Sheila and Lisa Himmel are the authors of the newly released memoir “Hungry: A Mother and Daughter Fight Anorexia,” which tells the story of Lisa’s process of recovery from anorexia and bulimia. Sheila and Lisa are speaking in several events around the country in honor of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.
Sheila Himmel is a former restaurant critic for the San Jose Mercury News and a winner of the James Beard award. But her daughter and co-author, Lisa, once a kid with a healthy, inquisitive appetite, suffers from anorexia and bulimia -- disorders that nearly took her life. In alternating segments, the two women describe their separate realities. The book addresses eating-disorder triggers, treatment facilities and revelations the pair had along the way
Lisa describes starving herself, her 5 foot 3 inch body so thin her hip bones hurt at night, and throwing up as many as 10 times a day. Sheila writes about the depths of her fear, her family's history of depression, a relative's struggle with weight, the out-of-whack way Americans eat and her own relationship to food - she celebrates it, but admits she was flattered when people met her and invariably commented, "But you're so skinny!"
I love the book ends with an optimistic tone and their two lists on 10 Things we learned about eating disorders.
To learn more about the book or their speaking tours, go to Sheila Himmel’s website at: http://www.sheilahimmel.com/book.shtml
