“Now pay careful attention to this next sentence. If you don’t pay attention, it will be really, really hard to change your habits. If you pay attention, your habits will change for good. And this might be easier than you think.” – 4.5/5 stars!

Attention! This book contains: hungry ghosts, feeling hunger, paying attention, food jail, mindfulness, RAIN exercises, meditation, cravings, and feeding emotions.

A program proven to heal our relationship with food and our bodies from New York Times bestselling author of Unwinding Anxiety.

Sometimes it feels as if there are as many ways to struggle with food as there are foods to eat.  Craving, habit, emotions, boredom, stress, anxiety, or just the simple fact that a box of donuts seems to be omnipresent in the breakroom (free food!) can lead to feeling out of control around food.  While anxiety feels like something that happens to us, the pull of food feels like something we should be able to handle. After all, we have to eat!  But it’s not that simple.  The result of this constant struggle—and then giving in or giving up—is a toxic cocktail of shame and self-judgment that makes it feel like it is impossible to change our behavior.
The Hunger Habit is based on Judson Brewer’s deeply researched plan proven to help us understand what is going on in our brains so that we can heal the guilt and frustration we experience around eating. This is not a diet book pretending not to be a diet book. The step-by-step program focuses on the training out brains to tap into awareness to change our relationship with food and eating—shifting it from fighting with ourselves to befriending our minds and bodies. There is no willpower, calorie-counting, or restricted eating. Setbacks are a good thing! The key is to learn how to work with our brains rather than resisting our impulses, and to adopt an attitude of self-kindness rather than self-judgment.
Grounded in cutting-edge neuroscience and several decades of clinical practice as a psychiatrist, The Hunger Habit is both accessible and compassionate. It will finally help you break out of food jail and reclaim your life.

Wow, this book is great! I didn’t think I was going to like this book as much as I did but I ended up taking a lot from it.
In this book, the author Dr. Jud shares his plan to help us heal from the guilt of overeating and give in to our cravings by helping us understand what is going on with our brains when it happens. With that information, we can take back our power to make changes and start the healing journey. This is not the type of book where you’ll get dietary tips or anything of the sort, so keep that in mind if you’re considering reading this. This book is focused on helping to change our behavior and relationship with food, with compassion and kindness, by working with our brains instead of against them.
So who are the people this book is appropriate for? I would say people struggling with binge eating disorder and/or people feeling that they have no control over food. There are a lot of people who have cravings and have the need to eat to feed emotions (boredom, stress, anxiety) – not necessarily because they’re hungry -, and end up feeling ashamed and angry with themselves. If you’re struggling with eating disorders such as bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa, this is NOT the book for you. The author makes this very clear!
The idea behind the book is very interesting because I don’t think I ever read about this kind of approach for an issue like this. I think my big take from the book is in essence to be mindful about food and start paying more attention to body cues. This way it is possible to make long-lasting changes to our binging and eating habits. The book includes practice sections divided into days, so the goal is for you to read a section per day for 21 days. The author also makes available free resources for those who are interested in the hands-on approach!
I’ve started to practice what is preached, and I started noticing a few new things while I’m eating or thinking about food. It’s a work in progress, but I’m determined to persist to see a different outcome one day.
There were some moments in the book that were starting to get a little repetitive, and for that reason only, I didn’t rate this higher. With that said, I truly think this is a great book with a different perspective from other books with the same hot topic.