Starving: A Personal Journey Through Anorexia

by Christie Pettit

Book Overview

As a college freshman and tennis player, Christie Pettit decided to lose a little weight. But less than a year later, her obsession with dieting and exercise had turned into full-blown anorexia, jeopardizing her health, her friendships, and her relationship with her family. Here, with personal anecdotes, journal entries, and Scripture, Pettit reflects on her struggle with eating. She also looks at the less visible battles that are associated with...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0800758412
• ISBN13: 9780800758417
• Release Date: January 2003
• Publisher: Fleming H. Revell Company
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Personal Journey

This book is an interesting personal account of battling anorexia. She talks about her faith throughout it, and how that aided her in healing.

Very Helpful!

This book was very good. I needed to read a book that would encourage me to continue to fight my eating disorder from a Christian perspective. I love the author's honesty that changing eating behaviors is and continues to be difficult for her, but it's worth the fight. I am reccomending this book to my friend who also struggles with an eating disorder.

Right to the Heart of It

After reading the reviews for this book, I felt compelled to write one for those of you considering the purchase of this book. I agree with the comments that this book was very Christian in nature and if you are not a Christian then this book may not be the right approach for you to help you with your eating disorders. Also, if you do not have an eating disorder or are not struggling with low self esteem this book is not designed to help you understand friends or relatives who may have these problems. This book is designed to help Christians struggling with eating disorders. As a strong Christian who has constantly battled low self esteem and continues to battle with bulimia and excessive dieting, this was the only thing that spoke to my heart and helped me see how destructive I was being. For me having a strong family support, going to a nutritionist, a secular counselor, and a christian counselor all failed to make much of an impact at all in my destructive eating disorder. They gave me important tools and helped me along the way, but when I sought out this book and read it with an open mind and a desperate heart, I was sucked in and really found peace within myself. I wish I still had my copy of the book but I gave it to a friend to read because I wanted to share the message of this book. I have never seen a book be so honest and so truthful about the thoughts, feelings, and hopelessness going on in your mind while struggling with day to day life. It made you feel like you were not the only one out there and still gave you so many amazing verses, ideas, and built you up in a way nothing else has done for me. I would suggest this book to anyone who is struggling with an eating disorder, with their self esteem, or with their self image. It is amazing.

Any woman with low self-esteem because of weight-read this!

This book is incredible.It offers insight into the mind of a sufferer as well as giving honest truths about society's attitudes in general.I would recommend it to anyone who is trying to understand/overcome an eating disorder or is simply struggling with their self-image.It is interspersed with uplifting quotations which are fast becoming my fuel for fighting my thoughts.As a strong Christian trying to recover from anorexia it was overwhelming to read of Mrs Pettit's experiences and be able to relate them to my own.The truth and honesty of her story and how scarily like me it is shook me up and has given fresh determination to conquer my obsession.Giving it to my fiance to read has also helped me to expain feelings i cannot articulate.The best part is the focus on self-worth being about your qualities and importance as a person to other people and to God rather than your weight.Mrs Pettit is a fantastic role model and reading her book has been an experience which has opened my mind to a new,liberating way of thinking.So needless to say,read it!

Starving

This book is well written and obviously comes from the heart. Ms. Pettit's experiences are occurring far too often on college campuses today. Even though it is written by a strong Christian, it still would be helpful to people of other faiths. It would also be helpful if read by family members of a person struggling with an eating disorder, because it could help them understand the thought process. It was very brave of Ms. Pettit to share her private journal with others. Also, she has obviously done a lot of research to understand her problem, and it is helpful that she shared that as well.

wow...

I can't say enough good things about this book. This is a must read for anyone who has (or might have) an eating disorder or even anyone who thinks they might know someone who has one. It is especially helpful for Christians who struggle to understand how other Christians, or even they themselves, can let negative thoughts and the "need" to be thin control their lives and actions, even when they know that God looks for the inward beauty of a person. I was amazed at how easily I related to Christe Pettit and her struggle to understand God's role in her disorder. I cannot tell you how many times I was thinking something and then turned the page to see my exact thoughts written on the page, staring back at me. It opened my eyes in so many ways...