The Overweight Mind and Body: Your Unique Psychological Journey Towards Weight Loss

To my mind – this book is about kindness, compassion and self acceptance.In the initial pages, the author explains her own journey and what has compelled her to work with people who are not happy with their weight. I fall into this category and was naturally drawn to this book. This author makes no assumption that overweight = unhappy. Happiness is a personal choice, and this book very much focuses on individual choice and personal agency.The book starts with three beliefs: That everyone is OK, that they can think and decide what is right for them and that new decisions can be made (irrespective of decisions made in the past). These beliefs were helpful for me, and the latter one about making new decisions was profoundly liberating.Chapter two expands on the concept of being OK AND being worth it. This resonated with me a great deal. I’ve sometimes felt ‘not OK’ and ‘not worth it’ and have subsequently used food to numb those negative feelings and sabotage myself. With my learning from this book, I can make changes if I decide to.The book presents information about psychological hungers as a driver towards eating. I have previously lost weight with branded diets and plans, and have felt short term success in terms of body size. However, I was never really getting to the heart of the problem, the route of my overeating. This book has helped me to focus on my ‘psychological hungers' which have supported me to change my behaviours around food.Food is not the focus of this book – it’s not about a food plan, or demonising food or categorising food as good or bad. It’s about aspects which drive eating behaviours. This book made me consider food simply as food. I am in control (and have power), NOT the food.Chapter six includes a reflective exercise, which whilst powerful was not easy. The author does not shy away from outlining emotions associated what others have said (through case studies) about being overweight. I could relate many of these aspects to my own experiences. This is an honest book, written with integrity and care. It presents helpful approaches, which I have found to be both progressive and sustainable.In part two of the book – the concepts of parent, adult and child ego states are introduced and are written in an accessible way. I found the exercises insightful and relevant and enabled me to learn aspects of my eating and my relationship with food that were new to me, particularly in respect to the child ego state.With my new and increased understanding, I feel that real change can happen for me and I am looking forwards, not backwards for the first time in a long time.This book is written with incredible kindness. The chapters are short so as to not crowd or overload the reader and I was grateful for this as I worked through the content. Psychological concepts are explained in simple terms. I found the case studies relevant and the exercises useful.For anyone who is very familiar with uncomfortable feelings around being overweight and who would like to understand their personal reasons for overeating, then I cannot recommend this book highly enough.Whilst this is not a weight loss book, the personal insights I have gained have enabled me to feel differently about myself and this has changed my behaviour around food and I am making different choices around food which feel good for me and my body. For now, this is a happy outcome.