The Archetype Diet: Reclaim Your Self-Worth and Change the Shape of Your Body

by Dana James, Mark Hyman (Foreword by)

Overview

Discover your unique female archetype to combat emotional eating, lose weight, and become your happiest, healthiest you.

In working with thousands of women who wanted to lose weight and change the shape of their bodies, leading nutritionist and functional medicine practitioner Dana James observed a striking trend: no matter how diligent they were in sticking to their diet and exercise plans, old behavioral patterns and self-doubt sabotaged their efforts. In The Archetype Diet, James helps readers escape the seemingly endless psychological tug-of-war that is hampering their ability to care for themselves and explains which hormones cause you to store body fat on your belly, thighs and hips, and what to eat to change it. A revolutionary, holistic approach to weight loss, this book guides in readers in discovering which of four archetypes they embody:  

· The Nurturer is always there to care for others. She is kind and compassionate, but this can come at the expense of her own self-care.
· The Wonder Woman bases her self-worth on her accomplishments. She is ambitious and driven, but her work often takes precendent over her diet.
· The Femme Fatale is sensual, strong, and alluring but can become obsessed with her looks to the point that she develops an unhealthy relationship with food.
· The Ethereal is spiritual and intuitive, but highly sensitive to her environment so she tends to eat to numb her reactions to the world.
 
By becoming attuned to your archetype, James shows how you can alter your diet to help feed your unique body chemistry while simultaneously examining how your sense of self-worth shapes your behaviors—including what you eat—in ways that may be working against your goals. Offering recipes, a ten-day meal plan, and a step-by-step psychological intervention, The Archetype Diet will put you on the path to becoming leaner, stronger, and more attuned to your feminine fire and energy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780735213777
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/05/2018
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Dana James, MS, CNS, CDN, received her Masters of Science in Medical Nutrition from Columbia University. She is a board certified nutritionist, functional medicine practitioner and cognitive behavioral therapist. She specializes in weight loss, woman's hormonal health, mood disorders and destigmatizing shame from childhood experiences. She is a trusted nutrition and self-worth expert for media outlets like The New York Times, Elle, Vogue, Harper's Baazar, and MindBodyGreen. She divides her time between New York City and Los Angeles.

Read an Excerpt

How Your Mind Shapes Your Body
 
“I know what I’m supposed to eat, but I just can’t seem to lose weight.”
 
This is the most common refrain I hear from my female clients. As a board-certified nutritionist and functional medicine practitioner with of­fices in Manhattan and Los Angeles, I have worked with more than three thousand women of all ages, sizes, and socioeconomic backgrounds. These clients come to me because, no matter what they do, they can’t seem to change the shape of their bodies and are plagued by physical ailments from lack of energy to breakouts to perpetual bloating. They’ve tried every diet, detox, and exercise program under the sun, and while they might achieve some measure of success, they inevitably plateau or succumb to old habits that caused them to gain weight in the first place.
 
These are educated women who know that eating pizza and drinking soda won’t help them lose weight. At the same time, they’re ashamed that their appearance matters so much to them. Shouldn’t they, as empowered, twenty-first-century women, be focusing on their careers and their families instead of stressing over a bit of belly fat or the shape of their thighs?
 
This is where traditional diet plans fail most women. They focus ex­clusively on the physical—what and how much to eat—without acknowl­edging the role that your emotions play in helping you stick to a plan. Losing weight (and keeping it off) is only partly a physical process. Yes, what you eat (or don’t eat) matters, but the main reason so many women struggle with food (despite knowing better) is psychological.
 
In the more than ten years that I’ve been working with women, I have found that the number one factor that determines whether a woman will succeed on her diet—and be able to sustain it over time—is where she sources her self-worth from. Whether she’s a successful woman who re­wards herself with a glass of wine (or three) every night after another long day at the office, or a kind and caring woman who finds herself in the kitchen at ten p.m. eating leftovers because she didn’t have time to sit down and eat a real meal since everyone else’s needs came before her own, these women have developed a dysfunctional relationship with food that prevents them from achieving their goals—dietary and otherwise. It may sound like a stretch—how is it possible that our feelings about ourselves can so profoundly affect what our body looks like or how much fat we put on—but time and again I’ve seen this pattern in my clients.
 
