Reviewed by May Cheung, Community Health Education Center Intern
Most of us can relate to the struggle of the search for self-identity during our teenage years. The standard of how we should look and behave is deeply intertwined in the fabric of our society. Everywhere we go, we can see pictures of beautiful, stick-thin women with puffy lips on a billboard or the cover of a magazine. Being perfectly thin and angular is an idea we as a country admire and idolize so much that it can become an obsession. The pressure to be thin in America today is outrageous. Many young girls feel that being tall and thin is the only way they can be accepted in the society and loved by their peers and parents. In Breaking Out of Food Jail, the author Jean Antonello pointed out that the underlying issue that causes the exponentially growing obesity rate in America is the fear of overeating due to the fear of weight gain.
When people try to limit their food intake by dieting, or in some cases, starving themselves, their body goes into a “famine” state because it is not taking in enough nutrients and calories. Therefore, these people experience intense episodes of cravings for high caloric junk food, in order to compensate for the lack of calories during the day. These cravings happen especially at night because many people try to skip breakfast and eat a very small amount of food at lunch when they are dieting. This is when dieters lose control over their appetite and bingeing, or “feasting,” occurs. Breaking Out of Food Jail argues that whenever the body experiences famine, a feast will follow (except in cases of anorexia). In some cases, a dieter’s body can sustain a long period of famine that can last up to weeks, months, even years, before they start feasting. This is why most people who diet eventually gain all of the weight they lost back, and sometimes even more. According to Antonello, this phenomenon is called the FamFeast Cycle. Breaking Out of Food Jail is a guide to help you break the FamFeast Cycle and have a healthy relationship with food. Antonello points out that the only way to be “naturally thin” is to never go hungry again. If a person can satisfy their hunger by eating enough nutritious food whenever they feel hungry, s/he will eliminate the “famine” stage of the cycle. By doing so, Antonello believes that a person will be able to instinctively know when to stop eating once the body’s energy requirement has been met.
Breaking Out of Food Jail provides a step-by-step guide for learning how to eat enough. Antonello emphasized the importance of making the right food choices. A list of “real foods” is included in Breaking Out of Food Jail. Eating the right foods is crucial for a person with an eating disorder to break the FamFeast cycle. With all the information given in her book, Antonello is determined to help the readers of her book break out of their food jail once and for all.
Community Health Education Ctr RC552.O25 A56 1996 Non-circulating
To view this title or other health-related books visit the Community Health Education Center (CHEC). The CHEC is located on the ground floor of the VCUHS Gateway Building on the MCV campus.
