Personal Story Books

Personal Stories

Being Ana: A Memoir of Anorexia Nervosa
by Shani Raviv
This powerful award-winning, coming-of-age memoir is a beautifully written, heart-wrenching, hard-hitting and sometimes shocking exploration into the soul and psyche of a young woman struggling with Anorexia Nervosa. From its opening scenes, in honest and engaging prose, Raviv catapults the reader on a wild journey into the rigid chaos of this perplexing disorder. An enlightening page-turner that reads like a novel, being Ana offers the ultimate message for sufferers: hope, relapse, and finally, full recovery
264 pages, paperback, 2010
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Dancing through it: My Journey in the Ballet
By Jenifer Ringer
288 pages, hardcover/paperback, 2014
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Diary of an Exercise Addict
By Peach Friedman
208 pages, paperback, 2010
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Eating Disorders On the Wire: Music and Metaphor as Pathways to Recovery w accompanying CD
By Jenn Friedman
78 pages, paperback, 2014

Eating to Lose: Healing from a Life of Diabulimia
By Maryjeanne Hunt
160 pages, paperback, 2012
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A Girl Called Tim: Escape from An Eating Disorder Hell
By June Alexander
June Alexander, author and advocate, developed Anorexia Nervosa at age 11. Her journey of 40 years of illness is an unrelenting quest to reclaim her identity, grab hold of that lost little girl’s hand, and set out on new adventures. Along the way she rebuilt her thinking, her relationships, and explored her true sense of self. As she recovered, she was able to look at her life history through the lens of modern brain research and the history of mental health treatment. What she would say now, to that girl nicknamed, Tim, will astound you. This is a story of hope and never giving up.
267 pages, paperback, 2011
junealexander.com/books/a-girl-called-tim

Goodbye Ed, Hello Me: Recover from Your Eating Disorder and Fall in Love with Life
By Jenni Schaefer
Don’t battle an eating disorder forever—recover from it completely!
Bestselling author of Life Without Ed, Jenni Schaefer writes in her second, Goodbye Ed, Hello Me, that she is no longer on speaking terms with Ed (eating disorder)—not even in her most difficult moments. Inspiring, compassionate, and filled with practical exercises, this supportive, life-saving book will help you to take the final steps in divorcing your Ed completely. In short, easy-to-read sections, Jenni explains that full freedom is not just about breaking free from destructive behaviors with food but also means finding joy and peace in life. Taking you along her journey of “second stage” recovery, she explores how to move past lingering negative body image, transform painful perfectionism, and nurture healthy relationships. Combining Jenni’s signature honesty, quick wit, and unfailing encouragement, Goodbye Ed, Hello Me will give you the prescriptive tools necessary to say no to Ed and yes to purpose, passions, and fulfilled living—falling in love with your life.
249 pages, paperback, 2009
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Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia
By Sheila & Lisa Himmel
304 pages, paperback, 2009
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Just Tell Her to Stop: Family Stories of Eating Disorders
By Becky Henry
In Just Tell Her To Stop: Family Stories of Eating Disorders, National Award Winning Author, Becky Henry gives accounts from the perspective of mothers, fathers, siblings, grandparents, those who have recovered and those still struggling, whether they be male or female. Not only does this book provide comfort, hope and insights for caregivers, it helps health providers and medical students gain essential insights in including the family in successful treatment of these complex deadly mental illnesses.

One mom shared, “Until my husband read your book, he didn’t understand our son’s eating disorder. NOW he gets it!” Henry regularly hears from parents, “Thanks for giving me back my happiness!” and “I keep this book around to refer back to the great tips at the end of each chapter.” This book is a must read for anyone who wants a better understanding of how eating disorders impact families.
277 pages, paperback, 2011
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Life Hurts: A Doctor’s Personal Journey Through Anorexia
By Elizabeth McNaught
144 pages, paperback, 2017
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Life Without Ed 10th Anniversary Edition: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too
By Jenni Schaefer with Thom Rutledge
Written in the tone of a true friend and infused with humor, Life Without Ed chronicles the baby steps, achievements, and challenges of overcoming an eating disorder in honest, forward prose. In therapy, Jenni learned to treat her eating disorder (“Ed”) as a relationship rather than an illness. The first stage of recovery from Ed was recognizing that “he” held tyrannical rule over her life, down to the last morsel of food, and that she must begin to see herself as separate from him—making room for her own unique voice and authentic self. In short, easy-to-read sections, Jenni takes you along her journey of “divorce” from Ed, sharing nuggets of wisdom that she learned along the way. The tenth anniversary edition includes a new afterword and sections devoted to men with eating disorders; family, friends and supporters; and treatment professionals. Combining a patient’s insights with a therapist’s prescriptions for success, the new edition also includes helpful ideas related to technology and an actual divorce decree to sign, pre-signed by Jenni as a witness to your own life without Ed.
188 pages, paperback, 2014
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Life Without Ed: How One Woman Declared Independence from Her Eating Disorder and How You Can Too 10th Anniversary Edition
Audiobook, including the song, “Life Without Ed”
By Jenni Schaefer with Thom Rutledge; Narrated Jenni Schaefer
Written in the tone of a true friend and infused with humor, Life Without Ed chronicles the baby steps, achievements, and challenges of overcoming an eating disorder in honest, forward prose. In therapy, Jenni learned to treat her eating disorder (“Ed”) as a relationship rather than an illness. The first stage of recovery from Ed was recognizing that “he” held tyrannical rule over her life, down to the last morsel of food, and that she must begin to see herself as separate from him—making room for her own unique voice and authentic self. In short, easy-to-read sections, Jenni takes you along her journey of “divorce” from Ed, sharing nuggets of wisdom that she learned along the way. The tenth anniversary edition includes a new afterword and sections devoted to men with eating disorders; family, friends and supporters; and treatment professionals. Combining a patient’s insights with a therapist’s prescriptions for success, the new edition also includes helpful ideas related to technology and an actual divorce decree to sign, pre-signed by Jenni as a witness to your own life without Ed. To access the divorce decree and other resources, be sure to visit jennischaefer.com.

