The Stress Eating Solution: A Proven, Neuroscience Method for Ending Overeating

by Laurel Mellin

Want lasting weight loss? According to New York Times bestselling author and UCSF associate clinical professor Laurel Mellin, Ph.D., the universal pathway to a healthy body weight is to become wired for joy. Start by learning how to get from high-stress states to joy in under four minutes, then use the same techniques to switch off food cravings and activate positive moods, relationship pleasure, and body pride. This game-changing book delivers the same breakthrough program used by physicians, nutritionists, and psychologists in groups and coaching nationally. The science behind the method that the book maps out, emotional brain training (EBT), is cutting edge. Its easy-to-learn tools have been shown in peer-reviewed research to produce lasting improvements in happiness, weight, eating, relationships, blood pressure, and exercise. EBT is a weight loss method for the 21st century. Use the book alone, or access the program’s app, coaching, and telegroup options to change your brain’s habits. Rewire your brain to satisfy your true hungers with the seven of the rewards of a purposeful sanctuary, authenticity, vibrancy, integrity, intimacy, spirituality, and freedom. Become wired for joy.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Self Help

299 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2019

About the author

Laurel Mellin is a New York Times Bestselling Author, founder of Emotional Brain Training and Associate Clinical Professor, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco. She is a health psychologist and researcher whose work has been featured in top media outlets, Today, Good Morning America, Oprah, and in Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, and whose work was named one of the Top 10 Medical Advances of the Year by Health magazine. She lives in Marin County, California.

Reviews

[Jamie Bee · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book purports to help you quit stress eating—which the author loosely defines as eating nonhealthful foods when you're not hungry for emotional reasons like pleasure, comfort, love, or fear—by using the brain’s inherent neuroplasticity to rewire itself into more healthy, authentic constructs. For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept of neuroplasticity, it simply means that our brains are more adaptable and easier to change than we think. The brain has billions of neurons that make physical connections that allowed us to think, feel, move, and do everything in life. These neurons fire together in patterns to bring up memories, make us move, and organize our thoughts, amongst other activities.

I am an RN, and neuroplasticity was something that interested me while I was in nursing school. I read quite a bit about it. Our brains are amazing organs that have truly untapped potential.

So, when I found out this book had to do with neuroplasticity and what the author calls “emotional brain training,” I was curious. In the Welcome section of the book, she describes some structures of the brain and recent thoughts on brain science. She credits those from whom her ideas spring. While she tries to simplify it, the descriptions do get a little technical at times. In this Welcome section, she also set up some concepts like a joy inventory. Before you start the first 30 days of the program, she also has you tell your story of weight and overeating so you can work with your personal narrative in the pages that follow; she then tells you how to set up the practice that you will be following over the two months of the program and afterward.

The work that is meant to be done over the first month takes up the bulk of the book. In this section, she gives you tools to better understand yourself, to incorporate joy, and to work on specific circuits that have to do with eating and releasing weight. Each day is divided into a mini-essay about the topic of the day, why it is important, how to do, other little tips and insights, and a checklist of what precisely you should do that day.

The scientific aspect of the work is not the only potentially difficult concept that you will have to work with. It is clear the author has been working with this training for a long time—I believe she is one of the founders of EBT—so she has created a lot of jargon and buzzwords to describe EBT concepts, tools, and practices. Even some regular words, like sanctuary and freedom—are given special meaning within this system. The book, I believe, really needs a glossary so that you can more easily dial in on the precise definitions of these concepts as you are working through them each day. I found this particularly confusing in the Using Tech to Connect section, where she tells you ways to connect (which appear to be an integral part of the process). There is a lot of jargon there that has not been introduced so that it is actually meaningless to read it before you dive into the rest of the book. A brief glossary in that connection section would have been helpful or a few words that describe each EBT buzzword or phrase within the suggestions themselves would be useful as well as a glossary at the beginning or end of the book that can be easily flipped to.

