I thought the title of this post might grab your attention.

Don’t worry, I haven’t suddenly embraced the madness of fad diets and I assure you, Eat Right For Your Type and The Dukan Diet did NOT make my list – oh, heck no!

In fact, the brilliant books I chose to feature, have more to do with HOW and WHY you eat than WHAT you eat.

There is a monumental difference between simply wanting to lose weight and creating a healthy relationship with food and your body. I’m much more interested in the latter.

Once we give up trying to hate ourselves thin and start to nurture mindfulness, acceptance, truth and forgiveness – the real healing that leads to permanent weight loss can begin.

***

#1 The Slow Down Diet – Marc David

This is hands down, my favorite “diet” book.

Most people propel themselves through life at a dizzying pace that is contrary to a healthy lifestyle. We eat fast, on the run, and often under stress, not only removing most of the pleasure we might derive from our food and creating digestive upset, but also wreaking havoc on our metabolism. Many of us come to the end of a day feeling undernourished, uninspired, and overweight.

In The Slow Down Diet Marc David presents a new way to understand our relationship to food, focusing on quality and the possibilities of pleasure in eating to transform and improve metabolism. ~Amazon Book Description

#2 Mindful Eating – Dr. Jan Chozen Bays

The art of mindfulness can transform our struggles with food and renew our sense of pleasure, appreciation, and satisfaction with eating. Drawing on recent research and integrating her experiences as a physician and meditation teacher, Dr. Jan Bays offers a wonderfully clear presentation of what mindfulness is and how it can help with food issues.

Mindful eating is an approach that involves bringing one’s full attention to the process of eating—to all the tastes, smells, thoughts, and feelings that arise during a meal. Whether you are overweight, suffer from an eating disorder, or just want to get more out of life, this book offers a simple tool that can make a remarkable difference. ~Amazon Book Description

#3 In Defense of Food – Michael Pollan

The more we worry about nutrition, the less healthy we seem to become. With In Defense of Food, Pollan proposes a new (and very old) answer to the question of what we should eat that comes down to seven simple but liberating words: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Pollan’s bracing and eloquent manifesto shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating. ~Amazon Book Description

#4 The Gifts of Our Compulsions – Mary O’Malley

Everyone is compulsive to some degree. People may worry too much, work too hard, or overindulge in food or alcohol or drug use. Once a compulsion is admitted, the usual option is to try to control the behavior. But this effort typically ends with the problem returning, or a new one taking its place.

In this book based on three decades of research and teaching, Mary O’Malley has crafted a new approach, with simple exercises and techniques and an inspiring tone. People are compulsive for a reason, she says, and by observing the things they are compulsive about and engaging those compulsions, readers can begin to understand them and change their actions around them. ~Amazon Book Description

***

Reading these books will not make you thin. If you want to change your life and your weight for good, you have to do more than read – you have to do the work.

There are no quick fixes. No shakes, pills or “programs” that will do the trick. Losing weight permanently is about digging deep and getting to heart of the matter – discovering WHY you eat when you’re not hungry.

The GOOD news – learning to make peace with food and your body is a wild and fascinating adventure of self-discovery and self-evolution.

The GREAT news – it can be one of the most powerful and worthwhile journeys you’ll ever go on.