On Saturday March 6th I was in a Barnes & Noble in Baltimore, MD searching for Geneen Roth's newest book, Women, Food and God. It was released just the day before and I had read a bit about it on Geneen's website, and was anxious, like a kid a Christmas, to pick it up. The store's inventory system stated they had copies of the book in stock; however, there wasn't one to be found on the shelves anywhere. Hmmph - I really hate it when that happens.

I happened to be attending the first annual BEDA (Binge Eating Disorder Association) conference that took place in Baltimore that weekend, and didn't have a lot of time to shop so the book was going to have to wait until I got back home. There is nothing I love more than to crack the spine of a new book, especially one that isn't just going to be entertaining, but one that I believe will be so valuable not only to myself, but so many others as well. I scooped up a copy the day after I returned from the conference and read on highlighter in hand.

Geneen Roth, I believe, has reached the heart of where the issue is (outside of the biological component for those with BED), and that is the spiritual void that we have within. And she's teaching the most important thing, as are all of the current spiritual leaders and gurus, and that is that it is life is in the "right now".

The only place, or time, that we can affect change in our lives is right here in the present moment. When we live in our heads and rehash all of our yesterdays and  fantasize about the possibility of having another life in the future, we spend our time numbing out our feelings with food and ignore the only opportunity that we have to create the life that we want. That would be the opportunity of living consciously, in the present moment, and making decisions based on the outcomes that we are looking for.

The important piece (and peace) can be found when using this book, whether or not you find that you are able to follow the path of mindful eating or respond better to a more structured way of eating, is to take away all of the things that work for you. Stay away from 'all or nothing' thinking and believing that if you don't get everything 100% that you are a failure yet again, and this is just one more thing you aren't going to be succesful at.

If you would like assistance with coaching in this area please contact me. I'd love to help!

(www.geneenroth.com)

(www.bedaonline.com)