Home Excerpt Praise Table of Contents Important Medical note Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Get FED UP! 1. My Journey 2. Diets Cause Weigh Loss: Reality or Myth? Dieting Causes Weight Loss? A False Belief Your Body Is Smarter Than Your Diet Ignoring Your Body's Messages Won't Work You're Stuck with Your Genes A Dangerous Obsession When Dieting Takes a Deadly Turn The Bottom Line: Diets Are Self-Defeating 3. America's Culture of Food Fear: Why Do We Diet, When Dieting Doesn't Work? What's Your "Ideal" Body? The Ever-Changing "Perfect" Body An Epidemic of Self-Hate Spreading "Food Fear" Around the Globe Why Don't We Just Say No? Breaking the Cycle Part II: The Ten-Step No-Diet Fitness Plan: Do Your Homework to Prepare Yourself for Diet-Free Weight Loss 4. Step One: Recognize Your Exhaustion: Test Yourself--Is Food Preoccupation Running Your Life? 5. Step Two: Reject the Cultural Myths That Make You Diet and Gain Weight Conduct a "Media Watch" Take a Close Look at Diet Claims and Diet Reality Acknowledge the Inner Toll of Dieting Define Your Own Beauty Putting It All Together 6. Step Three: Decide That You Are Good Enough Today to Love Yourself Today Unlearning Negative Self-Talk Seeing Through Your Excuses Love Is an Action A Word About Perfectionism Exercises and Activities Part III Take Action: Solve Your Weight Problems Permanently 7. Step Four: Learn to Experience, Trust, and Enjoy Hunger and Satiation "But I'm Afraid" Before You Begin: Understanding Guilt and Dissociation Exercises The Healing Process What About Nutrition? 8. Step Five: Straight Talk About Exericse When Exercise Hurts The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy Level One Activities Level Two Activities Level Three Activities Level Four Activities 9. Step Six: Get Your Doctor on Your Weight-Loss Team Sometimes It Is Hormones Other Conditions That Can Cause Weight Gain Take the Step 10. Step Seven: Learn to Wait to Lose Weight Why Fast Weight Loss Leads to Failure The Stress-Weight Cycle Losing Weight in a Stressful World Wait to Change, Not to Live Part IV Reach Out and Share Your Strength 11. Step Eight: Break Through the Secrecy Secrecy and the Male with Food and Body Preoccupations Overcoming Our Destructive Shame Advice for Friends and Family Ending the Abusive Hold of Dieting and Body Preoccupation Exercises 12. Step Nine: Redefine Your Life: What's More Important to You Than Dieting? Dieting as a Narcissistic Act Rediscovering Your Interests and Values Surprise! Why Not Thinking About Weight Makes You Lose Weight 13. Step Ten: Give to the Next Generation--Preventing Eating Disorders and Obesity in Your Children The Epidemic of Childhood Obesity and Eating Disorders Step One: Love Unconditionally Step Two: Foster Healthy Attitudes About Food Step Three: Don't Put Your Child on a Diet! Step Four: Get Fit Together Step Five: Help Your Child Develop Interests, Talents, and Self-Esteem Step Six: Point Out Unhealthy Cultural Messages Step Seven: Make a Continuous Effort to Be a Healthy Parent Exercises 14. Questions I'm Often Asked Afterword Notes Index