Diary of an Exercise Addict: A Memoir - Tapa dura

"Peach Friedman's chronicle of a life with exercise bulimia is the most detailed and honest example of how this disease can enter and take over your life. She exposes every aspect of the emotional, physical, and mental effects this disorder can have on an individual, and with her candidness, I know she can help so many others out there in the world who suffer from this eating disorder." --Jamie-Lynn Sigler, actress and author of Wise Girl "Whether or not you have ever struggled with an eating disorder, you will relate to Peach Friedman's Diary of an Exercise Addict. Not only will you find this book accessible and useful but so captivating that you won't want to put it down. You must read this book!" --Jenni Schaefer, author of Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too "A very candid look into the world of exercise bulimia--both the daily struggle with body image and the joy of finding recovery. Through her courage to share personal and intimate details of her life, Peach Friedman shows readers how eating disorders profoundly affect every aspect of a person's life." --Tony Paulson, Ph.D., Executive Director of Summit Eating Disorders & Outreach Program, author of Why She Feels Fat: Understanding Your Loved One's Eating Disorder and How You Can Help "Peach Friedman writes with ruthless honesty and a poet's grace about an addiction that is all too common in our fitness-crazed society. Her story will resonate with every woman who has ever confused losing weight with feeling good, and it will give hope to the many whose compulsion to over-exercise prevents them from leading full and healthy lives. --Aimee Liu, author of Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders

In 2000, Peach Friedman, a college senior freshly broken up from her boyfriend, set out to beat the blues by beating herself into shape. Running ten miles a day and taking in as little as 800 calories, she fell from 146 pounds to 100 in three months and was at serious risk of cardiac arrest. What Friedman suffered from was exercise bulimia—a newly diagnosed and rapidly spreading eating disorder that affects some 400,000 American women, and which gyms and colleges across America are beginning to take seriously.

 

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.