Reddit reviews Breaking Free from Emotional Eating

This is a tough one. I say this as someone with a weight problem myself.

First, I think you need to keep the emphasis on the self-care aspect rather than the attractiveness aspect -- that you are concerned that she's not taking care of herself, rather than you are concerned because she's becoming less attractive to you.

Second, she needs to figure out what's happening with her. Is she overeating for some reason? Is she using food to deal with emotions? Has she stopped making good food choices, or has she always eaten the way she is now, but now she's gaining weight because she's become sedentary? And why has she become sedentary? Why did she stop running? You can help her with this if she'll let you. If she's using food to deal with emotions, I recommend books by Geneen Roth. She may also be depressed.

When (and if) she gets ready to deal with weight loss, then make it something you do together. Make meals together, count calories/macros together, exercise together. Be encouraging and patient.

But remember that you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. It's up to your girlfriend to decide she's ready to do something about her body size. And as a woman, it's hard to do something about it if you feel it's a condition of your S.O.'s love for you. It's a vicious cycle, because if you feel bad about yourself because you're overweight, you want to soothe yourself with food.

I think the best you can do is encourage her and emphasize the togetherness aspect of getting and being healthy -- that you can do it together, and that being fit will allow you to do more fun things together. Make it a positive thing, not a punitive thing.

And when she does eat stuff that you think is contributing to the problem, bite your tongue at the time it's happening. Nobody likes feeling watched and judged. But later, maybe the next day, you can gently ask her about it -- "I noticed you ate a pint of ice cream -- were you feeling bad?" If she can become comfortable talking about, rather than eating about feelings, it will help her a lot, now, and for the rest of her life.

This may or may not help. Sometimes people just aren't ready to change in the time frame we have in mind for them. You may get tired of waiting. Good luck.

Breaking Free of Emotional Eating It's about self-care through acceptance, its definitely helped my mood.

https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Free-Emotional-Eating-Geneen/dp/0452284910

What seemed to help the best is treatment of depression (therapy & meds).

For emotional eating, I recommend reading some of Geneen Roth's books. I found Breaking Free From Emotional Eating especially helpful. I also really liked Women, Food and God and Feeding the Hungry Heart. Basically, she recommends finding the emotional source of your emotional eating to combat any sort of binging - and also to re-train your body to understand the difference between feeling hunger and feeling whatever feelings you struggle with that lead to binging (inadequacy, stress, worthlessness, etc). These books have been a lifesaver for me - cannot recommend enough!

Sometimes it isn't a weight thing. Sometimes someone just has a poor relationship with food. And weight follows. I have some books and apps for you. I have recently become a follower of Dr. Judson Brewer. His book A Craving Mind is amazing for learning about and breaking habit forming. But regarding food specifically try the app "Eat Right Now" or the book Breaking Free from Emotional Eating https://www.amazon.com/dp/0452284910?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share