Books & Resources That I Love

Losing weight and having peace with food is about becoming more in-tune with who you are. It’s not about counting calories, fat grams, or obsessing over every bite that passes your lips.

If you believe this or know this somewhere deep inside of you, here is a list of books and other resources I love.

 

Weight Loss Books:

 

Breaking Free from Emotional Eating

by Geneen Roth

If you’re not familiar with Geneen’s work, you should check her out (and hey, her name rhymes with mine!).  I’ve learned a lot from her and I use her eating guidelines and some of her tools with my clients.  She was a pioneer in connecting food with our emotions and feelings, and not what’s on our plate.  She was a guest speaker at the nutrition school I attended and her insight was amazing.  This is one of my favorite books of hers.

Read the reviews on Amazon for more info and other points of view.

 

 

 

Women Food and God

by Geneen Roth

This is one of her most popular books.  It’s the one Oprah talked a lot about.  The theme of the book is that the way we eat, the way we think about food, and how we handle ourselves is the way we do everything.  It talks about mindfulness, presence, and feeling your feelings a way of experiencing life which allows you to be present and aware so that you are able to listen to your body and choose food based on nourishment and self-care — all of which I’m all about.

She also outlines her eating guidelines which I use with my clients all the time.  The “God” in the title is not about religion, but instead a metaphor for your deepest self.

 

If I’m So Smart, Why Can’t I Lose Weight?   

by Brooke Castillo

I’ve trained personally with Brooke and she is a Master Weight Loss Coach and getting to the “why” we overeat.  And her training was top notch.  Made my coaching so much more powerful and as a result my clients get even better results.  I use this book and many of Brooke’s tools with my clients and in my work. High recommend.

Read the reviews on Amazon for more info.

 

 

Intuitive Eating

by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch

I’ve taught an intuitive eating class with a group of clients and they loved it and had great success.  I have additional tools I received from the author, though the basic tools in the book are good.  This book is helpful if you’ve been a constant dieter and will give you some tools to become more in tune with your hunger.

Read the many 5 star reviews of this book.

 

 

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto

by Michael Pollan

Not a book about weight loss, but rather more of a guide to answer the question of what the heck to eat?  And for once  you can read a book about nutrition that doesn’t promote any diet!  Though I help my clients more on why they’re overeating, sometimes they do need help with “what to eat?”  And nobody explains it better, and in down-to-earth terms, than Michael Pollan.

His message is plain and simple: go back to nature, eat wholesome foods, and don’t bother with dieting.  You’ll learn more about what’s really in our food today, and why potato chips are cheaper than apples.  Will change the way you eat.

 

Great Reads:

 

Mediterranean Summer: A Season on France’s Cote d’Azur and Italy’s Costa Bella

by David Shalleck

The author is a professional chef and spent a summer as the head chef on a huge yacht owned by a very rich couple (how awesome is that?!) – cruising the Mediterranean in Italy and France.  The book is a sort of journal (adventure, really) of that summer.  Lots of entertaining stories about the wealthy, life on a yacht, and of course, food.

I met David, the author, at a conference a few years ago and we had lots to talk about! (I’ve spent a lot of time in Italy, and I lived in France).  He holds a lot of the same views I have on food & eating, and for a celebrity chef he’s very down to earth. 

So if you want to “get away” for a summer and read an adventure of travel to exotic places and cooking, this is perfect.  Really fun and entertaining book

Mario Batali wrote the forward.