Diary of an Exercise Addict

by Peach Friedman

Overview

In 2000, Peach Friedman, a college senior freshly broken up from her boyfriend, set out to beat the blues by beating herself into shape. Running ten miles a day and taking in as little as 800 calories, she fell from 146 pounds to 100 in three months and was at serious risk of cardiac arrest. What Friedman suffered from was exercise bulimia—a newly diagnosed and rapidly spreading eating disorder that affects some 400,000 American women, and which gyms and colleges across America are beginning to take seriously.

In Diary of an Exercise Addict Friedman recounts her descent into a life-threatening illness, her remarkable recovery, and the setbacks along the way. With refreshing candor she lays bare her relationships with family, friends, and lovers and the repressed desire that finally surfaced as she found her own way back to health.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762748969
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	11/05/2008
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.72(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.86(d)

About the Author

Peach Friedman, a spokesperson for the National Eating Disorders Association, is a personal fitness trainer who works with people recovering from eating disorders. She has been featured in People Magazine, has interviewed with Barbara Walters on ABC's The View, and has appeared on 20/20 and E! True Hollywood Story. She lives in Sacramento, California.

Recipe

As a young Southern woman in her senior year of college, Peach Friedman set out to beat the blues—and a break-up with her 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.

She fell from 146 to 100 pounds in three months.

Friedman suffered from exercise bulimia—a compulsion to purge calories through excessive exercise, and a rapidly growing eating disorder that affects some 400,000 American women. Having lost all memory of the sexy, curvaceous woman she once knew, Friedman found herself at serious risk of cardiac arrest.

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. In this raw and illuminating narrative, 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. Abook about accepting yourself—and your body—and embracing your true identity, Diary of an Exercise Addict will comfort, inspire, and captivate.

Editorial Reviews

Personal trainer Friedman courageously takes on the life-threatening illness of eating disorders and exercise addiction. After a traumatic breakup with her longtime boyfriend, she went into a tailspin, finding control by restricting her caloric intake and exercising compulsively. Assisted by a supportive family and years of therapy, Friedman prevails. This book would be ideal for teenage and young adult women aiming to beat exercise bulimia.-Lynne Maxwell

Library Journal

"Friedman, a poet and now a personal trainer, tells [her story] well. She is especially eloquent on the connection between food and sex.. .. Recovery for her means becoming a sexual adventuress again. And while we may fear for her a little, we're also deeply glad for her choice."

—People

"Friedman courageously takes on [a] life-threatening illness.. .. Assisted by a supportive family and years of therapy, [she] prevails.. .. Ideal for teenage and young adult women aiming to beat exercise bulimia." —Library Journal

 

"Poignant and gutsy.. .. Written with tremendous heart and offering a courageous vision of one woman's struggle with her self-confidence and battle with her own body, [Diary of an Exercise Addict] offers a testament to the courage and passion necessary to escape a cycle of destructive behavior." —Metro Spirit (Augusta, Georgia)

"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 in the world who suffer from this eating disorder." —Jamie-Lynn Sigler, actress and author of Wise Girl

“Whether or not you have ever struggled with an eating disorder, you will relate to Peach Friedman’s Diary of an Exercise Addict. Not only will you find this bookaccessible and useful but so captivating that you won’t want to put it down. You must read this book!” —Jenni Schaefer, author of Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too

"A very candid look into the world of exercise bulimia—both the daily struggle with body image and the joy of finding recovery. Through her courage to share personal and intimate details of her life, Peach Friedman shows readers how eating disorders profoundly affect every aspect of a person's life." —Tony Paulson, Ph.D., Executive Director of Summit Eating Disorders & Outreach Program, author of Why She Feels Fat: Understanding Your Loved One’s Eating Disorder and How You Can Help

 

"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 story will resonate with every woman who has ever confused losing weight with feeling good, and it will give hope to the many whose compulsion to over-exercise prevents them from leading full and healthy lives. —Aimee Liu, author of Gaining: The Truth About Life After Eating Disorders

From the Publisher