You Can't Eat Love: How Learning to Love Yourself Can Change Your Relationship with Food

I'm not good at writing reviews but I had to write one for this one. I've read so many books on binge eating. Overcoming Binge Eating, Overcoming Emotional Eating, Overeaters Anonymous...so many I have a shelf full. But this book, this kind, simple, honest, straightforward book cut right to the heart of what I needed. I don't need a strict regimen, I don't need to log everything I do, I don't need to worry about numbers and obsess over metrics. I need to write and learn to give myself the love I need. I always pushed down my emotions with food. Food was (and still is, it's an ongoing struggle) my comfort, and the only thing that made me feel good. But I want to change, and this book genuinely helped me to realize the problem was I had never addressed my emotions and feelings. I learned to stuff them down and never unlearned it. I had no compassion for myself. "I should do better, I shouldn't eat that, I am a bad person." But I'm not bad. I binge because I need love and affection. This book was a kind and gentle journey towards discovering that for myself. No rigid program, just sharing a story and inviting you to think about a lot of things you've shied away from. This book promotes self love, is encouraging without being overbearing, and the writer is such a kind person in her Facebook group too. I love this book so much. So, so so much. I'm not perfect, but I'm so much better off for reading this book. And I just bought it randomly!

The title caught me. I didn't even read the description, but I was curious.While I don't struggle with food, I struggle with nicotine. I'm almost at day 40 on the patch, and I've had a pretty strong circle of support from many angles, but this book added insight into the hardest cravings I've had while on the patch. Good times with friends. That's when the strongest cravings hit, and this book helped me to understand the strong emotional associations of dangerous habits and behaviors with good times or memories. I know the new level of understanding and awareness I now have through this book will help me in those future struggles.My favorite quotes from the author were:"['My drug of choice'] was how I killed the pain of honest feelings, because I was afraid of feeling.""If we tell our mind enough lies, it will take them as truth.""Our mind wants us to be happy, and when those senses 'trigger' a memory, our mind pulls out all the stops to make it real as it was when it first happened."

In You Can’t Eat Love, author Leslie Lindsey Davis explores the pitfalls of an emotional relationship with food and provides real, practical solutions to overcoming emotional and related behavioral patterns of eating. The author at once grabbed my attention with her description of rewarding herself after grocery shopping with a little treat that she felt compelled to finish eating and hide the evidence during her 15-minute drive home. The only difference is I only have 5 minutes to do this! You Can’t Eat Love presents its case as a journey, and the author does an incredible job of using that analogy to its fullest, including progressively adding tips and tools to the suitcase we are taking on our trip. The book is filled with easy to understand and imminently practical things we can do to change our relationship with food and improve our lives. The author’s willingness to share her own journey and the steps she has taken to overcome emotional eating is a bonus, as are the Life Hacks provided at the end of each chapter. I highly recommend this book for anyone who struggles – or knows someone who struggles - with behavior-related eating. Enjoy your journey!

Reading this book, I came to the realization that everything is not what it seems. That when it comes to food and eating disorders, or anything of that nature, it is mostly emotional. Therefore, it is very multilayered than we think. This book tackles that, and it tackles how to deal with that on many different levels with many different steps.Overall great read

I so enjoyed Leslie Davis' book! As a lifelong emotional eater, I appreciate this book which shows that Leslie understands what's behind emotional eating -- a big me-sized hole inside that needs my Love. Leslie doesn't try to sell me a one-sized-fits-all remedy for something as individual as learning to love myself, she cheerfully - in a true cheer-leading way - presents many viable opportunities for showing myself Love in those moments when my default behavior would be to reach for food (the drug of choice for so many of us). I love so many of her analogies, like how we need to create new ruts in the road while going on a car trip toward a new destination and especially love how she compares what we will do in a traffic jam to what we will do when faced with eating challenges. I can so relate -- stuck in traffic I often have felt like just abandoning my car but of course never do, and thinking about that does help me choose differently when I feel stuck in a negative food rut. Her tone is upbeat and humorous and her writing voice makes you feel like you're sitting down to a cup of coffee with a new best friend. I also love how she continues building up handy lists of possible tools for choosing Loving Yourself over eating - the reminders help with the added benefit of learning through repetition as the lists grow chapter by chapter. I highly recommend this book for anyone who struggles with emotional eating (and who doesn't?).

I found this book to be quite interesting. I am not sure that everything the author writes about applies to my situation, but I found several items that resonated with me. Since I hit puberty, I have been fighting the weight battle. I have successfully lost weight only to have it go back on—in a cycle that is frustrating. I know I use food as a crutch when I am having personal issues but, after reading this book, I now have strategies to help me overcome that problem.It took courage for the author to write the book and detail the story of her weight loss; I'm not sure I could have been so diligent and honest.I will be taking her advice and changing my relationship with food and hope to lose that last 20 pounds that will put me at my goal weight.

What a refreshing perspective on losing weight, healthy living and most important of all, letting go of expectations, judgements and other people's critical analysis of 'the should's'. Doing the thought provoking mental exercises in this book, opened up my mind to why I was choosing to be stuck in other areas of my life as well! I loved the authors conversational tone. It felt as though I was going on a journey with a friend and we had the same goal but she gave me a different road map to achieve the goal. What a fun adventure this book is! A great example of how we can empower ourselves, if we choose.

Life is not about focusing on the end but the journey itself. The author practically shows how we can control our bad habits of eating by replacing a planned and easy to follow instructions to change our lifestyle. If you need something practical and simple, I recommend this book. It is not only for changing a diet but reaching any other goals.

The media could not be loaded.  I would leave a 6-star review if I could, this is an outstanding book and it's clear that the author has put a lot of thought and care into providing resources and guidance for someone struggling with their relationship with food and their body. The focus on self-compassion, forgiveness, boundaries, and habit change is especially helpful, as these are all crucial elements of creating lasting change. And the reminder that we are enough, just as we are, is a powerful message that we can all benefit from hearing. .

If you are an emotional eater, you will probably recognise yourself in some of the descriptions. But this book shows you the importance of doing you; of making it work for YOU. It shows you how to set yourself up for success; to keep in mind where you are at now, so you don’t set off the fear of failing which triggers shaming and blaming. It looks at the importance of having empathy for yourself and of focusing on the rewards, not the goal.I love the author’s writing style. It really is like going on a road trip with a friend. As you read through the book, you will discover why this analogy she uses is so fantastic (I especially liked the linking of ruts in the road to habits and making new ones. - Each time you successfully reinforce a new habit the new ruts get a little deeper and the old ones fill up a little more.)If you emotionally eat, I highly recommend this book. The author’s compassion and empathy shine through and you will realise that you are not alone. And that you can be your best friend in the whole wild world, a friend who is always with you.