The Writing Diet by Julia Cameron

You've seen typical weight loss books offering workouts, meal plans and recipes, but you've probably never thought about writing off your weight. It may seem strange but, in The Writing Diet, Julia Cameron believes you can do just that. The Writing Diet offers creative tools to:

• Change your relationship with food
• Manage food cravings
• Avoid overeating
• Focus on healthy pursuits

Through various assignments, readers discover why they overeat and use self-directed lifestyle changes to encourage weight loss. This isn't a structured plan, but an introspective journey to inspire deeper change.

Best known for books about creativity, Julia Cameron has inspired writers and artists to break through creative blocks using a variety of creative tools. In this book, she turns that knowledge towards weight loss, which may seem a bit strange. But, as she explains, the techniques used in her workshops often lead to weight loss as a surprising (and wonderful!) side effect. As she notes, "Overeating blocks our creativity...we can use creativity to block our overeating."

The process involves specific tools that allow you to explore the thoughts and habits that contribute to unhealthy behaviors:

• Morning Pages - 3 pages of stream-of-consciousness writing each day to clear your head.
• The Journal - Record your feelings before each meal so you can see what's really behind your eating habits.
• Walking - 20 minutes of walking a day to get your energy up, focus your thoughts and burn calories.
• The Four Questions - Before you eat, ask yourself: Am I hungry? Is this what I feel like eating? Is this what I feel like eating now? Is there something else that I could eat instead?
• Culinary Artist Dates - Take yourself on a date each week where you explore eating in a fun way (e.g., take a cooking class or browse cookware at a cooking store).
• HALT - Ask yourself if you're getting too Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired, which can trigger overeating.
• The Body Buddy - find an objective friend to check in with daily to share your experiences.

These tools seem simplistic, but Julia uses personal insights and anecdotes from real people to show how these techniques work to make change happen.

In this series of short, smartly written essays, Julia gets into the typical situations we often find ourselves, offering insight into how to deal with things like snack attacks, trigger foods and special occasions. She also covers the basics of a healthy lifestyle such as eating fresh foods, drinking water and, of course, exercising.

Again, there is no structured plan offered here, nor does she spend much time on the things you would normally see in a weight loss book. For example, in her essay about exercise, she doesn't talk about exercise guidelines, heart rate zones or strength training programs, but instead, offers insight through personal stories and a task that has you writing down your thoughts about what kind of exercise you might enjoy.

Where the first part of the book offered specific assignments, this part of the book is a bit more vague. While she does cover a variety of situations as well as writing tasks to help you gain insight into each, you're on your own when it comes to actually figuring out what to do. If you have any confusion about exercise, diet or nutrition, the essays and assignments may help you identify your own behaviors and obstacles, but they won't offer specifics about what to do or how to get started.

Overall, Julia Cameron offers an interesting and introspective journey, using writing as a primary tool, to figure out what's causing your weight problems. If you're looking for a specific plan to follow or for detailed information about nutrition and exercise, you won't find it here. But, whatever your weight loss goals, The Writing Diet is worth reading for a number of reasons:

• It helps you connect with your creative side
• The assignments force you to stop and take a look at your choices before you make them
• It offers gentle guidance in how to navigate the sometimes confusing world of food, eating and weight loss
• It helps you hone in on the reasons you're overweight without any of the guilt or shame

While the details are left up to the reader, Julia has a knack for making you feel comfortable with the idea of complete honesty. Overeating often happens mindlessly but, with Julia's tools, you actually face your true thoughts and behaviors and, with her compassionate essays, you can do it without fear of what you'll find out about yourself.

The assignments may be difficult for people who don't spend much time writing or journaling and some readers may be disappointed that there isn't a specific diet or program to follow, but this is a great book for anyone who wants to make healthy, permanent lifestyle changes.