Book ~ "Make Weight Loss Last" (2012) Deborah Kesten and Larry Scherwitz

From WhiteRiverPress ~ Why are some people far more successful than others at losing weight and keeping it off? The persistent story about those who succeed at weight loss focuses on eating less and moving more. In Make Weight Loss Last, the authors look beyond conventional wisdom to show that the true ingredients of weight loss success are more complex - and remarkable - than we've been led to believe.

This updated and expanded edition reveals ten profound changes - in how we eat and live - that have occurred over the last few decades.Not only are they the 'new normal' way of eating and living, they're all powerfully linked to becoming overweight and obese. Identifying and unraveling all ten 'ingredients' that can make you fat is your best insurance for a lifetime of weight-loss success. Why? Because they work together, as a team, to powerfully influence your weight - and body, mind, and soul - in different ways.

Filled with the authors' groundbreaking original research and sound scientific insights, Make Weight Loss Last gives you the re-visioning and understanding you need to redefine the role of food and eating in your life, so you can lose weight and keep it off. The book accomplishes this by empowering you with the practical skills, strategies, tools and tips you need to transform your relationship to food, eating, and weight and in the process, find true nourishment ... for life.

Because I've got some pounds to lose, weight loss books interest me. 

This one has a different twist because it has you determine your overeating style:

• Food fretting - overly concerned about and focused on food and projecting moral judgment onto what we and others eat.
• Task snacking - often eat while working by yourself in front of your computer or while driving, watching TV, standing at the kitchen counter, shopping or talking on the phone.
• Emotional eating - turning to comfort food to sooth negative feelings but also to enhance joyous, celebratory emotions
• Fast foodism
• Solo dining
• Unappetizing atmosphere - both the psychological and physical atmospheres in which you eat can make a different in whether you overeat
• Sensory disregard - "eating with your senses" by appreciating the presentation, "tasting" the textures, or being grateful for the lifegiving gift inherent in food

I did the quiz and not surprisingly it turned out that I need improvement.  What was surprising, though, was that in the first six styles, I scored three "good", two "satisfactory" and one "excellent".  Where I apparently need improvement is in the last style, sensory disregard.  The questions in that section included "I honor the mystery of life in food" and "I appreciate the web of humanity (farmers, grocers) surrounding food".  I thought I'd need improvement in emotional eating or fast foodism.

There is a chapter devoted to each of the overeating styles to help you deal with it.  I read the chapter about my style in addition to the others (I got more out of the others, to be honest).  In addition, there are chapters discussing the importance of sleep and keeping active.

This book is a reminder of things we should be doing.  You can find more info to help with weight loss on the authors' website.

I received a copy of this book at no charge in exchange for my honest review.