Am I Hungry Book

[Guest guest]

Dana,

Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts on

the book, Am I Hungry. I wanted to respond and let you know I know this book

inside and out and also know Dr. May personally. I am a facilitator

and teach the 8 week classes based on Am I Hungry. Before reading the book and

meeting , I was an intuitive eating coach for many years, so this was

not my first exposure to the non-diet concept. I decided to become a

facilitator because I really liked the structured approach of Dr. May’s

Eating Cycle and thought it would be easier to adopt her program and make

changes to it that fit me than trying to create my own because it would take me

forever to get around to that.

That being said, I will tell you my

biggest hang up in committing to facilitator training was exactly what your

concern is. I felt the nutrition and exercise sections may create resistance

and concern for those who were dealing with giving up dieting and emotional

eating. I talked to Dr. May extensively about this. And we’ve had many

conversations about it since. It is my understanding that this info will be

going at the end of the book in the second edition which I think is a good

idea. I know some people who haven’t had an issue with the information

and actually found it useful. It is all well researched and she only included

real facts, not trends or fads or anything like that. But I really do

understand where you are coming from.

When I teach the classes, I tell my

participants at the very beginning that the info is there and I am not going to

discuss it with them during the workshop. Most facilitators do, but I won’t.

They can refer to it if and when they want to but our focus is on the eating

cycle and learning a non-diet approach. If you read only the first section of

each chapter (“decision point”), you will get some very good

information. What I find helpful with Am I Hungry is the eating cycle, it gives

more structure for those who really want it. It’s sometimes hard to come

from structured, very strict diets to “just eat what you want”. It

can be scary. So Am I Hungry gives structure without telling you what to eat

and all that.

Dr. May believes that there is so much

misinformation out there about fitness and nutrition, which is true, that many

people are very confused and want to know the truth. She has worked with a lot

of people who are caught in the diet mentality, but not dealing with the heavy

emotional issues that I find with my clients. So for them, it’s easier to

be receptive to the fitness and nutrition information, where I take an approach

of putting that all aside, knowing the body will begin to ask for those things,

and deal with the emotional aspects more.

So that’s my take, I hope it’s

helpful. There is a lot of value in that book. Remember that Dr. May is a

physician and she is really trying to bring a non-diet approach to the medical

community, which is desperately needed. But I’m sure we all can imagine a

doctor picking up a book that has no nutrition or fitness info and dismissing

it, because they are taught that diet and exercise is the only way to go and

that’s what they preach. I get excited everytime I talk to someone who

has been referred to me or to Am I Hungry by a doctor because that doctor had

seen Dr. May speak. It’s a lot easier for her to deliver this info to her

peers than it is for the rest of us to try to explain it to them.

So my advise, like any book, is to take

what works for you from the book and leave the rest. It will always be there if

you want to explore it later. I know there are some people in this group that

have found the book to be helpful, just like many others. Some people

absolutely love Geneen Roth, while others find her too touchy-feely. So not all

books will speak to you like others may. The books on our booklist are those

that are recommended by our members. I hope to have a more in depth review section

for these books if we have members that want to submit reviews. I think it

would be helpful.

Please let me know your thoughts, and I

would love to know what your therapist has to say as well. I’m so glad

you are working with one and I bet the support is making a huge difference.

Thanks for sharing and bringing up this issue, it’s important and we need

to question in order to learn and move forward.

By the way – I love the last

chapter of the book, and I think the second edition will be even better. It’s

a lot more about self care and filling those needs that we tend to neglect and

then fill with overeating.

Thanks!

Gillian

Gillian Hood-son, MS, ACSM

Healthier Outcomes

Get your copy of " 6 Simple Steps to

Guilt Free Eating " by visiting http://www.healthieroutcomes.com

From: IntuitiveEating_Support [mailto:IntuitiveEating_Support ] On Behalf Of dcadhuse@...

Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2008 8:36

AM

To: IntuitiveEating_Support

Subject: Re:

Diet's in disguise

I would also like to know the name of the

book too, as so I dont waste my money. It is important for me to not partake in

any part of the " Diet Mentality. " Along the same lines... I just received

two books which are on the book list. The first book is " Diets Dont

Work, " which I am absolutely loving. So far I am just over 1/2 way

through. Concept and exercises are spot on for me.

The second book is " Am I Hungry,

What To Do When Diets Dont Work. " I have only glanced through this

book and not real sure if I should read it. What I am having an issue with is

that it looks like 3/4 of the book is about exercise and " nutrition "

in the form of choosing food that are " healthy. " My

history is one of depriving myself of any pleasure with food in the name of

" good nutrition, " as well as feeling bad when I dont keep up an

exercise regime. The book talks about keeping record of one's exercise

progress.

I am going to take this book to my

therapist, and see what she thinks. I am working real close with her in regard

to my eating disorder (restrictive eating).

The Intuitive Eating Book by Tribole and Elyse Resch addresses nutrition too,

but it seems to be from a very different perspective than the Am I Hungry Book.

I am feeling a bit confused as to why the

" Am I Hungry " book is on the book list, it seems to make suggestions

which do not align with the IE concept, but only feed into the diet

mentality.

If someone has read this book, please

correct me if I am wrong here, as I have not thoroughly read the book.

Take Care,

Dana