You Can't Judge a Body by Its Cover : 17 Women's Stories of Hunger, Body Shame, and Redemption

What if your hunger—that force that beckons you to the ice cream aisle, and guides your hands to take seconds when you didn't even feel like having firsts—was the misunderstood sage of your body, rattling its cage inside the fortress of your soul?What if your resistance to dieting were actually a message of self-love?What if your body size and shape also held intelligence and protection? In You Can't Judge a Body by Its Cover, you'll read seventeen stories of women who opened the doors to their souls in therapeutic sessions with David Bedrick: stories of shame and self-love, fear and hope, being small and being big. These are the inside stories of the transformation, from bodies impacted by sexism and racism, rape and harsh criticism, and the deepest hungers for an authentic life. You'll recognize your own pains and abuses, resistance to weight loss, your hungers...and power.Readers say that this book has the power to:-Wake you up from the nightmare of shame and self-disgust into a gentler and deeply compassionate sense of self and body.-Reveal how sexism, female socialization, and internalized oppression are part of your body shame story.-Reveal what is truly behind women's sense of failure around dieting. -Free you to see the beauty, power, and wisdom of your body and its hungers.-Connect you to your own story, as you see yourself in many, if not all, of these women's stories.-Show you how to make a true self inquiry - one that is wise, compassionate, and without the sense that something in you needs fixing.-Teach therapists and coaches how to work with clients around issues of weight loss, eating, and body shame.Get ready to be inspired. Get ready to see everything differently. Get ready to meet the life-changing secrets held within your body's rebellion to living in a society that fetishizes thinness and shames authenticity. Why is today's diet industry pulling in 70 billion dollars every year, while when people go on a diet, only five percent of them succeed and the rest gain weight or stay the same? Here's why: A heavy, shamed body is a body with an unheard message and a thwarted quest, and until the secrets are unlocked and the wisdom is harvested, that impasse will be unbreachable. In these pages, Bedrick offers seventeen stories of individual women who open the door to their souls: stories of shame and self-love, victimization and empowerment, being small and being big, fear and hope. Stories that are both powerful and intimate. These are the stories from bodies impacted by sexism and racism, rape and harsh parental criticism, and by the deepest hungers for an authentic life. The women in this book were not successful or unsuccessful. They began a process of self-understanding, of dropping the shame that bound them to a self-abusing lens about their bodies. They began a process of learning to express their power, creativity, beauty, and intelligence with themselves, in relationships, and in the world. They became more empowered leaders and social agents. They began embracing their sovereignty, defining themselves as an authority, and living a more authentic path as they unfold their life project in a bolder and more self-loving manner. This book is the culmination of years of study, research, and practice. Since 2001, I've been helping women who seek me out because they're unhappy and they want to change their bodies. In the book, I've gathered the most compelling stories and share them as case studies. These case study chapters are bookended by a richly contextualizing introduction and a conclusion.--Publisher Why is today's diet industry pulling in 70 billion dollars every year, while when people go on a diet, only five percent of them succeed and the rest gain weight or stay the same? Here's why: A heavy, shamed body is a body with an unheard message and a thwarted quest, and until the secrets are unlocked and the wisdom is harvested, that impasse will be unbreachable. In these pages, Bedrick offers seventeen stories of individual women who open the door to their souls: stories of shame and self-love, victimisation and empowerment, being small and being big, fear and hope. Stories that are both powerful and intimate. These are the stories from bodies impacted by sexism and racism, rape and harsh parental criticism, and by the deepest hungers for an authentic life. The women in this book were not successful or unsuccessful. They began a process of self-understanding, of dropping the shame that bound them to a self-abusing lens about their bodies. They began a process of learning to express their power, creativity, beauty, and intelligence with themselves, in relationships, and in the world. They became more empowered leaders and social agents. They began embracing their sovereignty, defining themselves as an authority, and living a more authentic path as they unfold their life project in a bolder and more self-loving manner. This book is the culmination of years of study, research, and practice. Since 2001, I've been helping women who seek me out because they're unhappy and they want to change their bodies. In the book, I've gathered the most compelling stories and share them as case studies. These case study chapters are bookended by a richly contextualising introduction and a conclusion.-- What if your hungerthat force that beckons you to the ice cream aisle, and guides your hands to take seconds when you didnt even feel like having firstswas the misunderstood sage of your body, rattling its cage inside the fortress of your soul? What if your resistance to dieting were actually a message of self-love? What if your body size and shape also held intelligence and protection? In You Cant Judge a Body by Its Cover , youll read seventeen stories of women who opened the doors to their souls in therapeutic sessions with David stories of shame and self-love, fear and hope, being small and being big. These are the inside stories of the transformation, from bodies impacted by sexism and racism, rape and harsh criticism, and the deepest hungers for an authentic life. Youll recognize your own pains and abuses, resistance to weight loss, your hungersand power. Get ready to be inspired. Get ready to see everything differently. Get ready to meet the life-changing secrets held within your bodys rebellion to living in a society that fetishizes thinness and shames authenticity. "In You Can't Judge a Body by Its Cover, you'll read seventeen stories of individual women who open the door to their souls: stories of shame and self-love, victimization and empowerment, being small and being big, fear and hope. In his illuminating therapeutic interviews, you'll witness women discover the secret behind their resistance to diet programs, the beauty of their bodies and hingers, and redeeming insights of what moves them to reclaim authenticity, power, and grace. Get ready to be inspired. Get ready to see it all differently. Get ready to meet the life-changing secrets held within your body's rebellion to living in a society that fetishizes thinness and shames authenticity"--Page 4 of cover