The Diet-Free Revolution: 10 Steps to Free Yourself from the Diet Cycle with Mindful Eating and Radical Self-Acceptance

Truly an awesome read. Conason is a very skilled writer who somehow blends tons of expertise and professional insight than I have genuinely seen nowhere else with down-to-earth and poignant examples that people really dealing with disordered eating will relate to and find informative and comforting on their own paths to healing. She explains concepts concisely, thoroughly, and with plenty of easy-to-follow directions to act on strategies right away in your daily life. Conason puts her own unique spin on concepts in disordered eating treatment and provides examples that brilliantly and simply illustrate what she's talking about so new diet culture dropouts can easily understand, and those of us who have been in recovery for a while have new ideas to store in our mental backpacks- to both remind ourselves of our own recovery and explain why we do what we do to family, friends, etc. This is so invaluable. I read the book in two days because I could not put it down. I found a couple examples that resonated with where I am in my life right now and I am so happy I was able to read this book at this time. As a final point, Conason addresses important points that I don't see other books in this space bring up often, if at all. I cannot describe how appreciative I was about the section on pleasure in the last chapter. Almost no one talks about those things, but now there is one book out there that finally puts words to something I was struggling to understand and deal with.

Conason's book was published just when I needed it. I'm a young(ish) mom navigating the adjustment to parenthood in the midst of a global pandemic. My body is changing in all kinds of ways and the stress of all the messages we receive from our society can be hard to combat. Conason's words were a salve to my heart. I appreciate how she challenged diet culture with research, clinical vigniettes and references to her own story. With each practical activity, I imagined joining Conason's other clients in reclaiming their relationship with their bodies through wisdom and compassion. I LOVED how she named various cultural mechanisms that serve to keep women and BIPOC communities down; we all have a lot of healing to do and I appreciate how Conason made it that bit more accessible. I have already recommended the book to so many friends and family and can't wait to continue to spread the word. Thank you!!

Book came in good condition

This book is an absolute must-read for anyone who has ever struggled with their relationship with food or their body. Conason breaks down the oppressive nature of diet culture and offers practical steps for working towards taking the struggle out of eating and reconnecting with your values. She dispels myths about weight and health and talks about just how UNHEALTHY engaging in diet culture can be. The case examples she uses are interesting and relatable, and the research on everything presented is incredibly thorough. As an eating disorder psychologist, everything Conason writes about informs my work with my own clients. Could not recommend this book more highly!

How I wish this book had existed 30 years ago when my diet roller coaster started. This book not only breaks the myths, but it helps you find your way forward. So good!!

I picked up this book because I'm a 47 year old woman who is an extraordinary picky eater (definitely some disordered eating happening as a result of being put on diets as a child) and I work out a lot (i swim five miles a day) and as I am getting older, I find myself getting even more restrictive about food and more obsessed with my health and I kind of want to be mindful about this before it becomes something that might spiral out of control.I figured this book might help- a lot of this started when i was put on Weight Watchers when I was a kid back in the "no-fat" 1980's and learned all about "exchanges" and how carbs and fats and fruits were forbidden, which we now know is not healthy at all. It has definitely helped me stay at a consistent weight, but it's not super healthy, and I truly have no idea how to eat outside that model. I rarely walk away from any meal thinking "wow, that was great, and very satisfying."This book was REALLY eye-opening. I have to admit that some of the author's suggestions made me want to slam the book down and run as far away from it as I could- at one point she openly suggests allowing yourself to eat as much of whatever food it is you are craving without limits, and then restocking on that food immediately so that you can continue to have access to it, as much and as often as you like. That suggestions makes sense- if you train your brain to know that you have unlimited access to the foods you crave, eventually you stop craving them because you just learn they are abundant and available. You'll eventually learn which foods you actually like, and eat less of them. It makes sense, and it's intriguing, but it's also scary as heck.This isn't a diet plan, or a "healthy" approach to moderate eating- this is about accepting who you are at any size and learning how to figure out the foods you actually enjoy and how much of them you need to feel truly satisfied, and in doing so, your system will balance itself out.But if you are like me, and kind of have a food "routine" that works for you, the ideas in this book will seem radical. It's scary to think of letting go of the little voice in my head that tracks portion size and how many carbs I have had during any given day.But I also realized from reading this that I have basically ignored my own body's internal regulation for almost 50 years, and all heck isn't going to break loose if I splurge and enjoy myself every so often. The key is to stay plugged into my mind and my body, and figure out what it needs and how much of it it needs.I definitely walked away from this book feeling a lot more free than I have about eating and since I read it, I have found myself definitely eating more of the things I usually try and limit (healthy fats, for example... like I said, raised in the 1980's) and reminding myself often that there are no hard and fast rules about foods- the goal is to feel satisfied and happy with myself at the end of the day.