Are you a woman who struggles with any one or a combination of the following?
- Compulsive overeating
- Bingeing and purging
- Self-starvation
- Obsessive exercising
- Yo-yo dieting
- Preoccupation with food and/or body image
Have you read all kinds of books and/or articles about eating disorders that leave you feeling even worse and hopeless than you did before you read them?
I was in your shoes over half my lifetime ago and I became increasingly frustrated and depressed by the literature that was available to me when I started my road to recovery from disordered eating. I got really tired of reading ‘doom and gloom’ stories about people with eating disorders who rarely got better.
I knew intimately what it was like to experience disordered eating; what I needed help and guidance with was getting better. I was at a loss to find positive and healthy role models of vibrant recovery.
The truth is that MANY of us do recover from disordered eating and live very enjoyable and meaningful lives.
I have helped countless women recover from disordered eating by being a role model of someone who understands what it is like to have a serious eating disorder and has recovered and is thriving and living the life she always dreamed of.
I have spent over 20 years discovering and testing out various methods of recovery and know what works and what doesn’t. I have worked as an Eating Disorders Therapist for over two decades and have come up with a set of tools to help my clients recover from struggles with food and body image that have stood the test of time and have proven invaluable to thousands of women.
I use these tools every day with my clients in my therapy practise and want to make them accessible to a lot more of you. Thus, I came up with the idea for this book and audio-program.
By making the work I do with actual clients accessible to you in book and audio formats, I can now help women anywhere in the world! Plus, it’s a lot cheaper for you to buy a book and/or audio-program than to pay for individual therapy appointments… not to mention a lot more convenient because you can do the work in the comfort of your own home.
It’s Not About the Food:
A Woman’s Guide to Making Peace with Food and Our Bodies
“I’m sure Esther Kane’s honest book will speak to lots of women and help them on the road to understanding and changing their food and body issues.”
– Susie Orbach, author of Fat is a Feminist Issue l and ll
By reading this book, I can help you to:
- Stop dieting forever and instead, adopt a sane, balanced approach to food and eating
- Come to accept and love yourself exactly as you are; no matter what shape or size you happen to be
- Let go of food and weight preoccupation forever so that you can focus your energies on the exciting and fulfilling things you want to do instead
“In this book, Esther Kane takes a kind, wise and loving approach to the fraught problems of diet, eating disorders, weight and body image. Her gentle storytelling, along with the tools she provides, may help many readers untie some of the tangles that trap them.”
– Steven Bratman, MD, Author of Health Food Junkies
This informative, fun, and life-changing book covers a different aspect of healing from problematic relationships with food and body image. You will learn:
1. Why diets don’t work
In this first section, I will give you some statistics and facts about dieting and why it’s so dangerous. After that, I will share some of my thoughts based on doing this work for so long about why we keep on dieting and who is profiting. Followed by that will be a detailed outline of what really happens to us physiologically when we diet and how this sets up a self-perpetuating cycle of defeat.
In the second half, I’m going to give you an opportunity to delve into your own history of dieting, food obsession, weight loss, weight gain, and open your mind to some different and healthier possibilities. I chose to do this because as a therapist, I have found that true lasting change only comes about when we do our own personal work. It’s not enough to simply listen to someone else talking. We need to take those ideas and apply them to our own experience. This can only be done once we’ve dug below the surface enough to find the root causes of our problematic relationship to food and body image.
2. How to practise mindful eating
In this section, I will share everything I know with you about Mindful Eating. We will start off with a Mindful Eating exercise, followed by a discussion of how Mindful Eating can become an incredibly powerful tool in helping you to find peace with food and your body. The rest will focus on what I believe are the five major roadblocks that get in our way of eating mindfully. I will lead you through several hands-on exercises designed to assist you in figuring out your own specific roadblocks and how you can move past them to begin eating with mindful awareness and a deep sense of peace and well-being.
3. How to improve your mood without food
In this section, I will lead you through an exploration of how food and mood are connected in your own life and how this pattern began. Also, we’ll explore emotions that women with food and body image issues often have trouble expressing and give you the tools you need to become “unstuck” emotionally so that you don’t have to turn to eating as a way to cope with difficult feelings. Lastly, I will give you some tips and strategies to nurture yourself emotionally without turning to food as a primary self-soothing strategy.
4. Relaxation and Meditation techniques specifically designed to help you make peace with food and your body
In this section, we will explore meditation and relaxation in detail- we’ll find out what they’re all about and why they are particularly useful for women who struggle with food and body image issues. We’ll also have a chance to experience several of these powerful techniques and practises first-hand.
5. How to change your thinking about how you see and treat food and your body
This section begins with is an exploration of how women with food and body image issues tend to think and how it gets them into trouble. Then we’ll examine the most common forms of distorted thinking and give you practical tools you can use to change your thinking from negative to positive. Lastly, I’ll show you how to manage your thinking so that you’re controlling it, and not the other way around.
6. How to transform self-hatred into self-love and appreciation for the gift that is your body
This section is divided into two parts. In the first half, we will explore how we have become susceptible to society’s beauty standards and ideals by exploring our own personal histories of trying to match what society ‘expects of us’, followed by an in-depth exploration of the history of North American women and body image throughout time.
