200 pg, soft, '09

As a young Southern woman in her senior year of college, Peach Friedman set out to beat the blues—and a break-up with a boyfriend—by beating herself into shape. Running ten miles a day and taking in as little as 800 calories, she forbade herself from indulging in the sensual pleasure of food and worked her body to exhaustion to avoid dealing with her emotional pain.

Friedman suffered from exercise bulimia—a compulsion to purge calories through excessive exercise, and a rapidly growing eating disorder that affects thousands of men and women.

In Diary of an Exercise Addict, Friedman chronicles her harrowing six-year ordeal—from her gradual descent into a life-threatening eating disorder to her remarkable recovery, and the setbacks and challenges she encountered along the way. With refreshing candor, she unveils her intimate relationships with family, friends, and lovers, as well as the repressed desire that finally finds its way to the surface as she finds her own way back to health. Friedman does not shy away from recounting the most painful details about her body, her sex life, and her family, as well as her darkest, most terrifying thoughts.

In a culture obsessed with weight management and fitness, this extraordinary memoir exposes the very real dangers of pushing your body too hard, while showing how one woman's courage and determination helped her to eventually wind her way back to a full recovery.

Note: Some details may be triggering to young readers.

REVIEWS:

"Not only will you find this book accessible and useful, but so captivating that you won't want to put it down."
— Jenni Schaefer, author of Life Without Ed, and Goodbye Ed, Hello Me

"Peach Friedman writes with ruthless honesty and a poet's grace about an addiction that is all too common in our fitness-crazed society…her book will give hope to many."
— Aimee Liu, author of Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders

 "Peach Friedman's chronicle of a life with exercise bulimia is the most detailed and honest example of how this disease can enter and take over your life. She exposes every aspect of the emotional, physical, and mental effects this disorder can have on an individual, and with her candidness, I know she can help so many others out there."
— Jamie-Lynn Sigler, actress, author of Wise Girl