Book recommendation

I'm reading a book by Frank Bruni, titled Born Round. Bruni is an award-winning journalist who's covered the White House, foreign capitols, and much more hard news, but has been the New York Times' food critic for several years now. The title is a reference to something his grandmother said to him, "If you're born round, you will never be square." Bruni was born round, as many of us were.

He catalogues his appetite and the foods he ate, always in massive amounts. He just loved food, and turned it into his friend as he got older. By the time he was in college, however, he'd turned a minor problem into a full-blown, serious eating disorder, using purging to get rid of meals right after he'd eaten. He certainly was a compulsive overeater, with bulimia, by the time he was a young man, but he had an unhealthy attitude toward food practically from the time he was born.

The chronicle of his eating might be triggering for those who are fighting obesity or bulimia. The meals were eaten with abandon, and he goes into their details. He is also fairly graphic about the vomiting, and that could add a weapon to those of you who might already tend toward purging. If you think this stuff could be a problem for you, please don't read it. But for others, I do think you can identify, and he'll show you the way out of the hell of a severe ED to health. He's now able to eat the finest foods in New York as well as Europe without weight gain.

I did some restaurant reviewing when I was a journalist. It's not as easy as it sounds, and since most of the food is bad, I wasn't tempted to eat any more than I had to in order to do a fair assessment. You go to a place three or four times to get a good feel for it and to try to get several entrees, apps, salads, etc., then write the review. With bad food, trust me--it's no pleasure. Because you eat out every night, the calorie intake is high, so serious workouts, both muscle-building and aerobic, are on the menu, too. The thought that Bruni (or I) review restaurants is quite ironic, don't you think?

Anyway, Bruni does get his ED under control, brings his weight into a normal range, and mostly stops the binging. It's a story with a happy ending.

I hope all of us who are struggling with weight loss have happy endings, too. If you read the blogs I have under my favorites, you'll see some happy endings. Almost Gastric Bypass is run by Allan Klein, a New Yorker who was a major league eater. He headed a restaurant and catering business that had some of the best food you'll ever see. (Another irony, yes?) He's running a group effort toward health for obese people that is based on sound science, as well as healthy emotional and physical attitudes. Check it out--it has hundreds or thousands? of readers from all over the world.

Fat Like Me is run by a blogger who's in the middle of a life-changing weight loss. She is part of the fifth, most difficult Challenge that AGB is running. Follow her success as she battles her ED on the way to health and--dare I say it?--beauty. She's a beautiful woman. Her's was the first weight loss blog I ever read, and it was the first to set me on this road to loving your body and treating yourself as though you love it. Check her blog out, too.

Since I'm not running any sort of challenge, and don't have a formal group going, those of you who are at loose ends, in addition to those who already have a supportive team of dieters, are begged to come aboard. Since this blog is for all EDs, welcome everyone.

I'm thinking of offering raffles. Nothing huge, just something nice for fun. Let me know what you think.