The F*ck It Diet: Eating Should Be Easy

Some of the previous reviews lamented the author telling you to eat what you want when you want it. I think they missed the point. The author is not a medical professional, she’s not a dietitian or a nutritionist. She is a woman who struggled with eating food, restricting food and binging. She is a comedian and a writer so this is the story of an epiphany she had, the research she did and how she solved her problem. She states that if you have a serious eating disorder or medical issue, you need to seek professional help. This book is for those of us who diet, lose weight and gain it back. She discusses why diets don’t work, a remarkable study done on famine and our bodies and how the diet industry does not care about us because they are in the business of making money. Think about how many times you’ve rejoined a certain weight loss plan that starts with the letter between v and x. She describes how her solution is not the same as intuitive eating. I felt she hit the nail on the head and I know that for me, what she wrote resonates with my life experiences. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. This book helps readers get off the roller coaster. She basically states that when you are physically hungry, eat what you want and if after that you are still hungry, eat some more. With intuitive eating, you are supposed to practice mindful eating, slow down and think about your meal. Well let’s be honest, one of the most horrifying parts of dieting is that you are thinking about food 24/7. It’s like you can’t think about anything else. You are planning your food intake every freaking second of your waking hours and dreaming of eating when you are asleep. She gives you permission to change that and yes, it’s possible and likely that you will gain some weight before losing some weight and guess what, you may not lose as much as you want because our bodies are hard wired to have a weight within a certain number of pounds. Her process is not a nice little quick eating plan to drop 2 pounds a week. But in the end, you do stop eating too much and you have a much saner and happier life at a healthy weight where your body belongs at. She has skillfully explained why our bodies are not hard wired to restrict food and she has the science to prove it. I am just starting to implement her suggestions knowing the scale will likely go up before it goes down. To alleviate the desire to check my weight twelve times a day, I threw out my scale. It was refreshing. There is so much more to this book so my advice is that if you are tired of trying every diet or program out there because you never feel in control of your eating and if you want to get off the crazy food merry go round, give this a chance for six months. We’ve all spent way more money on books and programs than the cost of this book. That’s my plan and I’ll post an update to let y’all know how thing are going. I feel hopeful for the first time in many years. Good luck!,

The author really has a way of wording her insights and findings in a way that is impactful, strong, all white being super easy to understand and follow along with. The book is nowhere near mundane or boring. Right from the beginning I wanted to keep reading on because she brings in new perspective regarding eating disorders that I had never been introduced to before. She proves her points with scientific based research which makes it all the more compelling. I’ve struggled with disordered eating for about 2 years now and she offers very concise, clear, and effective methods to approach anyone who’s struggled ranging from years and years to maybe just have started. Disordered eating can be overwhelming and confusing and I know something I have always told myself that has held me back from getting better is that it’s not even a real issue. But it is. It’s a habitual way of living that starts to manifest and affect every aspect of your life. I felt heard and understood and could relate to many of the things she discussed which helped me feel not alone. For the longest time I’ve felt like I was a complete weirdo for not just being able to eat normally. If there is one takeaway I could share from this book it would be that the best thing to do for yourself and the people around you is to give yourself grace. Be patient. Highly recommend for anyone who doesn’t quite know where to start in helping themselves or if you feel overwhelmed in general.

Really good book. Love her writing. She explains things very well. Everyone should read this.

This book was rather tailored for my over thinking neurotic personality so I may be a little biased; however, this was an extremely well written and fun read. Caroline's style and loose writing feels like your talking with a cool old friend. The subject matter hits close to home as I am a chronic dieter who has tried most fad diets and created a few on my own. Anxiety about my weight has been an issue for some time, and over the years I have definitely lost trust in myself in regards to food. The book does a good job of addressing food neutrality and making me feel better about my cravings. I also love the section and advice about becoming your own guru and finding out what truly works for you. In the end, I don't this book is for everyone and Caroline openly admits to that in numerous sections, but if you go into it with an open mind and ready to embrace a different view of our perfectionist health culture I think a lot can be taken from the text of this book.

This book is necessary. For those that are worried about it being simply a confirmation bias, it isn't. Everyone will be somewhat uncomfortable at least once while reading this. Whether it's how angry you are at diet culture, sadness about the rules and lies that you were fed as a kid or teen, or remembering how miserable you felt when failing at yet another diet.Caroline sites 70 scientific journal articles in this book. So I dont understand how some reviewers said "it wasn't based on science". Caroline repeatedly reminds the reader that she isn't a doctor or dietitian. I have no qualms with this. Especially since diet culture is so emeshed in healthcare and the idea of health is so warped today.I'm half what though TFID book and so much of my perspective on life has changed for the better. For the past 3-4 weeks I've eaten All The Things. No rules. Lots of self care, lots of rest. The first 10 days I was physically uncomfortable. 3 weeks in and don't get me wrong-- I've got a long ways to go emotionally, but food is EASY. Eating is FUN! I eat what I crave. That so far has included some of the following: pop tarts, cheetos, ice cream, pizza, pistachios, apples (how do apples taste so incredible now?!?), green crispy salads, lots of water with lemon, and broccoli. And donuts of course (DELICIOUS DONUTS). I am unbothered by ALL OF IT! The stress I was holding about my rocky 30+ year relationship with food is gone. This is just the beginning, but I already feel like I have so much brain energy left for the things that really matter in life. Freaking out about food ain't one of them.The stakes are low. The stakes are low. The stakes are low. Eat the food. Your body is smarter than you are, and more clever than you are. Thank you Caroline, TFID is freaking LIFE CHANGING! And also very freaking scientific.

