The Thin Woman's Brain: Re-wiring the Brain for Permanent Weight Loss

Looking back 63 years (!!), some years I was a normal weight, some a heavier weight. Food has been an issue since I was a toddler. I think my natural off switch was broken. I was in counseling for an eating disorder for many years. I even attended the Duke University intensive program. Unlike most folks, I didn't try a lot of diets because I knew I was using food as a coping mechanism, like some use alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. Food per se wasn't the problem. I could chow down on salads as well as ice cream cake!December, 2012 my doctor told me I was pre-diabetic and needed to lose weight. "Oh, tell me something I don't know." I felt awful but I couldn't stop eating junk. I was a junk food addicted vegetarian. Frankly with all the theories on nutrition, I had just given up, thrown in the towel, that is until this wake up call. In 2000 I had had a MI, now diabetes? Are you kidding me?Later that month, I decided to reread Dr. Fuhrman's books, Eat to Live and Eat for Health. This time I was ready to hear what he had to say and slowly but surely worked my way towards super nutritious food. I lost weight (55 lbs to date with about 35 to go, 3 sizes), dropped many medications, looked and felt terrific. My pre diabetes disappeared in a month! I am off cholesterol medication. Arthritis in my feet and throughout much of my body no longer bothers me. And my bra no longer looks like twin hats.During 2013, I read and watched everything I could on this form of healthy eating. I immersed myself. Dr. Fuhrman says there is no ambiguity any more about what is healthy and what isn't. I am sticking with him, as food industries, especially the meat and dairy industry, do not have my best interests at heart! He does.In 2014, I continued my life program but cravings for sugar continued. During all this time, I 'should' have been able to detox off sugar/fat fake foods, but I could not. So many of us 'nutritarians' on Dr. Fuhrman's forum where able to eat a perfectly healthy menu without cravings. I was not one of them. The harder I tried, the harder things became. Still I lost weight.I even had to stop shopping at my favorite local, organic farm because I couldn't get past the bakery table. I could name every food store I frequent and what I craved to eat. The food never made it home. I ate it fast and furious in the car.Then an online friend mentioned Dilia Suriel's book. I popped over to Amazon and read all the amazing reviews. I bet I have 50 health books on my Ipad; I was mighty reticent to buy yet another one, but I did and it has been my life saver.This book isn't about food. It's about a box of tools that has helped me take advantage of neuroplasticity and begin rewiring my brain after decades of compulsive eating. (See Dr. Doige's book for more on neuroplasticity is this is a new concept for you.)I hated mindful eating on the first day. When I completed the questionnaire in the APP that Suriel created, I noted 3% pleasure. And I was being generous! No dopamine rush by gulping my meal? My inner child was pissed! Second meal, I reluctantly dragged out a place mat and set myself up on the deck so I could commune with nature. Pleasure went to 6% . I was full before the food was finished! What? That never happened before! Ever! (Miracle)Before and after meals, I got busy getting my dopamine in healthy ways with hikes, playing with my dog, etc. All the books, all the programs, years of counseling with an eating disorder specialist and it was Suriel who had found the key to my long term success of weight loss, health and longevity.Another piece of the program: "The foundation of rewiring is Mindfulness," she wrote. I pulled out some old tapes and CDs and began enjoying guided meditation, calming music and finally pure quiet mindfulness sessions. Breathe in, breathe out.Finally, I had a huge breakthrough with the sugar-fat monster. On Suriel's recommendation, I revisited the farm and dreaded bakery table. I spent a lot of time contemplating the goods for my first Forbidden Fruit Exercise. I read all the labels, compared prices, tried to smell without being too weird. After veg shopping I purchased one cookie and because I was not hungry, I didn't eat it in the parking lost. (Miracle) When I was hungry, I ate tiny pieces so mindfully I could taste every nuance of sugar and fat. It was good, but not all that amazing. I think a bowl of sugar soaked in water would have tasted about the same. I didn't need to repeat the exercise. I may eat another one. I may not. But that frickin' cookie doesn't own my brain anymore! Something just clickedSo to say I am a fan of the Thin Woman's Brain would be a massive understatement. This book, the APP and Suriel's help at online meetings have provided critical pieces to my becoming a 'normal' person who doesn't live with Toxic Brain Hunger all day. What a relief! I fully expect that by marrying the nutritional information I have learned from Dr. Fuhrman and the life style tools I have gained from Suriel, I will attain a healthy weight this year.If this resonates, I would encourage you to read the book and treat yourself to the 21 day course ($18.75, this is an intro price while the kinks are worked out). It has been life changing for me and I hope for you.

