The Tao of Eating: Feeding Your Soul Through Everyday Experiences With Food

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Summary: Fat Acceptance
Review: Call this book "how to get fatter without hardly trying". A feel-good bromide for those without willpower.

Rating:
Summary: Sensible, natural comfort and advice
Review: Finally, some comfot and joy for men and women who have lost the ability to eat naturally and "soulfully." A disgruntled reader above lamented the lack of feminist discussion in the book. As a feminist, I agree that many of women's problems with food are based on the exploitive culture we live in, but I also know quite a few men who struggle with weight and with food, if not so much about body image as about health and aging. This book isn't trying to analyze the many historical and societal reasons why people have lost the ability to eat peacefully and naturally, it's trying to provide a very real, day-to-day, method for restoring soulful eating for most people. Obviously, it's not a textbook for serious eating disorders or any other kind of disorder. But it's a great source of wisdom for the average eater who needs to restore insight, instinct and reason to their daily meals. This book needed to be written--thanks for writing it, Dr. Harper!

Rating:
Summary: Sorry folks - this ain't the Holy Grail!
Review: Finally, some comfot and joy for men and women who have lost the ability to eat naturally and "soulfully." A disgruntled reader above lamented the lack of feminist discussion in the book. As a feminist, I agree that many of women's problems with food are based on the exploitive culture we live in, but I also know quite a few men who struggle with weight and with food, if not so much about body image as about health and aging. This book isn't trying to analyze the many historical and societal reasons why people have lost the ability to eat peacefully and naturally, it's trying to provide a very real, day-to-day, method for restoring soulful eating for most people. Obviously, it's not a textbook for serious eating disorders or any other kind of disorder. But it's a great source of wisdom for the average eater who needs to restore insight, instinct and reason to their daily meals. This book needed to be written--thanks for writing it, Dr. Harper!

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Summary: This is the pinnacle of food and eating related books!
Review: I have never been a big fan of dieting, infact, I think it is wrong. Millions of teenagers and adults think they are slightest bit overweight so they try to starve themselves and eat very little so they lose weight until they become haggard. Now, I read this book and I consider myself to be a souful eater. It's a great feeling, people who read this book should realize how much yu can get from it. Rather comparing fat or calorie content you should think about what your soul really wants, or what tastes better to you. I believe Dr. Harper is making a great effort to help millions of people who believe dieting is the answer to a better life, when reallysoulful eating the best way to stay healthy and keep a more balanced diet because you then eat what your soul desires most. This is an excellant book Dr. Harper!!

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Summary: Full of wisdom and NOT only for women
Review: Readers might think that a book like this is only for women --NOT TRUE. It's a great book for EVERYONE, including men, who would like a better relationship with food and more pleasure and depth in their everyday life. Men also get too caught up in what they should and should not eat and Dr. Harper frees us from that way of thinking. Not only does she encourage us to stop dieting -- she goes a step further and shows how dieting limits our experience of life and is harmful - "Rule-bound" eating interferes with "soulful" living. Diets fool us into thinking we are doing something good for us, but in reality they are keeping us from knowing and accepting ourselves, others, and our lives. This book is a lot more than just a book about eating --its about a whole way of approaching life and all of our relationships. It requires us to really think about the choices we make. I think Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, Soulmates, and The Soul of Sex, sums up the far-reaching value of this book. He says, "Linda Harper's book on food, eating, and NOT dieting is the BEST BOOK ON FOOD I have ever seen. It's radically comforting for those of us who keep trying to eat properly. And it is a rare book that gets the idea of soul care exactly right. Read this book, eat well, and you will discover the wonder of living soulfully."

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Summary: The world does not need another diet book...
Review: THE TAO OF EATING by Linda R. Harper is a welcome addition to books on the enjoyment of food and the opposition to dieting. The world does not need another diet book, whether it be ghost-written for a so-called celebrity, or endorsed by a medical quack. The fact that so many diet books are published every year, and bought by people looking for God to say, "This is The Book that will solve your problems," is amazing and disheartening in itself. Our desire to be anything but ourselves is all too prevalent in American society. If all Ms. Harper tells you is to accept yourself, the book would be worthwhile, but she says even more that gives the reader encouragement and hope. This book is not only appealing at first glance, but contains common-sense authority. The lay-out is good, allowing the reader to go back and forth with ease. The premise of the author's theory of a natural relationship with food is refreshing. How to get there is presented in a thorough and pleasing manner. More power to her!

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Summary: This book offers a great solution for "diet obsession"
Review: This book is the answer to "weight control obsession." Anyone who is able to distance themselves from "dieting to control weight" will profit from reading this book. It offers a way of living that incorporates eating as a natural part of life. Everyone who is willing to read this book with an open mind will benefit by gaining a more peaceful life by integrating eating with the needs of body, mind and soul. As with any obsession, it takes courage to confront one's "diet-weight-loss" obsession. If you dare to do this, you will not be disappointed. If not, it is your loss. This book has changed my life !!! A satisfied reader from Chicago.

Rating:
Summary: wasted time
Review: Time spent reading this book and following its tenets is time that has been wasted. The ideas in this book will lead to obesity and lack of self-assuredness. The author claims that one eat and become healthly just by paying attention to one's cravings.