For nearly fifty years, Sara Somers suffered from untreated food addiction. In this brutally honest and intimate memoir, Somers offers readers an inside view of a food addict's mind, showcasing her experiences of obsessive cravings, compulsivity, and powerlessness regarding food. Saving Sara chronicles Somers's addiction from childhood to adulthood, beginning with abnormal eating as a nine-year-old. As her addiction progresses in young adulthood, she becomes isolated, masking her shame and self-hatred with drugs and alcohol. Time and again, she rationalizes why this time will be different, only to have her physical cravings lead to ever-worse binges, to see her promises of doing things differently next time broken, and to experience the amnesia that she-like every addict-experiences when her obsession sets in again. Even after Somers is introduced to the solution that will eventually end up saving her, the strength of her addiction won't allow her to accept her disease. Twenty-six more years pass until she finally crawls on hands and knees back to that solution, and learns to live life on life's terms. A raw account of Somers's decades-long journey, Saving Sara underscores the challenges faced by food addicts of any age-and the hope that exists for them all.

Skills-based Caring equips carers with the skills and knowledge needed to support those suffering from an eating disorder, and to help them to break free from the traps that prevent recovery. Through a coordinated approach, it offers detailed techniques and strategies, which aim to improve professionals' and carers' ability to build continuity of support for their loved ones. Using evidence-based research and personal experience, the authors advise the reader on a number of difficult areas in caring for someone with an eating disorder. This new and updated edition is essential reading for both professionals and families involved in the care and support of anyone with an eating disorder.

Embraced by Oprah, the #1 "New York Times" bestselling guide that explains the connection between eating and emotion from Geneen Roth--noted authority on mindful eating.
"No matter how sophisticated or wealthy or broke or enlightened you are, how you eat tells all."
After three decades of studying, teaching, and writing about our compulsions with food, bestselling author Geneen Roth adds a powerful new dimension to her work in "Women Food and God." She begins with her most basic concept: the way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. Your relationship with food is an exact mirror of your feelings about love, fear, anger, meaning, transformation and, yes, even God.
A timeless and seminal work, "Women Food and God "shows how going beyond the food and the feelings takes you deeper into realms of spirit and soul--to the bright center of your own life.

Combines the best that Eastern and Western medicine can offer in the understanding, treatment, and prevention of digestive conditions, diabetes, and obesity. All the while, boosting your immune system! True Wellness for Your Gut combines the best that Eastern and Western medicine have to offer in the understanding, treatment, and prevention of gastrointestinal disease, diabetes, and obesity. By blending modern research with ancient practices, this book will help readers stay positive and keep motivated along their journey toward better health and overall well-being. The authors have helped thousands of people through the use of surgery, pharmaceuticals, acupuncture, herbs, qigong, tai chi, meditation, and life-style counseling. They explain how Western medicine has substantiated a long-held understanding of the gut held by Eastern medicine - that digestive health significantly impacts and is impacted by sleep, emotions, movement, food, and social support. The authors discuss how sleep, exercise, nutritious food, stress management, acupuncture, and qigong favorably impact the gastrointestinal system. These modalities restore balance in the nerves, hormones, and neurotransmitters that improve digestion and metabolism. A special section is devoted to discussing the human gut microbiome, the bacteria we harbor in our intestines, and how the microbiome is essential to our health. Drs. Kuhn and Kurosu strongly recommend a collaborative approach, encouraging readers to engage with their Western healthcare providers so that serious conditions can be addressed safely. The authors share ideas about how the reader can create a multidisciplinary care team, involving practitioners of both Eastern and Western healing systems. The science behind meditation, acupuncture, and qigong are explained. Understand how the microbiome is essential to good health. Readers are offered recommendations of proven Eastern and Western therapeutic interventions that will calm the mind, decrease stress, improve sleep and nutrition, strengthen digestion, and normalize metabolism. True Wellness for Your Gut includes a step-by-step guide and qigong exercises designed to promote overall gastrointestinal health. The authors recognize that digestive disease is complex and requires a multifaceted approach for successful treatment. By blending the ancient wisdom of Eastern Medicine with cutting-edge Western discoveries, True Wellness for Your Gut will help readers stay positive and achieve optimal health, whether through prevention or treatment of digestives conditions, diabetes, and obesity.

It has been estimated that as many as 15 million people suffer or will suffer from anorexia and bulimia at some point in their lives. Additional statistics suggest that 25 million more suffer from binge eating and other related behaviors. The overwhelming majority of individuals who suffer from eating disorders are girls and young women between the ages of 12 and 25, but young males are not immune to these addictions-and the statistics grow more alarming every year. Eating disorders affect not only those who suffer from them, but family members and friends who feel powerless to help. In Eating Disorders: The Ultimate Teen Guide, Jessica R. Greene offers hope for the young women and men who have engaged in these self-destructive urges. In this book, Greene examines the causes and varieties of teen eating disorders and offers advice on how to overcome them. The author looks at how eating disorders are defined, how common they are, and how they are tied into behavioral addictions. In addition to explaining how and why certain people suffer from these compulsions, this book looks at: *Social and Cultural Pressures *High Risk Groups *Myths and Stereotypes *Health Repercussions *Methods of Prevention *Intervention Strategies *Treatment Options *Recovery Intended to serve as a comprehensive guide, this book also includes a list of resources for teens and their parents. Drawing on input from experts in the field, as well as real-life stories, Eating Disorders: The Ultimate Teen Guide will help young adults who are struggling with this devastating affliction.

Do you struggle with your body image? Are you walking beside someone who does? Are you suffering on account of dieting, disordered eating, over-exercising, compulsively seeking cosmetic surgery or obsessively resisting the ageing process? Psychologist and Psychotherapist Nicole Schnackenberg delves into how your identity may come to be pinned on to your physical appearance, and what you can do about it. Bodies Arising offers a series of meditations and reflections to support you on your journey of moving beyond food and body image struggles. It is an invitation to remember that your true Self is not the physical body and offers many tools for moving towards a love of every aspect of your being. Includes foreword by Sunday Times bestselling author, Theresa Cheung.

Eye-opening insights into the body as mirror of the psyche in eating disorders and weight disturbances. Case studies and practical procedures emphasize the integration of the body and soul.

This guided journal includes inspirational quotes and prompts for individuals in recovery from eating disorders. With soulful artwork by the late Mary Anne Ritter "Ritteroo" who suffered from anorexia nervosa while conceiving of this project, this four-color workbook combines textual and graphic inspiration with plenty of space for writing. Written by eating-disorders expert Lindsey Hall, the text is organized into six categories for self-exploration: relationships, thoughts, feelings, heart, body, and recovery.

One of the paradoxes of our current era is that only 10% of obese or overweight people are actually dieting, whereas nearly 20% of the remaining population are trying to lose weight, even if they do not need to. This volume looks into our contemporary relationship with food by inserting current body image and eating disorders, like orthorexia and bigorexia, into a broader, historical overview. Gabrielli and Irtelli combine their knowledge of psychoanalysis and anthropology with scientific research and clinical experience to create this truly interdisciplinary work. Their study uses psychoanalytical theories about our 'hyper-modern' times to trace the impact that mass media has on individuals, families and societies. It explores various 'food tribes' and exposes the contradictions of today's mass media that advertise fitness and dieting alongside increasingly tastier and accessible foods. The work helps us to understand our highly social relationship with our bodies and what we eat.

One of the paradoxes of our current era is that only 10% of obese or overweight people are actually dieting, whereas nearly 20% of the remaining population are trying to lose weight, even if they do not need to. This volume looks into our contemporary relationship with food by inserting current body image and eating disorders, like orthorexia and bigorexia, into a broader, historical overview. Gabrielli and Irtelli combine their knowledge of psychoanalysis and anthropology with scientific research and clinical experience to create this truly interdisciplinary work. Their study uses psychoanalytical theories about our 'hyper-modern' times to trace the impact that mass media has on individuals, families and societies. It explores various 'food tribes' and exposes the contradictions of today's mass media that advertise fitness and dieting alongside increasingly tastier and accessible foods. The work helps us to understand our highly social relationship with our bodies and what we eat.

