Customer Reviews

Diary of an Exercise Addict

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is one of the only times that I have seriously questioned whether the other reviews were written by family members, friends or publishing house staffers. I think you would have to be related to this author or paid to write a remotely positive review of this book.

I learned the hard way: do not waste your time or money if you want an in-depth look at someone with exercise bulimia - the author reveals nothing about her daily exercise regimen, her feelings when working out or when she was prevented from doing so. Rather, she spends the bulk of the book trying to impress the reader with her pampered lifestyle ("My flesh has become my battleground: a medium for all my upper-class struggles to manifest through the common rich girl practice of calorie counting") - how "Mommy" and "Daddy" supported her as a 23-year-old college graduate who was too good to work at temp jobs so she would lie around her rent-free cottage eating organic food and picking up men for one-night stands in which she conveniently forgets to use protection. ("Why don't men know how easy I am?"). Trust me, it only gets worse when she discusses her work as a poet. ("I'm dressed like a hooker to hide the fact that I'm a violent poet", "My work is so unconventional, I doubt the Virginia poets really want to claim me as their own"). I was rather horrified to see the review from the father who claims that his daughter has the same body issues - the author has no trouble sunbathing topless in front of her father and she publishes her diary entries in which she writes about her dreams of attacking her father.

I could not find an ounce of empathy for someone who was this self-absorbed. ("All these men are looking at me. They are, they are all looking at me and I know it's because I've gained enough weight that my face looks normal and my body looks skinny, which means I look like a supermodel and that's why they're looking.") Her only claim-to-ED fame was that she apparently lost 40+ pounds in a matter of a few months and then, after a massive binge that merits little discussion, she starts eating again. She does not receive any professional help, except for a dietician that she eventually calls her "life coach." She does not hesitate to tell anyone and everyone that she had an eating disorder and that it can take up to 10 years to recover (Seriously, she is having coffee with someone she barely knows and does not want to befriend: "I tell her anyway that I'm in recovery from an exercise compulsion. I tell her because I'm honest, despite not wanting to be her friend or wanting to sit here at all... I'm explaining that I'm learning how to exercise less, to moderate my workouts, to slowly wean off of exercising." When she does not get the response that she wants, she feels "violated, angry, confused.").

This book does not shed any light on exercise bulimia. Anyone who has a history of any type of ED will not find the exercise that is revealed here to be remotely excessive (running 6 miles a day, 50 minutes on a treadmill or a leisurely bike ride), her calorie restrictions to be too restrictive (at one point, she is limiting herself to 1100 calories per day) or her overall eating behavior too disordered (she binges but only talks about trying to purge once or twice; a description of a binge: "I'm depressed so I'm eating from my fridge, standing in the kitchen... shoveling organic chocolate chips in my mouth in spoonfuls with organic peanut butter, washing it down with organic soy milk, light, and going to bed without brushing my teeth, without masturbating.").

I sincerely hope that there are other books that are more enlightening and more engaging.

What an egomaniac this chick is.

Eating disorders are about self-hatred and punishment, not going on and on about how "beautiful", "stunning", and "hot" you look. Based on her photo on the book's back flap, those terms are a stretch, as I find her looks average at best, no matter how "long, straight, and blonde" her hair is. This girl needs to get a grip.

I'm giving this book two stars on the chance that some other eating disordered person out there will gain something to help them. For my money, it was an agonizing read where I just wanted to finish the book because I was constantly amazed at the ego on this girl. She had every advantage available to her, and so to me her so-called disorder was merely another facet of her self-indulgent lifestyle.

Another problem with this "diary" is that it perpetuates the myth that eating disorders are the terrain of the affluent. She's all that: white, upper middle class, young, educated. The truth is that eating disorders effect women AND men of all economic strata, all races, all backgrounds, and all ages. It's just that the only ones who could afford to get help were affluent, so that's the only group that got counted in the statistics. Peach is proof of that--she tells us how she goes out and hires a dietician and a therapist, and her parents hire shrinks, etc. a team of professionals to help this girl!

