The End Of Overeating?

June 3rd, 2009

by John R. Sedivy

I just started listening to “The End Of Overeating” by David A. Kessler this evening. As with many other books lately, this is something I would not ordinarily have read, but came across it during my quest to make my way through the New York Times Best Sellers List for Hardcover Nonfiction. At the time of this writing, this book occupies the number eight spot. As with many of the other books on the list, so far it looks promising and I am happy for having purchased it. I just finished Chapter 5 and it has already got me thinking about changing some of the habits in my life. Once complete I will write a review and share with you, but in the meantime I will update you as I go along.

An Unhealthy Appetite
The premise behind this book is simple – the author having seen a segment on Oprah where Dr. Phil was questioning a member of the audience about overeating and witnessing the emotional response of the audience as a whole, became curious about the obesity trend in the United States. Yes, there is an obesity trend in the U.S., it is very obvious if you travel abroad and then return home to the U.S. – there is definitely an issue here that is not shared by the rest of the world. The American people are overeating, and according to the author, it is a relatively recent trend and is occurring for reasons that you might not think.

Gnawing Questions
“The End Of Overeating” attempts to answer the following questions:

1. Why does food hold such power over us as individuals?
2. Why do we continue to eat, even though we know we will feel badly once finished despite short term satisfaction?
3. Why do we think about food even when we are not hungry?
4. Why do we sometimes eat to the point of being sick, and even dream about food?

When I say “we” and “us” in the preceding questions, I am assuming that you, as a reader have considered, or experienced the preceding questions at one point or another. Sometimes this may occur frequently, or at a moment of weakness, such as a tough time in your life.

At first glance this may appear to affect only those who may have a clinical eating disorder. Often I have heard that it is glandular or there is a metabolism issue. According to the author this is not the case – this is a widespread phenomenon which affects millions of Americans. This problem transcends economic classes, individuals who are underweight, overweight, educated, uneducated. It simply does not matter who you are or where you come from – if you are an American you have likely experienced this at one time or another.

Initial Reactions
I must say that so far I am pleasantly surprised by this book. My expectations were none, and at first glance I was not really interested. I am embarrassed to admit that I even put off reading it for a couple of days. However, having started, I am very intrigued and the book is now tough to put down. I do not consider myself to have an eating problem, or even to be overweight or overindulgent. Granted I could stand to lose a few pounds, and there is always room for improvement, but I did not consider myself as part of the target market for this book. After listening to the opening words, I am beginning to reconsider.

“The End Of Overeating” strikes some interesting questions which I look forward to exploring!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding