Women Food and God: My Review
May 14, 2010 by Kim T
Filed under Emotional Eating, Grow Spiritually
Note: Below is my original review of Women Food and God. Since then, I have since taken a closer look at the book and recorded a video with my additional thoughts. You can listen to it at the end of this post.
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You may have heard of a new book called “Women Food and God” by Geneen Roth about compulsive overeating. I heard it was featured on Oprah, but I discovered it by accident while browsing popular books on Amazon. The title intrigued me, so I bought it.
But I stopped reading on page 16. More about that later, but first I want to share a conversation I read on an earlier page. The author has a retreat for women who compulsively overeat and this is what one attendee told her over dinner. It is startling:
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Laurie, a thirty-five year old CEO of a Boston mortgage company, raises her hand. “I am not hungry, but I want to be. I want to eat anyway.”
“Why is that?” I ask.
“Because it looks good and it’s here, right now. It’s the best comfort in town. What’s wrong with wanting comfort from food?”
“Not a thing,” I say. “Food is good and comfort is good. Except that when you are not hungry and you want comfort, food is only a temporary pallative; why not address the discomfort directly?”
“It’s too hard to address things directly, too painful, and there isn’t any end to it. And if it’s going to be endlessly painful, then at least I have food,” she answers.
“So you figure that the best you can get out of life is cold vegetable soup?”
When she talks again, her voice is quivering. “It’s the only true comfort I have and I am not going to deprive myself of it.”
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That hurt my heart because I was once in the same place as Laurie. Even though I was “saved,” I did not trust God for comfort. At that time, I didn’t view him as one who loved me and could heal my pain. Instead, I viewed him as ready to judge and condemn me.
Reading that conversation alone was worth the cost of Women Food and God for me, but I stopped reading on page 16 because of this author statement: “It doesn’t matter whether we believe in one God, many gods, or no god.”
Oh, but it does matter! I believe there is no such thing as a weight management issue; it is all ultimately a life management issue.
Your belief about God determines how you view life, approach it, and what you expect from it. If you believe there is no god, then all you have is yourself as the compass to discern what is good and right. And we know all know how self-deceptive humans can be.
If you believe in many gods, then how do you know which to follow in a given situation? God is not the author of confusion.
I believe in the God who says in Isaiah 44:6: “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.”
It makes a big difference when you view yourself as a daughter (or son) of the King.
I believe in the God who heals as said in Psalm 147:3: “He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.”
And I believe in the God who comforts, protects, and leads me in the right way as said in Psalm 23:4: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
I have a personal relationship with the one true God, which I obtained through the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6): Jesus.
So I say to Laurie and to anyone else suffering from compulsive eating: “God is the true source of comfort and he wants you to expect more from life than cold vegetable soup! He wants you to experience eternal life, which is that you may know Him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He sent.”
Open up your heart and let God comfort you. Trust him and you will be healed.
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Video Follow-up Review: Author’s Views on God
Did you find this information on overcoming compulsive eating useful? You can learn a lot more about starting the healing process through achieving a closer relationship with God and how to achieve healthy weight loss. Check out my Take Back Your Temple eBook and the 8 bonuses that come with it.
Kimberly Taylor, C.W.C.
Certified Wellness Coach
Author of the ‘Take Back Your Temple’ ebook
http://www.takebackyourtemple.com/book
I too listened to Ms. Roth on Oprah and have read excerpts from her book. She seems like a lovely woman, however, I was disappointed in her definition of “god.” She does capitalize His name on the cover of her book, and then does not acknowledge who He is. I will not judge her, as I know that until she knows Him, she canot not know Him.
On the positive side, she lead me right here to you! How great is God. He wants us to run to him, to find our shelter in Him. Why tap the power of the “universe”, when you have a direct line to the power, strength and comfort of the One who created it?
Glad I found this site before I spent my hard earned money on a book that would have let me down. Thanks.
I agree 100% with Annie. Your review was one pop up that didn’t annoy me!
Hi Sue,
Yay for YouTube! What a wonderful time that we live in to be able to communicate with technology like this. I am so glad that you found TBYT. I love what you said here: “I want what God wants for us, not what we think we should have!” Amen, sister because what God has for you is beyond what you can ask or think. Remember, this is same God who created the stars that you can’t even number.
