious weight issues. She divides individuals who have battled with their weight into two groups: Restrictors and Permitters.

Restrictors, need to be in control -- about themselves, what they eat and their environment. Permitters, hate rules and tend to use food to numb themselves. If you have struggled with weight issues, you might be curious to see what your eating habits say about you.

Are you a Restrictor or a Permitter? There is a quiz on Oprah.com that you can take to help you decide.

I am a classic Permitter, and it came as no surprise after reading this terrific book. If you are tired of dieting, and want some insight as to how to get to the root the yo yo weight loss/weight gain cycle, I think you will find this book not only interesting, but helpful as well.

Geneen Roth is the author of the bestseller, When Food is Love and seven other books. She has conducted workshops for over thirty years and has lead retreats for the past ten. Roth is a frequent contributor to many publications including Salon.com, Huffington Post and Good Housekeeping and has appeared on numerous national shows from Oprah, 20/20, Good Morning America, and The View, to Primetime Live and NPR's Talk of the Nation.

RATING - 4.5/5 stars(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Mar 26, 2011 Carla Ford rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I battle the same 10 - 20 pounds, and have ever since the birth of my son 26 years ago. I wouldn't say that I have any compulsive eating issues, and that is what the majority of the teaching in this book is aimed at. However, I did find some relevance for myself in reading about the sort of universal image women have of their bodies, and the inability most of us have to see our body in a realistic light. I have spent a lot of time, as I believe a lot of women do, in analyzing myself, my motives...more

like · see review

Jan 26, 2011 Saranne added it · review of another edition

Shelves: inspirational

I loved this book - here are some of my favorite lines...........

-I believe we are walking, talking expressions of our deepest convictions; everything we believe about love, fear, transformation, and God is revealed in how, when and what we eat.

-If we are actually interested in finding out what we actually believe – not what we think, not what we say, but what our souls are convinced is the bottom-line truth about life and afterlife – we need go no further than the food on our plates.

-I’ve been...more I loved this book - here are some of my favorite lines...........

-I believe we are walking, talking expressions of our deepest convictions; everything we believe about love, fear, transformation, and God is revealed in how, when and what we eat.

-If we are actually interested in finding out what we actually believe – not what we think, not what we say, but what our souls are convinced is the bottom-line truth about life and afterlife – we need go no further than the food on our plates.

-I’ve been abandoned and betrayed by who and what really matters and what I’ve got left is food – this is where the link between food and God exist.

-If a full scale war with themselves is what it takes to avoid being fat, if they need to keep blaming themselves and their mothers and their partners for the relationship with food, if their own self-worth is increasingly shredded with every failure to stay on their diets, well, so what. Every war has collateral damage.

-Women turn to food when they are not hungry because they are hungry for something they can’t name: a connection to what is beyond the concerns of daily life.

-Compulsive eating is a way we distance ourselves from the way things are when they are not how we want them to be.

-She is assuming – absolutely counting on the fact – that when she gets to be Someone Special, she will no longer feel deficient and no longer be haunted by emptiness. It’s called the “When I Get Thin (Change Jobs, Move, Find a Relationship, Leave this Relationship, Have Money) Blues.” It’s called postponing your life and your ability to be happy to a future date when then, oh then, you will finally get what you want and life will be good.

-The promise of a diet is not only that you will have a different body; it is that in having a different body, you will have a different life.

-Most of us are so enthralled in our minds – our stories of loneliness, rejection, grief – that we don’t realize they are in the past. They can’t hurt us anymore.

-It became apparent that eating was always about only one thing: nourishing the body. And this body wanted to live. This body loved being alive. Loved moving with some measure of ease. Loved being able to see, hear, touch, smell, taste – and food was a big part of how I could do that. The way I ate was another way to soar.

-You get to decide what you are going to do with your one wild and precious life.
(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 09, 2010 Kimberly Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a mixed bag for me. On one hand, I thought the author had an excellent vocabulary, but then on the other hand I've never read a book with so many fragmented sentences!

As far as the content goes, I thought she was a little off the wall in a few places, but then there were some astounding truths that shone through so clearly such as learning that I have been literally ignoring my body and my feelings my whole life. From not even realizing for hours that my bladder ached from having...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 18, 2010 Rebecca rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this up off the "new arrivals" shelf at the library where it was displayed next to books about economics, WWII, and Karen Armstrongs, "A Case for God." I thought-- Fantastic! A feminist reading of foodways! Boo, hiss, completely wrong.

It's a meandering, blissfuly citation-free, whiny self-help book. The author tells us how crazy she is and how horrible her life has been but how many people love her and how many thousands of people have completely changed their lives because of her and...more

7 likes · like · see review

Oct 01, 2010 Aban (Aby) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was attracted to this book because it deals with a problem that (and many people) have . . . difficulty with overeating and weight control. The book offers Roth's alternative to constant diets and a never ending cycle of losing and gaining weight.

