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Good Girls Do Swallow: The Darkly Comic True Story of How One Woman Stopped Hating Her Body
Between the ages of 17 and 31, Rachael Oakes-Ash lost 63kg and gained 76kg on a roller-coaster of body image problems and food obsession. She went through anorexia, bulimia, bulimarexia, gym mania, strict dieting and binge eating before she finally she figured out how to stop torturing herself and hating her body. Good Girls Do Swallow is the very black and very funny story of her downfall and her recovery.
Rachael might have taken things further than many of us, but this is a story every woman can relate to. You might not have rescued food from the rubbish bin in a moment of binge-madness but if you've ever felt lousy and reached for a chocolate biscuit for comfort, this book is for you.
'What the diet promised, I got,' writes Rachael. `I got the body that can wear the clothes. I got the job I love, I got the man I want. But I only got it for keeps when I stopped dieting.' From the Carol Brady Syndrome and Thindarella to Mutiny in Aisle Six, Good Girls Do Swallow tells how she did it.
Rachael might have taken things further than many of us, but this is a story every woman can relate to. You might not have rescued food from the rubbish bin in a moment of binge-madness but if you've ever felt lousy and reached for a chocolate biscuit for comfort, this book is for you.
'What the diet promised, I got,' writes Rachael. `I got the body that can wear the clothes. I got the job I love, I got the man I want. But I only got it for keeps when I stopped dieting.' From the Carol Brady Syndrome and Thindarella to Mutiny in Aisle Six, Good Girls Do Swallow tells how she did it.
189 pages, Paperback
First published September 20, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
April 4, 2016
Hmm. Reads like a manifesto, or maybe a twelve-step confession—that's a thing, right? Spelling out your life story and all the wrong turns you took as a sort of slate-cleansing? I'd been meaning to read this for ages, but I think it might have worked better as an essay than as a full-length book. As is, it's rather repetitious...although perhaps that's a big part of the point. Not convinced on the 'darkly comic' label, but then it's not really the sort of humour I gravitate towards.
November 9, 2025
Not particularly uplifting until the last few pages, the rest was just detailing struggles which I ofc sympathise with but also was hoping for more
March 11, 2020
This is the story of Rachael’s life with eating disorders and obsessions. In many ways it is superficial; it spends a lot more time describing binging, starving, gym obsessions and tantrums that it does exploring how she overcame her problems (basically by taking control of her life, taking responsibility for her decisions and growing up).
One interesting point she raised was our obsession with obtaining the perfect body (PB) – which is not the norm – versus our desire to be like everybody else in other ways and most people’s desire to follow trends and obtain the latest hip thing. She wondered why we wanted to be outside with the PB but not everything else.
At times I found it boring and repetitive, but she did have some interesting things to say.
Some favourite lines/points/ideas:
“knowing it and admitting it were two different matters” – can apply to anything and I have often pondered this multi-level of self-awareness we are all capable of ignoring.
“That’s what I believed. If my binge was revealed I simply would cease to exist. I could not imagine past the point of discovery. When I tried, everything went black.” - I like the evocativeness of everything going black; again I think this can apply to many of the things we think about ourselves and it points to the power of self-denial and not wanting to have to face something.
“eating when hungry was not a diet program, eating when hungry is what normal people do.” – I like the way she approached her recovery, eating when hungry and moderately were huge steps for her – she was extreme in all her behaviours prior to this and she cut out dieting first and then other undesirable behaviours. The strategy of bringing previously forbidden foods into the house, eating them when hungry and then replacing them once they were gone, meant that over time they lost some of their intrinsic appeal – and became “normal”. I think this is brilliant. (The idea is from Geneen Roth, who advocates no-one diet ever).
“Growing up is about setting limits” & “If I wanted to grow up I would have to learn how to hear and say ‘no’.” – true and I sometimes think the lack of doing these two things creates the majority of problems we face in our interactions with others.
One interesting point she raised was our obsession with obtaining the perfect body (PB) – which is not the norm – versus our desire to be like everybody else in other ways and most people’s desire to follow trends and obtain the latest hip thing. She wondered why we wanted to be outside with the PB but not everything else.
At times I found it boring and repetitive, but she did have some interesting things to say.
Some favourite lines/points/ideas:
“knowing it and admitting it were two different matters” – can apply to anything and I have often pondered this multi-level of self-awareness we are all capable of ignoring.
“That’s what I believed. If my binge was revealed I simply would cease to exist. I could not imagine past the point of discovery. When I tried, everything went black.” - I like the evocativeness of everything going black; again I think this can apply to many of the things we think about ourselves and it points to the power of self-denial and not wanting to have to face something.
“eating when hungry was not a diet program, eating when hungry is what normal people do.” – I like the way she approached her recovery, eating when hungry and moderately were huge steps for her – she was extreme in all her behaviours prior to this and she cut out dieting first and then other undesirable behaviours. The strategy of bringing previously forbidden foods into the house, eating them when hungry and then replacing them once they were gone, meant that over time they lost some of their intrinsic appeal – and became “normal”. I think this is brilliant. (The idea is from Geneen Roth, who advocates no-one diet ever).
