It's brave to take on such a hot and deeply taboo topic such as disordered eating and American culture. Kazdin engaged me from he very beginning in her part memoir/part non-fiction investigation about eating, disorders, body image and the American healthcare system. I really appreciated the candor and well-defined research about this much experienced and seldom dissected topic. Thanks so much for a chance to read an early copy of this book!

Another book that I have had on my kindle that took me a while to get to and I REGRET.

What's Eating Us attracted my attention because its a topic that I do believe most-to-all women struggle with- the idea of their bodies. Cole Kazdin writes about the topic and surrounding topics- eating disorders, fertility, body image, etc. I really enjoyed how this was informative and also threaded with memoir from the author's own journey. This might not be for everyone, but I particularly liked hearing about her story.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and Cole Kazdin for this ARC. What's Eating Us comes out on March 7, 2023. This is an amazing memoir that highlights the restraints of body anxiety that hold women captive. The rise of eating disorders and body dysphoria was explored in this insightful piece. I loved that the book also included statistics and discussions on queer, poc, and intersectional identities.

This book is EVERYTHING! Part memoir and part research about eating disorders, it’s a deep dive into diet culture, genetics, and why cis women feel the way they do about their bodies.

ARC REVIEW
What's Eating Us
By Cole Kazdin

Publishing date : 3/7/2024

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

A little bit of back story about me. I've been " obese" my entire life. At the age of 29, I decided that I was going to try to lose weight for the 892nd, time. All of my attempts were unsuccessful, so I decided to try something New. Cue, WW, previously known as weight watchers.

From November 2018 through March 2020, I lost a total of 100  pounds.  And currently I'm sitting between 80-90 pounds lost, almost 3 years later.

If you are someone new to " diet culture" this book would be eye opening for you. It does give insightful info regarding eating disorders and DISTORTED EATING- which i'm very aware I have, due to past exreme weight loss and having the fear of gaining. However, I dont feel like a lot of information like this is correct, FOR EVERYONE. I fully understand how restricting your food intake and eliminating certain foods is " unhealthy" and we should practice intuitive eating, but for someone like myself, who is always hungry and could eat cookies and cakes all day.....intuitive eating isn't something my brain can do. This is why I was 265 pounds. 

However, the book was enjoyable! The author tells about her eating disorder, issues with fertility and why the weight loss industry is a crock of shit. If this is your first intro to learning about weight and eating disorders, I think its a great first step!

Again, I am fully aware that we are not meant to " restrict" our intake and we should be fueling our bodies and not in a constant state of weight loss. But for ME, If Im not tracking my food, I will be almost 300 pounds again. And for ME, that means health issues, which were made MUCH better by my weight loss.

Although health is NOT determined by ONLY your weight, it is something I need help with, which is why I track my food intake. I don't think it's the perfect way for everyone, but it's changed my health and life.

Honestly? It's hard. It's affects me mentally daily. I'm aware I have issues due to this. But it's a hard situation that isn't "one size fits all"

Thank you to @netgalley
And @stmartinsessentials
For the arc!

This was such a wonderful insight into what is eating us - literally. Cole Kazdin's book was part memoir, part self help, and part research with plenty of evidence to support her work. It was refreshing to see how the author discusses the way we eat, eating, disordered eating, addiction to food and our culture and how it impacts the way we eat and the way we view our bodies. This is a fascinating look at how social media and our culture as a whole influence how we eat, what we eat, why we eat the way we do and eating disorders that can stem from this. I highly recommend every woman check this out!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this eARC.

As someone who’s struggled with disordered eating, this was a great read.

Truly very insightful, and well researched!

It may be triggering for some readers, however I found it very helpful for where I personally am in my journey.

Thank you for allowing me to review this title.

