My Book List - What Helped & What Didn't

[quietintuition]

Hello fishies :bandwagon

I wanted to list the ED books I have read in the past year and give a brief description of what helped me and what didn't.

NOTE: These are my personal opinions & more opinions and suggestions are welcome!

Additionally, if you want to add to this list that would be great! I am looking to buy a few more books this month and could use some help finding truely inspirational/helpful ones.

:hugon BOOKS THAT HELPED MY RECOVERY :hugoff

:starsDon't Diet - Live It Workbook (advertised on this site) - This book has helped me more than any other book. I have gone through and done the workbook five or more times now. Everytime I think I'm not progressing in my recovery I can look back at all my workbook entries and really see how far I've come. This is the #ONE book I would buy.
:starsEating in the Light of the Moon (mentioned on an earlier post) - This book is very fun to read and is very inspirational. It truely celebrates womanhood!
:starsSucculent Wild Woman - This book makes you feel proud of who you are and shows you how to celebrate the little things in life... definitely a keeper
:starsWhen you Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull up a Chair - This book sheds a humorous light on people with eating problems. My favorite quote says "The fourth law of the universe is that for every diet, there is an equal and opposite binge." Isn't that the truth! This book is full of practical and realistic suggestions. I read it in one sitting
:starsIt's Not About Food - Helpful, but not the most helpful
:starsWhen Women Stop Hating Their Bodies - Show us what we can do when we take our focus off food.. shows you how to eat from "mouth hunger" instead of "head hunger"

:hugon BOOKS THAT DIDN'T HELP MUCH :hugoff

:starsFrench Toast For Breakfast - just didn't click with the author... maybe because I read it after reading so many other books it just seemed to simplified and not as good as other books I had read
:starsAppetite for Life- Accounts of women w/ EDs... it just wasn't very inspriational for me
:starsDesperately Seeking Self - too simple
:starsBulimia, A Guide to Recovery - the two week program to stop binging/purging never worked for me. At all.

If you have other opinions or more books to share, please post!!!!

[LoneMare]

Don't Diet - Live It Workbook

Succulent Wild Woman

These are both books I've considered getting. If you have time and wouldn't mind could you (or anyone else who has read them) talk a bit more about what was special about them?

Does the first target BN and BOE more than AN? Is it something that is best worked on with a therapist or can it be helpful for working on alone?

Thanks and if you don't want to share more that's fine. :gimmehug

[gone]

Succulent wild women is a crazy book. I got a copy of it at the library for a dollar and I read it. I didn't know what the heck was going on. Everything in it ran contrary to what I was taught, so it took me awhile to absorb it. I would recommend it, just spend some time with it.

When Women Stop hating their bodies is another book that took me a long time to understand. It almost has a political, women's rights theme to it. I would recommend it, if only to help you see that a lot of your ideas about weight and appearance are from society and you can change your ideas, even if society won't change.

Appetite for Life was an odd one. I read it, felt bad for all the women, returned it to the library, and that was it. Didn't get much out of it.

[quietintuition]

:hugon LoneMare :hugoff

About the books you mentioned

Succulent Wild Woman looks like a childrens book... it is so different and brave... it sort of takes you away from the "norm" way of thinking which is why it's so good. It has nothing to do with eating disorder, but more do to with self image and embracing who we are :bounce

Don't Diet Live It Workbook is the book that has helped me the most. I worked on it alone... not with my therapist. It is not geared toward one eating disorder, but the underlying issues behind ALL of them. It is for anyone with eating issues. It is a workbook so you get out of it what you put into it. The chapters that helped me the most were

Criticism vs Praise
Black and White vs Rainbow Thinking
The Bing/Deprive Cycles and Loving Limits
Holding on vs Letting Go

I'm sure if you bought the book you would have certain chapters that help you more than others. There are fifteen chapters total, each with a ten or twenty page introduction followed by the workbook exercises (quesitons that you answer by writing in the book).

I hope this helps!

Elizabeth

[Shuffleboard Queen]

I, too, loved the Don't Diet, Live it! workbook. Another workbook I liked dealt more with depression than EDs, but it was still so good was Don't let emotions run your life. As someone who is quite emotional, it helped me use them in a more productive way.

[hotchick]

Hey thanks for all these wonderful suggestions. I am going to go to the bookstore today and check some out.

I agree totally with your response to a couple books, like Bulimia a Guide to Recovery. Nothing in that book really helped me much. the program never did much for me.

thanks agian!

Hotchick