Living Full: Winning My Battle with Eating Disorders
By Danielle Sherman-Lazar
256 pages, paperback, 2019
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Man Up to Eating Disorders
By Andrew Walen
142 pages, paperback, 2014

My Thinning Years: Starving the Gay Within
By Jon Derek Croteau
Growing up, Jon tried to be the all-American boy his father always wanted, denying his gayness in a desperate attempt to gain his love only to be met with abusive behavior. With this Jon internalized a deep homophobia that made him want to disappear rather than live with the truth about his true sexual identity. That denial played out in the forms of anorexia, bulimia, and obsessive running, which consumed him as an adolescent and young adult.  Author, Jon Derek Croteau brings a raw mix of emotion to his powerful story of self-hatred and punishment and along his journey to self-affirmation and healing as a gay man in My Thinning Years.
240 pages, paperback, 2014
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phoenix, Tennessee (music CD)
Music CD recorded by bestselling author, Jenni Schaefer
Available in digital and CD format
Capturing Jenni Schaefer’s healing journey in Tennessee, this alternative country/pop CD includes seven dynamic songs that not only inspire recovery but also explore relationships and life. Written and produced by Jenni and hit songwriters in Nashville, the CD includes the popular singles, “Life Without Ed” (from her book Life Without Ed), “It’s Okay to be Happy” (from Goodbye Ed, Hello Me), and “She Blames Herself,” a powerful song about transforming sexual abuse (featured in Almost Anorexic). Jenni’s music has helped countless people in recovery from various afflictions and is often used by professionals in groups. Anita Johnston, author of Eating in the Light of the Moon, has said, “Jenni’s songs cut to the heart of what really matters when living a soul-filled life. Through them, she offers up an invitation to actually feel the sensations of authentic, embodied joy that come with freedom, recovery, and wholeness!”
7 songs, 2010

Peoplescapes — My Story from Purging to Painting
By Nancy Calef, Jody Weiner
Peoplescapes — My Story From Purging To Painting is an around-the-world tale of self-discovery, courage and love, at turns hilarious and heart-breaking, as artist Nancy Calef’s shares with readers her journey transcending anorexia and bulimia and the paintings and drawings that helped her recover.

Calef, whose art is regularly featured in solo and group exhibitions, chronicles with grace and humor, her evolution from child model, through her recovery and maturation into a multi-disciplined artist renowned for her innovative “Peoplescapes:” vibrant plein-air colors applied to exaggerated snapshots of the human condition where characters are often rendered in 3D, sculpted on the canvas, with symbolic commentary, together producing a razor sharp narrative on issues facing society.

