Table of Contents
Introduction: This Is Not a Diet Book 1
Who This Book Is For 7
1 Why are We So Addicted to Food?
Let's Go on a Famine 13
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment 18
What Is Normal Eating? 25
The Big Weight Myth 26
Guess Which Industry Makes $60 Billion a Year? 33
The F-Word 38
Your Diet Might Be a Cult 40
Diets Unraveling 44
What If You've Already Tried? 45
You're in Charge (Finally) 46
2 How the Hell Do I Actually Do This?
The Physical Part 53
Tool #1: Allow Food 54
The Noble Role of Weight 56
You Are Not a Car 61
Our Fear of Hunger 64
The Diet Pendulum Swing 68
Eat When You're Hungry 70
The Trap of Mindful Eating 76
Why Are We Eating the Smallest Amount Possible!? 80
There Is No Perfect Stopping Point 84
The Trap of Seeking Balance 86
Our Goal Is to Neutralize Food 87
Will I Be Eating This Much Forever? 91
No Food Is Off Limits 94
Your Cravings Are Your Friend 97
In Defense of Carbs and Sugar 102
In Defense of Delicious and Decadent Food 108
In Defense of Salt 111
In Defense of "Shitty" Food 114
Shitty Diet Food 116
Purity Doesn't Exist 117
You Don't Need to Go on a Green Juice Cleanse 120
So Many, Many Diet Rules 121
But What About My Health? 123
"But I'm a Binger!?" 127
What to Actually Do During a Binge 129
Doesn't The Fuck It Diet Cause Obesity??? 131
"But Really, What If I Have Health Problems?" 133
Tool #2: Lie Down 138
The Noble Art of Rest 139
What About Exercise? 145
How Will You Know This Is Working? 148
Your Body Is Freaking SMART 152
The Emotional Part 155
Emotional Eating Versus Bingeing 156
The Emotions We Avoid 160
We Have Sooooo Many Emotions About Our Weight 162
Humans Use LOTS of Things to Numb 164
Fear of Pain 166
You Can't Avoid Being Human (Sorry) 171
We're All Stuck in Fight-or-Flight Mode 176
Tool #3: Breathe and Feel 179
The Myth of Stress and Breathing 180
Think You Can Hate Yourself into Improvement? 182
Who Can We Blame???? 186
Surrender to the Messiness 190
The Mental Part 193
Untangling the Knot 194
Tool #4: The Brain Dump 195
The Power of Our Beliefs 198
Your Beliefs Become Confirmation Bias 200
Mental Restriction and Bingeing 202
We All Have Our Reasons 204
What We Think Being Skinny Will Give Us 209
Losing Your Identity 213
Why We Panic 215
The Avoidable Kind of Pain 217
Stop Shoulding All Over the Place 219
You Can Release Your Limiting Beliefs 222
Tool #5: The Belief Release 225
Nothing Is a Cure-ALl 226
It Was Never Your Fault 227
Diet Culture Trauma 230
The Luck of the Thin 232
Fat Phobia 236
You Are Making the Stakes Too Damn High 239
How to Trust When You Don't Trust 240
Let It Feel Crazy 242
Waiting to Not Be Hungry 244
It's Allowed to Be Messy 245
The Thriving Part 249
What Do You Stand For? 250
Practical Boundaries with Food and Weight 252
Frivolous Downtime 255
Emotional and Existential Rest 261
Become Your Own Damn Guru 264
That's It! 266
Acknowledgments 269
Notes 273