Here’s what I mean. How you feel affects how you behave—including the way you eat—and the results eventually show on your body. You al­ready know this intuitively. When you feel worthy of love and acceptance, you radiate confidence and energy and move through the world with ease. You take pleasure in caring for yourself and are more present and purpose­ful in the choices you make, dietary and otherwise. When your self-worth takes a nosedive because you think you are not pretty enough or smart enough or simply not good enough, you retreat into patterns that you hope will make you feel better but rarely do. You might skip meals, comfort eat, reward eat, or restrict food to compensate for these feelings—and then beat yourself up for not being more disciplined. Before long, you’ve given up on even the best-laid diet plan.
 
The way we source our self-worth is determined very early in our lives, typically in childhood, and is therefore so fully integrated into our identi­ties that it can be difficult, if not impossible, to see how it drives our be­havior. If you believe that your value as a person depends on some external factor—like good looks, intelligence, making others happy, or being unique—you will always be drawn to behave in ways that you think will increase that value and this will often influence how you approach food.
 
Through my work with clients, I have found that there are four pri­mary ways that women derive their self- worth which I have distilled into four essential archetypes. Archetypes, as defined by Carl Jung, are pat­terns of instinctual behavior. The first archetype is the Nurturer, who val­ues herself on her ability to care for others. While this is a lovely and much-needed trait, if she is not conscious of her behaviors, she can end up prioritizing other people’s needs and feelings to the point where she is depleted and exhausted. The second archetype is the Wonder Woman, who is a powerful female that derives her sense of self from what she has achieved in life. But, in her quest to not be a “nobody,” she can become overwhelmed and emotionally disconnected from others. The third ar­chetype is the sensual and playful Femme Fatale, who sources her self- worth from her physical body. This can make her incredibly alluring—but debilitatingly self-conscious. The fourth archetype is the Ethereal, who is dreamy and creative but highly sensitive to the world, making her feel discombobulated and anxious.
 
Each of the archetypes embody a particular set of personality traits— positive and negative. The problem occurs when the primary archetype starts to hijack your actions and thoughts to the exclusion of other things that make for a balanced life. The more dominant your archetype is (i.e., the more your sense of self-worth is wrapped up in one particular facet of your life), the more its negative attributes will show up in your behaviors as you seek to validate yourself by acting in a way that supports your self-worth.
 
In many cases, this behavior will affect your approach to food as well. For example, if you’re a Wonder Woman and measure your value through your accomplishments, you may work through dinner in an effort to meet a deadline or check one more task off your to‑do list. When your stomach starts rumbling at nine p.m., you’ll order Thai takeout and then kick yourself ten minutes later for sabotaging your diet. The next day, when the pressure of work starts building yet again, you’ll repeat the cycle; your sense of self-worth and the emotions associated with it have won out, yet again, over your rational mind.
 
Traditional diet programs focus on how your eating behaviors affect your body—change your behavior, change your body shape—but they fail to consider the beginning of the behavior cycle. Yes, if you eat nutrient-dense foods that rebalance your hormones and help your body function properly, you will lose weight. But if you don’t change how you use food (e.g., as a reward, distraction, desensitizer, comfort, or punishment), and more important, why you use food in this way, you will eventually revert to eating the same way you always have, ending up frustrated because you “know better.” You can’t master step three in the cycle until you understand how you got there. You need to start at step one—understanding where you source your self-worth from—if you want to have a balanced relationship with food and yourself.
 
Although every woman is unique, my work with my female clients has helped me identify certain patterns within each archetype. Specifi­cally, women who source their self-worth from the same place tend to approach food in similar ways. In practical terms this means that, if they are out of balance and using food as a coping mechanism, they tend to suffer from the same physical imbalances and gain weight in the same way.
 
This discovery—the link between self-worth and body shape—made me realize that there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all diet plan. Women need customized programs in order to address their distinct goals and challenges from both a physical and a psychological perspec­tive. That is why I developed the Archetype Model, a road map of what to eat for weight loss, vitality, hormonal balance, and an overall sense of well-being. At its core, this model, which has become the foundation for how I treat all of my female clients, is about understanding why you eat the way you do (by identifying your archetype) and how that behavior affects your body. Then you adopt a food plan designed specifically for your archetype. The model also gives you the tools to examine how you came to source your self-worth in a particular way so you can free your­self from the hold that these beliefs had on you. The Archetype Model addresses the body and the mind, and it’s all backed up by science and psychology.