In Part Two, you will gather some useful tools to become freer of outside pressures to look a certain way. These will include journaling exercises, writings and examples of women who courageously defy our culture’s standards of beauty and success, as well as practical tips for learning to love the body you have.
buy It’s Not About the Food now
“Namaste, Esther! I was just delighted that you so thoughtfully sent me your book, It’s Not About Food! Thank you so much!!! I absolutley love it! I know that you must be aware every woman can relate to it. Esther, you are a gift!! Your book is a treasure and I feel very fortunate to have the priveledge of reading + discovering your important work.”
– Bif Naked, Punk Rocker Extraordinaire
“Reading Esther’s book revealed frightening things to me about myself, my friends, the twisted values of the world we live in. But she also volunteers the means of rescue. It was like being offered good advice by your best friend and an expert simultaneously.
In the west, our unhealthy relationship to food and dieting is perhaps the nearest thing we have to a modern day plague. This book gives each of us the means to fight back.”
– Frances Dickenson, documentary film-maker, London, England
Free Bonus! Watch a video interview with the author
“This book is, without a doubt, one of the most clearly written and effective resources on eating disorders and how they can control & destroy your self-esteem, self-respect and your entire life. The information is not only 100% effective, it also offers a very positive approach in overcoming and/or coping with the emotional roller-coaster of eating disorders.
Esther Kane’s research and results are being shared with you through tried and true life experiences of the author herself, along with her own words of wisdom and hope. It’s Not About Food guides you through extremely helpful exercises which increase self-awareness as you turn each page.
This book shows promise of a free emotional and spiritual change, if you follow through with its direction and stay the course. In order to reach the positive changes, you need to take personal action towards a healthier you as Esther Kane did.”
– Dorothy Lafrinere, www.womensselfesteem.com
“Many of us, at some point in our lives, have struggled with food or body image issues (or, most likely, both). If you have, Esther Kane’s book It’s Not About the Food: A Woman’s Guide to Making Peace With Food and Our Bodies is a must-read.”
– , PsychCentral
“I finally finished a book that I started months ago and I’m so glad I did. I loved it so much, I re-read some of my favorite chapters. The book is ‘It’s Not About the Food: A Woman’s Guide to Making Peace With Food and Our Bodies’ by Esther Kane, MSW. Every chapter in this book spoke to me in some way or another. … Esther’s vulnerability and authenticity were inviting, which is always nice, especially when reading a self help book. It really made me feel like, “Hey, if she feels this way too sometimes, then I guess I AM doing a pretty good job!” Read the full review.
– Andrea Owen, CPCC, Your Kick-Ass Life
buy It’s Not About the Food now
“There are literally thousands of books on the subject of body, food and weight preoccupation and one can easily become overwhelmed with the choices of what to read to find help. Esther Kane takes the guesswork out of choosing by giving us a great overview of the main issues and the current treatments in an easy to read and user-friendly guide. Written from the perspective of one who has both struggled with her own eating issues as well as one who treats those who are struggling with their own, Ms. Kane guides the reader through a process of self-discovery which leads towards a place of greater awareness and acceptance. If you are looking for one book on food, body and weight issues, this is a great place to start.”
– Barbara Fish, M.Ed., Toronto
“Esther Kane’s It’s Not About the Food is an honest and practical self-help guide based on the premise that ‘diets don’t work.’ The daughter of famed food critic Marion Kane, Esther invites the reader into her life and chronicles the development of her own eating disorder at the age of eight, when she was put on a diet after a trip to England. In the next chapters, Kane reveals the ‘keys to healing’ that played a major role in her own recovery. The basis for these, she argues, is that it is most useful to take a holistic approach to healing by addressing our physical, emotional and spiritual needs. Kane’s guide is easy-to-read and the suggestions are practical. The order of topics flow easily from one to the next, and the reader can find comfort in Kane’s gentle approach to healing.”
– Hopewell Eating Disorder Support Centre, Ottawa
“From a young age I have struggled with perfectionist ideals around body image and life goals. Such unrealistic expectations have contributed to disabling depressions that have held me back in personal and professional realms of my life. It’s Not About The Food has helped to identify my issues, their root causes and start to take control of them. This book provides an opportunity for women with similar issues to reach out and take a therapeutic step forward for themselves.
Esther courageously shares her personal story of her past and how she overcame her struggles. Her book acts as a resource to keep myself on a positive path towards growth and healing. It can also help women realize they are not alone. The exercises and meditation techniques are helpful for developing necessary skills to raise personal consciousness around obsessive thinking patterns and self-limiting beliefs. They have helped me to become more relaxed and grounded with an inward focus, bringing more enjoyment out of life and being myself.
Any woman who suffers from disordered eating, self-defeating attitudes, depression and perfectionism about their bodies could benefit from this book. The style and tone are inspiring, compassionate and filled with personal anecdotes and references to other useful resources. It is presented in an accessible and easy to follow format. It’s Not About The Food is a must read for women searching for inner peace, self-empowerment and the freedom to love themselves unconditionally.”
– L. B.
“I enjoyed reading your book and found it very inspirational. You have presented this all-too-common problem from which women of all ages suffer, in a very easy, clear-cut style. The exercises were very helpful in getting me focused on each issue which you were able to help me work through. I loved the clear, direct presentation style, and all the wonderful references to ‘mentors’ and other helpful books. I think this constructive book is ‘must-read’ for women of all ages.”
– Sylvia, Artist
“With chapters about mindful eating, relaxation, meditation, and transforming self-hatred into self-love, I’m certain that readers will discover the tools they need to find balance within themselves and with food.”
– Laurie