Learning to Be Me: My Twenty-Three-Year Battle with Bulimia [Paperback]

Jocelyn Golden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2007

“Having read many books on eating disorders, I am always inspired by ones that are written from a personal perspective. Learning To Be Me is so honest and bravely written. It offers readers immense hope, and I am already recommending it to some of my clients.”
—Andrea Wachter, coauthor of The Don’t Diet, Live-It! Workbook

Many women in the United States who suffer from eating disorders die from the diseases annually. Learning To Be Me: My Twenty-Three-Year Battle with Bulimia is one woman’s courageous battle to not become a statistic.

From violent self-abuse to feelings of despair as her cries for help went unanswered, author Jocelyn Golden’s Learning To Be Me chronicles her battle and ultimate victory over one of the most silent, misunderstood, and deadly eating disorders in America. With candor and wit, Golden recounts the miserable realities of living with bulimia for more than two decades and paints a vivid self-portrait of a woman obsessed with being thin.

An inspirational memoir about the search for strength, motivation, and support, Learning To Be Me illustrates the importance of self-love on the journey to healing.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jocelyn Golden has struggled with bulimia for more than twenty-three years. Now effectively controlling the disorder, Golden uses her experiences to educate and support other victims. She lives in Washington DC Metro.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Prologue

What follows is the true story of my twenty-three-year battle with bulimia. From its innocuous beginnings when I was thirteen, it took me on a journey of violent self-abuse that brought me to the edge of complete self-destruction. It left me so physically damaged that I required two life-altering surgeries and, as a result, I am reminded every day of the road I have traveled. Along the way my cries for help went unheard or were misunderstood and my utter reliance on and immersion in my disease eclipsed and overshadowed everything else. It was not until nearly a quarter of a century of living every aspect of my life through this disease that I found the strength, inspiration, and support to seek the help that finally brought me into recovery and enabled me to live without my most enduring companion, bulimia.

Today I am sharing this story with you, whoever you are — sufferer, friend, family member, spouse — in the hope you can spare yourself or someone you love from taking a journey similar to mine. If I can give you or your loved one the gift of self-kindness and resisting the false promises bulimia or other eating disorders offer, then my journey will not have been in vain. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 194 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse Star (May 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583484825
• ISBN-13: 978-1583484821
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #206,589 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jocelyn Golden is an author, motivational speaker, teleconference leader and HYL workshop leader. Her work has helped thousands of sufferers, loved ones and others who want to get well from battling the disease of bulimia or who want to know more about this disease. Jocelyn's firsthand experience in struggling with bulimia for 25 years and now fully recovered is remarkable. Rather than stay a "victim" of her disease, Jocelyn has transformed her life and continues to help others who once walked in her shoes.Her first book, Learning To Be Me, My Twenty-Three Year Battle with Bulimia details Jocelyn's intense struggle with bulimia-from losing her large intestines to having her last rites said to her. Nothing is held back in this honest and forthright book. Her latest book, 50 Strategies to Sustain Recovery from Bulimia, provides simple yet highly effective strategies for transforming your life to sustain full recovery from bulimia. These strategies enable the sufferer to manifest a full life and live as their

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Wish there had been more details about recovery, October 3, 2006

By 

No longer suffering (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning to Be Me: My Twenty-Three-Year Battle with Bulimia (Paperback)

This book was in-depth history of her Eating Disorder (140 pages) and a short (40 pages) account of what happened to her during the start of recovery. She talked briefly about therapy. She talked very little about what the recovery felt like and the emotional and physical challenges she faced during recovery. I wish the book had in-depth details about the start of her recovery process, not just the years she suffered. Not a good recovery resource, but it was interesting and honest. Suffering from an Eating Disorder is the worst!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Important Book, November 4, 2005

By 

AliceBt (Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning to Be Me: My Twenty-Three-Year Battle with Bulimia (Paperback)

I read this book cover to cover in a few days because it took me on a rollercoaster ride of what an extreme eating disorder is really like and how the recovery process is so involved.

I read it because there is someone in my extended family who we suspect has an eating disorder and I want to be as informed on the subject as possible. This book made me realize that there is no time to waste - I cannot conceive of our family member going through what this author has.

All I can say is thank you for telling your story, it will help others.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book Ever!, November 1, 2006

By 

Jelly Bean (IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning to Be Me: My Twenty-Three-Year Battle with Bulimia (Paperback)

I have struggled with bulimia for 7 years. i am not recovered yet. But i am trying to read books to guide me through my recovery process. This book is so touching. Jocelyn is real. She openly shares her most humiliating experiences and the miricals that have helped her recover. Eating disorders are, for many of us, an outlet for expressing emotions. Suffers dont know how to express emtions in a "normal" way. We resort to controlling our eating behavior. Jocelyn's story helped me find the reasons i chose to resort to bulimia. It also gave me a a sense of courage that no other book or story has ever given. Jocelyn's story is worth reading. It can help anyone struggling. I wish I could meet this woman with such strength.