And you said this: “I don’t think true healing of one’s heart and mind is possible without God and our dear Savior! Without God, you are trying to fix yourself with your own power, and that’s very unstable.”
That is exactly what I discovered in my own healing, Sue. As Jesus taught, when you build your life on his word, you are a house built on solid rock. Building on anything else is, as the song says, “sinking sand”.
God bless you in your renewed focus on building a relationship with him and coming to know him better through his word.
Kim
Thanks so much for your encouragement, Joan. It really touches me and I appreciate it!
Hi Annie,
Yes, I too respect Geneen Roth’s talent. She is a gifted writer. But I couldn’t help but think about an incident that occurred with me last week. Google had a picture of the artist Frida Kahlo on its Search home page. I was curious about her life and found out she was married to a fellow artist named Diego Rivera. Rivera was also a tremendous talent, but he was an atheist. In fact, I read in his biography he said “I am an atheist and I consider religions to be a form of collective neurosis.”
I felt grieved because how horrible would it be to stand before almighty God after you leave this Earth and have never even thanked Him who gave you that talent in the first place? To have lived with that arrogance, that pride. Then, you would see the truth in full measure, how he loved you and called you into a relationship with him…but you refused to listen.
I pray for Ms. Roth; I cannot know what work God is doing in her life, even though she does not acknowledge him. I think of how cold and lonely it must be to worship the universe, as she defines God. I don’t see how you can have a personal relationship with the universe.
And I agree with your assessment: “Why tap the power of the “universe”, when you have a direct line to the power, strength and comfort of the One who created it?”
Amen, sister. Amen!
Hi Everyone,
Well, I used to be more quick to anger (I’m sure my sons think I’m still pretty quick to anger), and I have learned that all the Lord really cares about is that we are conformed to the likeness of His Son. Your anger is very righteous, but my anger was driving me to the cookie jar, so I’ve decided to pray for Ms. Roth, for Oprah, their listeners, and for all in our world who don’t know Him, or who have been deceived into thinking He’s just “one way.” Let’s pray that all will acknowledge him someday, that every knee will bend and every head will bow. That is something to get excited about! Praise heaven, He loved us first.
Annie
Hi Again Everyone,
I didn’t want it to seem like I thought everyone was angry, I certainly don’t think that at all. This is one gracious group, so I apologize if my post sounded that way. Kim, you are certainly a rock and an example to us all on how to take a bad situation and turn it around for God’s good.
Annie
I believe that God is a spirit that we are fully aware of as children but we lose the connection as we grow more cynical. Wasn’t that her point? Aren’t we making food our ‘god’? It may just be my experience and not an objecetive one: but why is it that when a Christian comes across those who don’t fully believe the way they do they seem to become mean and judgemental?
Hi Annie,
I certainly appreciate your honesty about your anger. We are all works in progress – myself included! So don’t beat yourself up. I don’t always get it right, but I am willing for God to use me as imperfect as I am. But you nailed what God aims to accomplish in us: To be “conformed to the likeness of his son”. Jesus got angry with the moneychangers in the temple, but he did not sin. He still demonstrated great love for people, even to the cross. What an example for us! So yes, the most loving thing we can do is pray for others to come to know him. And while we are doing that to surrender to him and allow him to remake our own hearts – which is a job in itself I’m sure!
Kim
Hi Palena,
I appreciate you for stopping by! I agree with Ms. Roth about some allowing food to become their god. In fact the bible communicates that very idea. The disagreement comes in the solution offered to the issue. I respect Ms. Roth and her views – she has a right to them as I have to mine. I don’t believe seeing yourself as god or as the universe is the answer to compulsive eating.
You asked, “Why is it that when a Christian comes across those who don’t fully believe the way they do they seem to become mean and judgmental?”
I can’t answer for every Christian, only myself. Jesus tells us that others will know that we are his disciples by our love. That is a high calling and one that I don’t always meet. In fact, I don’t meet it most of the time! However, I know that the only hope that this imperfect woman has is to establish a relationship with the one who has the power to change hearts and change minds.
And that is the one true God that I believe in. Jesus is the way to him. He is the author and finisher of my faith. That is what I have come to learn and it is the key to abundant life.
I will do it respectfully and I will do it in love, but I will tell the truth.