This was a really informative read. I learned a lot about the various ways eating disorders are treated, sadly mostly ineffectively. I didn't read the description very well before reading it, but I did not think it would be so entirely focused on disordered eating. It did discuss diet culture and the diet industry, but I guess I thought it'd talk more about body anxiety in general or for those women who don't necessarily have an eating disorder.
Still a great read and highly recommend to anyone interested in learning about how the diet industry works, and how that does real harm to real people.

I love a book by a journalist, and this was no exception. Kazdin uses the story of her eating disorder to take us into the world of eating disorder research and treatment. She challenges the diet industry and sheds light on the harmful ways the industry claims to “help.” She shares vetted sources of information, treatment, and social change.

If you like your research with a side of personal connection and story, this is worth checking out!

Kazdin talks about her own eating disorder, as well as interviews others with a range of disordered eating behaviors. Always proceeded mindfully if this is a topic that is likely to trigger you.

Als jemand, der gerne Sachbücher zu verschiedenen Themen liest, hörte sich das vorliegende Buch sehr interessant an. Auch wenn ich persönlich nicht von einer Essstörung betroffen bin, so finde ich das Thema doch sehr wichtig.

Vor dem Lesen war mir nicht klar, dass das Buch sehr viele Details aus der privaten Leidensgeschichte der Autorin enthalten würde. Und generell viel aus ihrem Leben.

Ein Leben, in dem gefühlt jede Frau, die die Autorin trifft, komplett fixiert auf ihr Gewicht und ihre Ernährung ist. Vielleicht ist dieses Verhalten in den USA ausgeprägter als hier in Deutschland, für meine Ohren hörten sich einige der Gespräche aber fremd an. Als so omnipräsent empfinde ich die Themen in meinem eigenen Leben nicht.

Generell konnte ich mit den Erzählungen der Autorin wenig anfangen, auch weil ich sie teils recht wertend anderen gegenüber empfand. Man muss die Stimme der Autorin wirklich mögen, um alle Teile des Sachbuchs interessant zu finden.

Teils gibt es im Buch interessante Informationen zu Essstörungen und dem vermeintlichen Einfluss von Social Media auf sie. Immer wenn Fachleute zu Wort kamen, war ich am Buch interessiert. Dabei ist mir allerdings aufgefallen, dass die Autorin gefühlt Bestätigungen für ihre eigenen Vermutungen suchte und diese auch fand. Ich hätte mir ein etwas offeneres Vorgehen ihrerseits gewünscht.

Insgesamt habe ich dem Buch gegenüber gemischte Gefühle. Schön hätte ich es gefunden, wenn die kleinen Tipps zum Umgang mit einem gestörten Essverhalten (bereits im Bereich der Essstörung oder noch zuvor), am Ende noch einmal zusammengefasst präsentiert worden wären. So gingen sie im Text etwas verloren.

Drei Sterne für ein Sachbuch, das durchaus informativ ist und nachdenklich stimmt, das mich aufgrund der zahlreichen Informationen aus dem Leben der Autorin aber nicht immer interessiert hat.

This book is well researched and well-written. It sheds light on an important and not often talked about subject. I took off 1 star because the author focuses solely on women and doesn't talk about how this affects men. I know most people with eating disorders are women, but men do get eating disorders too so I would have like the author to talk about that at least a little bit. I also understand that this is partly a memoir, but there were times when she was telling a story from her own life and it took her awhile to relate it back to eating disorders/diet culture. I was distracted wondering where she was going with that story and wondering why she was telling it until she finally got to the point. But overall this is an important book that lays out the problems with diet culture and the treatment of eating disorders.

What’s Eating Us
Women, Food, and the Epidemic of Body Anxiety
By: Cole Kazdin
St. Martin’s Essentials
Publication date: March 7, 2023

TW- Eating disorder behaviors described, numbers

What’s Eating Us by Cole Kazdin is a deep dive into the epidemic of eating disorders, disordered eating, diet culture and self-image issues that are so prevalent in our society.

Kazdin, a journalist, uses investigative reporting and her own personal struggle with an eating disorder to try to make sense of this far-reaching problem.

