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FULL: Overcoming our Eating Disorders to Fully Live
Growing up in the digital age, with the pressures of social media and increasingly competitive academics, Alayna’s perfectionism started early in life. She began to despise her body after a pre-teen wellness check when the physician told her to “lay off the snacks” and watch her weight. At age 16, Alayna was diagnosed with anorexia. She was three weeks from being sent to an in-patient treatment center when she decided to take charge of her life.
Plagued with body dysmorphia beginning at six years old, Melissa came of age in the diet culture of the 1970s and 1980s when fad diets, diet pills, and at-home exercise equipment dominated the golden age of advertising. Melissa was diagnosed with bulimia when she was 16 and her treatment included both inpatient and intensive outpatient programs over five years. After a series of traumatic events, she struggled with anorexia in her thirties.
Burke and Kelley weave their stories of illness and recovery through 12 topics that fed their eating disorders and share how they now manage those challenges to fully participate in life. FULL offers insight and hope to people struggling with eating disorders and those who love them.
Plagued with body dysmorphia beginning at six years old, Melissa came of age in the diet culture of the 1970s and 1980s when fad diets, diet pills, and at-home exercise equipment dominated the golden age of advertising. Melissa was diagnosed with bulimia when she was 16 and her treatment included both inpatient and intensive outpatient programs over five years. After a series of traumatic events, she struggled with anorexia in her thirties.
Burke and Kelley weave their stories of illness and recovery through 12 topics that fed their eating disorders and share how they now manage those challenges to fully participate in life. FULL offers insight and hope to people struggling with eating disorders and those who love them.
241 pages, Paperback
Published November 10, 2022
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4 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 2, 2023
Full: Overcoming our Eating Disorders to Fully Live by Alayna Burke and Melissa Kelley follows the two authors as they share through their journey with eating disorders.
Mental health and eating disorders are two of the most stigmatized issues I've seen lately. Empathy and caring is hard to find when people don't understand. But for those who do, having resources from people just like us can be so helpful, and can help shares the stories we need to hear making that stigma go away.
Alayna and Melissa do a fantastic job of sharing their stories. Not only is the book well written, but it explains how eating disorders aren't just about the food and even provides coping mechanisms to help those who aren't ready to go out and get professional help yet. Keep in mind, the authors aren't doctors and are instead real women describing their experiences and what helped them. Their struggles are very personal, but they show how real people have been affected and how they have helped themselves.
This is an inspirational book that will be a strong and positive resource for those who want to feel like they are not alone in their struggle. And hopefully, by learning that they are not alone, they will also be able to get the help they deserve.
Five out of five stars.
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Mental health and eating disorders are two of the most stigmatized issues I've seen lately. Empathy and caring is hard to find when people don't understand. But for those who do, having resources from people just like us can be so helpful, and can help shares the stories we need to hear making that stigma go away.
Alayna and Melissa do a fantastic job of sharing their stories. Not only is the book well written, but it explains how eating disorders aren't just about the food and even provides coping mechanisms to help those who aren't ready to go out and get professional help yet. Keep in mind, the authors aren't doctors and are instead real women describing their experiences and what helped them. Their struggles are very personal, but they show how real people have been affected and how they have helped themselves.
This is an inspirational book that will be a strong and positive resource for those who want to feel like they are not alone in their struggle. And hopefully, by learning that they are not alone, they will also be able to get the help they deserve.
Five out of five stars.
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
December 16, 2022
FULL: Overcoming our Eating Disorders to Fully Live, by Alayna J. Burke and Melissa L. Kelley, is a well-written book dealing with the hardships of eating disorders and body image and how the cause of the disorder is always much more significant than just not liking your body. The authors of this book tackle the subject starting from their own experiences and perspective.
Burke was a prepubescent 10-year-old living in the era of social media when a doctor first told her that she needed to lay off the snacks, which started her eating disorder. She would soon realize that when she lost weight, the way people talked about her changed, and being a perfectionist, her new goal was as clear as day: stay tiny. Melissa grew up in the 70s, and her eating disorder started as early as 6 years old; looking at herself in her parents’ bedroom mirror and thinking she was big, too big to be able to disappear, which was her coping mechanism in school. After sharing their stories, the authors focus on the fact that an eating disorder or body image issues are never the results of just not being happy or satisfied with our bodies; they are the result of trauma, shame, perfectionism, comparison to others, the glamourization of being sick, addictions, triggers and more.
Burke and Kelley gave a wonderful insight into the struggles of having an eating disorder and shared what they went through, how they overcame their issues, and what they learned along the way. They tackled a subject that is the reality of many people around the world and helped end the stigma of eating disorders by simply explaining that this is a genuine disorder that is not just about how you look. Reading this, I could recognize myself in these women’s stories. As someone who has dealt with and is still dealing with an eating disorder, I always felt that I needed to lose weight to feel better about myself. Still, I just recently realized that I also have a problem with food and that I was never taking care of myself but rather feeding my disorder. Losing weight gave me approval, pride, and attention. That’s me. I’m big. I seemed to take up so much space. These are just some of the quotes I found myself in in the book, and I believe most people who have dealt with eating disorders have resonated. I am incredibly thankful that these authors decided to share their stories. They managed to give a voice where there was silence for a long time.
