Well, I am feeling very timely today! I am a big fan of Geneen
Roth's writing and her work to help women arrive at their natural weights by delving into the deeper issue of self-worth. I recently finished her powerful new book, Women, Food, And God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything, and have been planning to make this my first giveaway prize for a couple of weeks now.
You can imagine my surprise when my April issue of O Magazine arrived last evening with a feature article on this very book, including a large excerpt and an interview between Oprah and Geneen Roth. (Click here for the article.) Oprah calls the book "an opportunity to finally end the war with weight and unlock the door to freedom" and says she's "telling everyone to read it now!"
So, as I had already planned, I'm giving away my copy of Women, Food, and God to one lucky reader!
To be entered to win, all you have to do is make a comment on this post, sharing the name of one of your favorite books or magazines. If you've never commented before, it's time to get in the ring! Just scroll down until you see the box labeled "Say Something." You have until this Friday, March 26th, at midnight, to make your comment. I will randomly select a winner from all who comment on THIS POST. Have fun and good luck!
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Hi Joy — I LOVE your blog and this post in particular brought to mind a story you may have heard yesterday on NPR’s All Things Considered. Apparently this issue of women and their body image is going to be featured in a six part series. They were speaking to Jamaican women yesterday and it was fascinating to hear how similar the issues are, despite the differences in cultural norms for what’s considered desirable. I’m providing the link to the story. I am grateful for you each day — your blog helps my morning get off to a “Joy-full” beginning!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124700865
Hey there! Thanks so much for this link. I look forward to listening to the series. I was reading somewhere that eating disorders are on the rise among teens in Fiji, a place that has long revered large women. The reason? Television has invaded and as a result, cultural norms are shifting. I find it all fascinating… and it really fires me up!
It IS fascinating and utterly heartbreaking.
I have stumbled across a wonderful book, aimed directly at women and every woman’s battle with insecurity. From weight and self image to self worth, self esteem, relationships of all kinds including our spiritual health and relationship with God. This book really hit home for me, to realize we all have insecurity and it is something that can definitely be overcome. It is further instilling the belief that we, as women need to break free from all that society and culture slams us with, and learn to love ourselves from the inside out. The book is “So Long Insecurity” by Beth Moore. She also has a website which I have included as well, it is “www.lproof.org”
Wow, Michele — this book sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing!
Hey Joy!!!
I love your new website! It’s fun to get your emails each day. So.…one of my favorite books.…Grace (Eventually) by Anne Lamott is a WONDERFUL book. I love her practical view on life and her use of humor. When life seems to be too serious, and I find myself not laughing or playing much, I find Anne Lamott to be a good way to take a deep breath again. I hope others will enjoy her writting.
Peace to you,
Katherine
Thanks, baby!
Oh, wow — I am a HUGE Anne Lamott fan. Everyone must read this book! All of her nonfiction is FAB!!! (I haven’t tried any of her novels.)
hi! Would love to read the Oprah book!! Some of my favorite ones include “Three Cups of Tea,” “Little Women,” A Thousand Splendid Suns, “Anne of Greene Gables.”
Marta
Hey Marta! Oh, I love Little Women and I am obsessed with the Anne movies, but haven’t read any of the books. I’m not familiar with the other two books, so I’ll have to check those out!
A Thousand Splendid Suns was an excellent read. Definitely worth looking into Joy!
In the magazine criteria I have a few that I really enjoy but they are for all different reasons. I love Vogue Knitting because of the patterns (I guess you can tell I am a knitter). I also love Food Network Magazine becuse of the variety of articles and recipes in the magazine. I also love Real Simple Magainze it has a great cross of all different subjects.
Thanks, Maureen! Magazines are so delightful! Totally one of my guilty pleasures!
Hi Joy! This is my first comment since signing up for your blog updates! I must say, reading these everyday has really become inspiring to me. Since losing you at WW, I had to find a way to get my Joy fix! Work has been stressful these last few weeks and I really look forward to reading your blog each day on my lunch break. It gives me a new perspective and helps me get through each day! Thank you so much!
I am also a magazine junkie! Reading articles in both Health and Womens Health really seems to make me feel good, knowing that I already do a lot of the things that they suggest. It gives me a positive outlook on my health and it just feels good! It’s also nice to read up on new things that I can do to make my health even better!! Working full time, being in school and life tends to keep me from reading as many novels as I would like to but I am writing all of these down so I can start collecting and reading these once school is over!
Thanks for all of your inspiration!! You are fabulous!
Yeah! Thanks for commenting. And I think YOU are fabulous!
Hi, Joy,
I’m one of your WW groupies–boy, will we miss you, but I am excited to follow you in this way. My favorite book is The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. It’s historical fiction, a modern retelling of the story of Dinah in the Bible. But that does not mean that it’s heavily religious. Not at all! It’s highly engaging–the story of what happens in the “red tent,”- where Dinah and the other women of Jacob’s tribe must, by the law of the day, take refuge while menstruating or giving birth–and where they support each other and find true power. It is an incredible book and I highly recommend it!
Cathy
Someone else was raving about that book just the other day — I can’t remember who. I’ll have to check this out for sure. Thanks so much for reading and commenting!
I’m also a huge Geneen Roth fan and I think my favorite thus far (haven’t read the new one yet) is “Healing The Hungry Heart” — really a must read in my opinion. When I first picked up “Breaking Free From Emotional Eating” at the library and read some of the cover quips I thought, “Oh, ok, this is totally for me, I’m an “emotional eater”, so let’s see what all this is about”, but I was really unprepared for all that I would learn and discover or how much would resonate with me and in so many non-food ways. I picked up a book about emotional eating and somehow embarked on a self-discovery, peace and happiness from within, feeling my feelings and living my whole life journey — I’d call that a good read.
I also just want to share two of my (current) favorite passages, both from “Breaking Free From Emotional Eating”:
We change for ourselves; we change to come closer and closer to those glimpses, those flashes of who we know we could become if we allowed ourselves to unfold. We change because we have to change, because when we don’t, we become stultified, stratified, rock-hard.
It’s not a matter of changing what you eat. It’s a matter of changing how you live. When you work on the root level of compulsion, and begin allowing yourself to experience discomfort, then you won’t need to eat to push it away. — Geneen Roth, “Breaking Free From Emotional Eating”.
And p.s. I’m a HUGE Anne of Green Gables fan!!! I love that whole “kindred spirits” concept!
Hey there, you kindred spirit, you. Yep — Geneen rocks. It’s as simple as that.
Hey Joy! I love your blog and the quotes, books, etc. that I am reading each and every day. Great idea for your new adventure and I’m just loving it. The magazine I like and look at often is “Shape”. I think it has great insight for exercise, healthy eating, information on positive self-talk, and generally well-being tidbits. Thanks for what you’re doing. I just need to find some time (MAKE some time) to get to reading all these wonderful things you are putting out there. Thanks for this giveaway opportunity and hope you’re doing well! jennifer
Hey baby! Thanks for commenting! Don’t be overwhelmed by all the stuff that I’m posting. Just let it sort of drift past you and grab hold of whatever looks enticing… just let the rest float on by with zero guilt, pressure, or worries.
I used to get overwhelmed with all the amazing resources out there — books, blogs, websites, podcasts, AAAAHHH!! Then I would end up shutting down and not taking advantage of any of it. So I try to practice the art of allowing rather than forcing –works a lot better for me!
Hi Joy, what a great idea to share all these wonderful titles. I have many books that I love but one that truly got me thinking and began to change my life was “Happiness Is A Choice” by Barry Niel Kaufman. It’s all about investigating personal beliefs and how we choose to deal with thoughts / events / situations in our lives. (I also love the Anne of Green Gabels series and would add, just for sheer reading pleasure, the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.) Thanks for all the inspiration!
Hi, this is in response to the post about your give-away. My favorite book is “If You See the Buddah on the Road, Kill Him”. It is by Sheldon Kopp and I read it when I was very young and needed its message in the worst way. The whole book is about being your own guru, trusting your own thinking. It came to me at a time when I was looking outside of myself for how I should live, think, feel. I want to go back and re-read it now that I DO trust myself to know what is right and best for me, just to see how far I have come and if there are any areas in my life that I am still not trusting myself to figure out and handle. This is not to say we don’t need help and support. But I do know that all of the answers are within and we need to know that we will find them if we keep looking. Love ya, Joy!
OOOH! Sounds GOOD! Love ya, too!
Hmmm…is it ironic that I’m an English teacher and had to think about this for a long time? I don’t know that I have an absolute favorite because I love, love, love books in general. One of my favorite books is the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook (it has a red and white checkered cover). My reasons for loving it are sentimental, though. My mom and grandmother both have well-loved copies of it and now I have my own. I also am fascinated by ghost stories. I have a Ghosts of Virginia book that I love, it’s pure escapism…I love to read things that other people choose for me, like in a book club, because I tend to default to same old, same olds.
I think it makes TOTAL sense that an English teacher would have a hard time with this. TOO MANY CHOICES! I love your picks, honey. Love them. It was worth the wait!
Dear Melissa,
I am very touched by your kind words and those of your other readers. Women Food and God is a book meant for all of us who struggle on this journey. Knowing that we’re not alone is such a healing balm.
The most radical part of my own story is not that I stopped dieting; it’s that I stopped trying to fix myself. I stopped fighting with myself, stopped blaming myself, my mother, my latest boyfriend for my weight. And since diets were my most flagrant attempt at fixing myself, I stopped them as well. Women turn to food when they are not hungry because they are hungry for something they cannot name: a connection to what is beyond the concerns of daily life. Something deathless, something sacred. We must reteach ourselves our true loveliness.
Thank you again, Joy. I hope your winner of Women Food and God find it eases her (or his) struggle. Oh, and by the way, Anne Lamott and I are very good friends. Her books are wonderful too.
Warmly,
Geneen Roth
Geneen,
You have BEYOND made my day. I don’t know what to say. It is such an honor to have you comment on my blog. Wow.
Thank you shining such a bright light to women everywhere. Thank you for knowing what you are meant to do in this life and doing it with your whole heart. God bless you.
OMG!! i’m just catching up on your blog since getting back from FL and I can’t believe Geneen commented on your blog!!!! it is beyond cool! Girl, you really have something going here! I’M SO EXCITED FOR YOU! every day you inspire me to get out of my own way and push through my pain so i can come out on the other side and be like you when i grow up!!! LOVE YOU!
Thanks, honey! Yes — this was a BIG DEAL for me. I wanted to call you but it was the day you were leaving for Florida!
LOVE YOU LOVE YOU LOVE YOU!
Hahahaha!! How cool is THAT?! And Geneen–send Anne our love!!
I am so enjoying your blog, I just have to make myself get off, there is sooo much
to read and enjoy, I like any book by Beth Moore. I asked for anything by Anne Lamott at the Family Christian Bookstore and they didn’t carry anything by her. Where do you find her books, I haven’t checked Barnes & Nobles yet.
Keep up the encouraging work, God is using this as a special ministry.
Hey Ann! I am so glad you are enjoying the blog. I am having a BLAST writing it. I do feel that it’s a ministry. I really do.
About Anne Lamott — she is very left-wing, very liberal. You can definitely find her books at B&N, but I don’t know if she would be your cup of tea!
Much love!