Product Description

Studies show that the reason why many people gain weight—and keep it on—is emotional eating, not physical eating. Now Dr. Roger Gould, a psychotherapist and a leading authority on emotional eating, shows how to overcome fear, anxiety, and other stresses and stop using food as an over-the-counter tranquilizer that can cause weight gain. With 12 practical ways to stop emotional eating and an eight-session program, Dr. Gould helps you become your own eating therapist and shrink yourself for good.

Customer Reviews:

• Great tool to understand why you overeat
  I've been defently impressed by this book becuase it doesn't speak about anything realted to the food diets but it only is about our mind and propose great tools, wwithout giving any magic solution, to understand your the deep reasons that push anyone to overeat. It is doeasn't matter if you overeat occasionally o regularly, the book helps you to understand and identify the reasons, giving up overeating is the consequent that happens later with strong commitment without forcing yourself becuase you've learned many things about you as an adult. Thanks Professor Gould!
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• A bracing and embracing book
  If you have ever had even a passing issue with food--not enough, too much--
  then you will want to read this book and then you will want to invite
  Roger Gould over to sit and talk and be comforted and advised and reassured.
  His insightful, kind voice comes across on every page
  of this thoughtful and smart consideration of the underlying reasons that
  cause us to lose control over our nutricion and ourselves. He is not didactic
  nor declarative, but gentle and observational and helpful, most of all.
  With myriad books on the shelves instructing us to eat this, drink that,
  lose this, want that, it is refreshing to encounter one that gets us to 'how'
  by explaining 'why.' The applications transcend diet, and are available to
  all areas of our complicated, often confusing, lives. We would all be better and
  stronger, with such wisdom from Mr. Gould, to carry around in our heads and hearts. ...more info
• Really helpful so far
  I have not finished reading the entire book yet but so far, so good. It is full of infomation and exercises to help overcome emotional eating. I have learned tons! I would recommend this book to anyone struggling with a disfunctional relationship with food. ...more info
• THIS IS THE ONE!
  ANYONE WHO HAS EVER STRUGGLED, WHO HAS FIFTY MILLION DIET BOOKS ON THEIR BOOKSHELF - LOOK NO FURTHER..this book is the one!!! I have 21 diet books, have read them all, tried them all...but this one struck a chord somehow. It explained things in a way that I haven't found before..both my girlfriend and I are reading it and we have already found drastic improvements in the first week. We no longer binge, we stop - we realise no "goal" we make in regards to our weight can control our desire to eat. We have learnt to not lose weight for our husbands, for a dress size, for a weight on the scales - we are no longer thinking of a number to attain - we are just so excited to have found a solution that we can work with. The book is TREMENDOUS - we are in Australia and will be ordering more copies. THANK YOU ROGER!!!!! YOU ARE A GENIUS - THANK YOU FOR SHARING THE THERAPISTS SECRETS - you have saved us heaps of money and lots of emotional pain. Kind regards from two aussie gals happy and well on our way!!...more info
• Shrink Yourself Gets It
  This book goes farther than any I've read before in delving into the issues of compulsive overeating. I agree with some of the other reviewers in that, while it provides fabulous insight, the solutions aren't miracle cures. Unfortunately, I don't think there ARE any miracle cures for eating and food addicts.
  
  That being said, I strongly urge you to read this book. It is informative and even though I've read many others in this genre, Dr. Gould brings great insight into the overeating dilemma....more info
• Focus on the reasons why you overeat
  This is a fantastic insight as to why you overeat, call it emotional eating, comfort eating or being addicted to food, this book gives you a plain english explaination of why you do it and how to overcome it.In a world that spends billions on diets, this just may hold the answer to your over-eating, without a diet inside! How? By explaining the reason people eat when they are not hungry. Brilliant and inspirational....more info
• Great book to help you Shrink Yourself
  This book is awesome. It gives one the opportunity to look at the heart of the issues. Instead of trying to solve the problem from the outside in, it provides the individual the opportunity to explore the issues and problems from the inside out. This book really works. If you really want to shrink yourself, give yourself the opportunity to explore whether you fit the profile of an emotional eater. If you decide that you do, then the concepts and methods described in this book will help you achieve your goal....more info
• After 40 Years of Searching, Somthing that Works
  I have spent 40 years trying to lose weight without success. But, after reading this book and doing the on-line course (I'm still in the final, 12th week) I can say that my emotional eating has been greatly reduced--as has my size. 30 pounds lost in a period that included Christmas and some of the sort of stressful events that, in the past, would have me gorging on food in order to zone out and escape the problems. During those 11 weeks, I followed no diet, just the advice in this book that enabled me to cut down on emotional eating. I also enjoyed all the usual Christmas fare--plum pudding, mince pies, chocolates--the lot--and I enjoyed them all the more because I didn't stuff myself sick.
  
