What others are saying about How to Survive Your Diet:
Resist greed and embrace stress, October 7, 2005
"Linda Moran's approach to resolving weight problems is based on the same premise which chronic dieters must accept in order to maintain weight loss: How we think about food, eating and our bodies influence the eating habits which determine whether we reach and/or maintain a healthy weight. At the heart of her approach are 5 words: RESIST GREED AND EMBRACE STRESS. Those words span the multitude of rationalizations for overeating and even binge eating. However, Linda's use of those words is neither moralistic nor `new age'. She cuts through the psychobabble of mental health weight loss theory to explicitly describe specific ways to use those 5 words by examining and changing our self-talk.
"As someone who struggled with bingeing and purging for 35 years before I learned to listen to and challenge my rationalizations for those `disordered eating habits', I LOVE Linda's comparison of eating disorders to anxiety disorders. Linda explains that people who recover from anxiety disorders do so by changing what they tell themselves. I recovered from my `bulimic' habits exactly the same way without therapy. However, like others who recover from `eating disorder' habits, I continued to struggle with what Linda calls "garden variety overeating". I could not analyze or explain away that simple overeating. Nevertheless, Linda's words "once you clear up the underlying causes of bingeing ... you meet up with greed" pierced my shell of denial and ended my overeating once and for all. Accordingly, I would recommend this book to anyone who ever struggled with `eating disorder' habits.
"I only disagree with her chapter of recommendations for `healthy eating'. Fortunately Linda precedes that chapter with a caveat to "use good judgment about everything you hear" and mentions how doctors changed their edict against eggs as "too high in cholesterol". In her review of common popular diets she also suggests that we focus on WHEN and HOW MUCH, rather than WHAT, we eat. As a member of the 1% of Americans who have Celiac Disease and 3 food intolerances (gluten, dairy and soy), I know everyone must decide what's `healthy' for their own body. Nevertheless, I would also recommend this book to anyone on a medically restricting eating program who struggles with weight problems."
S. Corning (WA State, USA)
Breaking out of the Diet Prison, September 15, 2005
"I found this book to be refreshing and empowering. Linda Moran does not write the typical diet book, rather, she tells the reader to honor their own intellect regarding their relationship to food. Instead of points, calories, fat units etc.. she emphasizes retraining our minds using cognitive thinking and believing in the body's own innate desire to be healthy.
"I didn't feel the author was trying to indoctrinate me, as in other books on eating, but conversely to free me so i could enjoy food, my body and consequently, life.
"The main themes seem to be how we cope with stress and learning to dismantle them using our intellect rather than food. Also, she points out that the amount of food we eat is key, rather than what we actually eat. Therefore, i can enjoy all foods, yet part of the work is learning how to stop when i am full.
"Linda stresses that what she writes are suggestions not another book of rules. It's nice to be treated as an intelligent human being who just got temporarily into the habit of overeating. I know that I can learn to enjoy food and maintain a healthy weight, just as the author's own personal story shows she did it. Anyone struggling with weight and eating issues will be helped tremendously by reading this book."
Joanne Masterson "aka 'Jody" (CT, USA)
taste your way to slim, September 8, 2005
"While reading Linda's words, I was intrigued by the chapter on Maintenance. All those diet books that have jump-start, progressive and maintenance menus. Heck, why not just learn to eat what your taste buds tell you to eat? In amounts that are most comfortable to your body? Starting now.
"This is what Linda shares with us...the return to common sense thinking about food (all food) and portion sizes. Eating like you never had or will ever again have a weight problem. Your body will guide you to the size you should be in its own time. Trust, common sense and patience.
"If you've read this far you know you need to correct a lot of diet mentality. This is the book to guide you to think for yourself. And it won't just change your thinking about food, but all areas of your life. A truly life changing book."
Ann B. (SE Washington State)
It's Not the Diet... It's your THINKING, July 17, 2005
"Are you caught in a cycle of dieting and all out bingeing? Do you use the scale to measure your self worth? Have you bought every diet book ever written and find you are gradually gaining weight in spite of your constant dieting?
"If you answered yes to any of these questions, this book was written for you. In her book, "How to Survive Your Diet" Linda Moran offers suggestions how to solve these problems by using your rational mind.
"The ABCDEF steps of cognitive therapy outlined in the book helped me think through my problems with emotional, compulsive and yes, greed eating. I am learning through practicing the principles in the book to wait for natural hunger signals before eating.
"A bonus for me was the word index in the back of the book. You can use this as a handy reference to look up specific ideas you would like to review. I will give this book space in my library as a valuable tool to "normal" eating.
"The idea is really so simple, you'll wonder why YOU hadn't thought of it. You will begin to explore the JOY of eating small portions. The "no diet" approach actually allows for you to eat those foods you really love. You will begin to take ownership of your eating habits and recognize irrational beliefs about food issues. Instead of measuring, weighing, counting calories and trying to find ways to eat more, Linda Moran teaches you to measure your hunger and satiety and eat with reason. Learning this balance is the key to a life long relationship with our body and what we put in it.
"I'm giving this book the highest rating possible because it helped me see through my false beliefs about dieting, food and my body image. It will be the last "diet" book you'll ever need to buy! I know it can help anyone who wants to get off the diet yo-yo go round and become a naturally slender, healthy person again. "
Linda Doty
Free At Last, July 7, 2005
"I have just finished reading Linda Moran's book " How to Survive Your Diet", and I highly recommend it. Anyone that wants to get off the diet roller coaster and learn to eat in a healthy, non-diet manner, but still achieve a normal weight that is right for your body, will benefit from Linda's open, friendly, well-written book. She explains her approach in easy to understand language, without all the medical mumbo-gumbo that many (myself included) find confusing. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the very best, I would rate the book a 9, and will tell all my dieting friends to buy a copy for themselves. It's money well spent. "
Vicki Bishop "Vicki" (Titusville, Florida)
"For dieters about to embark on their next "miracle" diet, I recommend that they first read and digest this eloquent and potentially life-changing book.
"In this stunning book, author Linda Moran reveals the naked truth about dieting: that, in the long run, restrictive eating doesn’t work for most dieters. That when dieters deny themselves delicious and full-fat foods, they are fighting an innate and ingrained biological drive designed to help the human race survive--a battle dieters are not likely to win.
"So if a potential dieter wants to lose a few pounds, forget about it, accept one’s fatness, and move on, right?
"Maybe not. Moran, owner of the Yahoo! Dietsurvivors Group offers an alternative to dieting: normal eating.
"In the chapter "How Children Eat," Moran asks the reader to observe children at the table: intuitively, they eat when they’re hungry and stop when they’re satisfied. They’ll leave a cookie on their plates without feeling guilty about starving children in some third world country. Moran says that former dieters can train themselves to eat like children, to enjoy what they really want of that cookie and throw the rest away, without feeling deprivation or guilt.
"In a dispassionate tone, the author analyzes some of the currently popular diets and discusses the pros and cons of each program. She never tells the reader to forego all diets. Indeed, in her introduction, Moran says, "I’m not saying, ‘Don’t diet.’ Rather a diet is a lion to be tamed by you." Too often, the diet becomes the Truth, an all-or-nothing proposition resulting in black and white thinking.
"Moran concedes that diets do work for a few dieters, but emphasizes that "a diet works best if the dieter doesn't’t take it too seriously." In other words, a diet should not be worshiped as the "god" of the moment, but, rather, be used as a tool for helping the dieter make effective and sustainable life change.
"The author questions conventional dieting wisdom and proposes some seemingly paradoxical ideas for consideration:
- Weight-loss diets can actually promote greed.
- All foods should be "legalized."
- One should give into food cravings.
- One does not need to exercise to lose weight
- Stress can be positive.
- Small portions of delicious food will satisfy.
- Naturally thin people are not immune to serious food issues.
Moran does NOT
- Include recipes.
- Offer any calorie-counting programs.
- Tell readers to eat specific foods.
- Scold.
"Moran doesn't claim that the work of intuitive eating will be easy, recognizing that it takes time to unlearn old diet rules and incorporate new thinking. Furthermore, she offers her own story only to establish her credibility and to show her own path to eating enlightenment, not to impose new rules on the reader.
"Most importantly, the author respects the intellect of the reader. In her conclusion, Moran says, "This book is not about rules, but about your thinking. My suggestions may or may not work for you. It’s more important that you take ownership of your eating, learn to apply reasonableness as a standard instead of calorie counts or scale numbers, and start to use your own judgment about the advice you hear. Especially, you might find suspect anything that sounds too black and white."
"The author does not claim to have all the answers, which, in my opinion, strengthens her credibility and establishes her as a true pioneer in the weight management industry.
"Doctors and psychologists might do well to give their patients a copy of Moran’s book."
Jennifer Semple Siegel
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Last Modified: Wednesday, 06-Feb-2008 07:21:55 PST
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