“Growing up is about setting limits” & “If I wanted to grow up I would have to learn how to hear and say ‘no’.” – true and I sometimes think the lack of doing these two things creates the majority of problems we face in our interactions with others.
May 31, 2019
This memoir is a little outdated and thus uses outdated terms like bulimarexia (not a thing. AN purge sub is the term you want). However its wry aussie wit and candid no holds self acceptance more than makes up for its place in history. CW for discussion of numbers and compensatory methods in this book. Oaks-Ash tells her story with such abandon it is hard not to get swept along. I started thinking that maybe i should even take my own recovery more seriously. Then I laughed manically and became obsessed with a trip to chicago fml.
June 7, 2019
I found this book actually quite inspirational. Despite the slightly peculiar title, it does make sense in a very odd way. The humour helped to lift the mood of the dark topic to which it covers and some very positive messages were passed especially in the closing chapter. The bottom line is that we need to stop hating our body and believing if we can change it then our lives will improve. As so many of us are learning, losing weight does not mean the answer to all of our problems, more so the start of them.
February 20, 2021
It is nice to hear eating disorders spoken about in an unapologetic, open way, however I felt there could have been more of a focus on her recovery and her feelings as the description of her symptoms of illness took up the majority of the book.
May 2, 2025
loved it
May 6, 2022
Reread 2022 :
I can't believe I read this book 7 years ago. That's just insane how time flies..
So, I put this one in my favourites of 2015; today, I wouldn't have done that, and I'd give this book 4 stars insteas of 4.5
This account on eating disorders is still a good one though; funny, while remaining serious and honest.
But it's also over 20 years old, and some parts didn't age well. Others haven't changed much though, and it's funny to see that, while still true, it has worsened in some ways. But also, nowadays we are bombarded with the body positivity, but I think deep down, it's worse than ever. Especially with social medias.
This memoir helped me 7 years ago, so it remains a really good book to my eyes.. but if you want something more up to date, maybe search somewhere else.
2015 :
4.5 stars.
I can't believe I read this book 7 years ago. That's just insane how time flies..
So, I put this one in my favourites of 2015; today, I wouldn't have done that, and I'd give this book 4 stars insteas of 4.5
This account on eating disorders is still a good one though; funny, while remaining serious and honest.
But it's also over 20 years old, and some parts didn't age well. Others haven't changed much though, and it's funny to see that, while still true, it has worsened in some ways. But also, nowadays we are bombarded with the body positivity, but I think deep down, it's worse than ever. Especially with social medias.
This memoir helped me 7 years ago, so it remains a really good book to my eyes.. but if you want something more up to date, maybe search somewhere else.
2015 :
4.5 stars.
June 11, 2016
I read this back in high school but I've been wanting to re-read this for awhile.
The book in some parts really resonated with me but towards the end of the book she started to sound like a reformed smoker telling people that cigarettes are bad for you.
There were vast differences in some of the stylisations of the chapters which I found a little off putting and some of the text repeats which can be annoying. This book is a short read so it's good if you are into non-fiction autobiographies about eating disorders.
The book in some parts really resonated with me but towards the end of the book she started to sound like a reformed smoker telling people that cigarettes are bad for you.
There were vast differences in some of the stylisations of the chapters which I found a little off putting and some of the text repeats which can be annoying. This book is a short read so it's good if you are into non-fiction autobiographies about eating disorders.
September 16, 2013
This is the story of a set of circumstances in a life which resulted in the development of a young woman with a disordered eating pattern, starting at age 8. It is a tragic story, and hopefully the recounting of it may strike a chord with others who are caught in a destructive pattern of dieting and binge eating and encourage them to seek liberation from their eating disorder enabling them to live a life filled with purpose.
November 24, 2021
I found this book rather boring. It starts off well and is informative about eating disorders and obsessions but then the author starts repeating herself and it all becomes rather self-absorbed. There is a lot about the actual conditions but not so much about how the author overcame her problem eating.
June 10, 2011
Interesting book to get more of an insight into eating disorders, and Rachel Oakes-Ash writes her autobiography in a very amusing way. Although at times rather depressing, and got me more consious about the PB (Perfect Body) that is constantly referred to.
August 4, 2011
Not as insightful as other autobiographical anorexia stories through the telling, however the ending and how she managed to come to the realisation of her automatic negative thoughts was powerful and a must read for anyone who questions themselves in anything they do.
October 9, 2011
Not as insightful as other autobiographical anorexia stories through the telling, however the ending and how she managed to come to the realisation of her automatic negative thoughts was powerful and a must read for anyone who questions themselves in anything they do.
May 12, 2017
A bit funny, a bit serious. Gets preachy and love-your-body-blahblahblah at times, but other than that it's worth your time, especially if you're a bulimic.
May 22, 2011
The second book I'd read on eating disorders/body perception et cetera. It was okay. I didn't find it particularly interesting though and unfortunately did not finish.
May 6, 2011
amusing edge
September 26, 2011
It was intially funny but then repetitive after a while and one of the most egotistical, boring, me-me-me books I've ever read.
August 3, 2012
A book that every woman should read if she's had a good/bad relationship with food! lol
February 21, 2015
Lots in this book I couldn't necessarily relate to directly, but I enjoyed it anyway. My favourite chapter was 'leave the light on in the fridge'.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews