Gary Foster, PhD is the Chief Scientific Officer at WW. (He also happened to get part of his education at the University of Pennsylvania, my alma mater.) He's been studying weight-related issues for the entirety of his professional career.
This is not your typical diet book. It's not about what to eat or not eat. Well, maybe it is since I do recall Dr. Foster writing (and I'm paraphrasing here) if you want the cheese, you should eat the cheese. Which kind of sums up the point of the book. It's not about what you eat or when you eat it. It's making mindful eating a part of your regular life. It's not at all about being good or being bad. It's about being mindful.
Because of how long I've been on WW (many, many years) and how much reading I've done in the past, there was nothing at all earth shattering written here. But Dr. Foster has a nice conversational tone and includes personal anecdotes from others who struggle with their weight.
I started reading this book while on Christmas vacation. It definitely did make me feel better about the choices that I'd been making over the few days before I started reading. And I am positive that reading this helped me get 100% back on track with my eating as soon as I woke up the morning after we arrived back home. (Why my body craves either pizza or a grilled cheese after arriving home from a longer trip is beyond me. I came home, ate my grilled cheese, went to bed and was back on track the following morning. Easily. Because even though I hadn't yet finished the book, I had started my shift in mindset. That was vacation. I was faced with foods that I'm not faced with at home. I didn't want to feel deprived while away celebrating. However, I made mindful choices. I was selective about what I ate and didn't eat it all. I was extremely mindful of what went in my mouth. I felt good about my choices.
The Shift was a reminder that I need to be kind to myself, I need to be grateful for even small things. I need to focus on positive behaviors and positive changes. And most of all, a bad day doesn't make me a failure.
I'm glad I was able to get The Shift from the library. I figured I'd read it and if I felt it was a book that I'd turn to time and again that I'd buy a copy. For me, it's not that kind of book. I luckily got the book at the absolutely perfect time for me. I was out of my routine, in celebratory mode. I'm not sure if the book would have resonated quite so much with me had I read it when I was still pretty much locked-down during my first few months back on the program during winter/early spring 2021.
If you need an extra little something to help you shift your thinking, I would highly recommend The Shift.