This book is deeply personal. By the way Cole Kazdin is writing, she seems like someone you would want to be friends with. There was joy in reading Kazdin’s words, hope, humor interspersed throughout the grim facts.

I really appreciate Kazdin’s struggle for complete recovery. (As I, too, have struggled with an eating disorder for 2 decades.) Once you have an eating disorder long enough, it seems impossible to fully recover. Your “mental scaffolding is delicate” and the ED lies in wait “like an assassin.” Boy, is that true. Just when you think you’re doing well, one trigger can unravel it all. Furthermore, there is no standard of care for eating disorders. They are incredibly hard to treat. (If you’re lucky enough to get treatment at all.)

Every 52 minutes someone dies from an eating disorder. By the age of 6, little girls are worrying about their bodies, their weight. The message women receive from society is that it is better to be thin than alive. This is a cultural problem. There’s even a name for it- “normative discontent”- a term that describes how prevalent body dissatisfaction is for women. It’s so common it has become the norm. This is why it is so important for everyone to read this book, not just eating disorder sufferers, not just women. After all, all of our experiences are bound together.

I thought this book was very well researched, covering new treatment ideas to maintain a lasting recovery, as well fertility, intersectionality, and the kind of activism needed to effect change in our society. There is a great list of resources in the back of the book, and we’re introduced to people in the community who are making a difference. Truly an important book.

Thanks to NetGalley, Cole Kazdin, and St Martin’s Essentials for the opportunity to read and review this work.

What's Eating Us. Women, Food, and the Epidemic of Body Anxiety by Cole Kazdin. Also narrated by Cole Kazdin.
5 stars! I have the ebook, which I’m grateful for. There’s so many resources and things I want to read again. But I listened to this and the author was amazing. I understood her well and I was right there with her on every issue.
Being from California I felt so much pressure about my body. I briefly had an eating disorder, and my mom was and probably still is bulimic.
This book was liberating and uncomfortable. It scared me because I realized I’m always going to not like the way I look. How unfair is that? I learned so much and I’m hopeful because I’m going to try to see things in a new way.
I recommend this if you are looking for info on eating disorders.
The author did such a good job sharing her journey and I loved it.
Thanks Macmillan Audio and St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

Kazdin offers a great starting point for anyone interested in eating disorder recovery, body positivity, and diet culture. She succinctly explains why so many of us struggle with food and weight and that it’s the fault of diet culture, not something inherently wrong with us. She’s realistic and honest about how hard recovery from disordered eating is, that it is a long process and that a good standard of care that works for everyone just doesn’t exist. But the book also offers hope and encouragement toward gaining a positive relationship with food and your body.
Having researched the topics before, I didn’t learn much new information but would definitely share this book with people just getting started on the topic. She covers a lot without it feeling overwhelming, mixes good research with personal stories from herself and others, and has a wonderful sense of humor throughout.

I enjoyed listening to the author read her own work in the audio version. I listened at 1.75 speed and was engaged enough to listen to it all in one day. I’ll be following this author in future.

What's Eating Us is a great book about eating disorders, and how so many areas of modern life affect and may create the conditions for an eating disorder to form. My one critique is the longer chapter on fertility; while I appreciate the difficulty child-bearing can be because of having an eating disorder, I felt it went too far into IVF and struggles there, without always linking it back to the ED. I think this book would be a great resource for anyone who has an issue with food, body image, or has or is in recovery from an eating disorder. It didn't get too bogged down in science, but was well-researched and thorough.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Essentials for an eARC and advanced access to the audiobook of What's Eating Us: Women, Food, and the Epidemic of Body Anxiety by Cole Kazdin in exchange for an honest review.

CW: graphic depictions of disordered eating, re-traumatizing therapies, body shaming, body dysmorphia, fatphobia, medical content, medical trauma, vomit, addiction, self-harm, infertility. Watch for growing list of content warnings on StoryGraph as early reviews continue to roll in.

Publication Date: March 7, 2023

DISCLAIMER: This review is written by someone who is in active recovery from disordered eating. In addition, I am a licensed mental health therapist who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders. My personal experiences may lead me to be more critical of this book than the average reader. As with all reviews, what I write here is a reflection of my own thoughts, opinions, and knowledge up to this point. Please take what I say here with a grain of salt and feel encouraged to read the book yourself and form your opinion, as I DO believe it is a worthwhile read.

Part-memoir, part scathing exposé of the systemic issues inherent in the treatment of eating disorders, journalist Cole Kazdin analyzes the pervasiveness of disordered eating, diet culture, and normative discontent.

I want to emphasize two things right off the bat as overarching critiques of this book:

1. If this is your first time picking up a book about eating disorders, it is a great introduction to the topic! BUT, crucially, it is an introduction. There are lots of other books about eating disorders and disordered eating that are written from different perspectives (like those of therapists, dietitians, and other people in recovery) that can provide additional information to deepen your understanding of this topic.

2. Cole Kazdin is a journalist. She is not a therapist, a dietitian, doctor, or any other professional involved in the treatment of eating disorders (other than her own; she clearly has put so much emotional work and physical effort into her own recovery). Her experience with eating disorders is limited to the personal and her extensive research of the topic. There are several overarching, inaccurate statements that she makes about eating disorder treatment professionals that paint therapists, dietitians, and doctors as greedy and clueless about how to help people heal from their EDs. Kazdin's statements are not true of every professional's beliefs and perspectives on EDs. Each clinician comes to the table with their own theories and reasoning about what treatment interventions they use and why. Every eating disorder professional is highly trained and continues to seek out educational opportunities to stay up to date on ethical treatment. If you are seeking a clinician (in any field) to work with you on your eating disorder, feel empowered to interview that person to determine whether they feel like a good fit for you. If something about their theory, disposition, or education feels off to you, it is okay to walk away and find someone who will be a better fit for you. Please ask your professionals questions and challenge us to show up for you in the ways that you need. Any good clinician will appreciate that.

THE PROS:
1. Kazdin presents her research in a way that is clear and concise. She outlines evidence based practices for the treatment of EDs and emphasizes the pros and cons of each type of treatment she discusses. She spends the majority of her book discussing CBT and DBT treatment interventions, as these were the therapeutic treatments that she personally engaged with, but she also briefly mentioned family-based therapy as a particular evidence based practice for working with teens and children presenting with EDs. It is important to note, however, that other treatments such as person-centered and narrative therapies can be just as efficacious as the tried-and-true "evidence based" practices. This is not me dissing CBT or DBT, as these are well documented, evidence-based practices that lead to positive treatment outcomes. It is important to note that CBT and DBT are more likely to be cited as evidence-based therapies because more research has been conducted on them. CBT in particular was developed out of a research model, so there is naturally more evidence to support its efficacy. There are other treatment options out there that can and do work just as effectively to help clients achieve their goals. The anecdotal/qualitative evidence for person-centered therapy is just as strong as the quantitative evidence for CBT. Furthermore, Kazdin herself ends up finding a therapist who does not use an "evidence-based" theory, but she nevertheless found the best healing on her long journey with this particular therapist. Please take the term "evidence-based" with a grain of salt. Healing can be found even in spaces where CBT and DBT are not the preferred practices.

