In a caring manner, psychotherapist Koenig and physician O’Mahoney provide insights into the psychological and physiological barriers to weight loss faced by both doctors and patients. This introductory work begins by acknowledging the frustration that medical providers feel about their often limited success in this field. One key issue, according to the authors, is that medical students are seldom trained in how to compassionately approach patients who are struggling to lose weight. A listing of common patient complaints about the medical system’s failings, presented in a balanced manner, will help medical professionals understand that this is more than a matter of patient noncompliance. Discussions of the process of weight loss, insights into the psychological issues behind dysregulated eating habits, and the dangers of yo-yo dieting are supported with cited research. Care is taken to acknowledge that medical providers need support in helping their patients resolve issues that interfere with healthy living.... Health professionals will find this a solid guide; the material is also accessible to non-professionals.

Publishers Weekly

According to ... Koenig and O’Mahoney, the focus should be on how and why rather than what we eat, and the goal should be improved health rather than weight loss. The authors begin by comparing doctors’ and patients’ complaints and challenges when discussing issues of high weight. Doctors, they claim, may be dealing with issues of weight bias and can be frustrated with a patient’s seeming noncompliance. Patients are often oversensitive to lectures and shamed by their failure to get control of their eating. Diets can kill motivation, and self-care may be the key to help 'dysregulated' eaters, who eat when not hungry or already full, to become normal eaters. Each chapter lists specific strategies and has occasional sidebars, called brain food, that list open-ended questions for additional discussion. Although technically aimed at health providers, these insightful suggestions will help both patients and doctors to collaborate more successfully on these issues.

Booklist

Helping Patients Outsmart Overeating is a powerful blend of complementary expertise and the hard-earned insights that come only from personal experience. Occupying a unique niche by empowering clinicians to empower their patients, and thus alleviate the prevailing frustrations of both, 'Helping Patients' is an important, timely book. There is, indeed, much needed help here- and I highly recommend you help yourself to this valuable resource.

David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, FACLM; President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine

This wise and insightful book is an invaluable resource for a wide range of professionals who treat seemingly intractable weight and eating problems. As both a clinician and researcher of the diet-binge cycle for many decades I welcome both its clarity and compassion in guiding patients to a healthier relationship to food and their bodies.

Emily Fox-Kales, PhD, Author, BODY SHOTS: Hollywood and the Culture of Eating Disorders; Founder and Director, Feeding Ourselves

At a time when physicians are challenged with less time in the exam room, and more patients struggling with unhealthy diets, this book may be the psychological tool that finally helps motivate healthy change. If your doctor doesn't have this book, bring it to your next appointment.

Heidi Godman, health journalist, Host of Health Check with Heidi Godman

Despite evidence that diets don’t work for sustaining weight loss, many doctors are unaware of other options for their ‘overweight’ patients. This book provides more effective ways to end dysfunctional eating and promote healthy attitudes and behaviors around food. Using these insights and strategies from the field of eating disorders treatment, medical professionals can more successfully help patients who are challenged by overeating.

Leigh Cohn, MAT , CEDS, Editor-in-chief, Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention