|
Diary of an Exercise Addict | 
 enlarge | Author: Peach Friedman
Publisher: GPP Life
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy New: $13.14
You Save: $8.81 (40%)
New (26) Used (5) Collectible (1) from $13.14
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 11037
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Pages: 208
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 5.6 x 1
ISBN: 0762748966
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.85260092
EAN: 9780762748969
ASIN: 0762748966
Publication Date: November 5, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Absolutely Brand New & In Stock. 100% 30-Day Money Back. Direct from our warehouse. Ships by USPS. 1+ million customers served-In business since 1986. Happy Customers is Our #1 Goal. Toll Free Support
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Friedman suffered from exercise bulimia—a compulsion to purge calories through excessive exercise, and a rapidly growing eating disorder that affects some 400,000 American women. In Diary of an Exercise Addict Friedman recounts her descent into a life-threatening illness, her remarkable recovery, and the setbacks along the way. With refreshing candor she lays bare her relationships with family, friends, and lovers and the repressed desire that finally surfaced as she found her own way back to health.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
Powerful, Courageous, and Very Real November 11, 2008
Ashley Glasser-Konecky
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Peach Friedman provides a powerful, courageous, and very real account of her addiction to exercise and the long, rocky journey to her recovery from this rapidly growing, painfully isolating, destructive eating disorder. Not only do Peach's brutally honest words shed insight and understanding into the tumultuous sea of depression and anxiety that linger beneath the surface of this disorder's symptoms, but her story serves as an inspirational example that recovery is possible from this obsessive, all-encompassing disease.
For sufferers, families, and professionals alike November 8, 2008
Katherine Bruno (Charlottesville, VA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
In the captivating, heart wrenching pages of this book, Peach exposes the truth about eating disorders from all angles. Not only is there insight into the behavioral/physical effects, but even more significantly into the emotional experience & the fact that this illness can & will leach into every aspect of your life. Eating disorders are devastating for victims, families, and loved ones involved -- this books helps to paint a realistic picture of the recovery process & all the life changes that accompany it.
 The reality of an addiction November 2, 2008
www.bookshipper.blogspot.com/ (Montreal, Quebec)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I am in recovery from an Eating Disorder and this subject matter is very close to me. I believe there is a need for people who suffer from this disease to speak up about their illness - to educate people, but more importantly, to share with others who are still suffering.
Sometimes, the best teacher is someone who has been there and survived to tell the tale.
Peach Friedman has been there - she suffers from an eating disorder that manifested itself (cross addictions) through her food and her exercise habits, but also through her isolation, irritation and overall inability to deal with life - on life's terms.
There is no cure for eating disorders, once you have it, it is for life - but you can recover from it. However, first you have to actually admit and accept that you suffer from the illness and this is where Peach's book starts off.
The author has just broken off with her long term boyfriend and while she does not appear to be extremely hurt by this, you can immediately sense, by her diary entries that she is denying her feelings and channelling her hurt towards something else - "what can I do to divert my pain?" - I know I can go to the gym and exercise!!!!
For some, this would only be a temporary thing - however, for Peach, it becomes a sacred daily activity that she MUST do. As with any addiction, her desire to go to the gym and work out only increases and increases - until it completely takes over her life. Addicts are, for the most part, incapable of doing things in moderation - and Peach is no exception.
In her diary entries, Peach clearly acknowledges that the only thing that makes her feel a little better about herself is going to the gym and sweating and pushing herself to the maximum. Yet, this too will become "not enough" - and her addiction will start showing itself in her view and attitude towards food. Yes, less food, entertwined with binging sessions and more working out will make her more , more, more!
Interestingtly Peach discusses one of the less-known issues in eating disorders - binging. While anorexia and bulimia are very well documented, there are many, many sufferers who binge - basically eating large quantities of food in one sitting, but who do not purge afterwards, and Peach will alternate between binging sessions and anoxeria tendencies.
Reading this diary was so difficult. From the cover page where you can see how skinny Peach is (and I bet that many of us envy her bony, unhealthy body in some ways) to the last page, I could not stop crying. You can follow her progression into the disease and when she talks about wanting the food and being so hungry, yet denying herself a taste, I just wanted to scream!
