Women, Food & God

By Geneen Roth

In Women Food and God, author Geneen Roth has created a tome for women who have ever had problems in their relationship with food. At last count, this included nearly everyone.

Whether you eat too little or too much, Ms. Roth is convinced if you drop the struggle you will find the solution. She talks about being in high school and dreaming about this person’s legs, that person’s eyes, and yet another’s hair. She believed if she could just whittle away the parts of her that were “wrong,” all that would be left would be pretty – and she could finally be at peace with herself. Her belief in diets was tied to her judgmental hold on shame and self-hatred.

She came to believe that the way we eat is inseparable from our core beliefs about being alive. Women Food and God is designed to help the reader begin to understand what prompts them to use food as a distraction. This book is about welcoming what is already here while discovering the part of ourselves that is already (and always has been) whole, what she terms divinity itself.

Although "God" is in the title of this best-seller Roth touches only lightly on religion, focusing instead on why some people use food to mask their emotions. According to Roth, overeating numbs feelings and erases unpleasant life experiences, so eating ends up being about bloating and indigestion, not about enjoying food. Using a series of inquiries, she helps overeaters find the underlying reasons for using food as an emotional buffer.

Roth also provides seven basic guidelines for eating (which do not include counting calories) and other therapeutic self-help tools. Whether the trap is eating brownies or shopping in excess, her advice could be applied to any addiction.