If you can relate to this girl, I dunno. But after struggling with food issues my entire life and sitting through thousands of recovery meetings for the truly food-addicted, I have never seen or heard anyone like Peach.

If nothing else, she needs to go to adult children of alcoholics to get over herself and starting addressing the root of her problems, not just the symptoms.

If you really want to read/learn about exercise bulimia, I highly recommend the Exercise Balance by Powers and Thompson. Both authors specialize in treating eating disorders and working with athletes.

At the risk of sounding cold, I have to say this author really took an opportunity for indulgently over-sharing her own neurosis without teaching much to the lay-person about the disease of exercise bulimia.

I read it quickly since the writing was smooth and personal enough to keep the page turning. By the end of it, I couldn't help but think...what an amazingly indulgent problem to have. To be financially taken care of and exorcise your personal existential angst in a wholly self-involved way. By the end of the book, she'd hired two dietitians, two therapists, one physician. All of this while walking out on her jobs--just walking out! I mean, who has the resources to do all this? I found the author to pampered, self-consumed and lacking perspective on the range of problems that other people throughout the world live with as their reality. She found a way to profit off her experience, but I don't think she did enough to delve into the depth of what this disease looks like from a macro-level.

I'm afraid this voice and style of writing does more to hurt than it does to help since the health insurance industry already sees eating disorders as purely mental illnesses undeserving of coverage for treatment.

Where to start..

This author comes across as so narcissistic in the book that I didn't know whether to laugh or cringe, so I chose the former. She spends at least as much energy extolling her beauty, pampered lifestyle and just overall greatness as she does to the topic of the exercise disorder.

I would definitely advise getting this stinker from the library. Read it for the chuckle; passages such as: "..My consistently flat blond hair, like a gift from a celebrity magazine, brushing my shoulders in perfect ponytail form" or "I'm a novelty, even to myself".

Since Peach is such a "violent poet" then she should stick to poetry because her prose sucks and the way she writes her experience is an insult to every man and woman out there DYING of an eating disorder with no family or financial support. Peach is a joke and so is her book. This book is lame- the author, the writing, her mild "brush" with an ED- lamelamelame.

Dear WonderWmn and few other sane people who read this book: I sincerely want to thank you for saving me the time I was going to spend writing extensively about the severe and sad shortcomings of the book by nailing every single point I wanted to mention- ranging from the exclamations about her supermodel looks (has anyone with an ED ever ever described themselves as such?!) to the haughty and off-putting attitude about her amazing fortune of having endless familial financial support to dally in whatever she chooses (extremely distracting and reduced the impact of her message significantly). While I sincerely commend her, as all women, who have overcome an ED - I regret this book was written as an "example" of ED, especially exercise bulimia. I think this book would have been less disappointing if it had been presented as a memoir of just a woman rather than a diary or memoir of an eating disordered person. Quite simply, the attitude and behaviors do not represent well a woman with an ED, and her road to recovery is simply a series of self-promotional events. While this is a memoir, and literary style may not be a significant factor- that too was a shortcoming and surprising given that the author has obtained various degrees in Creative Writing, etc. Overall, I unfortunately would not recommend this book as a significant book to read for anyone interested in learning about ED's or for anyone interested in an engaging memoir.

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!

The best book for those suffering with eating disorders, especially over exercising. No one can understand the situation unless you have been through it and Peach does an awesome job at explaining what it feels like. I would recommend this to anyone it started my recovery before any therapist could understand me. She is an example of a healthy role model in today's society and finally someone that comes out on the other end. It was not glorified at how recovery can be, it showed that you need to pick yourself up sometimes and keep fighting for your life.

Peach's story hit so close to home with me. Reading her book to be very theraputic. This is an excelent example of dealing with an eating disorder/exercise addiction. Her writing is fabulous and her story is intriguing. I give this book 5 stars and highly recommend it.

I wasn't as interested in this one as some of the others or maybe I'm just getting too picky because I own so many eating disorder books.The latter half just didn't hold my interest.