The entries in which she details her love/hate relationship with her parents were very touching. It is obvious that there is so much unfinished business there. But, what I identified with the most in this book, is Peach' diary entries in which she talks about her body and how she feels empowered and beautiful now - even as everyone around her can no longer look her in the eye because, in reality, her "beautiful new body" has indeed become unhealthy and skeleton-like. This, to me, is at the root of this disease - our inability to see our own realities and to deal with them.
Through therapy, lots of hard work and a little luck, Peach manages to successfully work on recovering from this disease. However, as every addict in recovery knows (and if they are willing to be honest) - we are only one step away from returning to the disease, which means we must be thankful and vigilant every day of our lives.
I want to thank Peach for her honesty in sharing her experiences. It must have been difficult to bring back to the surface all of these emotions. Yet, it must also have been comforting to get them out there.
This is a great book for anyone suffering from an eating disorder or for anyone who wants to know more about this subject.
Powerful, Gripping Story November 1, 2008
Whitney
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Peach writes an incredibly powerful story of her struggle with a nightmarish disorder. Despite the pain and suffering she experiences, the book is a page-turner as Peach opens up her life and shares intimate details. I read the entire book in one evening well into the night - I could not put it down.
It's very well written and sheds light on a lesser-known eating disorder, though anyone who struggles with disordered eating can relate to much of what Peach goes through. This book offers hope to anyone afflicted by Peach's eventual recovery, but the level of personal detail Peach exposes also might offer comfort by knowing other people share the same obsessive thoughts and disruptive behaviors.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone suffering, anyone who knows someone who is suffering, or even just to anyone who might be interested in the life of a young American woman.
Insightful, honest, beautiful October 29, 2008
Kate
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Peach Friedman tells her inspiring story in a realistic way while avoiding the mistakes that so many others make when recounting the story of their eating disorder. She is not at all self-pitying and does nothing to glorify her eating disorder or tout her "accomplishments." I appreciate this. I appreciate this because in the past this sort of subtle (and often unintentional) tone used by authors of other books about eating disorder recovery has triggered my own unhealthy behaviors.
Peach relates the development of her eating disorder, from anorexia to exercise bulimia, and her recovery from it without trying to hide the enormous physical, mental and emotional pain that she had to push through, yet she never loses a sense of hope. This book is inspiring for those also recovering from eating disorders of any form, for men or for women, and for any age. It is also a must-read for family and friends of sufferers because Peach, with the knowledge she now has in hindsight, having gone back to the "other side," is so clearly able to explain her experience from an outsider's perspective that is honest and sympathetic but that isn't scary. So often family and friends are scared and desperate to help without knowing how to approach the subject. Her appreciation for her own friends and family, especially for her mother and dietician, illustrates a great example for others who want to support someone in recovery.
I applaud her in her mission to bring attention to exercise bulimia and the dangers associated with it. It can be hard to define and recognize and because exercise is so glorified in our culture, it is especially hard to recover from. It is a legitimate disorder that needs to be taken more seriously. We need to remove this culture of thinking that less food and more exercise is always good. Peach sets a new definition for what 'fitness' really is.
In some ways I'll admit I was disappointed when I finished the book. First of all, I think I was looking for answers. While I didn't expect it to be a self-help book, I might have subconsciously been hoping to be able to put the book down and immediately leap forward into recovery without ever looking back because of some new fact or story I might have learned. This is not the case, and Peach is clear: recovery is about taking one step forward, two steps back, but getting there in the end. And that's okay. She reminds us that it's okay -- and, in fact, necessary -- to go at one's own pace (with gentle, and okay, sometimes not-so-gentle nudging from family and friends).
The second reason I was disappointed when I reached the last page is because Peach's story is so clearly not over yet. Yes, she's fully recovered, but she will have so much more to offer. As she continues to grow herself, and as she trains her clients and speaks out about eating disorders, she will have so much more to say. I can't wait for more of her beautiful writing!
|
|
|
SEO and Marketing TipsBETA RELEASE | |
