Although this book was published in 2007 (Sourcebooks Inc.) I just now discovered it. It arrived a few days ago (thank you Judith!) and when I awoke yesterday morning at 2:30 because of an ear ache I picked it up to divert my thoughts and five hours later I'd finished (it's a quick read).
The Diet Survivor's Handbook: 60 Lessons in Eating, Acceptance and Self-Care is written by two sisters, Judith Maatz, LCSW and Ellen Frankel, PhD.1 I loved the thought of that...sisters writing a book together and it's a really good book! The main theme appears on the front cover "You haven't failed your diet, your diet has failed you."
The 60 lessons are worthwhile for anyone to read...even if they've never been on a diet before (which in 2000 was only about 45% of the adult population in the US according to a statistic quoted by Matz and Frankel, p. 4). The majority of the lessons are applicable to any adult...they are about how to live a life of balance, from Lesson #1 "Welcome your body's internal cues to instruct you when, what, and how much to eat." to Lesson #60 "Consider sharing your experiences as a diet survivor [replace "diet" with any ordeal you have survived] You're in a position to empower others." We all have adversity we have overcome...we all have a story that can empower others, whether it serves as inspiration or as a cautionary tale...each of us has something that adds to our collective "knowing."
I don't want to give away the remaining 58 lessons as I want you to delve into this little handbook with a sense of curiosity, but I must share with you some of the quotes and pearls of wisdom sprinkled throughout the book (by the authors and others):
"Food is an important part of a balanced diet." --Fran Lebowitz (p. 78)
Duh! And yet some of us actually appear to have forgotten this simple truth!
"Scarcity makes us anxious and abundance makes us calm." --Judith Maatz & Ellen Frankel (p. 92)
Think about it...when you are told you can't have something, what is it you want? It's like the old command, "Don't think of a pink elephant" followed by incessant thoughts of pink elephants!
"Our own physical body possesses a wisdom which we who inhabit the body lack. We give it orders which make no sense." --Henry Miller (p. 138)
When my husband read my "Body over mind" blog he questioned the accuracy of my statement, "...In my experience, my body remembers more, responds faster and is a far more powerful healer than my mind will ever be." After explanation he "got" it. It's validating to read that Henry Miller, at least in this quote, appears to have gotten it, too!
"We are not born believing that one body type is inherently better than another. Rather, these ideas are shaped by the culture and reinforced in the media." --Judith Maatz & Ellen Frankel (p. 143)
Amen to that!
"I've been on a constant diet for the last two decades. I've lost a total of 789 pounds. By all accounts, I should be hanging on a charm bracelet." --Erma Bombeck (p. 152)
What a thought. I always state that I've lost the same 20 pounds over and over again. They really aren't the same pounds...if I added up all the pounds lost during my long ago dieting years I'm guessing the number would be more staggering than Erma's!
"Our culture uses weight as a means of judging all kinds of things about you. When you use the scale to decide how you are doing, you buy into the notion that your weight equals your physical health and determines your self-worth. Whether you are going to have a good day or a bad day all depends on a number. You are giving a tiny box a huge amount of power!" --Judith Maatz & Ellen Frankel (p. 171)
I would venture to guess that far more people than we would imagine, even those who profess to have never dieted, give this "tiny box" the power to make or break their day!
Although I could go on quoting gems from this book for quite a while I will end with this one:
"Much of what we see depends on what we are looking for." --Phil Calloway (p. 205)
So I must ask...what are you looking for? And to finish where we began, what story do you have to tell?
Blessings until next time,
Doris
1 The Diet Survivors Handbook is not available through Gurze Books, but Beyond A Shadow of a Diet, Maatz & Frankel's previous book, is available.
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