Testimonials
“…for me part of recovery has also meant learning to not be afraid of any food. Whether that food is whole grain bread or a fun sized candy bar. I didn’t eat ANY pleasure (dessert-type) foods and rarely any borderline (fried, presweetened) foods when I was gaining, plateauing or losing weight on Naturally Thin. Now that I have lost the extra weight and maintained my weight I have started to eat some pleasure food. Most of the time when I have tried [these foods] I think, “This is what’s so great? Give me a banana and a granola bar!”
We live in an instant society. People want results now. They are too simplistic to realize that twenty years from now they will still be struggling with their eating and their weight will still be unstable. You will be naturally thin and enjoying life where the only time and effort you have to put into thinking about eating is to keep good food available at all times and to eat a wide variety of foods. You will be investing your energy into other more important things because you made the commitment to deal with you your eating/weight issue long before [in a sane and lasting way].”
— Bren
“I’ve been bulimic for over eight years. I’ve been to treatment twice, and in therapy full-time for a total of about six of the eight years. I figured that, in all, the treatment for my eating disorder has cost me $13,000, not counting what my insurance company paid. I have had no relief from this curse even with all this counseling.
I found out about the Naturally Thin Program eight weeks ago today. I began to try to give my body more food more often at that time. I stopped going hungry completely by the second week or so. My last binge happened during that second week, and I purged then. I haven’t binged or purged since. Not once. Not once. Here’s my question: How do I get my money back?”
— Melanie N.
“I never lost control of my eating because I was so determined to lose weight, and when I’m determined, nothing can deter me. It’s my personality. I’ve never binged because I wouldn’t let myself, no matter how hungry I felt. No matter how little I did eat, I always figured I was eating enough. You get in this little world of your own and you can’t see anymore. Everybody’s a threat to your way of handling this—and you’re convinced in your soul that it’s not only the right way, it’s the only way.
Before Naturally Thin, I used to perform (exercise, athletics) so I could eat. Now I eat to perform. I’ve learned that if I don’t do my part, my body can’t do well. So, I eat very often now—about every two hours. I figure I eat about 3,000 calories a day because I’m an athlete. It’s amazing the amount of food you can burn when you’re naturally thin.”
— Kelly T.
“Whereas I do cave in to a handful of chips or a cookie, it takes longer to get there, and then I’m done! It’s a limit: one cookie, or one small handful of Cheez Its. Those indulgences are a lot less than previously! How good will a handful of Cheez Its make me feel? Not good, so I think better of it! Does that make sense?
That’s what I had today, besides normal, healthy food from the Real Foods list. It’s an improvement, it’s a journey. I can see the progress. A year ago I would have finished the whole bag and had 2-3 cookies.”
— Louise
“My first glimmer of hope came about seven weeks into my new Naturally Thin routine. I was out to dinner and half way through my meal, I suddenly couldn’t eat anymore of the delicious meal before me. I was so surprised that at first I thought I was getting sick. But then, when I realized I really didn’t want any more, I burst into tears, right there in the restaurant. I think the waiter thought someone had died. I just couldn’t contain the relief I felt—that my body could control my eating and actually stop me from eating more. The whole key for me was eating enough throughout the day, every day—something I never would have figured out in a million years! I still weigh less that I did most of the time [I was dieting], and now I can live and eat like a normal human being—I’m free!”
— Connie I.
“When I was on the Feast or Famine Cycle, my thoughts centered on food and my body almost all the time—nearly all my energy went into that. My main concern now is making sure I get enough good food, period. My weight is just right and stable. I feel a tremendous freedom that I never felt all those years of dieting and bingeing.”
— Patty M.
“Jean, you have helped me find the permission I needed to forgive myself for my disturbed eating habits, to love myself despite my former expectations and to have immense hope for a better life ahead of me. I wish you could see my heart right now. I feel it shines so much brighter because of the message you’ve brought. Thank you so much.”
— Meredith G.
“I had been dieting for 4 years and it caused me to gain 23 pounds. Then I got pregnant and found your book when I was 6 months along. I was amazed! It has been working for me ever since—down from 130 to 110 without dieting, over almost two years. I am not eating perfectly and I still weigh myself sometimes, but I always eat when I am hungry.
Thank you—this has meant a lot to me—to be happy—no more depressions—no more emotional eating.”
— Kamila L.
“I was an emotional overeater for years, gaining weight in spite of strenuous dieting. When I learned about Naturally Thin, it made sense to me instantly. My whole life was geared to staying away from food, and when pain or stress came along, my willpower broke down under the load. I finally saw why I binged when I got upset. I needed to binge. I was starving.
Learning to eat wasn’t that easy for me. I was obsessed with dieting. But it was worth the effort. After two months, nothing made me want to binge anymore, and I had plenty of stress with three little boys. Even when my husband said he was leaving me for another woman, I tried to binge. But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t overeat, so I just sat and cried and then I called my friend.
When problems came up after that, I just felt anxious, or sad, or mad, or worried. But I couldn’t binge. Gradually, I lost the extra weight I’d gained by starving myself—a bonus I wasn’t even counting on.
The thing that people need to understand about this program is this: When you get your eating straightened out, and stop starving yourself, much more than your diet is going to change. Your whole life changes in a way. I mean it. My entire life has changed because I finally learned to eat. I’m quite a different person. Ask anybody who knew me then and knows me now. I’ve changed.”
— Sally P.
“When I started Naturally Thin I was a chocolate addict, self-diagnosed. I could not get through a day without it. When Jean said I would lose my cravings for chocolate when I learned to eat enough good food, I did not believe her. Maybe this could happen to other people, but not me.
Three weeks into following the Naturally Thin principles, I noticed that I had not had chocolate for three days in a row. I actually forgot about it. I knew then that my body could change too, if I learned to take care of my hunger. I was hooked on Naturally Thin.”
— Mary E.
“I wish I could have all those (dieting) years back. Isn’t it great that we understand and embrace Naturally Thin though! No more starving and binging and obsessing and guilt and self-loathing…etc. For us that’s finally over.
I’m coming up on 5 years of doing Naturally Thin. I’ve lost most of my weight over the past 3 years. Just a few more to go. I’ve found that even the weight loss (40 lbs. so far) isn’t enough to convince people about the Naturally Thin approach.”
— TBR
“There have been times in the recent past when I was sure I was going to eat and eat and eat—;and then I didn’t. I’d had enough. And that was that. Simple. Wow.
I have been eating well for about a year and a half now. I spoke in a previous post about my diet boredom—I have a hard time deciding what to eat now because nothing sounds compelling. I realize that diet boredom means I don’t have cravings anymore. I continue to be amazed at the effects of eating well and regularly. I never thought this would happen to me.
Additionally, since the diet boredom has set in, I’ve begun to notice the difference in the quality of my hunger. I haven’t been able to quite articulate it adequately to myself yet, but it seems the fear and anxiety, which have always skulked around my eating, are dissipating. Like eating—is just eating. I never, ever, imagined I would feel this way. I can’t remember a time when I ever have.”
— Elizabeth
“I want to let you know the impact your work has had on my life. I read your first book several years ago, and…it was a keystone in my total recovery from many years of compulsive eating, bulimia, and chronic self-blame. I now celebrate 15 years of freedom, and, after graduating from Columbia University’s integrative nutrition program, I look forward to the opportunity to help others break free as well! I will most assuredly be giving you and your work lots of credit along the way. So…thank you, thank you, thank you!”
— Melissa M. C.
“I really want to thank you. I found your book my senior year of college and it truly saved my life. I have been following your [recommendations] for the past 10 years. I am 32 years old, I have 2 boys, ages 3 and 5. I come from a family where everyone is overweight. My family and friends all think I got “lucky” with the skinny gene.
I brought your book home 10 years ago and read it cover to cover and immediately started practicing. It did take some time, but eventually I figured it out. Not only did I lose the weight, but I gained my life back. Thank you.”
— Andrea O.
“My diet history began with TOPS and included diet pills (amphetamines), Weight Watchers, Overeaters Anonymous, and Overeaters Victorious, to name a few. I began Naturally Thin living in 1993, when I was 50 years old. My last binge happened a week after I started Naturally Thin. I was surprised that my appetite and relationship with food became normal within just a few months. I actually felt ‘naturally thin’ once my appetite normalized, even before I’d lost much weight. I dropped sizes slowly and erratically, leveling off during several crises in my life. I finally weighed myself at a size 10 and had lost 40 pounds, down from a snug size 16 to a 10. I was once miserably and hopelessly diet addicted, and now I really am naturally thin. You have to get right with food first, and the weight trouble gradually takes care of itself. You just can’t believe it until it happens to you and then it’s like getting your whole life back.”
— Liz B.
HI! What is so different about MY story is that I am 65 years old, and the beginning of May I finally!!!!!! decided-enough-is-enough. I have not eaten any food that has a Glycemic Index of ten or less and GUESS WHAT?
Food/eating/obsessing about my weight———is gone! I am free, at last. Eating or not eating has been a BIG issue ever since I was borderline anorexic at the age of 30——thats 35 years that this “food issue” has always been a big part of each day. I have never been obese—no way—I would become anorexic before that would happen!!!!!!!!
But now, for the first time, with the help of the Lord and your book—-I, me, Nancy am in control—not the other way around. AND the best part is—-its been so easy. I should have quit the sweets a long time ago, because I’m also borderline hypoglycemic—-BUT I could never imagine not eating sweets. But now I take a little bite of a dessert IF I am tempted. I think my clothes are feeling looser, its been almost 30 days, but I don’t even really care about that.
I AM IN CONTROL!!!!!!!!! THAT IS THE BEST!
I thought you might find, my story, very interesting—-because of my age. Why didn’t I do it sooner—I guess your book was the motivation. Thank you for writing it and Thank You Lord for putting it into my hands.
God bless you and keep up the good work.
—Nancy