We Are Being Lied To It's time to get honest with ourselves. Culture's beauty standards are messed up. We all know it, and we all think we can resist the pull to look a certain way. Yet most of us--our daughters and nieces too--still strive for a broken kind of beauty and feel I'm. not. good. enough. For Melissa Johnson, a marriage and family therapist, this lie eventually led to battling an eating disorder. Through that experience, she saw that chasing broken beauty breaks women in so many ways. She also realized that true, soul-deep beauty is not impossible--it abounds in us and all around us. And now Melissa's on a mission to help you · uncover the hidden damage cultural lies about beauty have on your mind and soul · reconnect with God, in whose image you are made · walk away from shame and striving · love yourself--and others--unconditionally True beauty is the fullness of life we are longing for. It's the reality that blows our minds, affirms our true worth, and invites us into an adventure that meets our deepest longings. And it's true beauty that will save us if we open our eyes to it. "Nothing is more shattered or more misunderstood in our lives than beauty. On our own, we are unable to recapture God's vision for it, and every generation needs guides who can reintroduce it to us again for the first time. In Melissa Johnson, we have such a guide."--CURT THOMPSON, MD, author of The Soul of Desire and The Soul of Shame

Anguish, guilt, anger, fear, and hopelessness are words often used by mothers who suffer alongside a daughter with an eating disorder. Mothers care for the emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of their children, but who cares for them? Cathy Robinson watched her daughter starve herself until she was near death. The resulting helplessness was almost too much for a mother to bear. Making matters worse was the feeling that she was utterly alone in her guilt and pain. She needed others to identify with and help her through this difficult time. "A Melody of Hope: Surviving Your Daughter's Eating Disorder" features inspirational true stories written by mothers of daughters who have recovered from eating disorders; they seek to provide encouragement, hope, and support to mothers beginning their journey. Told with breathtaking honesty and insight, these stories represent some of the many experiences shared by these mothers. For a mother coming to terms with her daughter's illness, these stories represent a welcome community of understanding. "There are very few books that feature families, and fewer still recounting success stories. Far too many are stories written about the tragedy a family experiences when a family member dies as a result of the disorder, not about the much larger community that experiences success. Hope is what people need during those periods when it seems the disorder will never be overcome, and hope is what this book offers." -Bryan Gusdal, MA, Program founder/director, Westwind Eating Disorder Recovery Centre, Brandon, Manitoba

Childhood obesity in the United States has tripled in a generation. But while debates continue over the content of school lunches and the dangers of fast food, we are just beginning to recognize the full extent of the long-term physical, psychological, and social problems that overweight children will endure throughout their lives. Most dramatically, children today have a shorter life expectancy than their parents, something never before seen in the course of human history. They will face more chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes that will further burden our healthcare system. Here, authors Jacob Warren and K. Bryant Smalley examine the full effects of childhood obesity and offer the provocative message that being overweight in youth is not a disease but the result of poor lifestyle choices. Theirs is a clarion call for parents to have "the talk" with their kids, which medical professionals say is a harder topic to address than sex or drugs. Urgent, timely, and authoritative, "Always the Fat Kid" delivers a message our society can no longer ignore.

Die skrywer se eerste boek, Vandag se sekretaresse (Human & Rousseau, 1988), was gebaseer op ontelbare kantore, kollegas en werkgewers waarmee sy tydens 'n elektroniese revolusie te doen gekry het. Daar was wêreldwye bekommernis oor of die sekretaresse met moderne kantoortoerusting vervang sou kon word. Nou is daar weer wêreldwye onsekerheid tydens 'n pandemie waar vetsug lewensgevaarlik is. My laaste dieet is die memoires van 'n smullende skaalslaaf. Ná 'n lewenslange stryd en ervaring van vraatsug, gepaard met kennis en ondervinding van 'n magdom diëte, beskou die skrywer haarself as die Koningin van Diëte.

Full recovery from an eating disorder is possible. Despite what you may have been led to believe, most people with anorexia, bulimia, or binge eating disorder are able to completely restore their health and well-being. But how does this happen?
Author Aimee Liu has woven together dozens of first-person accounts of recovery to create a break-through roadmap for healing from an eating disorder. "Restoring Our Bodies, Reclaiming Our Lives" answers key questions including: How does healing begin? What does it feel like? What supports and accelerates it? Will I ever be free of worry about a relapse?
Throughout the book are informative sidebars written by leading professionals in the field, addressing essential topics such as finding the right therapist, the use of medications, exploring complementary treatments, and how family members can help.
Learn more at the author's website: www.aimeeliu.net.

Grace King was an only child brought up by her mother, a single parent. She had a normal childhood and was always a high achiever with a positive attitude. But without her father's acceptance and love, underlying feelings of rejection, inadequacy, and guilt engulfed her. Her great-grandmother died, and Grace had her heart broken by her first love; guilt, regret, and self-hatred soon set the foundation for her to fall victim to the vicious grip of bulimia.

For more than ten years, she struggled to free herself from bulimia's hold and became lonely, depressed, and desperate. After years of self-destruction, disappointment, and regret, her conscience collapsed, and she longed for her healthy and meaningful life back more than ever. Grace was forever grateful for the friendships she forged and for the relationships she endured, knowing how much they had taught her about the meaning and purpose of life. She was always hopeful that one day, looking in the mirror would bring back the feeling of acceptance and happiness to a now repulsed, sad, and lost soul.

She embarked on a transformational journey that depended on the choices she made each day. Her heart was filled with endless hope, courage, and commitment to searching for the solution toward knowing herself again and being true to herself. Through prayer, she found the path that led her to the light and allowed herself to be cured.

It was through surrendering her bulimia to God, she learnt to love and forgive herself and she finally embraced her healing. She is a survivor and hopes her story will help save other lives too.