Book Club: Women Food and God (Author: Geneen Roth)

I'll watch Oprah when it comes on here today & check it out. :flowerforyou:

I love the scripture on your signature...it says it all! "You fill the hungry with good things, Luke 1:53" I know what I am really hungry for...a closer relationship with my Father!

I paused Oprah on my DVR to order this book in the middle of her show! I can't wait to get my hands on it and am so happy I will have people to discuss it with! Thanks for starting this group!

So glad to have you join us! We may have trouble getting the book...it seems to have had the "Oprah" affect! We will start the discussion with or without the book...see you next week here!

:flowerforyou: Welcome to the first week of Book Club! We are reading "Women, Food and God,"by Geneen Roth. Please join us, even if you can't get the book right away.

This week please read the Prologue and Ch. 1 + 2. I highly recommend you pick up a pretty notebook to use as a journal while you are reading. (You deserve it! ) Check in each Tues. to respond to the Discussion Question.

Week 1 Discussion Question: As you read Chapters 1 and 2 reflect back to see if you have a memory of using food as a child to medicate or punish yourself. Journal about this incident. Geneen Roth was a child who experienced stress due to her parents turmultuous marriage. She apparently blamed herself for her parent's fighting. She began to "punish herself" by overeating. Read Chapter 1 and 2 to discover how Hostess Snoballs became her vice. :ohwell:

Respond here this week: Tell us about a memory you may have of medicating or punishing yourself with food. What was the trigger? Have you seen this pattern repeat itself throughout your life? How can you deal with these triggers today? How can you stay in control without medicating with food? Here is my first memory and a discovery I made this morning.....(feeling kinda vulnerable...oh well....here goes....:frown: )

My response: I could immediately recall an incident as a child when I read the "Snoball" story. We moved alot when I was a kid. Changing schools alot gave me a level of anxiety to deal with. I felt out of control. I recall in the third grade, after a move, having a crabby teacher who did not warmly welcome a new kid in November. I had to make new friends, in a clicky school, with a teacher who did not adore me. I began to leave my lunch tray full. I wouldn't touch it. I lost a few pounds. I remember on report-card day the teacher weighed us and I had lost 8 pounds since my arrival. I still recall the numbers! I went from 68 pounds to 60 pounds in the third grade. She weighed me twice to make sure. Pretty scrawny kid....I found something I could control in my life. AND...I got attention for it. The teacher actually commented that I had lost weight and my parents should take a look at this. Finally, I had this teacher's attention and concern. I continued this pattern of starving myself through the day and then I began binging after school. It was amazing what I could put away. But I had to sneak to do this. My mother wouldn't want us to ruin our appetite for supper. I clearly recall the first binge. I grabbed a box of "chicken in a basket" crackers and snuck it to my room and polished off the box. I remember the feeling of calm that came over me as I experienced this "carb high," as I polished off that box. Hmmmmmm.....thoughts......I tend to be a carb-a-holic to this day! I still sneak and eat....and who or what am I hiding from?I still....errrr.....used to.....comfort myself with food when experiencing high levels of anxiety. I have dealt with anxiety issues in adulthood. Wow....I am already digging deep and discovering some root causes of my emotional eating. This pattern continued throughout my childhood as I experienced "rough spots" and anxiety. Starve, reward myself by hopping on the scale and seeing the numbers drop (ahhhhh....I controlled SOMETHING), then the binge. The scale-hopping has continued throughout my adult life as well. I know this is all tied together....hmmmm....more to learn about me.

Discovery moment: 1. I do know that MFP has given me accountability and is helping me break this pattern. 2. As an adult, I have a faith that gives me strength. I now know WHO is in control of my life. I have had to struggle through rough spots to know that I must totally rely on my God as my source of strength. These are my personal beliefs. I respect yours. 3. Exercise helps me remain calm and stable. This helps my anxiety today.

NOTE: Please know that Ms. Roth's understanding of God may not be the same as yours and mine. She gives a generic description of her God. The focus of this discussion is not to promote her beliefs or mine. It is for all of us to come to terms with our emotional eating with the support of one another. I do have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I am not here to push my beliefs on you but want you to know where I stand. I am just taking this journey through this book and would like some company on the way. I am digging deep to try to come to terms with my own emotional eating patterns. I want to be done with dieting and binging forever. And I know my God wants to hold my hand while I cross over this thresh-hold. I didn't know Him when I began this cycle. I am calling on Him for strength, guidance and wisdom this time. He is in control this time around!

What is your response and did you make a discovery along the way? Tell us about it! (If you haven't been able to get your hands on the book, please grab a journal and begin this walk with us. You can still take part in the discussion until your book comes in.)

:flowerforyou: Fabxoxoxoxoxo

I'm still plugging though the chapters and will post my response hopefully today or tomorrow. I think it's VERY important that you mentioned this should not be a place where we're pushing our religious or spiritual beliefs on eachother. I believe we all have a right to write without judgement in order to really benefit from this experience. I do hope we really focus on the real issue here, why we're here in the first place....we all need to figure out the REAL reasons we're in this pattern to begin with and break the cycle for good.

I'm happy (and scared to be honest) to be in this journey with all of you. I'm not sure what I will find out about myself, but I know this is really the only way I can fully understand why I am here counting the calories.

Well said - I think we are all happy and scared right now. When you dig deep and face your fears you have a choice to make. Do you keep doing what you are doing or make a change. I am ready to face myself, my whole self, good + bad and deal with my issues. I am ready to go forward. And you are right...no one should be in this discussion to push religous values. Mine have significant value to ME. I am not here to recruit church members. I am simply here to take my journey and share my reflections. Thanks for holding my hand on this road. Let's face the unknown together! :flowerforyou: