Women Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything

By Geneen Roth

Millions of us are locked into an unwinnable weight game, as our self-worth is shredded with every diet failure. Combine the utter inefficacy of dieting with the lack of spiritual nourishment and we have generations of mad, ravenous self-loathing women. So says Geneen Roth, in her life-changing new book, Women, Food and God. Since her 1991 bestseller, When Food Is Love, was published, Roth has taken the sum total of her experience and combined it with spirituality and psychology to explain women's true hunger. Roth's approach to eating is that it is the same as any addiction - an activity to avoid feeling emotions. From the first page, readers will be struck by the author's intelligence, humour and sensitivity, as she traces the path of overeating from its subtle beginnings through to its logical end. Whether the drug is booze or brownies, the problem is the same: opting out of life. She powerfully urges readers to pay attention to what they truly need - which cannot be found in a supermarket. She provides seven basic guidelines for eating (the most important is to never diet) and shares reassuring, practical advice that has helped thousands of women who have attended her highly successful seminars. Truly a thinking woman's guide to eating - and an anti-diet book - women everywhere will find insights and revelations on every page.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Release date: Sep 29, 2011
• ISBN: 9780857201416

Geneen Roth

Geneen Roth is the author of ten books, including the New York Times bestsellers When Food Is Love, Lost and Found, and Women Food and God, as well as The Craggy Hole in My Heart and the Cat Who Fixed It. She has been speaking, teaching groundbreaking workshops, and offering retreats for over thirty years and has appeared on numerous national shows, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, 20/20, the Today show, Good Morning America, and The View. For more information about her work, please visit GeneenRoth.com  

Reviews for Women Food and God

[Victoria Mukunga · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book was more than expected. After years of obsessing about my weight it would have been easy to just dismiss this book as another guide to the right way of eating. However, I am happy I gave it a shot and actually attained a new sense of awareness about my relationship with food and God. This was a brilliant read that left me so uplifted.

[sya · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very beneficial for someone who wants to heal their relationship with food.

[Tumolen Yehiwara · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Life changing book that was like the icing on the cake & complimented so well, the other books I have read so far in regards to food and discipline and dieting. You rock Geneen Roth!!! God bless you!

[Jackie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is an invitation back into your life ?.

[__lindsey__ · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Some stuff in here really hit home, but I just felt like the book was randomly put together. I wouldn't even know how to begin to go about applying this system to my life.

[lindap69 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

food is not always the problem or the answer - good thought-provoking book

[heduanna · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's kind of a Buddhist diet book, really, about eating mindfully. And I could sure use that lesson, but the heavy emphasis on ending the dieting and the self-hate (which forms a large part of many womens' relationship with food), did make it a bit hard to relate, having never dieted. Mostly, though, much as I could use the bit about eating mindfully, I read it as prequel to her later book (see below).

[fionaaustin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Required me to concentrate a bit on its content. Some parts were insightful. Overall wasn't that enlightened.

[librisissimo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Kind of New Age spirituality, in that eating is seen as a response to past life-events. Recommends that one embrace the past and let it go: "you are now, not then; be in the present". The guidelines are not original, but it's a good summary list.The Eating Guidelines: (1) Eat when you are hungry; (2) Eat sitting down in a calm environment; (3) Eat without distractions; (4) Eat what your body wants (but not just chocolate candy all day long!); (5) eat until you are satisfied; (6) Eat "with the intention of being" in full view of others; (7) Eat with enjoyment, gusto, and pleasure.

[njmom3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I just finished re-reading this book and really got a lot out of it. Several "aha" moments. A lot of tools and techniques for dealing with emotional eating. The one thing I did not like was the continual tie-in that emotional eating has its roots in our childhood and our parents. At this point in my life, I am responsible for my own actions. It's not where we begin that matters; it's where we end up. I still really like the book for its tools on how to proceed on that path.

[marynamo · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I have mixed feelings about this book. In one sense it was ok, some insightful opinions and thoughts. However I really do not understand why "God" had to be part of the title. There is no relation to the book and the author's believes that has anything to do with God.Believing in a spiritual higher being. Dear Geneen there is only one God. No medition and any other rubish will get one at that special place. If anyone needs to fix themselves, they first have to fix their relationship with God. Pray to God and He will help you. He will give you the strengh.This book got allot of media attention. However I was a little disappointed.

[neverwithoutabook · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found this book a very quick and easy read. No preaching. No expounding on ideas or techniques that discourage more than encourage. Instead, a gentle, understanding chat with someone who understands. I'm looking forward to going through this book again with a Reading Group. It was definitely thought-provoking and definitely not a diet or a plan. This is not just a book for those who need to lose weight, but is more a book about our love-hate relationship with food and ourselves. For anyone who wants to look further into their relationship with food, I'd recommend this book.