This empathetic handbook has been created for people affected by any form of disordered eating. Thoughtfully compiled by experienced authors, it will be a comprehensive guide through every stage of your recovery, from recognising and understanding your disorder and learning fully about treatment, to self-help tools and practical advice for maintaining recovery and looking to the future. Each chapter includes suggested objectives, tasks and reflections which are designed to help you think about, engage with, and express your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It will encourage you to process the discoveries you make about yourself for positive and long-lasting change. Encouraging quotes are included throughout from people who have walked this path and found the help they needed to overcome their own disordered eating. You are not alone on this journey.

It happens to all of us. One minute you're happily going about your day and a few seconds later you're a snappy, illogical jerk. The culprit? Hanger. We're living busier lives than ever before, and when you forget to eat - or eat well - due to stress or unhappiness, your extreme hunger can negatively affect your emotional and psychological well-being. And the worst part is that when you're overly hungry, you're more likely to make bad food decisions (ever grabbed a big, greasy slice of pizza just because it was the fastest, easiest thing?), which sets you up for another hanger crash later on. Hanger Management is the book to break this dangerous and unhealthy cycle. In Hanger Management, New York Times bestselling author and clinical psychologist Susan Albers sheds light on the causes of hanger and shares 45 of her best tips for managing emotional eating. By learning to stay on top of your hunger cues, cultivating a better understanding of your appetite and creating a better overall relationship with food, you'll become a happier - and healthier - person for life.

Beck successfully blends her personal story and anecdotes from her years of professional experience that will help the millions of women who wrestle daily with the relationship with food.

The relationship between autism and eating disorders is often overlooked or misunderstood. Written by two experienced clinicians working with young people, Autism and Eating Disorders in Teens covers topics including identification of both conditions, diagnosis and the recovery process, challenging current thinking and promoting new ways of working to promote treatment and awareness. Autism and eating disorders often present in similar ways, whether through restrictive or selective eating behaviours, or rigid or obsessive thought patterns. As a result, individuals may receive treatment for one condition with the other - although present - going undiagnosed. This is a practical guide for the adults supporting this group of teens, recommending changes in policy and practice in order to improve the care of young people experiencing these conditions. Drawing on in-depth case studies highlighting the need for young people and their families to feel understood and listened to, the authors show how we can empower these young people to reach their full emotional and physical potential.

Control binge eating and get on the path to recovery Overcoming Binge Eating for Dummies provides trusted information, resources, tools, and activities to help you and your loved ones understand your binge eating and gain control over it. Written with compassion and authority, it uses stories and examples from the authors' work with clients they've helped to overcome this complicated disorder. In Overcoming Binge Eating For Dummies, you'll find information and insight on identifying the symptoms of binge eating disorder, overcoming eating as an addiction, ways to overcome the urge to binge, how to institute a healthy eating pattern, ways to deal with anxiety and emotional eating, and much more. * Provides professional resources for seeking additional help for binge eating * Includes advice on talking with loved ones about binge eating * Offers tips and guidance to establish a safe and healthy recovery plan Overcoming Binge Eating For Dummies is for those currently suffering or recovering from BED, as well as families and friends looking for a comprehensive and expert resource to this widespread but largely misunderstood disorder.

As seen on ITV's Lorraine and BBC Breakfast. Part memoir, part self-help guide, this witty book will take you through the day-to-day struggles of living with an eating disorder. Stand-up comedian Dave Chawner tells the story of how he became anorexic, what his life with mental illness was like, and how he started his journey to recovery. Giving an anorexic perspective with a comic delivery, this book sets out practical tips, personal anecdotes and uplifting playlists to give hope to anyone in a similar situation, and provides insight into what life with mental illness is like.

'I'm just a nitwit girl who's sort of stumbling through life learning that we all have our own roads to walk - but that it's still valuable, and rather lovely, to hear about other people's journeys...' Filled with honesty, wit and wisdom, Fully Functioning Human (Almost) - part memoir, part life guide - will show you the real Melanie Murphy: warm, fun, positive, honest, a girl who's got this whole adult thing down. Almost. Irish YouTuber Melanie Murphy regularly chronicles the ups and downs of her life on her popular channel, discussing topics such as sexuality, skincare, social media and self-esteem. Now, in her first book, she looks with her trademark humour and down-to-earth honesty at the experiences that have shaped her. From learning how to manage her online life, to giving up on the idea of perfection, living with anxiety and the lessons she has learned about relationships, Mel shows us that difficult times can teach us the most about who we are, and by learning to value ourselves, we can overcome whatever life throws at us.

This practical guide enables those working with young children to better understand, manage and support children's relationship with food. Revealing the different ways in which children can relate to food, it gives accessible guidance and advice about how to help children to develop psychologically healthy eating habits and behaviours, and how to tackle feeding issues such as picky eating, obesity and food anxiety. Included is an easy-to-use reference section for trouble-shooting, which contains advice on how special needs such as autism can affect children's feelings about food.

After achieving a level of recovery from an eating disorder, it is vital to ensure the right practical and emotional supports are in place to maintain that recovery indefinitely. In this important book, Naomi Feigenbaum confronts the often neglected subject of how to take the essential steps towards a healthy and happy life after recovering from an eating disorder. This inspirational companion offers a wide range of healthy coping skills that are supported by expert advice from treatment professionals. Issues explored range from the practical aspects of recovery such as how to confront triggers and work with a treatment team, to the emotional hurdles that include accepting one's body, coping with trauma and sustaining meaningful relationships. A number of real people in recovery are introduced, proving that every experience is unique and the key to maintaining a healthy life is finding a path that works for the individual. This guide will help to signpost that path and inspire those in recovery with the confidence to take responsibility for their choices and ultimately their lives. Written with the aim of helping those in recovery discover their own unique insights and passions and awaken a desire to enjoy life to the fullest, this positive and life-affirming book will be an invaluable aid for anyone in recovery from an eating disorder, their family, friends, and the healthcare professionals who work with them.

Millions of families are affected by eating disorders, which usually strike young women between the ages of fourteen and twenty. But current medical practice ties these families' hands when it comes to helping their children recover. Conventional medical wisdom dictates separating the patient from the family and insists that 'it's not about the food', even as a family watches a child waste away before their eyes. In BRAVE GIRL EATING Harriet Brown describes how her family, with the support of an open-minded paediatrician and a therapist, helped her daughter recover from anorexia using a family-based treatment developed at the Maudsley Hospital in London. Chronicling her daughter Kitty's illness from the earliest warning signs, through its terrifying progression, and on toward recovery, Brown takes us on one family's journey into the world of anorexia nervosa, where starvation threatened her daughter's body and mind. BRAVE GIRL EATING is essential reading for families and professionals alike, a guiding light for anyone who's coping with this devastating disease.

What should I eat? How much should I eat? What does it mean to be nourished? How can I, a food lover and lifelong overeater, learn to be satisfied? These are the questions Dayna Macy asks in her debut memoir, "Ravenous". Like many of us, Macy has had a complicated relationship with food. In order to transform this relationship, she embarks on a year-long journey to uncover the origins of her food obsessions. From her childhood home in upstate New York and back up the California coast, Macy travels across the USA, meeting with farmers, food artisans, butchers, a Zen chef, a forager, a chocolatier and others to understand where her meals come from, why she craves certain foods, and what food means to her. She looks at how nostalgia is deeply embedded in food, and how the powerful forces of family and tradition shape our food choices. Rather than head straight for the diet manuals, she chooses to change her relationship with food from the inside out. She delves deeper into the spiritual underpinnings of eating, examines what it means to be satisfied, and ultimately forges her own path to balance and freedom. Far more than a book about how to lose weight, it offers comfort and understanding for those who are also struggling or hoping to mend one of the most important of life's relationships - to the food we eat.