Hungry: Lessons Learned on the Journey from Fat to Thin by Allen Zadoff

Hungry: Lessons Learned on the Journey from Fat to Thin Reviews

• 
  Allen

  At last, Hungry is an e-book! It's hard to believe that when it was published only a few years ago, e-editions were nowhere near a sure thing. I've updated, edited, and added new sections and made it available in all formats. I'm happy to be able to share it as an "alternate" take on the food/diet issue for those who might be struggling.
  
  Rather than review my own book, I'll share this piece from the
  Los Angeles Times Book Review:
  
  Los Angeles Times | Discoveries
  THERE'S no shortage of books on how to lose weight. "Hungry" is not that sort of book. It's about the importance of understanding the emotional sources of hunger, about how much more effective that understanding is than any diet could ever be, about the myths we create about our bodies that must be debunked. Its gentle, non-preachy, funny and forgiving tone is uncommonly appealing. "I don't know why Devil Dogs were so special to me," muses Allen Zadoff, who began his obsessive eating at 6 and weighed 300 pounds when he was in college, 360 by the time he was 28. At 15, he'd wanted to be an actor, but an acting teacher told him that as a "heavy" person he'd be "doomed" to character roles. He embarked on a war, "restricting, dieting, exercising, drinking protein powder, counting calories. I fought by hating myself, swearing I would never overeat again. . . . I fought battle after battle, and I lost every time," until he realized he wouldn't win using willpower. His method involved identifying the "red foods" (trigger foods he could not eat just one of); "yellow foods" (bread, say), which were comforting in times of stress; and "green foods" (grilled chicken, broccoli), which did not inspire obsessive eating. ("The green foods are boring, I know.")
  
  "Hungry" does not end once he's lost 150 pounds. "I was thin," he writes, "but I didn't know how to be happy. . . . Happiness, it turns out, is like a muscle. If I don't exercise it, it atrophies."
• 
  Paul Hankins

  I've been reading Allen Zadoff's book in this first month of my own journey with weight loss through Weight Watchers. Allen's book has been on my radar for some time.
  
  Allen was among those first authors that came on board RAW INK Online with this title, FOOD, GIRLS, AND OTHER THINGS I CANNOT HAVE. I remember seeing a picture of Allen that didn't seem to connect. If I remember correctly, he is wearing a red-striped shirt at the beach. His hair is curly and he is notably (using observation, not perception) overweight.
  
  But if you saw Allen today, you'd have a hard time connecting the two people too. Today, Allen appears to be the model of health and success with two successful young adult titles, with a new one that just released this fall, SINCE YOU LEFT ME, that is sure to follow in the successes of the first two titles.
  
  Allen's first book, HUNGRY: LESSONS LEARNED ON THE JOURNEY FROM FAT TO THIN is a like a love letter to the person who also struggles with weight and food issues, but don't expect the typical coddling that might come of a celebrity's exploration of this issue. Allen renders his journey in shorter chapters that read like vignette's that seemingly dropped out of the journey of someone named Anyman.
  
  Social situations, attempts to mask those isolated situations, and earnest attempts to enter into a healthier lifestyle are all explored in Allen's personal journey. I want to say more about Allen's book, but this is Allen's journey. His story. If you wish to dive into the book, do so. It has been very meaningful for me. Many times, I found myself quietly thinking, "Yes. I've felt that way too" or finding something that Allen shared that made me think, "This is how I might also avoid feeling __________".
  
  I read this on my Kindle, but I intend to get a physical copy to use as a journal as I continue on my own path.
  
  HUNGRY is the kind of book you'd wish WEIGHT WATCHERS would pick up and offer in the lobby to their members. This is not a HOW-TO book, but a BE YOU book. It comes with Mr. Hankins's highest recommendation as a inspiring work that could be shared with young adult readers in the room.
• 
  Kira Flowerchild

  This book is an easy, quick read that deals with a very serious topic in a positive and upbeat way. If you are ready to hear the author's message, this book may change your life. So regardless of where you are on your journey, if you have an eating disorder of any kind, give this book a try. It won't take much of your time and it just might help you - a lot.
• 
  Connie N.

  I'd rate this 4.5 stars, if I could, but I'll round up because it left me with such a good and positive feeling. This is basically a pep talk from a coach who's "been there." Zadoff was very overweight, a chronic overeater for most of his life. At Age 27, he finally recognized his problem as a disease, much like alcoholism, and treated it as such, finding a therapist and other support groups. This book is a very easy-to-read group of notes about what he's learned along the way and what has worked for him in changing his lifestyle. I found it very enlightening and had many "aha" moments while reading it. It all made a lot of sense to me.
  
  There were lots of quotes that inspired me, some of which I saved here that will keep my focus in the right place--an eating plan rather than a diet:
  
  "In hindsight, I see that dieting was nothing more than a quick fix. Diets were really about one thing: losing weight so I could get off the diet. Nobody goes on a diet with the intention of staying on it for the rest of his life. What I really wanted was to be cured, get off the diet, and go back to--what exactly? I never asked that question. It was too frightening."
  
  "I'm a junkie with food. That means I can't handle certain foods, much like an alcoholic can't handle alcohol."
  
  "Let's say I go crazy at dinner...I do not launch into a series of calculations, plans, and promises. I do not pull out a digital scale and get on it naked. I don't go on a diet. Instead, I do something radical and completely counterintuitive. I let it go. I know that dinner is over--good or bad, successful or unsuccessful. It's over...
  Each meal is its own individual performance with a beginning, middle, and end. And the good news is I only have to eat one meal at a time."
  
  "The same principle applies to each day's food...I'm not owed any food from a small meal last week, nor do I have to undereat to compensate for a big meal last night...It's just Wednesday, so I eat Wednesday's food. Simple. But not easy."
  
  "In hindsight, I see that dieting was nothing more than a quick fix. Diets were really about one thing: losing weight so I could get off the diet. Nobody goes on a diet with the intention of staying on it for the rest of his life. What I really wanted was to be cured, get off the diet, and go back to--what exactly? I never asked that question. It was too frightening."
  
  "What I know now is that my head was hungry. My disease was hungry. My body was quite full...Real hunger is satiated with a healthy, moderate amount of food. Head hunger is insatiable."
  
  "Alcohol, drugs, food, sex--any substance used addictively--functions like amber, entombing you at the level of emotional maturity you're in when you first begin to rely on the substance. Overeating seemed like it was helping me to cope with my life, but it was really crippling me. Rather than processing uncomfortable emotions, I was anesthetizing myself with food...As a result, I never acquired the skills of adulthood. My body got big, but inside I was a little boy."
  
  "As soon as you stop [overeating], you'll begin to experience the feelings that led you to eat. It's built right into the process, or at least it was for me. As my friend Mindy says, 'Don't worry about finding your feelings. They'll find you.'"
  
  "...an addict is someone who reaches for a physical substance to solve a spiritual and emotional problem. My problem has little to do with food and weight. Those are simply the manifestations of a disease. My real problem is the way I react to life."
  
  "The secret of my success is a new way of life. I wish it were a diet. That would be a lot easier."
• 
  Helen

  My sister convinced me to read this by telling me her favorite line from the book, which I have copied and pasted from her review:
  
  "I'd like to try the bunny," I said, pretending I hadn't already eaten three or four pieces. "But how?"
  
  I tried to decide from Zadoff's description whether I was a normal eater or a problem eater (I could tell quite easily that I wasn't a compulsive eater). Eventually I decided that I was a normal eater who happens to enjoy thinking about food, but who strangely does not often succumb to the cravings she has. Food happens to be interesting.
  
  My favorite aspect of the book is that it isn't preachy. I can think of several people I'd love to gently nudge toward this book, but I can't quite think of a tactful way to do so. People can be quite defensive about the way they approach food, especially if they happen to have a weight problem and perceive books like these to be didactic. Zadoff's no-pressure, supportive voice was soothing.
  
  I also wondered about one of his anecdotes, where he ate a very healthy meal while out with others, all the while planning the "real" dinner he was going to order for eating alone later. I've often found it surprising that some of my friends are obese, considering that they appear to eat healthfully when I'm with them, and then I attributed their weight to genetics, not to their eating behaviors. Somehow it never occurred to me that they might eat one way in front of people and then another way in private. Wow. It was eye-opening to realize that there are people who might go through an entire box of cookies, a whole bag of chips, or a whole container of ice cream in one sitting. I just couldn't fathom eating that much.
  
  Classifying this book is certainly a problem. It's not truly a memoir. It's definitely not a diet book, either. Yet, it's not quite a self-help book. What do they call books that are like "survivors' tales"? I guess they would call them memoirs, but it just doesn't fit the memoir mold.
  
  At any rate, the label doesn't matter. Bravo to Mr. Zadoff for laying his innermost thoughts out for the world to view.
• 
  Kim Ferguson

  This book came to me at the right time, and it was eye-opening to say the least. This isn't a self-help book. This is just the true story of a man who changed his relationship with food, eating, and most importantly, the way he began to live his life after 28 years of hiding behind food. As someone who overeats, this book showed me that I'm not alone in my own experiences, and that a lot of work and support is needed into order to change. Throughout the book, Allen clearly states that this is just what worked for him, and that everyone's journey to a healthy relationship with their food is different.
  