I have struggled with food issues for a very long time. At least 20 years. I managed to keep my weight at a reasonable number with yoyo dieting, but a few years ago everything changed. The diets began to get harder to stick with and the obsession with food when I went off them became uncontrollable. But the thing that really put me over the edge was when my teenage daughter came to me telling me she needed help. She had been watching me all those years and had developed the same patterns as I had. She had no control over food. My heart sunk. I knew this needed to stop, if not for me, then for her.We started doing research and found several great books on intuitive and mindful eating. We were going on vacation and both read the first book together and started implementing the strategies to try and re-set our eating patterns. It was great…until life happened again. One of us would get off track and then the other. Then we would feel so bad about ourselves that we would have to do something drastic. We would do a juice cleanse or go vegan for a month. Anything to get rid of the feeling of failure and the 5 pounds we put on. One of us would then come to our senses and pick up either the first book we read or another similar book and the process would start all over. But, we both knew and know that the only way we can truly make peace with food and ourselves is to learn to eat like we were born to eat, before we became obsessed with food.Since then, we have been researching and reading everything we can get our hands on, but my daughter now a biology/chemistry major in college with a great interest in science and psychology keeps telling me something is missing. I think I have found it in this book. I read (actually listened) to the book expecting to hear more of the same, but what I heard was so much more. Yes, there are many concepts and ideas that I have already explored, but so many I have not. After I got about 1/2 way through "The Thin Woman’s Brain", I realized that someone had finally put it all together. The Chemistry, the biology, the psychology, the addiction, the habits, the need for reprograming, the mindfulness, the enjoyment of eating, the fact that half the food on the shelves is not food, and so much more.The difference between this book and the many (many) others I have read on the subject is the science, the implementation and the resources. It’s easy to read a book, try the ideas and then forget about them. Trust me; I have done it over and over again. "The Thin Woman’s Brain" gives you a roadmap, the instructions to get you there and the motivation to keep going. After finding the authors website, I was giddy. Not only does the book give you the tools to succeed, but the website has so many resources to help you after you have finished reading. This for me has been the missing piece.I would recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with food issues. If this is the first book you have picked up on the subject, you will be amazed and enlightened that your food issues are not about your willpower. If you are like me and have been looking for the missing piece to the intuitive eating puzzle, I think we may have found it! Good Luck!

I waited 6 months to write this review - I wanted to give it a chance. So I had 23kg to lose and I’ve lost 11kg (24lbs) so far and I’m still losing. What’s different about this (and I got the app as well and dial into group therapy) is that it tackles what led me here. This is not about quick weight loss (although it goes quickly), but I have had a tough time emotionally recently and I haven’t gained weight because I am learning to deal with my emotions and not hide away in food. Dilia is amazing and her system is all encompassing. She has saved my life and I am not over stating it.

I've had a food eating disorder for a number of years and its only been recently that I've started to try and address it. Rather than going on continual diets that fail.This book has done for me what a year of counselling couldn't, it gave practical advice on how address my eating triggers and finally deal with my food disorder. I finally feel like I'm on the road to recovery. I can't recommend this enough to people who try to diet but fail to get the results they want. You will with this book, and a little determination!

Well I absolutely love to read but I found this really hard going. It's not exactly what I expected and it delves into allot of science and studies. I feel it visited to many irrelevant topics....in to much detail.Personally I didn't find it helpful and slightly pricey, however I suppose it is interesting.

I found this to be a really interesting read. I’ve spent half my life desperate to find he right diet to fix my weight problem, hoping that one day something would click.Even when diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic, I still found solace in food, despite the obvious affect on my health.This book has made me look at food completely differently, and think about my relationship with overeating. Whilst there are sections which do seem to be quite repetitive (hence only 4 stars), it really does make you think about why we eat, not just what we eat.

This book is so good. I have read it and re-read it. I love the fact that it tries and gets to the root cause of your issues rather than just preaching a new way of eating or a diet!