Driven by honest self-examination and daily commitment to convert her self-destructive energy into creative expression and physical exercise, Calef provides in these pages inspiration for others to help themselves transcend deep emotional and physical obstructions.
156 pages, paperback, 2014
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PR: A Personal Record of Running from Anorexia
By Amber Sayer
PR: A Personal Record of Running from Anorexia juxtaposes Amber Sayer’s triumphs on the cross-country course with her struggles to overcome severe anorexia. By showing the interrelationships between her eating disorder, elite high school and collegiate running career, and the pressures of chasing academic and athletic perfection, Sayer hopes to confront taboo subjects in the running community and help young athletes avoid or escape the difficult situations she faced while growing up.  PR is recommended for athletes and has also been helpful to parents, friends, and coaches.
246 pages, paperback, 2013
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Purge: Rehab Diaries
By Nicole Johns
Purge: Rehab Diaries is a beautifully written and powerful memoir that focuses on the three months Nicole Johns spent in residential treatment for Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. Johns shatters many of the common myths surrounding eating disorders, and her story provides hope to individuals struggling with an eating disorder as well as caregivers, without sugarcoating the reality of living with an eating disorder and the recovery process. This memoir provides a unique reading experience by including documents and artifacts from Johns’ time in treatment, and by avoiding the stereotypes and cliches commonly found in other eating disorder memoirs.
274 pages, paperback, 2009
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Remembering Judith
By Ruth Joseph
My name is Ruth Joseph and I wrote Remembering Judith.
I wrote the book because I wanted to tell the world that despite my late mother’s illness she was a beautiful talented woman who unfortunately had a terrible life. It was undoubtedly this life and its cruelties that twisted her thoughts. What other child torn away from their parents and families, their secure lives, customs even language, at twelve years old could cope with the vagaries of a new country and strange foster parents? To be told at fifteen that she was an enemy alien and just before her sixteenth birthday that her parents and three little sisters had been murdered in Riga and the way they were killed.
What she needed at that point in her life was a strong man to love and take care of her. But fate dealt my late father who was weak and cruel and loved the image of a sick wife.
To please him she became more and more sick and sadly she died.
I watched it all from the wings and broke my heart and I suppose even at that time the book was crying out to be written.
I became a nutritionist and Samaritan trying to heal others as I was unable to help my mother. Then at age of fifty I decided to study and gain the qualifications I wanted. Then after qualifying at Glamorgan University with an M. Phil in Writing, I wrote Red Stilettos, a collection of short stories, and many refer to my past.
It was a short progression to write this book and I’m delighted to say that I have received letters and e mails from all over the world, as it has helped so many people and I’m grateful for that.
To those who are searching for answers to their problems please look at Remembering Judith and find comfort.
Love is there.
I now have a wonderful family, have been married to Mervyn for 45 years, have two children and two lovely grandchildren. I have written a diet book called The Complete Dieter, and two cookbooks, Warm Bagels and Apple Strudel and the American version Jewish Traditional Cooking and run a food blog, veggischmooze.blospot.com with my daughter Sarah. Plus I have had numerous short stories published and now a children’s story has won me a prize and waits for publication. It’s called The Magic Wok. Life is good.
226 pages, paperback, 2013
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Safety in Numbers:  From 56 to 221 Pounds, My Battle with Eating Disorders – A Memoir
By Brittany Burgunder
450 pages, paperback, 2016
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Second Son: Transitioning Toward My Destiny, Love, and Life
By Ryan K. Sallans
When Ryan Sallans first stepped into his therapist’s office to begin his treatment for anorexia nervosa, he was nineteen years old, a college sophomore, and female. Through six years of therapy and self-exploration he was able to find his true self as a transgender man. His journey toward recovery from anorexia presented him with several challenges, but the skills he learned became his strength while transitioning from female to male. Second Son introduces a unique narrative surrounding finding self-acceptance and love while honoring one’s truth.
240 pages, paperback, 2013
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Shattered Image: My Triumph over Body Dysmorphic Disorder A Memoir
By Brian Cuban
224 pages, paperback, 2013
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Something Spectacular: The True Story of One Rockette’s Battle with Bulimia
By Greta Gleissner
248 pages, paperback, 2012
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Ten-Mile Morning: My Journey Through Anorexia Nervosa
By Adam Lamparello
163 pages, paperback, 2012
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The Weight of Being: How I Satisfied My Hunger for Happiness
By Kara Richardson Whitely
272 pages, paperback, 2018
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Thin A Memoir of Anorexia and Recovery
By Grace Bowman
In ‘Thin’, Grace tells her own story of anorexia and recovery. At the age of eighteen, she went on a diet that didn’t stop; that couldn’t stop. Her life turned away from friends, school and future plans to calorie counting, weighing scales and isolation. ‘Thin’ is a sensitive and honest account of how anorexia feels from the inside and how its perpetual voice strangles out normal life. Grace examines how her fragile self-esteem and performance anxieties were placated by her eating disorder, which gave her a very specific sense of control when she felt vulnerable and exposed.

‘Thin’ is an attempt to narrate an experience which often felt outside of words or conventional narrative patterns – it was an experience rooted in body, emotion and affect, but presented itself as a separate irrational mental force. Grace charts her slow journey through recovery in her own way; and explains how she re-established a connection with her body; and found a shape of her own against a tide of bodily dissatisfaction, distorted media imagery in an obsessive dieting culture.

Grace Bowman is a researcher and writer working in the field of Medical Humanities. She has two children and lives in London.
304 pages, hardcover & paperback, 2008
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