At the beginning of the book, she states that each day's work on this process should take about 10 minutes. This is definitely not true. It might take you that long or less to read about the days topic but to actually implement it will often take continuous work throughout the day or more than 10 minutes at a given time.

The book has some of the common problems with grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage. The book is said to have two editors, but I am curious whether there was an actual copyeditor and/or proofreader.

One thing that the author should fully disclose on whatever book sites she sells this on—and I am letting you know here—is that her website in support of this book is a membership site. While the connections that she says are essential to this process can be made if you find like-minded people interested in the program, she definitely promotes her website’s telegroups and app. I'm not sure if the app is free, as I haven't looked at it, but nothing else is. At the time that I write this, the price for different levels of what you might need or want range from $39 to $699.

All that said, I find the concept of this book fascinating and wonder at its efficacy. I am tempted to try it out—my own personal free version—but I am unsure if I will truly be able to devote the time that I believe it will actually take to do correctly.

I received a free copy of this book, but that did not affect my review.

Read my other reviews at https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really hoping for a more reasonable approach. Something I could actually do in q0 minutes as the author states which I found completely untrue and I was also put off that this book basically introduces you to her web sites where you can pay hundreds of dollars to modify your brains thoughts on eating. I am looking for a more practical plan. That’s not to say I didn’t learn something but I think this plan would need more one on one to be truly successful. As well, I really take issue with the need for more editing. I would think the two editors listed in this book should be enough, (I would look for a refund) at this price point (almost $14.00!) in Canada and book of this nature by a PhD should be clean of edits, wrong words etc. as I found quite a few within the pages and far too many for a of this type. I voluntarily received an arc copy of this book

[Shani · Rating 5 out of 5]

To be quite honest, I’m a stress eater mixed with an emotional eater. I have childhood food issues that have followed me into adulthood. One of the biggest things is, I either don’t eat at all, or I binge eat. It just depends on the situation. It’s scary because it’s a feeling of not being in control. When I started reading this book, it couldn’t have come at a better time. My life is in a lot of upheavals at the moment and causing a tremendous amount of stress. I’ve found myself eating as if that would make everything be better. It’s true that for a few minutes, emotionally you’ve created a salve. But in the end, it's too much on your body and adds to the stress. It sure did for me. It’s one of the reasons I needed to start this book and the challenge. I’m curious to see how it pans out for myself personally.

I’ve noticed that one of the main things throughout the book is the reminder that you're retraining yourself and your mind. Instead of reacting to the stress circuits, it's about changing it to joy. How can you do that? One of the ways is through a type of meditation. Reminding yourself that it’s a moment that you can change. Is it tough? Yes, but what are you really feeling and can you change that? Change that stress into joy.

As I’m a checklist person I absolutely LOVE the idea of doing daily checkpoints. In those included, again is the fact of checking in on yourself. What was a stressful point? One example was someone who wasn’t stressed but had been sitting all day working and had a stiff neck. They would normally get up, use the bathroom and get a snack. But they stopped and asked themselves, what am I truly feeling? What do I need? It’s about listening to yourself, and your body. I mean, it makes total sense right? Listening to what your body really needs rather than what your mind is triggering on the stress circuit.

I think one of the biggest things is the reminder to talk to yourself in a tender, loving way. You’re your own cheerleader! Just like with other aspects of life, it’s about inner connection and peace. You’re retraining yourself to think better and do better. Another example was after someone had a binge eat from stress and saying to themselves something positive. One of the quotes is: “That’s okay, Sweetie. It’s not you. It’s just a wire. You can rewire it when you are ready to do that.” That really spoke to me! Instead of self-shame, its a reminder to rewire and that takes time.

Although I haven’t gotten through the whole 30 days yet. But what I have done, it has helped. I look forward to being able to release myself from the moments of eating because I’m stressed about eating because of its good for me. It will help me go a long way into leading a healthier lifestyle. I appreciate that fact the author sets reminders at the end to keep going and being a cheerleader herself. Awesome book!