Book Review: Never Binge Again

Never Binge Again: Reprogram Yourself to Think Like a Permanently Thin Person by Glenn Livingston
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book provides a framework to overcome binge eating. The author focuses on ways to disempower your seemingly uncontrollable urge to eat. By naming your mid-brain and personifying it, the author assists you in separating your higher thinking self from the immediate gratification seeking of the lizard brain. Ultimately, it is about learning to say no and adhering to a healthy diet.

I like the concept and some of the ideas in this book--but it was hard for me to get through. Setting up your personalized food plan seems like a great idea, but beating up your lizard brain can be difficult to read over and over (let alone implement). If you have an eating disorder, work with a health care provider before trying this protocol.

There are 24 chapters to help the reader formulate and cement their ability to stick with the food plan of their choice. It is not about a particular diet.

Guidelines for Constructing a Food Plan
1. Nevers: What foods, drinks, and behaviors will you never indulge in again as long as you live?
2. Always: What will you always do regarding food, drink, and food behaviors?
3. Unrestricted: What foods, drinks, and food behaviors will you permit yourself to have without restriction?
4. Conditionals: What foods, drinks, and behaviors will you permit only at certain times, in specific amounts, or restricted by other conditions? (p. 30)

Three Steps to Defeat Any Craving
1. Remember: Consuming even the most minuscule amount of anything outside your food plan is a binge.
2. Recall: Your lizard brain has cravings, not you.
3. Reiterate: State your commitment never to eat off plan. (p. 49)

The Kindle version is free. Additional resources, such as templates, are available to download for free. Utilizing this framework to set up a personalized food plan may work for some people.

Some sections were verbose and seemed redundant; I skimmed here and there. There is a lot of unnecessary capitalization and italics; the writing style may be off-putting to some readers. I recommend you work closely with a health provider if you have an eating disorder.

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LinkedIn Review of Never Binge Again.