  My only complaint (without spoiling the basis of the book) is that it's rather short, but at least it wasn't bogged down with superfluous exposition often found in non-fiction works of self-exploration.
• 
  Jennifer

  I feel the need to qualify my 5-star rating, in that it's not like I think this book deserves a Pulitzer or even a screen adaptation. It's more about the authenticity and relatability of the book to my life. I've read a lot of self-help weight loss books (which this book purports *not* to be) and there seems to be an unspoken competition among them as to who can have the worst food disorder and be the sickest. This one was different in that a guy was just getting very real about his behaviors toward food as compared to normal eaters. I was concerned that it was going to blatantly push OA, as I've read enough of the big blue book to know that a 12 step program is not appropriate for me, so I was glad that he just wrote what worked for him instead.
• 
  Catherine Just

  I love this book. I love how he writes and how short the chapters are. Like a thought is a chapter. It can be as short as a paragraph. LOVE that. I'm half way through. Want to give all of my female friends a copy. Especially the ones who relate to the dilemma of weight, self esteem, yo yo diets, obsessing about how we look etc....This book will make you laugh and it will make you think. I like books that do both of these things!
• 
  Shanda Kinkade

  This book has changed my life. I honestly don't throw that statement around very frequently. This book and the author's experiences resonated deeply with me. I have had a life-long battle with food and even though I know this, it wasn't until I read Mr. Zadoff's words that I actually got it...and it only took me 39 years.
  
  If you have food issues or an eating disorder, give this book a chance.
• 
  Jen

  I struggle with whether to go with 3 or 4 stars. It's a solid 3 1/2 for me.
  
  Zadoff tells his story with humor and great candor. I appreciate his honesty. I've always felt like I have an unhealthy attitude toward food, and while I don't know that my problem is as severe as his, I learned a lot from his journey and am grateful he shared his story.
  
  This is an easy read in one day, although I went a little slower and finished in two.
  
  
• 
  Amy

  I enjoyed the part where he chronicles his journey through food obsession. It was a bit light on how he finally managed to stick with the plan, but clearly he used a 12 Step program. I would liked to have heard more about the type of support he received from OA and how that helped at the beginning of his journey into sane eating.
• 
  Cynthia Lewis

  His insights into food addiction are sometimes valuable, but his tendency to speak for all food addicts, or all overweight people, is obnoxious. The book is much better when he tells his own story and speaks for himself. Readers can find true commonalities themselves where they exist.
  
  For myself, I was thrown out of the flow of the book numerous times because of his assertions that I as an overweight person surely would feel X way or do Z thing, when I don't. His attitude towards "junkies" (his term for the food-addicted) is almost uniformly negative and belittling. If negative self-talk is what helped him get over his own food addiction, more power to him, but the broad brush he paints people with is unwarranted and for many will be unhelpful.
• 
  Cindy Brown Ash

  In the course of understanding the process and experience of weight loss I’ve been looking for someone who describes the effort, not just the outcome. This is that book. The fact that he describes his experience as a disease like alcohol or drug addiction helps me see the process as constant (one book I read talks describes it as a Healthy Obsession that is renewed daily). I appreciate how raw, open, and honest he is about his struggle, and that his solution isn’t to manage his food so much as it is truly Show Up for his life. Great description how challenging adulthood can be, and the importance of courage and support.
• 
  Laurie Allin

  The journey of a compulsive overeater, and how there is no perfect "diet". A very quick read. Information was insightful and easy to digest (no pun intended). I really liked the way that Zadoff was sure to express that this was not a fix-all, but simply his story with hopes that you may see bits of yourself in his story and if you do provide some choices of what you may choose to do with that this knowledge. I definitely could see glimpses of myself in this book and I have walked away with a new level of consciousness.
• 
  Stella

  Allen Zadoff is Allen Carr of overeating. Even though I am probably a problematic eater rather than an overeater, boy do I relate to so much in this book. More of a manifesto this autobiographical story is not trying (and is explicitly) not a diet book. I did wait, as he predicted, to a permanent loss secret, there isn't one. There is only control and discipline and self-awareness.
  Eye-opening and well written, composed of short, interesting chapters and a really likable narrator. Highly recommended for everyone on a diet rollecoaster and eating disorders.
• 
  Shannon A. Garvey

  Comforting and not a self help book
  
  I was surprised at how much I could relate to the author's struggles and issues with food. It served as a reminder that I am not alone and there is hope. A quick and easy read that left me feeling better about myself, giving me some direction and something to think about.
  
• 
  Cassandra Galley

  The author was very relatable but I found the writing to be at a high school level... He would repeat the same things over and over and had a new “chapter” every other page. Felt like the message could have been concisely written in a 10/15 page paper. I do hope it’s helped others though
• 
  Sarah Emmons

  This book provides enlightening details and anecdotes for fellow food addicts. I kept waiting (and hoping) for more in-depth discussion about Overeaters Anonymous. As the author notes, this is not a self-help book...but can certainly offer assistance with self-discovery.
• 
  Tannis

  Good read
  
  I like that this isn't a diet book. It doesn't tell me what, how or when to eat but gives me a few ideas to mull over and find my own path. Definite a must read for anyone interested in delving into their own patterns and learn from them.
• 
  Neil Rischall

  I'm finished with Hungry: Great book with some very good insights. I went to town highlighting many of the concepts that I think are really important as well as some cute quotes.
• 
  Stacey Conrad

  Cleaning off my kindle, and decided to read this one first. It was quite interesting.
• 
  Laura Boram

  Quick read - good honest auto-biography.
• 
  thntn

  This is definitely not going to be for everyone. But, for me, it helped me completely rethink my relationship with food and weight loss.