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

Dana's amazing book ripped me right open. I took the "archetype quiz" online, found it interesting, and was compelled to see if the book might be a missing puzzle piece in my journey of healing an autoimmune condition. Upon reading the chapter behind my archetype of a "Nurturer" I read things that truly taught me the WHY behind who I am. I am the child of a mother who was hugely overwhelmed, not attuned to myself or my brothers, struggling from mental health issues and an alcoholic. To my surprise, apparently MANY "Nurturers" have similar upbringings that have led to hormone imbalances (me), systemically gaining weight throughout their bodies (me!), and tend to comfort eat (me!!!). I truly thought as a "Nurturer" who puts people first that that's just who I was - a kind, sensitive, and empathetic person that wants to help others. While I was aware that this affected my upbringing tremendously, it was Dana's amazing writing and "archetypes" that showed me how the relationship with my mother, biological makeup, and eating are entirely intertwined - and upbringing can truly alter (and manifest) your biologic makeup and approach to eating. This book gave me crystal-clear insight into myself that literally TEN years of therapy hasn't unearthed.The Archetype Diet combines functional medicine, nutrition therapy, and mindfulness principles seamlessly, and I am so glad I stumbled upon this gem. I hope it brings you as much clarity as it brought me - or at least, a little more clarity into who you are at a very fundamental level underneath all of our layers.

I was excited to read this book after listening to the author on the Skinny Confidential podcast. I took her quiz online and determined I was the nurturer, I loved this idea and this theory, I was hooked and had to buy the book. I took the quiz again and found out I was the Wonder Woman, cool, I could read up on both.But as I continued through this book I found it so unrelatable and high class, this must be for the woman who doesn't work and has endless money to supply herself with "Pink Grapefruit with Caramelized Coconut Sugar" and "Coconut Macaroons", and home made "Adrenal Tonic". The foundation is great, have self worth, and have a balanced diet. But everything she built on top of the foundation is coming from a woman who lives in an ivory tower in New York.I didn't find anything new in this book in terms of diet outside the idea of self worth - she tells you to eat your veggies, watch your carbs, eat organic, ect ect.Not worth the $17

Please don't allow the word "diet" in the title deter you. This book is insightful, progressive and way more than just a nutritional health plan. DIET AND EXERCISE ALONE WILL NOT NECESSARILY CHANGE YOUR BODY. For years, I've had a very "clean" diet, exercised regularly, and have not been able to get excess weight off. We all have psychological patterns that show up in our bodies - and Dana James guides you to discover the deeply rooted issues behind our physical appearance to become a more well-balanced person. I highly recommend this book.

What is different about this book is that it combines nutrition with psychology in a unique way. According to James, the fundamental question that is driving our eating and drinking choices is: "From where do you derive your self worth?" James asserts that there are four archetypes: Nurturer, Wonder Woman, Femme Fatale, and Ethereal. One of these archetypes has the clue for where you and I derive our self worth and how that impacts our food (and beverage) choices. There is of course a quiz to help figure out your dominant archetype but you can take that on James' website. Nurturers derive self worth from how they care for others. Wonder Women (me) derive it from accomplishment, with the rallying cry for bad food behavior of "I deserve this!" I now understand why I have briefly succeeded on diets but why I have never been able to maintain the diet and therefore the weight loss--I never got to the issue of self worth at the core. Here's the gist, quoting from the Introduction: "Source of Self-Worth--> Change in Behavior-->Change in Eating Behaviors-->Change in Hormones-->Change in Body Shape. Traditional diet programs focus on how your eating behaviors affect our body--change your behavior, change your body shape--but they fail to consider the beginning of the cycle. Yes, if you eat nutrient-dense foods that rebalance your hormones and help your body function properly, you will loose 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." Excellent book. And yes, I'm losing weight because I'm changing my food behaviors and I'm able to change my food behaviors because I'm choosing to derive my worth in new ways. Losing weight is nice but feeling like I'm not being ruled by my food moods is even better.

This book is groundbreaking and a must read for any woman who struggles with body image, emotional eating or self-worth. I took the quiz and was completely floored by the results. I had thought of myself and food/body challenges so differently for years and this was incredibly eye opening. I got new insight on past and current struggles and how they fit with my childhood and how I evaluated my own self-worth. This book does a great job of providing information based on scientific facts and research combined with Dana's knowledge acquired from years of experience working with women, their emotions and values. The author's true desire to help women shift relationships with food and body is apparent in this book. It's well written, informative and real. Best book I've read to date on women, food and self-worth. Highly recommend it!

So having a background in Nutrition, I am finding this approach interesting & can understand the logic behind it. It is a really interesting book.However, answering the set of questions to determine your 'Archetype' I found; some statements did not fit with me at all, whilst others I could relate to more than one answer extremely well. Therefore I did it twice, coming out first a a 'Nurturer' & second as an 'Ethereal', each of which offered very different approaches to weight management.Although I fit better overall with the 'Nurturer' archetype, the menu choices do not work for me. I am a vegetarian & some of the foods suggested, I am unable to eat, due to a slight intolerance to them, which fits with the 'Ethereal' model.So overall it is a good book to explore food options & a really good read, but the plans or relevant menus' may not work for everyone.

I bought The Archetype Diet after reading a mention of it on a blog. What attracted me is that it said the book rationalised hormones and dominant personality type in relation to weight gain, not just calorie input and energy output. That resonated with me.I was not disappointed. As an intellectual snob, I sometimes find it quite hard to read 'diet' books and the like, but Dana James is a precise and incisive mind that is fully centred upon a woman's emotional and hormonal behaviour that then dictates eating patterns and weight gain.I like the fact that it isn't actually a 'diet' but more of a mind shift to adopt eating behaviours that are about caring for yourself as an individual. As long as you follow the concepts, she really is not prescriptive about what you eat. I like her approach to 'treat versus binge', and her empathic advice on how to fill the emotional voids we all feel, that we then often try to fill with food.I found the other reviews a little bit 'whingey pom'. You have to embrace the view wholeheartedly and not pick at it. It's a beautiful, broad canvas that can give an excellent framework. Since reading it, I've lost 2.5 stone (35 lbs). I am never hungry and I love my food.

I identify as an ethereal architype, which I would suggest needs a more plantbased/raw vegan diet, this book suggests that ethereals are not grounded so need to eat 'beef' which is a grounding food. I highly disagree with this because meat does certainly not agree with me at all. There are other grounding foods out there without suggesting ethereals eat meat. Other than that I found the meal plans useful and what to eat and when. But I will be changing them to suit my plant based diet.

Very interesting and informative, no nonsense book.

Me gustó mucho la descripción de cada arquetipo y la manera en que se trata de los desbalances y la manera de recuperarse a sí mismo.