Essential Reading!

Every word of this book makes sense if you have ever struggled with resisting the allure of highly palatable foods. Thank you Dr Vera Tarman for writing it and helping people find their own road to recovery.

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Excellent

Hard to hear, but necessary! Well informed and straight to the point. I am at the beginning of making serious changes but I know what I have to do, thanks to this book.
Thank you for your service.

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Great book for those that struggle with food

I came across this book while searching on the topic of food. I found the information very useful. The narration is done well with simple language that one can follow via audio format. Sometimes the chapters can be a bit long-winded but not to the extent that they are unpleasant. I found myself identifying with many descriptions from the book and I finished it with eagerness. It has opened up a whole area of exploration for me.
Highly recommended for people who have a dysfunctional relationship with food or other addictions.

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Masterpiece 💯

Just 👂 again and again for freedom's conquest ❤️
Her YouTube channel has treasure podcasts as well 🧠

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That explains a lot!!

Having struggled with my weight for over 40 years and looked for answers everywhere, I can finally say this author has hit the nail on the head. How I wish I'd read this sooner.
Prior to reading this enlightening, well written, informative book, none of the "answers" people were suggesting ever seemed to fit. The closest answer was emotional eating.... But that never seemed quite right. I haven't had any childhood trauma, I wasn't stressed, I didn't eat just because things were not going well that day or I was bored...
I had a full on, never ending, unremitting obsession with food and once I began to eat I couldn't stop. That was my round peg that didn't fit into any of the square holes that were being offered up as the reason for my compulsion to eat.
I started to research neurology for my answers, fascinated by the advances we were making in this field, and wanting to understand how the craving brain actually works. Some of the books talked about the brain's reward system. This sparked instant recognition. This was the root of the issue, I was sure of it.
And then came this book. And every single thing fell into place. Round peg, round hole.
I urge anyone who has struggled with food for years and years, probably feeling that they must be a failure, lacking willpower, weak, or some other incorrect assumption, to read this book.
The solutions offered are not overnight fixes or easy, but simply by understanding what is going on in your brain you have the best possible chance of finally finding peace of mind and taking action knowing for once exactly WHY, and exactly what, you are doing. You can't change what you don't understand. This book explains what's going on, and why you are powerless against the physiological processes that override even the most determined and best of intentions, and how to overcome this dilemma.
I recommend this book without hesitation.

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Must read/listen.

Love this book. Dr Vera has the lived experience and is a doctor. Best of both worlds! For me lived experience is a must for support in my addiction journeys. It’s what works!

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My success, how that book helped me

I was always chubby child and I remember having my first binge eating episode when I was 7 years old. But no one seemed to notice my disordered eating, my grandparents even encouraged me, because the more you eat the healthier you are /so they thought/. And bless my parents for never pointing out in a negative way that I was overweight.

But then I came to the UK in 2015. I went through a lot here in the beginning and I never shared how I felt, because I didn’t want to worry my parents and friends and I was determined to make it work here, I came here for a reason, not to bend over the hard times and go home.

The fast food being so cheap /in comparison in my country a healthy meal in a restaurant was cheaper than fast food in the big chain restaurants like MC and KFC/ so of course we would choose the healthier and cheaper option.

But here everything was so cheap, sugary snacks, biscuits, chocolates, fast food. And since I wasn’t making too much money that was the easiest option- numb your feelings with cheap, delicious food.

My highest weight was 88kg I am 161cm tall. I was shocked when I saw the scale.

My curious mind helped me to explore the reason I eat the way I eat and I came across a youtube video in which the woman mentioned this particular book.

So I read it and I quit sugar and flour immediately. The first month was devastating. I felt like someone died and I am grieving. Now I know from all the neuroscience podcasts what is going on in my brain chemistry, but back then I did not know, I just endured the emotional pain.

During the first year of abstinence I had three times in which I felt overwhelming desire to eat those foods, in particulary triggered by food ads on the TV. Then I dived in psychology of addiction with Chocolate Busters by Jason Vale. And I realized how they hook us with TV ads about food. I got so mad that someone is controling my brain for profit I sweared I will endure that discomfort!

After the first year though the desire stopped, like I completely detached from it. The binge was impossible, how many proteins and vegetables can a person eat.

But it took me 6 years of back and forth about eating nuts and nut butters, fruits and starchy vegetables like potatoes, grains etc. And I hit rock bottom crying in my car about not knowing why I start with a simple apple and end up eating 6 bananas and a jar of peanut butter. Then the next day eating 2kg of roasted potatoes with butter.

A year ago I quit nuts, I knew it was my trigger food.

I have kept my 55kg weight with lots of struggles, fasting after every overeating with trigger foods, blaming myself, guilt.

I realized few days ago that they all metabolize as glucose raising blood sugar and are all trigger foods for me.

I haven’t had sugar and flour in 6 years, nuts in 1 year and now after reading that book for like.. 6th time I realized that in order to have a peace of mind and food serenity I will just have to accept the fact that I won’t have them for the rest of my life and I am fine with it!

Some people might feel bad for not being a normal eater, but I don’t . This is my destiny and I am sure some day I will work with people with such issues and draw from my own experience

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Eye-opening

I am very glad I found this book. Very nicely narrated it was eye opening for me, relating to the stories shared and identifying my food addiction tendencies and knowing now where to go from now on. 😊

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interesting

The story and concept were interesting but I felt the message was repeated alot and the book coukd have therefore been shorter. Towards the end it became an advertising platform for American rehab centres and clinics.

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