  The journey Shrink Yourself encourages you to take isn't necessarily an easy one. Honestly facing fears, seeing the benefits being overweight has brought you, working out more productive (or, at least, less damaging) ways to deal with problems than eating are called for and, at times, are highly uncomfortable. That, said, the process is an empowering one. At the end of the day, you are helped to take real control of your life. Losing weight is only one of the improvements you can make with the help of this book.
  
  Best of all, I do not fear slipping back into my old patterns of emotional eating. Seeing through emotional eating's empty promises of comfort is like seeing through the Emperor's new clothes. You can't go back. I'm not sure I ever would made these changes were it not for this book.
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• Helped a lot
  I have struggled with weight nearly all my life and finally found a way to start losing it successfully. However, there was always the draw of food-especially sweets. Since reading this book, I realized I was using food to hide behind and it only made things worse. After coming to this realization, food no longer has power over me. I have power over food to eat healthy and I simply do not have the food cravings that I had struggled with for years and years. If a person reads this book and looks honestly at themselves it will be of tremendous value to them and may literally change their lives. It has changed mine....more info
• Shrink Yourself: Break Free from Shrink Yourself: Break Free from
  THIS BOOK NEEDS TO BE ON THE BEST BOOK LIST FOR THE OVERWEIGHT
  (OBESITY) ISSUE...ONE OF THE BEST I EVER READ IT STANDS WITH ANOTHER BOOK I LOVE ALSO "WHEN FOOD IS LOVE" BY GENEEN ROTH.....BOTH OF THEM ARE EXCEPTIONAL,,,, GETTING YOU TO EXAMINE THE GUT REASONS WHY WE OVER EAT AND STAY "FAT".IT HELPS YOU TO LOOK "DEEP" INSIDE YOUR HEART,MIND,,,,AND SELF,,,,
  FORCE'S YOU TO THINK AND FACE THE REALITIE OF WHY,WE DO IT...THEN GUIDE'S YOU TO GRADUALY,,, START YOUR RECOVERY. HELPING YOU TO STOP BEING HUNGRY
  FOR THE OBSESSION OF FEEDING THE EMOTIONAL HUNGER WITH THE SUSTITUDE WE
  USE TO COVER OVER,,, TO STUFF DOWN WITH FOOD THE HURT,, ANGER,,SADNESS, LONLENESS, DISSAPPOINTMENTS ETC. THAT WE DO NOT ADDRESS BECAUSE WE NUMB OURSELS WTH FOOD THE SHORT TEMPERARY FIX TO SUFF ALL OF THESE DOWN,,, DOWN ,, DOWN,, INTO OR BODYS. WHILE MAKING US BIG,, BIG,,,BIG,,, AND BIGGER !!!! THANK YOU ,,,, THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THE TOOLS IN HELPING ME IN MY RECOVERY!!!!!!
  
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• Looks good--haven't read it yet
  Have just flipped through this book, but I am anxious to read it---I think it will be very helpful....more info
• An Eye Opener
  I've had issues with my weight my entire life. In 2004 I lost 117 lbs on one a popular commercial diet plan. Sure, I was thrilled, and although I swore I wouldn't gain a pound of it back, I managed to put on 30 lbs over the last 2 years. Anyone can lose weight if they follow a diet plan. Shrink Yourself immediately gave me the ability to look at the reason I reverted back to my old destructive ways-I am an emotional eater. There are a lot of written exercises that help the reader with self examination, however this is extremely time consuming, but I "get it". Now I feel I have the right mindset to distinguish between my emotional needs and physiological hunger. ...more info
• I love this book
  Ths book is exactly what i needed. I suggest doing the online program while reading the book because that works best. The book it self is just one tool. I think it will help the emotional eater if you just plan on reading the obok and nothing more, but i definitly think its best with the online program on shrinkyourself.com...more info
• The Best Diet Solution EVER
  I felt compelled to spend my precious time to write this review because this is surely the very best diet solution ever! I say this because I have bought all the diet books and done all the diet programs, but there was always something basic and integral MISSING. What was missing is exactly what SHRINK YOURSELF explores thoroughly, and that is the question/s: What is making me eat? & Why can't I control my food? & How can I come to grips with those two dilemmas? I decided to order this book from Amazon after I read my library edition; I just had to have my own copy to reference and re-read forever. Go for it.
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• Great Ideas
  I am an avid reader of all self help books on emotional eating-this author so far has been frank and painfully honest about the real reasons we eat when we do not need food....more info
• The thoughtful evening and diet solution
  I stumbled upon Dr. Gould's book after listening to a radio interview he gave promoting his book. I am glad I wrote his name down because I could not remember the title. (A little gimmicky) I was skeptical that a psychiatrist could really help you lose weight through therapeutic techniques. I mean, just start exercising and eating less, right? I read the Beck Diet Solution and found it rather dull.
  
  Anyway, I could not put his book down, I finished it in 2 days...which for me is huge. And I have been on my best eating behavior. I am now consciously controlling my appetite...no binge eating and no late night snacking. I think Dr. Gould gave me great advice on how to understand the signals that lead to fill yourself with food. I think it would work for other applications as well, but I guess that is for another book. BTW, There are practical lessons in chapter 3 that I keep re-reading.
  
  Now I bought it for some co-workers who I thought would benefit....more info
• best so far (40 years) in many ways
  First, I thought it was very interesting that when I searched for this just know, Amazon suggested to pair it with The Beck Diet Solution, which I discovered last summer and am using as well. Dealing with emotional eating is where I thought Beck fell short. This book fills that gap and so much more. I did a two-weekend training course on stopping emotional eating 27 years ago, but there was no follow-up, and it involved a lot of gimmicky things like 'selling" your right to overeat, and affirmations that would somehow magically make you act differently. Thousand of affirmations later-no such luck.
  
  I definitely disagree with a few reviewers who said that it doesn't have any solutions. It has one of the best sequences of recommended activities that I've seen. The problem is when it comes right down to it is that a person is going to have to choose not to eat sometimes when he/she really, really wants to! No one can make you do that, unless firearms are involved, and that would be a temporary fix anyway. The book does a good job of helping someone realize that it is really more painful to continue emotional eating than it is to stop it, no matter how hard it seems at the time. A person must also choose to do something else besides eat. That is the bottom line. I've known both of those truths for a long time, yet somehow this book helped me actually implement the behavior.
  
  Another plus is that he does not recommend any certain diet. It's up to each person to determine what foods will allow her/him to eat amounts that provide the peace we are looking for. (Beck says research shows few people maintain weight loss without some kind of systematic plan, but regimented systems are contraindicated for healing emotional eating. To each her path.) He also doesn't recommend substituting some low-cal food to replace the junk we want to eat when we aren't hungry. Drinking a lot of water, trying to fill up on celery, all those tactics, in my opinion, just make things worse later. Bite the bullet and face not eating at all until you are hungry for real food! Eating is not going to solve the problem!
  
  In my years of trying to diet (I actually stayed on them only a few times, but I learned a lot about what healthier foods taste delicious to me and let me eat amounts I want often enough), I have changed what I eat for meals so much that I can't imagine putting a bag of chips in with my lunch, but you could do it, if that's what pleases you most. My downfall wasn't meals; it was a bag of chocolate kisses at a time, or 3/4 of a carton of ice cream, or a package of cookie dough-many of you know the drill. And it wasn't necessarily mindless, I KNEW I was eating the whole package. When I was in the middle of it, I couldn't imagine what it was going to take for me not to do it. But it has happened, for now, at least.
  
  I've not binged for nearly two weeks (okay, I know that is a short time, but I've been working up to it, not just jumping in for the honeymoon), and I've been more active. I'm more comfortable in lots of clothes, and there is even a pair of fallback cords that are very close to going to the thrift store pile. I used to adore Geneen Roth, the queen of emotional eating writers, and definitely credit her with my having a much gentler attitude toward my body and habits, plus with eating, even overeating, everything without guilt, which I think also helped lay the foundation, but Gould brought it together. Finally, without his even mentioning anything religious, his approach dovetails quite well with a spiritual practice i've been implementing in other areas of my life. I'm very grateful I found the book.
  