This book really opened my eyes to how obsessed I was with food and how much time I spend thinking about it and stressing about it. It's no way to live. If you have been yo-yo dieting on and off, experience weight loss only to gain it all back and then some, find yourself in a cycle of self-hatred and obsession about food and being thin, this book is for you. Even the THOUGHT of going back on another diet caused me stress and affected my mood greatly. I bought this book three days ago and I already feel an incredible weight lifted off my shoulders. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I can't wait to have a healthy relationship with food and my body. Highly recommend for any chronic dieter who can't seem to find happiness no matter what size they are.***********Update************It’s almost three years later, and I have lost 30 pounds and healed my relationship with food and exercise, thanks to the kick start I got from this book. HOWEVER, If you are looking for a weight loss book, this is not it. Despite the title containing the word “diet” in it, she does not offer any advice for weight loss, because that’s not the point of the book. In fact, she says several times that you will most likely GAIN weight during the process of “de-programming”, which definitely happened to me. It was scary, but it was worth it. Food lost its power over me and the feeling was incredible. I still ultimately decided that losing some weight was important for my health, as I had a great deal of excess belly fat that is dangerous. Did she teach me how to lose that fat? No. What she did teach me is that diets don’t just “not work,” they are toxic for your mind and body. You CAN lose weight and be healthy without dieting or feeling deprived. But it takes a totally different kind of work…one that is chronic dieters are not used to…actually listening to your body (which is a lot harder than it sounds!). I’m not telling anyone how to lose weight because it’s different for each individual. It took me a long time to figure it out and I’m still learning things about myself all the time. This book certainly isn’t for everybody, but (and I say this without an ounce of hyperbole) it has truly changed my life. It has changed the way I think about food, my body, and health. It’s still a challenge, and always will be I’m sure. But I’m confident that I’m in a much better place than I was before I read this book.

I actually cancelled my preorder because I didn't want another diet book. Then I kept seeing on IG how funny and life changing the book was for many people so I ordered it again. I was hesitant...I wanted to just feel free around food. Was this book going to be the answer or just another diet? Then I started reading...then I started crying. I was overwhelmed with emotion and all I could do was cry. I related to everything in this book especially the 40 packs of gum a day the Minnesota Experiment people ate because they were starving. I was so happy to see that the hunger scale is not used when it comes to this. That hunger scale has caused me many nightmares and panic attacks over the years. Throwing it out is liberating. I'm on page 85 and I feel so different already. I allowed myself to eat yesterday and a crazy thing happened, I actually felt energized and stress free. I also took my scale and threw it in the trash. The best $100 I have ever thrown away. If you have ever struggled at all with your relationship to food, read this book. After all, you've already tried everything...why not just try this too. I bet it will be different. It already is for me.

**UPDATE DO NOT let this be the first book you read on intuitive eating.*** This was the first book I read, but I spent the rest of the year reading intuitive eating books written by actual dieticians and scientists and following Instagram profiles of anti-diet folks with PhD's. Yes, I believe in Health at Every Size, and I think a lot of what Caroline writes is important. However, I think the level to which she recommends eating with reckless abandon and not moving is dangerous. Not only do I think there are more mindful and gentle approaches to switching to intuitive eating, I think it's extremely important to encourage folks to continue to move and exercise. In contrast, Evelyn Tribole, the dietician who first wrote about Intuitive Eating in 1995, encourages folks to continue moving and exercising in ways that are pleasing to them. Yes, we're all going to die some day as Caroline notes, but being stagnant is going to worsen the aging process. Not regularly moving and strengthening your body is unhealthy just as starving yourself is unhealthy and should have been taken more seriously in this book. I, like many other readers, gained an impressive amount of weight. I'm substantially larger than I've ever been, and comparably significantly larger than any other woman in my family. I do not believe I achieved my "set point", I think I lost a lot of my fitness, and became quite sluggish and depressed. I still believe in Intuitive Eating, but I recommend working with and following the scientists over reading this book.(Previous review) I would highly recommend first reading beingI could not put this book down, and like my title suggests, I'm mostly overwhelmed by how obvious the Author's advice should be. It was a self-helpy book that was actually thorough and well-written. She made her points clear in every chapter, and included studies (omg footnotes!) to back up her assertions. I felt like I had clear takeaways, and the exercises included in each section were deep, real, and thoughtful. I actually look forward to doing them and think they will be helpful.Like a good self-help book should provoke, I also had more questions after I finished reading than when I started. Why am I so fatphobic? Why is our society of excess so obsessed with restriction and control? Is pressuring women (but really it's not just women) to be skinny just another veil of misogyny? I want to share this book with everyone.

