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Dear Wendy,
I want to thank you for such a wonderful book. I was browsing in the diet
section of the bookshop, looking for yet another diet to follow, when I
came across your book; reading it was like I was having a conversation
with a close friend - it was incredible. I feel as though I've finally
been released from my self imposed prison and on my way to a healthier
mind and body. I went from having a pretty good relationship with food
when I was younger to fearing it and obsessing about it from my early 20's
until now at 27. I would honestly think about eating all day, not because
I was hungry, but because I was afraid that I was going to have something
bad, or that I was eating too much, or what I was eating wasn't healthy
enough. I think that your book, however, will help me with this. Your
empathy and compassion has made a huge difference to my life and my future
relationship with food and exercise - thank you so much!
-Sheena McConville
I am not sure how I stumbled upon this book, it must have been the grace
of god. This book has changed my life - it has reinforced feelings and
thoughts I have always had through the years but figured they couldn't be
trusted because every time I turned around I was told to count points, eat
less, etc. I am 29 and have been on a weight loss and gain roller coaster
for half my life now and I am exhausted from beating myself up and feeling
like a failure when the pounds creep up. I now know what I have always
thought to be true; trust yourself and your body - every day is a gift. I
will not waste one more day of my precious life worrying about calories
and the number on the scale. Thank you for this book!
This is a weight management resource I have been looking for. Dr.
Oliver-Pyatt offers sound advice for people to cope with emotional issues
that are holding them back from achieving satisfaction with their body image
and the ability to achieve their weight lose goals. When I received Fed Up!
I read it cover to cover in a day. I couldn't believe how in touch with with
own my personal struggles Dr. Oliver-Pyatt seemed to be through her own
experiences and how simple her advice was. I only wish that this book gets
the exposure and recognition it deserves, expecially for future generations.
-Elizabeth Steadman,
Chicago
Hi Wendy:
I just finished your book, and have been reading a number of other
similarly themed books recently too. I must say, yours is the one which
resonated most with me. Your philosophy is one that I have always held
in my subconscious and the part of my conscious mind which is the most
reasonable, but the scare tactics and constant badgering of the diet
industry and cultural imperatives have done a pretty good job of helping
me forget it.
I have decided to do my best to eliminate "diet thinking" from my life,
but you know how hard it is, because the little diet monster always lies
in the background, and as long as it does, I'm just between diets, not
apart from the diet mentality. I know that. I just need to act on it.
When I have mentioned your principles and how I feel about them to
friends, they are either aghast, or whether it's "working" and am I
losing weight. Heaven help me.
I definitely would like a lesser weight to be the long term result, but
am sincerely trying to like myself just as I am, which I do most of the
time, so that if my only result is staying at the same weight but
eliminating all the crazy diet behavior, that result is good enough.
Always my bent anyway, I have become very tuned in to how people talk
about bodies and weight--theirs and others, and some of the language
seems so nuts to me now. My friends are mostly in their fifties, and
when you hear someone that age talk about a piece of chocolate or an ice
cream cone as though it were a messenger from the devil himself, it
seems so silly. I think by now we should have more important things to
consider.
Recently a friend described the behavior of a male friend thus: "He
thinks nothing of stopping off on a Saturday afternoon and having an ice
cream cone." The tone was: "He thinks nothing of stopping off on a
Saturday afternoon and mugging an old lady".
I was married for 24 very long years, during which time I was at various
stages of slimness, to a man who was crazed on the subject of weight.
You could never be too thin. I would rather have been caught with
another man than holding a Hershey's bar.
So I know my mind has been very messed up on this subject. My current
partner has no such hang-ups, so any dieting on and off again program is
not attributable to him but only to me and my buying in to that culture.
I thank you very much for expressing a very different view, one that
makes sense and has reliable research. I know it's the right thing
since I can see on my own body the result of all those years of dieting.
When I think of dieting again, I have a momentary feeling of relief,
that there just might be that magic bullet. Then I think of what you
said, and how it fits in with my feelings about life, and I feel peace
and contentment. I'll take that any day.
