Full Lives: A Woman's Guide to Freedom from Obsession with Food and Weight [Paperback]

Lindsey Hall (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

A satisfying anthology of interviews and writings on eating disorders, with a delicious twist: the book is structured as a dinner party, with the 16 contributing writers as guests. Featuring some of the best known authors and speakers on anorexia nervosa, bulimia, body image and food obsessions, Full Lives includes new work by Rebecca Ruggles Radcliffe, founder of Eating Awareness Services and Education (EASE); Carol Munter and Jane Hirschmann, pioneers of the anti-diet movement; Caroline Adams Miller, author of the bestselling book on bulimia, My Name is Caroline; and others. This is not a guide to overcoming eating disorders, although many of the writers have authored such practical how-to books. Instead, this is a conversation about the lives of these remarkable women, describing the personal growth and satisfaction that recovery from eating disorders has bought them. For women struggling with the secret of an eating disorder, this book offers a vision of the rewards of recovery. -- From The WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for Women; review by Patricia Pettijohn

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Recovered and fat? To most people considering the process of recovering from an eating disorder, this might sound frightening. Fatness is viewed as such a deviation in our society that coupling it with the word "recovery" seems like a contradiction. Even professionals in the field, who should know better, slump back into the assumption that if a person is fat, she or he must be eating disordered and troubled. (From: "To Be Recovered and Fat" by Marcia Germaine Hutchinson)

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Gurze Books; 1st edition (September 3, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0936077263
• ISBN-13: 978-0936077260
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #383,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read for All Women, May 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Full Lives: A Woman's Guide to Freedom from Obsession with Food and Weight (Paperback)

As a nutritionist and eating disorders specialist, I highly recommend this book. It is composed of group of individual healing stories by women who make up the well known experts on eating disorders revealing their own experiences. It is not just a "how to" book, but a deeply personal journey into the lives of these women and how they overcame their own personal struggle with the weight and eating issues that haunt so many women today. It puts the issues of food and eating where they belong instead of on the pedestal designed by American Culture. Reading this book should be a tremendously healing experience for all women, not just those who struggle with eating issues. We are all in this together, and the more who understand, the more we will be able to help our fellow sisters in their struggle to have a normal relationship with food and their bodies! It is high time all of us stopped basing our self worth on our body size and our ability to diet. We need to start accepting our worth recognizing that we don't all have the same genetic potential, and we need to try to be the healthiest that we can be, rather than trying to imitate someone else's idea of who or what we should be. That is what this book is about. A great first step on a worthwhile journey.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great perspective on this topic..., March 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Full Lives: A Woman's Guide to Freedom from Obsession with Food and Weight (Paperback)

This is a great book to read, quite different from the many other titles out there that primarily focus on methods to free one's obsessions with food, weight and the disorder in general. As the book is staged at a dinner party, it consists of remarks and insights from those who have battled these issues firsthand - and is refreshing to the reader in that they have plenty of company in their struggle. I finished the book with a refreshing feeling of freedom, having identified with the personalities within the book and with a fresh outlook on my daily battle. A great read for those already on the road to recovery.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best resource., December 28, 2010

By 

Bethany Haid "bld424" (Columbia, MO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Full Lives: A Woman's Guide to Freedom from Obsession with Food and Weight (Paperback)

I think it is good for all women who have an ED to write a memoir for their healing. After reading this book, I do not think it is a good thing for all women who have had an ED to read those memoirs. Many are triggering, depressing, and not really productive towards healing. I think different stories speak to different people, as do writing styles. This book just wasn't my style and was more harmful than helpful.