Humans have an emotional dependency on food. We eat chocolate when we’re sad or depressed, but most of us don’t know why it makes us feel better when we do. Yet, that relief is usually temporary, and worse, can thrust us in the opposite emotional direction – it’s not a long-term solution to coping with the stresses of life, and can end up causing more stress in the form of unwanted weight gain and other health problems. In Eating Myself Crazy, former bulimic, lifestyle consultant and life coach Treena Wynes not only tells her story of food addiction and how a personal crisis sparked her path to recovery, but also shares valuable information for others struggling with emotional eating issues. A handy and intimate guide told in plain English (mercifully low in saturated medical lingo), this pocket-sized book first shares simple easy-to-swallow bites of important mind/body facts related to food and emotion to educate the reader. Next, the author encourages the reader to dig deep to uncover deeply hidden reasons for seeking out emotional relief in food. Finally, Treena offers simple and flexible strategies and tools that can be used to suit any individual’s lifestyle and needs. Helpful tools include an eating journal, recipes and menu plans to wean people away from addicting foods, and shortcuts to overcome a wide range of specific lifestyle challenges. An experienced and active coach, speaker, workshop trainer and blogger, Treena’s goal is to help empower people to overcome their dependence on food to cope with stress, and to do it in a way that demystifies, simplifies and de-jargonizes the vast and often conflicting barrage of information we face in today’s information bloated society. Eating Myself Crazy is an information toxic cleanse in a neat little package.

KEY AUDIENCES: People coping with emotional eating issues; people with compulsive eating disorders; parents/caregivers of those suffering from binge eating; people wanting to lose weight; people looking for stress coping mechanisms.

Demographics: Mature women (30-60); obese men (30-50); teens (13-18), Pre and post bariatric surgery clients (35-50).

Treena Wynes is a Registered Social Worker and owner of Food4Thought Counselling Service in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. She is married to a social worker and has two teen boys. Their favorite family activity is downhill skiing in British Columbia. Treena hopes this book will influence her readers to take a look at their current diets and empower them to make two or three positive changes that will enhance their quality of life. She also hopes it compels her readers to further investigate how to be proactive in maintaining health and fighting illness in a society that does not promote holistic health or natural solutions. She would like to thank all her circle of supporters and those who challenge her and motivate her to seek more knowledge.

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Treena's poignant story made me laugh, made me cry, but most importantly made me feel empowered. This is a book I would feel comfortable using as a resource for my clients and students. Treena tells her story in a compassionate, easy-to-understand way that just about everyone should be able to relate to. Her hands-on approach will allow readers to explore and heal their own relationships with food. Her journal questions are insightful and her recipes are quick and easy to make with ingredients most people have on hand. This is a valuable resource in the emotional eating field for both clients and clinicians.

Boise State University Psychology professor, Huffington Post & Psychology Today blogger, and author, Diet Is a 4-Letter Word: The Psychology of Eating (forthcoming, 2014). (www.maryepritchard.com)