Something told me to buy your book that
day last January, (probably God whispering in my ear). I was diagnosed
with PCOS in March. I hope that now I can get healthy. I had no idea
that there was such a syndrom. Thank-you for helping me to see that I
was not just a "bad" person and needed to try harder--doctors can be so
condesending!
-Deb
I read your book & thought it was absolutely wonderful. I could really
relate to what you wrote. Thanks so much for this book!
I read your book in about a day 1/2. Today I feel like a huge ball and
chain has been taken of my neck. I will never diet again. I swear, I was so
far into the belief that eat less and less and you will lose. My body has
been holding on to this extra 30 pounds for dear life for so long. I have
been losing and gaining 20 pounds every year for 10 years now. I am done.
Thank you,
-Monica Campbell
Dear Dr.Wendy,
Thank you for writing this wonderful book. I am 51 yrs old and have lost and regained hundreds of pounds over the past 30 years. My most recent weight loss and regain was 72 lbs which has left me completely demoralized. I have sizes 4-18 in my closet and all still in style! I also suffer from Panic and Anxiety Disorder which I am convinced after reading this book has been exacerbated by chronic weight cycling.
Reading your book has created within me a sense of "coming home" after being away on a very long and miserable journey. Coming home to the days so long ago when eating was a joyful event and being overweight was not a problem. I am officially resigning from dieting and even if I never lose another pound I will be free at last from the emotional tyranny of calorie counting and guilt!!!
You have unlocked the mystery for me as to why all of the healthy people I know never diet and can freely enjoy eating the things I always long for.
Thank you again!
-Diane B.
Dr. Oliver-Pyatt: I can't tell you how much I enjoyed your presentation today in Las Vegas! I am so excited about starting some new programs to help kids and teens dealing with these issues. Thank you for inspiring me!
-Holly Lyman,
Director of Women's Care Center,
Las Vegas, NV
I read this book on the way to a vacation - by the time the plane landed, I was finished, practically the entire book was highlighted and I had tears in my eyes - This was about ME. I could see the light at the end of a very long tunnel and knew that my dieting hell must end right then and there. I wish this book were given to every person who ever went to the diet section or joined another diet program. The diet industry is just bleeding us all and making more and more suffer needlessly. Thanks so much for this book.
-Jenn
A different Kind of Weight Loss Book
A great book for anyone who has ever suffered through the deprivation of a diet, only to gain the weight back (and more!). Fed Up explains how to develop normal eating habits, and gives realistic advice on exercise. Having just had a baby, this book served as a great reminder to me that I don't need to starve myself to get back to my normal weight. It gives advice on how to follow our bodies natural cues. I highly recommend it!
-Vicki,
Miami Florida
New phenomena of hope for persons living with eating problems
While reading fed-up, I felt the anecdotes were human. I also had similiar experiences with my obsession to be thin. Fed-up is the first book I've read that has really helped me to look within and seek the real reason why I binge so often during stressful times. I began following Dr. Wendy's ten-step, no diet fitness plan 2 weeks ago and have lost 3.5lbs. I really think this time will be different from all the other diets I've tried because this book is not about want to eat or not to eat, rather than changing what lies within the human soul. Thank-you Dr. Oliver:)
-Lily,
Pleasanton, California
As a nutritionist I work with many individuals struggling with the after
effects of restrictive dieting. Fed Up! is the tool I've been waiting for
to help my clients free themselves and get back to living their best life
without food and dietary preoccupations. In my practice we are kicking off
the New Year with "Diet Free in 2003" by featuring this book for our group
book club. I am most grateful to Dr. Oliver-Pyatt for her comprehensive and
responsible material.
-Carol C. Budd. B.S.
Holistic Nutrition
Dr. Oliver-Pyatt's book offers important insights into the dieting industry,
dieting myths and the psychological and physical dangers related to a life
spent focused on diet and weight control. Fed Up! offers a comprehensive,
well-defined plan on how one can free themselves from the enslavement of
counting calories, self-starvation, binge eating, poor body image among other
agonizing aspects of dieting. The book provides well-defined tools on how to
develop a healthy relationship with food and your body. Dr. Oliver-Pyatt
share her own process of self-discovery and breaking free from the prison of
dieting and an eating disorder and found her way to a healthy, fit lifestyle.
