We all know Portia De Rossi. We all know that she’s a gorgeous actress with a head of hair that we would all kill for. (Or at least, I would.) She’s been in stuff like Ally McBeal and Arrested Development. She’s gay. She’s married to Ellen.
And she used to be anorexic.
Lowest weight she hit was 82 pounds. Gross right? This whole book is a look into what it’s like to be obsessive about weights and sizes. About what it’s like to be under the microscope and how much it affects people to be hiding a secret. (Like being gay.) She opens right up and lets it all out and it is both disturbing and amazing.
Made me realize that I have an eating disorder. (And not in a hokey hypochondriac kind of way.) I’m a solid 190 pounds at 5’6 and the worst yo-yo dieter you’ll ever meet. Binge eater extraordinaire. Portia goes on to explain near the end that dieting is just another form of eating disorder. Dieting is restricting us from what we want and what we want to be. Eat what you want and listen to your body when it tells you that you are full.
She gives some amazing advice and lets you in on the struggles that she went through. This really changed my way about eating. (It’s okay to eat fries and chips as long as I remember that I can eat them any day of the week, so it’s not on my mind all the time. Exercise is torture. Find activities that you like to do. Like walking the dogs. She explains that knowing that she is making a difference in another living creatures life is an important part of her day and she truly enjoys it more.)
Deeply changed and I thank her for that! I’ll be listening to my body more often from now on.
The Deranged Librarian 