Table of Contents

Foreword Mark Hyman, MD ix

Introduction How Your Mind Shapes Your Body xiii

Part I Identify Your Archetype

Chapter l Which Archetype Are You? 3

Chapter 2 The Nurturer 14

Chapter 3 The Wonder Woman 34

Chapter 4 The Femme Fatale 56

Chapter 5 The Ethereal 76

Part II Feed Your Body Without Fear

Chapter 6 Food Fundamentals 97

Chapter 7 Eat Your Vegetables 107

Chapter 8 The Protein Paradox 118

Chapter 9 Fat Fears and Fetishes 129

Chapter 10 The Carbohydrate Question 135

Chapter 11 The Seduction of Sugar 143

Chapter 12 Permission for Pleasure 151

Chapter 13 Archetype Meal Plans 155

Chapter 14 Recipes 164

Part III The Six Rs To Heal Your Mind

Chapter 15 Restore Your Brain 237

Chapter 16 Recognize Your Core Memories 248

Chapter 17 Reinterpret Your Past 257

Chapter 18 Release Your Emotions 264

Chapter 19 Rewire Your Brain 271

Chapter 20 Revive Your Sense of Self 278

Appendix A Food Types 286

Appendix B Kundalini Kriyas for Each Archetype 290

Appendix C Resources 294

Acknowledgments 298

Notes 300

Index 305

Editorial Reviews

"Putting self-worth at the center of the weight loss conversation is eye-opening. This book is a must-read for any woman struggling with her body image. Learn how to value yourself and your body through Dana's soulful wisdom and guidance."
- Gabrielle Bernstein, #1 New York Times Bestselling author of The Universe Has Your Back 

"I’m so excited for all the women who will read The Archetype Diet and say to themselves, “Finally, someone understands me!” Having shared hundreds of patients with Dana, I have known the quality of her work as a nutritionist and functional medicine practitioner for over a decade now. She empowers women to see and accept themselves for who they are through psychology and nutrition. And now you have access to this brilliant guidance in her much-needed first book. The Archetype Diet embodies the element of individuality we all strive for in functional medicine. It will certainly change the way you look at yourself and dieting forever!”
- Vincent Pedre, MD—gut guru and bestselling author of Happy Gut—The Cleansing Program to Help You Lose Weight, Gain Energy, and Eliminate Pain

"Dana James reveals the simple but powerful wisdom of the feminine archetypes. This is a bold, fresh take on inner and outer beauty for women at any age, with an effective diet and lifestyle plan to back it up, and plenty of emotional support as well—a whole program that addresses mind, body, and spirit. Dana guides women on a new path toward self-discovery, helping them to rediscover their inner radiance and rebalance their lives."
- Frank Lipman, M.D., author of the New York Times bestselling The New Health Rules and 10 Reasons You Get Old and Feel Fat 

"Dana James is one of the foremost experts in functional nutrition. I have personally witnessed how she has been able to help transform women's perspectives on food, their bodies and themselves, helping them experience a lasting shift in their weight energy and mood. This is a book every woman should read."
- Robin Berzin MD, founder and CEO of Parsley Health

"Imagine expressing all of your feminine energy in a balanced way - the compassionate, the sensual, the creative, and the intellectual - all parts of you would be expressed and you would feel whole.  If, however, you overly rely on one of them to feel worthy, you quickly get out of balance emotionally, become stressed and lose the ability to prioritize yourself and self care. Dana James wants to help you break this cycle that leaves you stuck in a lifestyle and a body that leaves you drained and frustrated. 
Her book will help you understand the connection between your personality type, entrenched behavioral patterns, emotional triggers and weight struggles so you can give yourself the support you truly need to make lasting change for sustained weight loss from the most self aware and kind place."
- Alisa Vitti, Best Selling Author of WomanCode, Founder of FLOliving.com, Creator of MyFLO period app

“You are your best nutrition guru. The trouble is that many of us need help listening to our bodies. Dana James is a beacon in the fog of confusing and conflicting dietary guidance. She offers women a comprehensive path back to their most radiant selves."
- Kelly Brogan, M.D., holistic psychiatrist and author of the New York Times bestselling Mind of Your Own 

"Dana James is a nutrition guru and the wisdom conveyed in her book will guide your individualized journey to vibrant health and well being.”
- Jeffery Morrison, M.D., author of Cleanse Your Body, Clear Your Mind

"Dana James draws on her decades of experience coaching women from around the world to reclaim nourishment. This book is a must read for those seeking the deeper understanding of their bodies and food behaviors.“ 
- Drew Ramsey, MD psychiatrist and author of Eat Compete and Eat to Beat Depression.

“There's no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition so it's great to finally see a book that explains why different body types need different diets.”
- Jason Wachob, Founder & CEO, mindbodygreen & Author of Wellth

From the Publisher