Roth suggests that overeating has little to do with a love of food or with hunger, and everything to do with our emotions and state of mind. She believes that if we accept our feelings and deal with them, rather than trying to escape from them, we won...more

like · see review

Sep 16, 2010 Reid rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I began to realize while reading this book that the title is a bit misleading, since it does not exclusively deal with any of the three things it names. First of all, it is not only for women; men could benefit just a mightily from what is written here. Second, it is not just about food, but about any obsession we use to divide ourselves off from our lives and our true natures. Third, when Roth speaks of God, she is referring to whatever in our world equates to that feeling of being entirely a c...more I began to realize while reading this book that the title is a bit misleading, since it does not exclusively deal with any of the three things it names. First of all, it is not only for women; men could benefit just a mightily from what is written here. Second, it is not just about food, but about any obsession we use to divide ourselves off from our lives and our true natures. Third, when Roth speaks of God, she is referring to whatever in our world equates to that feeling of being entirely a cherished part of the whole experience of being alive. For some that is God, for others it may be Flow or Nirvana or presence or awareness or something entirely other than these.

I suffer from some eating compulsions, but I also have other compulsions which I am acutely aware stem from my feelings of inadequacy and my perception of danger in the world, danger from which I feel insubstantially protected and against which only my compulsive behavior can create a zone safe enough for me to continue to exist. Never mind that this has never worked (every zone I construct begins to deconstruct as soon as it is built, for one thing); I still find myself engaging in the same behaviors over and over again, because I have yet to find any strategies that will make me permanently safe. Therefore, I keep using those which are familiar, no matter their dubious efficacy.

I suspect this pattern sounds familiar to nearly everyone who reads this. We have, our whole lives, been sold a bill of goods: if we are good enough (thin enough, rich enough, accomplished enough, sexual enough, have enough shoes, cars, houses, or lovers) we will some day reach that pinnacle of being permanently loved and safe, and from that height we will never need to descend ever again. This is, of course, bullshit, and we know that, but we cannot seem to break the bonds of the beliefs we have built into the simulacrum of such a place and a way of living.

So, what to do? To abandon our old patterns without new ones to replace them simply leaves us feeling empty and abandoned; better the old, ineffective ways of living than having no clue. In this book, we are provided with a cogent, caring, articulate way of approaching our lives through our compulsions, not in spite of them, a way of using these false beliefs to nurture a truth we had never believed could exist: that we were born and remain whole, worthy, capable, strong, and loving beings.

One of my favorite statements from the book is (I am paraphrasing), "If your job is to fix yourself and there is nothing to fix, then you are unemployed. What then?" I, for one, intend to find out, and this book is a wonderful guide to how one can start on that path.

Is this a perfect book? Well, no, but it's flaws are minor and the intent of the author is clearly so benign and helpful that it doesn't feel worthwhile to elaborate them. I would hope that anyone who thinks one more of anything will finally push them over the edge to perfection will pick up this book and realize that the perfection we seek has always been here, and we have only to set aside the lies we have been sold to access that perfection. Bon appetit!

(less)

7 likes · like · see review

Sep 08, 2010 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, after much anticipation, I finally got my hands on yet another spiritually driven book about awareness. It focuses on Women and on their relationship with food, although that is a metaphor for anyone, with any type of unhealthy habit. The basic premise is that bad food habits are a manifestation of the pain, confusion and loss that we do not know how or want to deal with. Eating when you are not hungry is a way of coping with life but it not only does not solve the initial problem, it crea...more

4 likes · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (19)

More editions...

Videos About This Book

Add a comment

Add a comment

Genres

Non Fiction

179 users

Self Help

91 users

Health

57 users

Food And Drink > Food

52 users

Spirituality

40 users

Psychology

21 users

Religion

19 users

Womens

16 users

Inspirational

11 users

Autobiography > Memoir

9 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Geneen Roth

Geneen Roth's pioneering books were among the first to link compulsive eating and perpetual dieting with deeply personal and spiritual issues that go far beyond food, weight and body image. She believes that we eat the way we live, and that our relationship to food, money, love is an exact reflection of our deepest held beliefs about ourselves and the amount of joy, abundance, pain, scarcity, we b...more

More about Geneen Roth...

Books by Geneen Roth

When Food Is Love: Exploring the Relationship Between Eating and Intimacy

When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair: 50 Ways to Feel Thin, Gorgeous, and Happy (When You Feel Anything But)

Lost and Found: Unexpected Revelations About Food and Money

Feeding the Hungry Heart: The Experience of Compulsive Eating

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Women Food and Go...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from Women Food and God: An...

“You are not a mistake. You are not a problem to be solved. But you won't discover this until you are willing to stop banging your head against the wall of shaming and caging and fearing yourself. (p. 84)” — 121 people liked it

“When you believe without knowing you believe that you are damaged at your core, you also believe that you need to hide that damage for anyone to love you. You walk around ashamed of being yourself. You try hard to make up for the way you look, walk, feel. Decisions are agonizing because if you, the person who makes the decision, is damaged, then how can you trust what you decide? You doubt your own impulses so you become masterful at looking outside yourself for comfort. You become an expert at finding experts and programs, at striving and trying hard and then harder to change yourself, but this process only reaffirms what you already believe about yourself -- that your needs and choices cannot be trusted, and left to your own devices you are out of control (p.82-83)” — 89 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything
avg rating	preview: Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything Goodreads rating: 3.53 (6569 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9750369-women-food-and-god?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347860329l/9750369.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9750369-women-food-and-god?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything by Geneen Roth[/url]

Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website