Geneen Roth on Her Landmark Book Women, Food, and God — Nearly 15 Years Later

Sometimes in life we get the chance to experience a mountaintop moment, and that’s exactly what happened when I chatted with the brilliant Geneen Roth this week. Geneen wrote the landmark book Women, Food, and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything, which came out in 2010, nearly 15 years ago. A huge fan of this groundbreaking work? None other than Oprah Winfrey, so if it’s good enough for Oprah, it’s good enough for me. At its core, one of the central messages in Women, Food, and God is this: we often eat to fill a void or a hole for something other than food. Anytime we eat when we’re not physically hungry — so, think emotional eating — we are hungry for something other than food. We are seeking nourishment from food to fill a lack of nourishment in another area of our lives. The good news, as Geneen and I discuss in today’s episode? This is fixable! I am living proof, as I used to struggle with this but don’t to the same degree anymore. I will probably always struggle with this to an extent, but reading Geneen’s book (which I cried while reading!) ushered in a new chapter of my life where my issues with food didn’t run the show. Geneen has candidly admitted that she has had food issues in the past, too, going back to age five or six. Her first diet began when she was just 11. I relate to this so much, as it was the same story for me. If you have ever eaten to fulfill an unmet need elsewhere, this conversation is for you. We must ask ourselves, Geneen writes, “What do I really want?” One’s relationship with food is often directly correlated to one’s relationship with themselves, and food is a mirror for how well we feel nourished in our lives. Today, Geneen helps us take the first step with an intention to heal a poor relationship with food; talks to us about why diet and restriction are not the answer to solving this issue; and shares what she’s learned after the massive global reception to this book. This is by no means the only book Geneen has written, but Women, Food, and God is what we’re zooming in on today. In fact, Geneen has written 10 books, and I was excited to hear her say on this episode that she’s working on a new book! In addition to Women, Food, and God, Geneen has also written This Messy Magnificent Life, When Food Is Love, Breaking Free from Emotional Eating, Lost and Found, and many others. Over the past 40 years, she has helped thousands of people through her workshops and retreats and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show, 20/20, and The View. Geneen’s books were some of the first to link compulsive eating and perpetual dieting with deeply personal and spiritual issues that transcend food, weight, and body image. She believes, as I do, that the way to transform our relationship with food and our body is to be kind to ourselves, not punishing. Take a listen to our conversation.

Women, Food, and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything by Geneen Roth

Learn more about Geneen’s work at geneenroth.com!