Esse livro discute, de forma bastante espirituosa, o contrasenso que é a cultura da dieta nos EUA (e no resto do mundo que o segue). Caroline Dooner conta de seus dias de distúrbio alimentar, como se libertou da ortorexia e como os tentáculos perniciosos da cultura da dieta se infiltram em todos os lugares. Mesmo aqueles que dizem pregar apenas a saúde...Gostei especialmente de como o livro é dividido entre uma parte mais de pesquisa sobre a cultura da dieta e depois em partes de como superar tudo isso mental e emocionalmente. Existem vários exercícios ao longo do livro que realmente dão insights maravilhosos sobre como todos nós estamos enfiados até a cabeça numa cultura doente.

This is literally the first review I have ever written on Amazon (and yeah I know everyone says that, but it's really true!)... This book is a revelation. I want to preach it EVERYWHERE...my husband is already sick of me!I'm 44 and have had years of struggling with diets, body image and self esteem...culminating in an urgent referral to a psychiatrist to treat my binge eating disorder. I got married at Christmas (I know, woohoo!!!) but was very self conscious and unhappy with my body - damn, if only I'd had this book a few months earlier.Anyway, I have it now and LOVE IT! I am FREE. My anxiety has gone, and I wake up with a spring in my step. I love food, and enjoy every mouthful. Yeah, I've put on some pounds BUT it's settled down now and I think I may be near to my 'set point'. Body image is something I'm still working on, but my god I'm in a GREAT place.For those worried, like my husband, that you're just going to eat and eat and eat, and end up on a documentary (!!) - WORRY NOT! I felt amazing this morning so decided to get on the scales for the last ever time - I was in a good place, and knew it wouldn't be a trigger. It was really just out of interest... Well, I'll be damned - I've lost weight. So all those doubts are now finally pushed aside. This does work. I didn't care if I had lost or not, but to know that my body 'has it sorted' was fascinating. (Scales are now in the bin by the way!)So.....there you have it! I have 3 tween girls at home and the 'lectures' have now begun! I am determined to save them so much pain and ensure they love themselves.Last words - BUY IT, BUY IT, BUY IT!.....oh, and THANK YOU Caroline :)xxxxxxxxx

I have read essentially every book on anti diets and intuitive eating on the market. This book is by far the best.My only issue is I wish more anti diet books were written by fat or very fat people. The author was an acceptable size before and after gaining weight. Going against diet culture is hard but it becomes so much harder the fatter and less socially acceptable your body is.Aside from that, there is no horrible redundant hunger scale. No eating super slowly. No eating only in peace and quiet and thinking about your food.This is the first book on this subject that I have read that tells you it's okay to eat and eat a lot. That you can eat fast or distracted. There is NO hunger scale. She makes eating as intuitive as it can be. The science quoted with in is sound and the over all writing style is easy and enjoyable to read. There are writing prompts and exercises to do but they actually make total sense and I feel shouldn't be skipped.I highly HIGHLY recommend this book to everyone. I also suggest to anyone to ready this one before any others if you are just starting out on your anti diet journey!

Loved the book. It's not as funny as I had imagined, but instead it was so unbelievable helpful. I tried Intuitive Eating back in 2016 and made a Hunger-and-Fullness-diet out of it. Then in 2019 I started again. I started reading this book when I had made peace with food except for Kinder Happy Hippo Biscuits - a chocolate waffer with the most delicious hazelnut-milk cream filling. I was bingeing on them every time I had them in the house. And just a few chapters in the book I already felt how I got more relaxed around them. The journal exercises are amazing and very helpful. Do NOT skip them. ;) I can see now how the book Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole can be taken the wrong way (as I did first) and I like Caroline's approach better. First you just need to give yourself permission to eat, an I mean full permission! And you have to fight every judgement around it. And first after that, all other topics like listening to your hunger cues, satiation, movement, gentle nutrition can come into place. I haven't craved any kind of fruits or veggies in the past two months and now that I am sick I just want to eat apples, snack on mini carrots, drink smoothies and eat mango sorbet. Always remember: Your body knows best!I'm so thankful for this book and I will definitely reread it very soon and dive deeper into the journaling exercises and the resting periods.

I get it! A logical message regarding hang-ups about food and realistic exercises regarding changing our thought processes about dieting and body image.