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The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David A. Kessler
colleengeedrumm's review against another edition
5.0
Great audiobook. It is eye-opening and has practical tips I could really apply in daily life. Well-written and informative. Hopefully this will help me keep “the appetite” in check. A recommended read for everyone (which is most everyone) who has to deal with the American food business.
kuranes's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting points. It's nice to see more and more research to suggest that there's more than just laziness and lack of willpower involved in obesity.
anna3101's review against another edition
3.0
This book should get 4 stars for the information but when it comes to its writing style, I wouldn't give it more than 1. Sadly enough, it's written in an extremely boring way, making it a challenge to get through the obstacles (style) to receive the prize (information). And that's really too bad because the author obviously knows a lot about the subject and made a thorough research on why we overeat and what to do about it. Many people could benefit from such a book. But when it's such a struggle to read, who would want to suffer? I considered myself to be extremely motivated to finish it but still had problems to keep on reading instead of falling asleep or snacking on another candy (and that while reading a book on the benefits of healthy eating). If the author wants to promote a healthy lifestyle, he really should revamp this book first.
hmgelo02's review
2.0
It took me about nine months to finally finish this book. Written by a doctor (pediatrician) who I suspect began this research in order to figure out his own addiction to the wrong foods, this book is research heavy and filled with facts upon facts upon repeated facts. Much of the content feels as though it's being repeated over and over, and I really lost interest in the middle sections where much of the content was all regarding research.
This isn't to say that there wasn't some very valuable information within this book. I was fascinated (and appalled) by the study of the popular restaurant Chili's, which was used as an example of many - if not most - of the chain restaurants throughout the US today. The information provided was horrific enough that when we return stateside I'll be making a concerted effort to go to locally owned and operated restaurants almost exclusively. And while the third, fourth, and fifth parts of the book were where I nearly abandoned it altogether, the final part does (finally) offer some highly helpful suggestions for how to begin changing the destructive eating cycle that plagues so many Americans today.
Because this was a Kindle edition, I was always highly daunted by my apparent lack of progress in making my way through this book, but I was actually very pleased to discover that almost the entire last third of the book is made up of endnotes, author interviews, and the index - all of which I readily skipped. In all, I'm glad I stuck with this book but I won't be reading it again.
This isn't to say that there wasn't some very valuable information within this book. I was fascinated (and appalled) by the study of the popular restaurant Chili's, which was used as an example of many - if not most - of the chain restaurants throughout the US today. The information provided was horrific enough that when we return stateside I'll be making a concerted effort to go to locally owned and operated restaurants almost exclusively. And while the third, fourth, and fifth parts of the book were where I nearly abandoned it altogether, the final part does (finally) offer some highly helpful suggestions for how to begin changing the destructive eating cycle that plagues so many Americans today.
Because this was a Kindle edition, I was always highly daunted by my apparent lack of progress in making my way through this book, but I was actually very pleased to discover that almost the entire last third of the book is made up of endnotes, author interviews, and the index - all of which I readily skipped. In all, I'm glad I stuck with this book but I won't be reading it again.
kimball_hansen's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this was a quality book. Some of the things he talks about were "duh" moments. But then other parts were like, "Huh. I ought to put that into practice." Like not feeling obligated to eat food that's in front of me or offered to me. Part of me does it because I hate wasting food. I think if I could ignore that guilt then I would be more successful at passing. (No, the starving kids in Africa won't somehow get magically fed because you ate the food instead of throwing it away. Why do we say that stupid guilt trip anyways?) A few years ago I reduced my SODA intake to one day a month and I've had many opportunities to pass on it. It was hard at first because I would think to myself, It's just right there I have to drink it! Who else will?? As if it's a duty to drink it anytime it's offered. I didn't realize that I can also say no to free food as well. But dang is it hard to bring myself to do that.
It's neat to see how much marketing goes into food. Food is meant to stimulate and captivate as many of our senses as physically possible from before eating to after everything on your plate (and your neighbor's) has been consumed. Even our minds get allured by their marketing methods of word choice. I'm not going to eat the scampi I'm going to eat the succulent scampi.
This book should be read with [b:The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor|22609354|The Dorito Effect The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor|Mark Schatzker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1430942604s/22609354.jpg|42099356], [b:Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives|22889767|Better Than Before Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives|Gretchen Rubin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415588203s/22889767.jpg|40771666], [b:The Talent Code: Unlocking the Secret of Skill in Sports, Art, Music, Math, and Just About Everything Else|5771014|The Talent Code Unlocking the Secret of Skill in Sports, Art, Music, Math, and Just About Everything Else|Daniel Coyle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404579448s/5771014.jpg|5942757], and last but not least [b:Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength|11104933|Willpower Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength|Roy F. Baumeister|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347857263s/11104933.jpg|16027103] in order to get the greatest effect.
