I am happy to report that my online nutrition counseling practice is taking off. And the best part is that I get to work with my favorite patients/clients/customers: yo-yo dieters and emotional eaters. They are the folks that don’t feel good about their weight and the way they eat. A history of traditional diets knocked them off their natural course and, for many, childhood trauma had a role. Their weights cycle up and down because, unfortunately, diets make you fat. My job is to help them get off the wobbly track and back into the groove. It doesn’t matter if they have a medical condition; everyone has a personal best. When they stop dieting and their weight no longer cycles, better health always returns.

My Favorite “How To” Books for Intuitive Eating

Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, two registered dietitians, wrote the 1995 classic, Intuitive Eating, that gave a useful name to the “non-diet” approach. The approach uses physical and emotional feelings (and knowledge) to guide intake and rebuild pleasure in eating. The mindset can be learned, especially with the help of a skillful teacher, and so to understand the ins-and-outs of intuitive eating, I always ask my yo-yo dieters to read at least one of these excellent books:

• Beyond Chocolate by Sophie Boss
• Breaking Free from Emotional Eating by Geneen Roth
• The Diet Survivors Handbook by Judith Matz and Ellen Frankel
• Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat by Mchelle May
• The Food and Feelings Workbook by Karen R. Koenig
• Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
• Naturally Slim : Without Dieting by Cherie Martin
• Overcoming Binge Eating by Christopher G. Fairburn
• Overcoming Overeating by Jane R. Hirschmann and Carol H. Munter
• The Rules of Normal Eating, Karen Koenig
• Why Weight? A Guide to Ending Compulsive Eating, Geneen Roth

When I asked the LinkedIn Group of Intuitive Eating Professionals to recommend their favorite books, they also suggested books that address self-acceptance, self-care and spirituality, essential issues of breaking free. Here are some of the books for emotional eaters that they recommend:

• Binge No More by Joyce D. Nash
• The Emotional Eater’s Book of Inspiration: 90 Truths You Need to Know to Overcome Your Food Addiction by Debbie Danowski
• Emotional Eating: What You Need to Know Before Starting Your Next Diet by Edward Abramson
• The Gift of Our Compulsions: A Revolutionary Approach to Self-Acceptance and Healing by Mary O’Malley
• Losing It In France by Sally Asher
• The Self-Compassion Diet by Jean Fain
• There Is Nothing Wrong with You: Going Beyond Self-Hate by Cheri Huber
• And everything by Geneen Roth

Your thoughts: Which books help you to a healthy life and eat with joy?