[carpe_librum · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the book Oprah Winfrey has been excited about, and has been telling viewers to "read it now!" Written by Geneen Roth, Women Food and God is a book about getting in touch with the real reasons why some people eat more or less than they should.Roth writes:"All that you believe about love, change, joy and responsibility is revealed in how, when and what you eat. The world is on your plate."Author Geneen Roth was a guest on the Oprah Show which went to air in Australia on 21 September 2010. Immediately after the show, I logged onto my local library website to reserve a copy, only to find I was already number 22 in line for this book. My turn came on 22 December when I was able to pick up my copy and start reading.After all of the Oprah hype, I was expecting a revelation while reading this book, and I've got to admit I was mildly disappointed. The book contains references to retreats run by Roth and the experiences and breakthroughs people have made during their stay which were interesting. Roth also takes the reader through the various relationships that can cause distress, including most importantly the relationship with yourself and the fears and stories we tell ourselves.The book did contain one particular piece of information that struck me. In summary, Roth wrote that sometimes when a person wants to eat a particular food, they're not seeking the feeling they get when they eat it, but they may be seeking the feeling they experienced in the past when they were permitted or allowed to eat it. This gave me pause for reflection and was a valuable tidbit that was completely new to me and one to which I could relate.Having said all of that, this was a good read, but ultimately didn't live up to my high expectations. Geneen Roth has published seven other books on this topic, including When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair. What a fabulous title! I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in understanding how to improve your relationship with yourself and others and how this relates to food. The book is also suitable for male readers, despite the title.

[shannon21_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

couldn't finish it...boring and pointless

[winonabaines · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting - most of the concepts (which she initiated) were familiar - others have used her work as basis for theirs

[kinnicchick · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Women Food and God is wonderful. I’ve got history with Geneen Roth books. I’ve read at least two of her other books on compulsive eating. Seems like more but there are only two titles on the list in the front of this book that really jumped out at me, so I’ll say two. And I have liked everything I’ve read. But this book? This is her best book by far. Her writing on the topic has matured, has taken a turn; she has taken her years of workshop work and brought it together with her own study of various writers and teachers and created a book filled with wisdom not just about ending the battle with food, but about using the battle with food as a way to find your center, to find yourself.It contained for me, many eye-opening (mind-blowing) thoughts. I didn’t read anything new (to me), but I read things presented in a new way, in a new context, that definitely turned me on my head (so to speak).I highly recommend this book, not just to women seeking to gain control over issues with food, but to any woman who has had body issues (who among us hasn’t?), or who simply wants to find a path into greater peace of mind, equanimity, sense of self.

[daisygrl09 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Finally, a book about weight that hits home.

[jepeters333 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you suffer about your relationship with food - you eat too much or too little, think about what you will eat constantly or try not to think about it at all - you can be free. Just look down at your plate. The answers are there. Don't run. Look. Because when we welcome what we most want to avoid, we contact the part of ourselves that is fresh and alive. We touch the life we truly want and evoke divinity itself.

[fglass_5 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The "inquiry" system sounds very sensible. It feels so right and yet too difficult to actually achieve. Why the author even tells us that this is not a system that one can do alone. She says that no one should try the "inquiry" on their own. Doesn't that sound like an advert for taking her training session(s). She also speaks about her students making repeat trips to her training sessions. I think you might have to be rich to even dream of succeeding with her this plan.

[smii_5 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I can tell you right now that this book isn't what I thought it would be. I am on page 52 and plan to finish the book, but it is making me angry. I was expecting detailed explanations about meditation techniques and less excerpts from the author's retreats. I have noticed a few grammar mistakes. Grrr. AND, I generally don't buy into the author's philosophy on weight loss. Come to find out, she's not happy with her body either. I think there is a conflict brewing in my mind with the mind of the author. And that is because I DO want to learn to love my body and to build it as the best body it should be. Geneen Roth advocates giving up the fight against our bodies. I am not sure that is ever possible.edit: about 5 hours later.... Nope, I can't do it. I can't finish this book. Although I hate to say this, I am sorry I purchased this book and perhaps should have gone for something deeper and more intellectual about meditation and women's relationship to God. I hope those of you out there who enjoy this book actually get something out of it.

[mitchypoo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. It's going to be a reread , over and over, I can tell. I first read it like any other book in this vein, hoping it would tell me to do this or that and it would all be better. This is not that type of book and I'm ultimately glad. It makes you think. It's helping me to see the emotional connection to food and how it can be detrimental. I thank "God" for her insight.

[elizajane_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I read 117 of 211 pages and could not continue to read any further. The book was not what I had thought it would be. I have not read anything by this author before and going by the publisher's summary and the title I had expected this book to incorporate the Judaeo-Christian God into women's struggle with weight loss and food relationship. That surmise was incorrect, the author's concept of the word "God" could be more clearly stated as "whatever supreme deity, power or feeling you happen to believe in". This was not what I wanted. The book is divided into three parts: Principles, Practices and Eating. I managed to read through the Principles section and found the information on emotional eating and loving yourself as who you are informative but not anything I hadn't read before. Only one religion is actually mentioned and quoted from and that is Buddhism. Again, not what *I* was looking for. The Practices section became too new-agey for me and I could not continue to read. I will say though that the writer has a fun, upbeat, humorous voice.