Her techniques are based on her personal and professional understanding of
the complex reasons people become caught up in an endless cycle of dieting
and weight gain.
-Christine A. Hartline, M.A.,
Executive Director
Eating Disorder Referral and Information Center
When I was introduced to "Fed Up!" I had just completed yet another fad diet that claimed great sucess. But to my expected disappointment it failed for me. After being on the dieting rollercoaster since the age of 12, I can't discribe the freeing feeling I have now toward food and dieting. Now I know why I have battled over the years to no avail. I now have time in my day to think of other, more important issues beyond how many calories I have consumed and what I should or shouldn't eat. It is comforting to know that I am not alone in my battle with food and dieting. I think this book should be required reading for all adolescent girls being bombarded with unrealistic body ideals.
Thank You Dr. Oliver-Pyatt for writting this book!!!
-Kellie
NOT FOR WOMEN ONLY!
Fed Up! was the first book I have read which addresses weight problems and food and body issues considering both genders. Dr. Oliver-Pyatt's approach and new concepts simplify what many authors tend to over analyze using powerful techniques which draw
on her own experiences in ways that verify for the reader that this author truly understands what we are experiencing. This book has made my relationship with food much more enjoyable and less stressful.
Dr. Oliver-Pyatt acknowledges she has had her own eating issues, and she is also a medical and psychiatric professional with experience working with those who are dealing with food & body preoccupation. This combination has made her an extremely knowledgeable, sensitive writer who relates to the reader on a personal level. I will highly recommend this book to my eating disorder patients and anyone who is struggling with weight problems.
-Jim A. Lindsey
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Oklahoma City, OK
Dr. Wendy Oliver-Pyatt's book came into my life just when I needed it. I was in the midst of gaining back weight that I had lost, and I was feeling like an utter failure. Then, out of the blue, here comes Fed Up! saying that it's not my fault. My body cannot function in a healthy manner if I'm only consuming 1,000-1,250 calories a day, and it had gone into "famine mode." No wonder I gained back weight when I ate a bit more. I was working against what thousands of years of evolution had perfected. What a wake-up call for me! Suddenly it became clear--my body knows what it needs, and I can trust my hunger--no one ever said that before. How seemingly simple, yet how radical. I am literally learning how to recognize my body's hunger cues. Remarkably, I don't have to deprive myself of the foods that I like, and now that I've removed the "good" and "bad" labels from foods, I actually find that I'm craving fruits and vegetables, and the carton of ice cream lasts a lot longer in my freezer. I'm learning to be patient and wait for my hunger to emerge--instead of eating to deal with emotional issues. And, I'm getting better and better at recognizing when I'm satisfied. I no longer feel that my worth is based on my ability to deny myself tasty treats in order to fit in a particular dress size. Fed Up! is just what we need to cope with the crisis of obesity in the U.S. It certainly changed my life!
-Nancy, Chicago IL
I had the good fortune of previewing Fed Up! and found
it to be a life-saver! Though doctors and nutritionist claim that we don't need to diet to lose weight, we all know that their comments are quickly followed by the admonition to simply "Change your eating habits. Eat healthily!" If we could do that, we wouldn't need their help in the first place! Author Wendy Oliver-Pyatt dares to call even such seemingly innocuous advice what it, in fact, is: a diet. And she dares to suggest what chronic dieters like myself wish we could believe: dieting doesn't work (despite the fact that a million dollar industry wants us to believe otherwise). Fed Up! takes both a compassionate and logical look at the endless struggles faced by us dieters and overeaters. Because Dr. Oliver-Pyatt is a physician, she is able to offer concrete evidence to prove that dieting not only doesn't work, but it actually back-fires, causing people to actually gain weight. As a former dieter herself, she empathizes with our pain and gently leads us toward the solution. We can believe her because we know she has traveled the same road. She shares her own heart-wrenching struggles, as well as those of many others she has worked with. For those of us battling with food and/or weight issues, this book is a must-read. I felt, perhaps for the first time, as though I had been freed from dieters' prison. I am learning to love myself as I am, while also learning how to achieve a healthy, attractive body. I am also learning to make peace with food. And best of all -- I get to eat! I cannot recommend Fed Up! highly enough!
-Heidi, Denver CO
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