Runaway Eating: The 8-Point Plan to Conquer Adult Food and Weight Obsessions

by Cynthia M. Bulik, Nadine Taylor

The first book to address a disturbing new dangerous eating patterns in midlife women that can have serious health consequences.

Struggling to cope with the stress of menopause, empty nest syndrome, caring for ailing parents, work overload, and the cultural emphasis on youth and beauty, more and more women find themselves eating compulsively to ease tension, manage anxiety, quell depression, and distract themselves from what's really eating them. Others obsessively follow strict diets or exercise excessively.

In this groundbreaking book, clinical psychologist Cynthia M. Bulik, Ph.D., and dietitian Nadine Taylor team up to present a patient-tested 8-step program to help women regain a healthy relationship with food. Readers also will
o A thorough explanation of the full spectrum of
Runaway Eating behaviors, from occasional lapses
into binge eating to restrictive dieting to compulsive exercising
o Alternative ways to alleviate anxiety and defuse
depression
o Practical strategies for managing the menopausal symptoms that often lead to disordered eating

Genres: Mental Health, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2005

About the author

Cynthia M. Bulik, Ph.D., FAED, is the Distinguished Professor of Eating Disorders at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she is also Professor of Nutrition in the Gillings School of Global Public Health and the Director of the UNC Eating Disorders Program. A clinical psychologist by training, Dr. Bulik has been conducting research and treating individuals with eating disorders for over two decades. She received her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. She completed internships and post-doctoral fellowships at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She developed outpatient, day patient, and inpatient services for eating disorders both in New Zealand and in the United States. Her research has included treatment, laboratory, epidemiological, twin and molecular genetic studies of eating disorders and body weight regulation. She also develops innovative means of integrating technology into treatment for eating disorders and obesity. She has active research collaborations throughout the United States and in twenty countries around the world. Dr. Bulik has written over 400 scientific papers and chapters on eating disorders and is author of Eating Disorders: Detection and Treatment (Dunmore), Runaway Eating (Rodale), Crave: Why You Binge Eat and How to Stop (Walker), and Abnormal Psychology(Prentice Hall). She is a recipient of the Eating Disorders Coalition Research Award, the Academy for Eating Disorders Leadership Award for Research, the Price Family National Eating Disorders Association Research Award, Carolina Women’s Center Women’s Advocacy Award, the Women’s Leadership Council Faculty-to-Faculty Mentorship Award, the František Faltus Award, and the Academy for Eating Disorders Meehan-Hartley Advocacy Award. She is a past president of the Academy for Eating Disorders, past Vice-President of the Eating Disorders Coalition, and past Associate Editor of the International Journal of Eating Disorders. Dr. Bulik holds the first endowed professorship in eating disorders in the United States. Her academic life is balanced by being happily married with three children and a gold medalist ice dancer.

Reviews

[Spook Sulek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a good read, but probably more for someone who hasn't already read about the history of food and society. It's another book that since publication has had a number of theories disproved; this book recommends eating according to the Food Pyramid! Ha! But there was some tremendously interesting information on the personalities of those who develop eating disorders and so forth. The information on perfectionism startled and illuminated me.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is geared more toward menopausal women, and it leaned toward examples of women in the workplace, neither of which apply to me, but everything else was spot on applicable.

It took me a long time to get through this book, not because it wasn't insightful, or helpful, but because I wasn't ready to change. Unfortunately I'm still not ready to change. I did finish it, and I feel like there have been moments of hope because of ideas placed in my head due to this book, but those things haven't yet been placed in my heart too.

Addiction recovery is a long, slow, difficult process.