Women, Food, and God: Chapter Two

Chapter Two:  Ending the War

Let's see...what did I get out of this chapter?  Well, she talked about how there is a generation of women who either grew up without religion (like myself) or who grew up with religion that only amounted to going to church on holidays with Grandma.  Roth states that the combination of the inefficiency of dieting along with this lack of religion and spirituality causes women to dislike themselves...causing an obsession with fixing themselves.  Women often believe that fixing their weight will somehow fix their problems.  Okay...so the chapter said a lot more than that...and when she wrote it it was a lot more eloquent, but nobody's reading this and I get the point. 

I think that I have foolishly thought this at times.  As ridiculous as it sounds, I have thought if only I were thin...or my face was clear...or my hair was long...or I did this or I did that...I would be happy.  It sounds so superficial and crazy typing it now.  If I could wear this, life would be good.  Really!?!?

Roth believes that ending the war with food is about getting in touch with who you really are and welcoming what we want to avoid and run away from.  She explains that compulsive eating is our attempt to avoid what is missing in our lives. 

So, I guess my next step is to figure out who I am...and what I am trying to avoid?  Those are some pretty big questions...

UPDATE:  Finished the book in a day.  Didn't get anything too revolutionary out of it.  Listen to when you're hungry.  Don't eat when you're distracted.  Take the time to taste the food.  Yadda, yadda, yadda.  It was not life changing for me.  But it did make me understand a little more about how this weight loss thing is more a mental game then a physical one.  Your body can do it...it's truly "getting it" in your head that becomes the hard part.  Anyway, I want to know how other people (other than Oprah) feel about this book.  Maybe, I'll go to Amazon and read some reviews.