Self-Awareness has been on my mind the past few months and I've finally found something that discusses it. If we were more Self-Aware like we're supposed to be (Acting instead of Reacting to our environment) then not only would the overeating epidemic be eliminated but many other world issues as well.
It's neat to see how much marketing goes into food. Food is meant to stimulate and captivate as many of our senses as physically possible from before eating to after everything on your plate (and your neighbor's) has been consumed. Even our minds get allured by their marketing methods of word choice. I'm not going to eat the scampi I'm going to eat the succulent scampi.
This book should be read with [b:The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor|22609354|The Dorito Effect The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor|Mark Schatzker|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1430942604s/22609354.jpg|42099356], [b:Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives|22889767|Better Than Before Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives|Gretchen Rubin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1415588203s/22889767.jpg|40771666], [b:The Talent Code: Unlocking the Secret of Skill in Sports, Art, Music, Math, and Just About Everything Else|5771014|The Talent Code Unlocking the Secret of Skill in Sports, Art, Music, Math, and Just About Everything Else|Daniel Coyle|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1404579448s/5771014.jpg|5942757], and last but not least [b:Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength|11104933|Willpower Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength|Roy F. Baumeister|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347857263s/11104933.jpg|16027103] in order to get the greatest effect.
Self-Awareness has been on my mind the past few months and I've finally found something that discusses it. If we were more Self-Aware like we're supposed to be (Acting instead of Reacting to our environment) then not only would the overeating epidemic be eliminated but many other world issues as well.
toniclark's review against another edition
5.0
I listened to the audiobook and my attention never wavered.
sunshine608's review against another edition
2.0
This book seemed to keep repeating the same facts over and over again. There was some good information, but it was a little to scientific and a little to repetitious for me.
becca_g_powell's review against another edition
3.0
This was a good book. It had a lot of interesting information about how your brain reacts to hyperpalatable food and what effect that can have on your eating habits and weight. The last section about how to adjust ingrained habits (or what he calls "conditioned hypereating") are interesting. However, there were some stylistic choices that were at best distracting and at worst irritating that knocked the rating down.
1) The information was often presented as a staged, awkward dialogue between author and source. The questions that he presumably asked were included as dialogue, and seemed to be set up to give the answer he wanted. For example, in relating the information gathered in an interview: "Is there any evidence that food really makes you feel better after you've eaten?" I asked Loma Flowers, a community psychiatrist in San Francisco" (p. 152). I'm sure this is just personal preference, but I find this kind of silly dialogue annoying. Just tell me what she said or summarize the information she cites in the interview. This makes it seem staged, disingenuous, and is reminiscent of a high school newspaper article.
2) Some editor didn't tell the author that you can't just replace commas randomly with ellipses. "a vast number of sensory stimuli can be associated with food: flavor...aroma...oral texture...visual texture...manual texture...creaminess...firmness...ease of pour...crumbliness...melt...viscosity...tooth stick...mouth coating...particle size...springiness...compression...adhesiveness...moisture absorption...chalky film...gloss." What kind of sentence is this? It happens over and over and drives me crazy. If you are listing things, just use a serial comma. That's what it's there for.
3) Overall, the tone was more anecdotal and "human interest piece" than I wanted it to be, with language on nearly every page that just seemed overwrought, like the author had just gotten out of a crappy creative writing class and wanted to juice up his writing. It's nonfiction and informational, and I'd rather it just sound like it.
1) The information was often presented as a staged, awkward dialogue between author and source. The questions that he presumably asked were included as dialogue, and seemed to be set up to give the answer he wanted. For example, in relating the information gathered in an interview: "Is there any evidence that food really makes you feel better after you've eaten?" I asked Loma Flowers, a community psychiatrist in San Francisco" (p. 152). I'm sure this is just personal preference, but I find this kind of silly dialogue annoying. Just tell me what she said or summarize the information she cites in the interview. This makes it seem staged, disingenuous, and is reminiscent of a high school newspaper article.
2) Some editor didn't tell the author that you can't just replace commas randomly with ellipses. "a vast number of sensory stimuli can be associated with food: flavor...aroma...oral texture...visual texture...manual texture...creaminess...firmness...ease of pour...crumbliness...melt...viscosity...tooth stick...mouth coating...particle size...springiness...compression...adhesiveness...moisture absorption...chalky film...gloss." What kind of sentence is this? It happens over and over and drives me crazy. If you are listing things, just use a serial comma. That's what it's there for.
3) Overall, the tone was more anecdotal and "human interest piece" than I wanted it to be, with language on nearly every page that just seemed overwrought, like the author had just gotten out of a crappy creative writing class and wanted to juice up his writing. It's nonfiction and informational, and I'd rather it just sound like it.