Diary of an Exercise Addict

By Peach Friedman

Peach was an ordinary college student just starting out her life of independence and graduating from college when she began to have an eating disorder. She had recently broken up with her longtime boyfriend (a mutual decision) and had also recently found out that her parents had separated. This convergence of events seemed to trigger her anorexia. She dieted her way down to a dangerous level of thinness but managed to turn the corner and get back to a more normal weight. But she still feared being fat so she started exercising to an extreme level. She had exercised a lot while anorexic but now began a course of exercise that resulted in chronic pain in her joints. That was when she began to face the fact that she had a problem with over exercising. Gradually, with help, she began to develop healthy eating and exercising habits and began to feel less fearful and out of control.

This was a pretty good book. At times I found her writing style tedious, especially when she sprinkles her sentences with unnecessary periods: "It's as if. Nothing has changed?" or: "I. Love. Boston." But, despite that, her story is important and it was really brave of her to reveal her personal struggle in such intimate detail.