  I will say that i do recommend trying to find a support group in your effort, either live or online. I haven't done his online program, so I can't speak for that, but I joined (for free) Sparkpeople.com and got on a message board team called Living Binge Free that has also helped me have a place to kick around ideas and share success, as well as be lovingly made accountable. There is also a team there devoted just to Shrink Yourself which I and another person are trying to build.
  
  Good luck in your quest. If you had given up for awhile, I think this will be your best bet to return to the issue. maybe your last....more info
• Great book.
  Practical, useful and in-depth. Really helpful. Lots of good info on the book's website too: www.shrinkyourself.com...more info
• Best book on emotional eating--ever!!!!!!!!!
  I've been an overeater for 37 years and this book is without a doubt the best book I've ever read on emotional overeating. First I read the book, then I joined the shrink yourself on line program.
  If your really an emotional eater, then this book will touch you in some way. Take what you like and leave the rest---------my bet is you'll take a lot more then you will leave....more info
• Great Book!
  I've known Dr. Gould for several years, having helped him with his website. He taught me a great deal about my own eating issues, and I've seen firsthand how his methods have helped many people overcome their eating challenges.
  
  He is brilliant, kind, and deeply cares about helping people - he's spent a lifetime devoted to this area. This book is thoughtful and well-written. It provides an intelligent framework for reflection and increased awareness of self and eating challenges. With awareness comes the possibility for change. With this book, you will not only learn how to overcome your eating challenges, you will learn to know yourself better and grow in fruitful ways.
  
  The fact that I have only written two reviews in 8 years speaks to how strongly I feel about this book. ...more info
• Maria
  I've received more help from the first half of this book, than I have in 25 years of dieting. For the first time in my life, I looked in the mirror and saw some positives and I'm 100 pounds overweight! In one month I've lost 10 pounds and I'm finally dealing with the issues that have been plaguing my life. This is a doable lifestyle change that will enable me to be free from excess weight and the mental games that keep me overweight....more info
• Great Help in Moving Forward
  This book is helps you get a better understanding of the problems so many of us face for so long and start addressing the issues causing you to binge eat. This book is more than just getting control of your eating habit, but helps you address so many other issues you're dealing with in your life that are all affected by thinking yourself unworthy-most of which I never would have guessed were related. It addresses relationships, with yourself and lovedones, job stress, and many other stresses we face everyday with real-life examples to relate to. If you're struggling with binge eating, the resulting guilt that only leads to more eating, and you're ready to do more than just eat your life away, I would reccommend this book to get back the control over your own body and mind. Believe me, you're more powerful than you think!...more info
• Hits the nail on the head
  This book is fantastic. Every other book on intuitive eating or non-dieting I have read touches on emotional eating but this really goes into the full depth of it. It's just been amazing how much I can recognise myself while reading the chapters. In a way it's scary because I realise that I will have to deal with my feelings and my thinking. Now that I am so aware of why I eat when I am not hungry there is no turning back. I have done all the exercises, will take a break, and read the book one more time. Thank you!!...more info
• This review refers to the Summary....
  I noticed that the lower reviews came from persons who felt that the book didn't cover specifics on what to do to loose the weight. What I felt the author is offering is the "tool" to help you recognize WHY you're overweight and the steps you can take to correct the WHY, which is emotional eating. Now everyone's emotional reasons are different, hence it would be a very lengthy book to read, and it would be too general if "tools" where given. When reading the summary version of this book I was shaking my head in amazed agreement of how relevant and on-point the book was for me. I agreed with the material presented and recognized that if put into practice, I can begin to turn my current situation around emotionally, physically and spiritually. When I purchase the book I will come back to amend my rating....more info
• Shrink Yourself
  I am very satisfied with the book. It was listed as used, but appears to be brand new. It arrived in a timely manner and I will order from this seller again....more info
• Shrink Yourself
  This book is worth a read if you've been blocked from loosing weight. It gives you a simple but deep explanation of the whys to overeating. It definitely set me on my way towards making changes from within and I know I will return to read the book to fine tune my thoughts and feelings. Thank you for this very well written book with plenty of ah-ha moments....more info
• End Emotional Eating
  When you're ready to really do the work to end your emotional eating, this book will be a godsend. You can't just read it - you actually have to do all the journaling exercises and actually work the program, but if you do that this book will work for you. I highly recommend joining the online program in conjunction with the book. This is not a diet, but a program that deals with the emotional aspect of overeating and binge eating. ...more info