Abstract

This is a cookbook with a difference, offering 117 healthy, balanced recipes alongside nutritional advice, empathetic quotes and inspirational messages. It will empower you to build a healthy relationship with food and your body for a happier, stronger you.

Emma's positive philosophy favours natural, unprocessed nutrition and moderation over elimination. Nutritional information about key ingredients sits alongside the delicious recipes, and self-help tools encourage compassionate self-reflection and the ability to self-soothe. Rebalance Your Relationship with Food combines the experiences of real people who have overcome disordered eating, body image issues and low self-esteem with trustworthy advice to effectively support long-term positive change in how you experience and interact with food and your body.

I think this is a beautiful book, with lovely illustrations, that will be very useful to all kinds of people who have worries about feeding themselves properly. The simplicity of the recipes and the clarity of the instructions will be very re-assuring to those who are nervous of trying to make food. The nutritional information will be tremendously helpful to those who feel that food might poison them or who can see no reason to eat. I liked the comments on each recipe from someone who has used it and found it helpful. The quantities are small - two servings at most; that should enable both over and under eaters to feel confident that the food is safe and will not trigger too much anxiety. This is a big book with lots of recipes, so for the person who works their way through it, it will last a long time. For the person who wants to sample it, there is lots of choice. The tone of the book is calm and authoritative; I am sure that many people will feel that they can trust it and use it as a guide to establishing a better relationship with food and better day to day nutrition.
Julia Buckroyd, BACP Eating Disorder Therapist, Author, Broadcaster and Emeritus Professor of Counselling

Wow....what an amazing book! Over the twenty years of fighting an eating disorder I have been given many nutritional booklets, handouts and diet plans from Eating Disorder specialists trying their hardest to help me in my recovery. Sadly, despite my determination and desire that these would help, many of them didn't and instead I was left feeling hopeless and alone. Whereas I can honestly say that Emma's book has helped me and continues to do so. Emma has managed to achieve the incredibly hard and delicate task of producing a book that provides both practical and emotional support. Most people are aware that someone with an eating disorder finds eating difficult. However before the actual 'eating' bit, there are many stages that one needs to get through, such as deciding what to eat, then the shopping, preparation and cooking. I often found that I got overwhelmed at one of these stages and subsequently abandoned everything before getting to the eating stage! Eating disorders can over complicate even the simplest of tasks! This is where Emma's book has really helped as it breaks everything down into calm, simple steps. Throughout the book there is a strong sense of realism and empathy which is balanced beautifully with hope and encouragement that life can improve. For example every recipe has an empathetic quote which has been written by someone challenged by their relationship with food. I find these quotes both motivating and reassuring, all of which help me to feel less alone in the battle against my eating disorder. In addition to these quotes each recipe has nutritional facts about the key ingredients. These have provided me with great ammunition against the negative thoughts. I am now able to use this knowledge to reassure myself that what I am eating is natural, real, nutritious food. At the back of the book is the doodle page; I love this page! When my head is spinning with negative thoughts I often need something quick and simple to stop this cycle. The positive affirmations on the doodle page do just this! I have at times been eating my meal and reading one of the affirmations over
and over! It is nice that there is space for people to write their own personal affirmations. This simple exercise demonstrates Emma's sensitivity and refreshing awareness that although people share common concerns, everyone is different and their individuality must be respected. In many ways I find that this book takes on the role of a positive mentor that is available when ever needed and at the times most needed, such as when cooking or eating. It gently nudges me in the right direction, enabling me to challenge myself kindly, responsibly and sensibly. I cannot recommend this book highly enough! I am confident that it will be an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to improve their relationship with food and body image. Thank you Emma for creating it!

Eating disorder sufferer
The importance of optimal nutrition for a healthy lifestyle cannot be overstated. Emma's inspirational book is a comprehensive guide with easy to follow sections, providing a wide variety of tasty and nutritionally balanced recipes and meal ideas. It is accompanied by detailed nutritional information, for every taste and culinary skill level. However, the true power of Rebalance Your Relationship with Food is that it is not just another cookbook. The Self Help Tools section provides holistic information that enables the reader to understand and address their relationship with food. Emma's passion to help affected people understand and overcome their conditions shines through, and I will certainly be recommending Rebalance Your Relationship with Food for clients in my nutritional therapy clinic.
Dr Elisabeth Philipps PhD, Nutritional Therapist

Emma has written Rebalance Your Relationship with Food with considerable empathy and understanding. The book is thoughtfully and beautifully presented with nutritional facts and a variety of recipes which are clearly explained. These range from the basic to the more ambitious meals, yet all are simple to prepare. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, sugars, vitamins and minerals are explained with clarity and brevity. It is particularly impressive in the way that the photos of the meals have a caption to show the health benefits
of the various ingredients. It is wonderful to see how the reader is supported in their struggle by so many positive messages to live a healthy and balanced life. It includes a helpful tool kit section as a motivator and a check of progress. Our daughter has been recovering from anorexia for many years and we can honestly say that this is the first ever recipe book we have seen to approach eating disorders in such a practical and supportive way. It will be invaluable to both the person challenged by disordered eating and their supporters. We are deeply grateful to Emma for the extraordinary effort in undertaking this inspirational book.

Parent of child with an eating disorder
This is such a helpful book. The way in which the recipes are written, inclusive of equipment and time required will enable people with eating disorders to implement the skills that are learnt in treatment and through self-help materials to promote structured eating. I can see it could be helpful for parents to use with a young person in order to do some joint preparation. I know I will be using it when doing skills training with my patients.
Kathryn Weaver, Nurse Practitioner, NHS Adult Eating Disorder Team, Milton Keynes
People with an eating disorder get stuck into habits which isolate and harm them. This book provides a structure to build new healthy habits. The illustrations and recovery tips with a step by step shared approach provide the pathway to growth into a meaningful life.
Professor Janet Treasure OBE, PhD, FRCP, FRCPsych, Professor of Psychiatry at University College London and Director or the Eating Disorder Unit at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, and at the South London Maudsley Hospital NHS Trust
Emma's book is a brilliant tool for those that are nervous about food to use as a means to help build confidence and knowledge in a very unintimidating, user friendly way. I see many clients that have years of bad habits to break, that have been overwhelmed by constant mixed messages from the media and fad diets that have only worked to build more confusion and apprehension in regards to what is 'good' for them and what is not. This book is great for taking those first steps towards managing a healthy, nutritious diet with some very simple options and on to something more challenging when you are ready. I will definitely recommend Rebalance Your Relationship with Food to my clients.
Laura Bowley, Personal Trainer and Owner of Happy Bodies Gym
Emma's book is a gentle guiding hand for those who are working hard to repair their relationship with food, and themselves. Sound nutritional advice, delicious recipes and mouth-watering photography are perfectly complemented by the words of those who've walked this path before, helping the reader to feel less alone and more hopeful.
Dr Pooky Knightsmith, Child & Adolescent Mental Health Specialist, and Author of Self-Harm and Eating Disorders in Schools

For families familiar with the roller coaster ride of supporting a loved one with an eating disorder, this book is a true gift. Instead of the plethora of diet plans, calorie counts, food diaries/charts, which services often advise, this book is complete in approach.
It is written from the perspective of understanding what life is like for the person with the eating disorder and for those trying to support them to encourage recovery. This insight has enabled the book to be structured with the intention to abate the "ED voice" whenever it rears it`s ugly head. The quotes throughout the book and the section on Key Ingredients for a Powerful Life are very helpful and support positive thinking. Similarly, often misguided understanding about different food types is addressed with clear, sound advice.
This is a book for families to use together and re-build trust on the journey to recovery.

Jacqui Wheeler, parent of child with an eating disorder
I think this is one of the most useful and practical books for people recovering from food and body issues that I have read for a long time. It is a must for people who journey through recovery. The meal planner and the food diary are useful tools. They combine well with the motivational messages and self-care ideas to remind the person that recovering is about the balance of food and self. I would recommend this book to my patients with great pleasure.
Deborah Meddes-Carpenter, Specialist Therapist, Nightingale Hospital, London
Emma Bacon is the founder of BalancED MK, an eating disorder support service, which she set up after her own recovery from anorexia nervosa. She also offers mentoring and facilitates a self-support group for sufferers and carers, with the aim of spreading awareness and understanding about eating disorders. Emma is also a personal trainer and martial arts instructor and an expert in leading a healthy and self-confident lifestyle. Find out more at www.rebalancing-me.com and follow her on Instagram @rebalancing_me.
Emma Bacon's book Rebalance Your Relationship with Food is a brilliant mix of self-help, nutrition and life advice. It is a guide I wish I'd had when I was escaping my own diet prison and longing to live a life that was more than counting calories, stepping on scales and valuing myself based on the size of my jeans. I will recommend this book to my clients and will continue to try the super yummy recipes for myself.
Anne-Sophie Reinhardt, Eating Psychology Coach and founder of Escape Diet Prison