FULL: Overcoming our Eating Disorders to Fully Live is a profoundly thoughtful self-help book that deals with a topic typically oversimplified in the media. This book does more than shed light on the subject of eating disorders; it offers first-hand experience into the struggles to recover and emphasizes it is a lifelong challenge. I recommend this book to anyone dealing with these or similar issues, that have family or friends struggling with eating disorders, anyone interested in learning, and psychology students.
Burke was a prepubescent 10-year-old living in the era of social media when a doctor first told her that she needed to lay off the snacks, which started her eating disorder. She would soon realize that when she lost weight, the way people talked about her changed, and being a perfectionist, her new goal was as clear as day: stay tiny. Melissa grew up in the 70s, and her eating disorder started as early as 6 years old; looking at herself in her parents’ bedroom mirror and thinking she was big, too big to be able to disappear, which was her coping mechanism in school. After sharing their stories, the authors focus on the fact that an eating disorder or body image issues are never the results of just not being happy or satisfied with our bodies; they are the result of trauma, shame, perfectionism, comparison to others, the glamourization of being sick, addictions, triggers and more.
Burke and Kelley gave a wonderful insight into the struggles of having an eating disorder and shared what they went through, how they overcame their issues, and what they learned along the way. They tackled a subject that is the reality of many people around the world and helped end the stigma of eating disorders by simply explaining that this is a genuine disorder that is not just about how you look. Reading this, I could recognize myself in these women’s stories. As someone who has dealt with and is still dealing with an eating disorder, I always felt that I needed to lose weight to feel better about myself. Still, I just recently realized that I also have a problem with food and that I was never taking care of myself but rather feeding my disorder. Losing weight gave me approval, pride, and attention. That’s me. I’m big. I seemed to take up so much space. These are just some of the quotes I found myself in in the book, and I believe most people who have dealt with eating disorders have resonated. I am incredibly thankful that these authors decided to share their stories. They managed to give a voice where there was silence for a long time.
FULL: Overcoming our Eating Disorders to Fully Live is a profoundly thoughtful self-help book that deals with a topic typically oversimplified in the media. This book does more than shed light on the subject of eating disorders; it offers first-hand experience into the struggles to recover and emphasizes it is a lifelong challenge. I recommend this book to anyone dealing with these or similar issues, that have family or friends struggling with eating disorders, anyone interested in learning, and psychology students.
December 23, 2022
First, I want to thank Alayna J. Burke, Melissa L. Kelley, Black Umbrella Wellness Publishing, and Stress Free Book Publishing for providing me with this book so I can bring you this review.
WOW! Full Overcoming Our Eating Disorders To Fully Live is a book that every woman of all ages needs to read! Alayna J. Burke and Melissa L. Kelley are two women who need to be commended for opening up and sharing their very personal stories, struggles, and journeys with their readers.
I strongly believe that this book would be beneficial on a shelf at a health class, high school library, in a counselor's office, or in a nurses office at school. This is also a great resource for parents or family members dealing with this issue. Not only that but I will go one step further and say this would be a great book club book as well. You could talk for hours on many subjects listed in this book.
Melissa starts out the preface of the book on how she and Alayna know eachother and the reasoning behind writing the book.
On a personal level I identified with and related to many of the experiences and stories that Alayna spoke about. I too have dealt with an eating disorder that also affected my mental health and anxiety issues. My weight over the years have fluctuated, had weight loss surgery, and tried many different diets, etc. It is a daily struggle mentally, emotionally and physically.
I enjoyed reading both Melissa’s and Alayna’s experiences and seeing how they were different and yet the same in some aspects.
One of the aspects of the book that I appreciated was all they did within eating disorders, complicated pregnancies, etc and educating their readers.
This may be a short read but it is not an easy read. It is intense, powerful, in-depth, will pull on your heart strings at times as you feel what they are both going through! At times I wanted to reach into the book and hug them both!
WOW! Full Overcoming Our Eating Disorders To Fully Live is a book that every woman of all ages needs to read! Alayna J. Burke and Melissa L. Kelley are two women who need to be commended for opening up and sharing their very personal stories, struggles, and journeys with their readers.
I strongly believe that this book would be beneficial on a shelf at a health class, high school library, in a counselor's office, or in a nurses office at school. This is also a great resource for parents or family members dealing with this issue. Not only that but I will go one step further and say this would be a great book club book as well. You could talk for hours on many subjects listed in this book.
Melissa starts out the preface of the book on how she and Alayna know eachother and the reasoning behind writing the book.
On a personal level I identified with and related to many of the experiences and stories that Alayna spoke about. I too have dealt with an eating disorder that also affected my mental health and anxiety issues. My weight over the years have fluctuated, had weight loss surgery, and tried many different diets, etc. It is a daily struggle mentally, emotionally and physically.
I enjoyed reading both Melissa’s and Alayna’s experiences and seeing how they were different and yet the same in some aspects.
One of the aspects of the book that I appreciated was all they did within eating disorders, complicated pregnancies, etc and educating their readers.
This may be a short read but it is not an easy read. It is intense, powerful, in-depth, will pull on your heart strings at times as you feel what they are both going through! At times I wanted to reach into the book and hug them both!
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January 3, 2023There is power in sharing personal experiences with difficult issues. In this book, the two authors share their personal struggles with eating disorders, as well as give tips to those who may be going through similar things. As someone who struggles in this, I found this to be really helpful in realizing I am not alone. Given the personal nature of this book, I am not going to give it a rating. But I did really enjoy this.
January 13, 2023
Attended an author event to hear Alayna and Melissa tell their stories and promote this book. Enlightening! A very worthy read!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews