Life is Hard, Food is Easy: The 5-Step Plan to Overcome Emotional Eating and Lose Weight on Any Diet Paperback – January 1, 2004

By accident, I happened to find this book as I was using Google to search for information that might help me overcome emotional eating. I have tried many, many diets in the past, but none of them worked, because I would always start bingeing, and then I would gain more weight than I ever had before. Right now, I am about 110 pounds over my ideal weight.I bought the Dr. Phil book earlier -- hoping that it would help me to figure out why I am so out-of-control on my eating. It was good in terms of presenting general information, but it didn't really give me any concrete and specific tools for helping me break my vicious cycle of emotional eating. I found the Dr. Phil book useless in terms of giving practical steps about how to get out of the very deep, dark hole that I am in right now.I bought this book about 1 week ago. It is by far, the hardest book that I have ever read, because the exercises (and stories of others who had traveled down the same path) in the book forced me to face loneliness, grief, depression, fear of rejection, hopelessness about my future, past pain from abuse, etc. It was hard to face that which I had run away from -- and consistently avoided facing by stuffing myself with food.Over this weekend, I put down the chocolate, and I faced the emotions associated with my depression head-on. I felt really, really bad for about two days as I cried about my life, but TODAY, the black cloud that has hung over me for most of my adult life has finally lifted.The most amazing thing is that my food cravings are gone. I am no longer downing 6 chocolate turtles, one pint of Blue Bell Rocky Road, 1 pound of rice pudding, and 1 Red Baron Cheese pizza in ONE SINGLE MEAL. I was totally shocked to find that I did not have a SINGLE problem with ANY food cravings today, and I haven't felt deprived in any way. The compulsion to self-medicate with food is totally gone.But best of all, I have been paralyzed by depression during the last 8 years. There are things that have needed to be done, boxes of cluttered files that I have needed to throw out, and changes that I have needed to make in my life -- other than losing weight.Everything seemed so overwhelming that I never could seem to do these things. It was much easier to hide under the covers and sleep, watch TV, and eat the Blue Bell ice cream, than it was to face these impossible mountains of change. Or to come to terms with profound grief over something that happened 13 years ago.Well, I am happy to report, that I finally started to tackle one of my biggest mountains this morning. I threw out boxes of files that were no longer needed, but that I couldn't seem to throw out, because they were my only connection to a much happier past. I also began to start thinking that perhaps I could change my life after all. It does not have to be like this; I do have the power to change my thinking -- and my life. I do have the ability to take baby steps to do what God is directing me to do -- in order to become the person that He created me to be -- not the half-dead shell of a person that I was only a few days ago.In conclusion, this book is well-written, and well-worth the money spent. Besides the practical reflective exercises, Linda Spangle writes about her life, includes personal stories from some of her former clients, and she includes time-tested tools that have been shown to get many people over the emotional blocks that keep them from losing weight. It is written in such a way that the reader feels that Linda Spangle is talking to you over a cup of tea. It is well-worth the money spent, and I only wish that this book had been written 13 years ago!

I bought this book because I heard it mentioned on-line in the Weight Watcher's community forum. I've been working hard to lose weight for almost a year now, but have been stymied by late night eatings. I'd be good all day, but then - after the kids had gone to bed I'd lose all my willpower. I had heard that this was emotional eating. I looked for help and while there are many books and other resources (such as OA) on the subject - this particular book gets mentioned again and again. It is the first (and, as I found, best) book on the subject that actually has a real plan of action. This book describes and delineates emotional eating and then goes further. It categorizes the different kinds of emotional eating, then suggests specific plans of action. There are exercises - then contingencies are discussed and there are exercises for those contingencies. I have been, frankly, astonished by the comprehensiveness and skill brought to bear on this particular issue. Linda Spangle has, clearly, been attacking this issue clinically for many years with many different patients in different life situations. She attacks the problem from every side.Long before I finished the book I found that I was becoming aware of my own emotional eating and that this self awareness was translating into control over my problem. When I could consciously see myself doing it - I was empowered to stop it. This was before I even started working the exercises. Once I started doing that I felt a real improvement in my self esteem. I found that I was able to apply Spangle's insights and methods to other areas of compulsive behavior in my life - such as procrastination and other various compulsions. This helped spark a positive feedback loop where I began to feel more in control of life and better about myself as a person.I ordered this book as part of a group of diet books. I've gone on to read many more. There are plenty of good books out there (and plenty of stinkers) - but this one really shines. This book is special. The roots of emotional eating that Spangle describes are the root of the problem for millions. Spangle's insightful inspiring analysis and well thought out plans of action has transformed many lives - including my own. I feel grateful every day that I found this book.

I enjoyed this book it really helped me understand the mindless eating process as wll learning and be awaare of the emotional triggers . I would recoment this to anyone who starts on a diet or is on a diet or overall wonders whuy one cant lose th e last 10 pounds. Makes one aware what we really do without realizing it .

I have gained more insight and USEFUL help from this book than from any other information I've read on emotional eating in 20 years. Spangle does a superb job of presenting the issue in a very cut & dry manner. I found more concise, helpful info in this book than in others (Geneen Roth, Dilia de la Altagracia, Jane Hirschmann, Christopher Fairburn, even Dr. Phil) combined. No frilly "feel-good language" here. The few, simple exercises of journaling have helped me so very much, and the five steps are something I use every time I go wandering into the kitchen pantry, fridge, buffet line at a party, etc. This book has helped me to achieve a weight loss I haven't been able to reach otherwise (30 lbs) in the last 10 years. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in exploring why he/she eats when not hungry, and for anyone interested in losing weight. I think anyone with weight issues has some component of emotional eating, and this book will help you identify what those issues are, quickly, and how to deal with them.