Monday, May 9, 2011

Alli's CBR-III Review #14 - Wasted

I have been so bad, I have barely read anything in the past month and a bit. I did finish the book I am about to review a few weeks ago but I didn't get around to writing about it until now.

After I read Unbearable Lightness, Youthfulzombie recommended reading "Wasted" by Marya Hornbacher as a more accurate memoir of someone with an eating disorder. I bought the iBooks version and read it over a couple of days. I could relate to quite a bit of it. I have eating issues that are now mostly resolved, but I am currently on a calorie counting plan and it is sometimes hard to know the difference between being dedicated to my health and being obsessive.

Wasted in some ways offers little hope to eating disordered people. Hornbacher doesn't sugar coat her realities, and it is appreciated. That was one of my main issues with Unbearable Lightness, De Rosi spent 95% of the book detailing her obsessions and 5% saying how magically one day she was all better. Hornbacher also details her processes and the ins and outs of her disorder, but she is clear that there is no magic solution. She also spent the time and did her research, and so it feels that her information is coming from a more authoritative place.

I also appreciated the fact that Hornbacher mentions that pretty much all women suffer from eating disorders. Although not all women have anorexia or bulimia, the majority have an unhealthy images or are constantly dieting. I have a skewed view of this, as I spend a lot of my time on a diet community online. I also read something similar in the book In Defense of Food where it indicated there is a new disorder called "Orthorexia" which is an obsession with eating healthy.

It seems no matter what you do, if you are predisposed to eating disorders then you will find one that fits you. Some of us are just not wired to be able to eat normally. Then again, what is normal? All we can hope for is a balance, to be able to not be self destructive and to try and enjoy all that life has to offer.

1 comment:

  1. I think I use past as an excuse to NOT diet, because I am often afraid I will become obsessed with counting, with cutting out, eliminating. But then I think overdoing it a little wouldn't be so bad...and the cycle continues in my mind, so I do nothing.

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