The Joy of Half a Cookie

October 5, 2015
Kristeller, a psychology professor at Indiana State University, serves up a winningly low-key primer to using mindfulness and meditation to lose weight and cultivate a healthier relationship with eating. Replacing yo-yo dieting and endless negation with “self-care, self-nourishment, self-acceptance,” Kristeller teaches regulation techniques that heighten awareness of taste satisfaction, stomach fullness, and overall satiety. These involve using hyper-focus to truly experience and enjoy eating while keeping tabs on when hunger is subsiding, as in exercises such as “Mindfully Eating Four Raisins.” The Keep It Off Checklist gives readers a space to set goals and evaluate progress, while the 500-Calorie Challenge provides an empowering approach to dieting. Kristeller also gives instruction on the most effective nutritional choices and lists best practices for choosing food at the supermarket and avoiding problematic restaurants and buffets. Despite some New Age terminology, Kristeller’s system is grounded in established principles such as calorie awareness. She discourages rigidity, noting that an “all-or-nothing mind-set” can result in unhealthy cravings. Her thoughts on emotional eating are particularly sensitive and wise, encouraging readers to tune in to their feelings and develop more appropriate coping mechanisms for stress. While the title may produce some initial scoffs, this is a smart system offering plenty of flexibility. Agent: Michael Harriot, Folio Literary Management.

January 1, 2016

This book draws on the mindfulness-based eating awareness training developed by Kristeller (professor emerita, Indiana State Univ., psychology), with help from the National Institutes of Health. It explains that paying attention to eating patterns will promote weight loss and improve diet. In addition, such awareness will give the body time to begin to process food and to send the signal it's full. Most of us eat while doing something else. If taste is predominantly sweet or salty, the body is overwhelmed. Choose simple, whole foods, advises Kristeller, and learn to listen to what the body is communicating. VERDICT This title is well researched and clearly presented.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
Being able to eat what you want to sounds too good to be true for most of us. But Kristeller presents a convincing case for controlling obsession with food by mindful eating. Eating mindfully means eating without judgment, noticing when we're full (and stopping), and experiencing how the taste of food changes as we eat. Although Kristeller doesn't ignore calories (you need to check the price tag on purchases, right?), she encourages readers to make good choices and small changes to their eating habits rather than relying on strict diets and banned foods. In the second half of the book, the author outlines practices for focusing on the present and raising awareness. Beginning with meditation, she moves on to specifics on gauging actual hunger, tuning the taste buds, strengthening the powers of choice, and balancing emotional eating. A Keep It Off Checklist offers a way to chart progress in key areas. Filled with practical ideas and sound theories, this very positive, reassuring book will be a popular library purchase.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)