When Food Is Comfort: Nurture Yourself Mindfully, Rewire Your Brain, and End Emotional Eating Paperback – March 20, 2018

This book has changed my life significantly. This is the solution to emotional eating and so many other issues in my life. Not only has this helped me curb my emotional eating but it has helped me be a better more balanced person as a coworker, friend, partner and parent. I would say a must read for anyone and everyone!But, this is hard work. Probably the hardest thing you can ever do is look inside and change your self. So you need to be in the right mindset to accept this book and admit to yourself you are the problem, but also the solution. I have had 3 years counciling before this and it set the stage for me to be able to not blame everyone else for my issues and start changing myself.I have spent years on yo yo diets, knowing that whole foods is the path to a healthy life but could never get the portion control or beige eating under control. My waist has just gotten bigger and bigger. I have a successful career, a great husband, and great family and friends. But.... big but here, I have emotional issues. I am quick to anger, have issues processing, understanding or even identifying challenging emotions. I am overly sensitive and take many things personally- flying off the handle like a child instead of handling things like an adult... which leads to my closest comfort- food.The book explains to you exactly why you seek food or other addictions in place of being able to identify and process your emotions. It’s the last boot camp you will do to loose weight, and the work can only be done by you at anytime or anywhere. Reconditioning yourself to self soothe and process challenging emotions. Making you not need food for comfort anymore.I also bought the audio book and listened and read these chapters over and over. Also keeping a journal with the 7 steps charts copied over for quick reference.

This is one of the most impactful books that I've ever read. Emotionally it was very fulfilling and I could identify with Julie Simon's clients stories in the book. I was not familiar with the term emotional regulation until recently, certain communities just do not talk about Emotional Regulation as a skillset. I am an African American woman over 40 and I never realized this was a thing, and I consider myself to be fairly well read and progressive.The book definitely showed me a higher level of consciousness through how I used food to cope with anger, stress, and complex layered emotions. This book allowed me to understand exactly when I was using food to cope or drown out my anxiety and painful emotions. I did try just about all of the emotional regulation tools and techniques in the book. All you need is a few good ones that you can go off the top of your head. I would say make a goal to do a few techniques at least 1-2 times a week. You want to make a habit of checking in on yourself emotionally before you look to food for comfort.Since this book I've lost nearly 30 pounds over the course of 5 months through using emotional regulation techniques, modifying my diet (which this book does not get into much), consistent exercise, and lots of fresh water daily. I recommend coupling this book with any exercise/diet/meal modification program that you know you can realistically do.There is only one thing I would change about the book, because there is so much information, I would like to see a summary or a small cheat sheet of the techniques offered. The techniques get blended into the book, because it's so rich in text-which is a great thing, but the reader must be mindful about pausing between chapters and practicing the techniques offered in order to be successful. Thank you Julie M. Simon!

If the author had incorporated intuitive eating, this would be a perfect book. The concept of the Inner Nurturer has changed my life. Definitely worth a read, but if you practice intuitive eating you'll have to beware a few sections that praise restricting food.

This book is a MUST for anyone who has struggled with emotional eating. When Food Is Comfort, builds upon the foundational tools and steps in her first book and delves in to the lack of nurturing and validation one experiences as a child as the impetus of a child’s stunted emotional develop and inability to self-nurture gives rise to the dependence on food for emotional comfort. While the damage has been done, Julie shares her techniques for an emotional eater to heal from the wounds and traumas, using personal examples and a gentle non-shaming tone.One of my favorite parts of When Food Is Comfort is how validating the message is to those suffering from emotional eating. Not built upon some fad diet or quick fix, Simon sets out and explores the complexities behind emotional eating. She has set out a very straightforward skills process for regulating behaviors and setting limits so that anyone suffering from emotional eating can begin to practice the self- reflective skills (and in turn assist in the physical change of the self-regulatory circuits in the brain) and can begin to heal from their core wounds as well as their emotional eating. I am so glad this resource is available for all of those suffering in silence and I am proud to keep it next to my bed and use it as I overcome my own struggles.Moreover, Julie doesn’t ‘blame’ a child’s caregiver or parent for failing to meet their child’s early developmental needs and empowers the struggling emotional eater to reclaim their power and heal themselves without food.I am glad this book and Julie's insight and techniques are available to those suffering from emotional eating, an "eating disorder" that is not well understood, and provides those struggling with the shame and isolation of emotional eating an empowering way to begin to heal themselves.