2. Kazdin eviscerates SYSTEMS. She systematically breaks down each of the factors at play that are responsible for increasing our societal propensity toward disordered eating and staying sick. Diet culture. Weight loss companies (I'm looking at you Noom. WW. Optavia). Fatphobia. Weight-centric medical bias. Capitalism. Racism. Sexism. Gender essentialism. Normative discontent. Economic barriers to care. Inequity of care. High need and limited trained professionals. The list goes on and on. This is one of the primary benefits of reading this book. If you've never examined all the ways in which we are set up to fail in this society, allow this book to rip the curtains open. You are not alone and not responsible for what you are struggling with (whether disordered eating or other physical or mental health conditions). It is unfortunate that each of us faces a mountain of barriers to recovery and must fight tooth and nail to regain our health. Despite it all, recovery IS possible. Each one of us who fights for daily health are warriors who have achieved miracles. Kazdin's exploration of all these detrimental systems fosters compassion and righteous anger for those who are fighting their EDs.

3. Kazdin utilizes humor and sarcasm to make the narrative extremely relatable to the American woman. Who hasn't been directly effected by ridiculous diet culture ads? Who hasn't experienced undue comments about their body? And worse, by MEN?! Her occasional verbal eye rolling is amusing and ensures that the reader does not feel alone.

4. Near the end of the book, Kazdin encourages people in recovery to find community that will help them to recover. No one heals in a vacuum. We are all continuously bombarded by obstacles that can and do resist change and drag us back into maladaptive habits. It helps so much to have accountability to others when trying to achieve therapeutic goals. Kazdin discusses several body-positive and body-neutral spaces where people recovering from EDs can find support. Notably, she touches on the double-edged sword of Overeaters Anonymous (OA). OA works off the 12-step model of recovery popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). While there are some ED professionals who will draw a parallel between addiction and EDs because of the obsession-compulsion cycle present in each presenting issue, there are others, including myself, who find it difficult to equate the two. It is possible to recover from addiction using the total abstinence model used in AA, but the same cannot be said for eating disorders. Having attended OA meetings myself, I personally found them to be triggering and not conducive to my own recovery journey. Diet culture messaging and fatphobia can easily find their way into OA meetings. IF you find OA to be helpful in your recovery journey, that's fantastic! But it's also okay if it's not a helpful resource for you. I wish you all the best as you seek out communities to support your recovery.

THE CONS:
1. Kazdin does not explicitly explain or even outline the principles of HAES (Health at Every Size) or Intuitive Eating (IE), which are the essential frameworks used by many therapists, dietitians, and doctors who are well versed in the treatment of eating disorders. (If you would like to learn more about these two frameworks, please read Health at Every Size by Lindo Bacon and Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch). In fact, Kazdin outright rejects Intuitive Eating as a helpful tool in the first third of her book! While her point here is that Intuitive Eating is difficult to follow for those like herself who have been stuck in disordered eating for so long that they have lost their hunger and fullness cues, she eventually works her way into practicing Intuitive Eating by the end of the book. Whether she refers to her new body-neutral and nourishing practices as Intuitive Eating or not, she is following the ten principles for eating intuitively by the end of her personal narrative. What she fails to incorporate when she is first introduced to IE is that mechanical eating (i.e. eating on a schedule, every 3-4 hours) will, over time, help those recovering from disordered eating regain their biological hunger and fullness cues. After cues are regained, the recoveree can begin a practice of more mindful eating that more closely follows IE. It was just frustrating to me that she would outright reject something as helpful as IE and then never come around to realizing that she IS in fact practicing IE.

2. I found Kazdin's resistance to the therapeutic process draining. I know that this is a reality for many people struggling with eating disorders of this severity. The cognitive dissonance that Kazdin demonstrates in her internal monologue is maddening. She purports to want to get better, that's why she sought out therapy to begin with. Her reluctance to change, especially at the beginning of the process, is understandable, especially given that she has established how many systems were stacked against her recovery. I'm reluctant myself to write about this particular point as a con of this book. I was irritated by her attitude, but I know that it is the very nature of this disease.

3. Kazdin neglected to include two key pieces of information that I feel are SO ESSENTIAL to understanding the systemic problems with medical treatment of EDs:
a. Nutritionists and dietitians are NOT the same thing. Dietitians have earned Masters degrees in nutrition and dietetics and are overseen by a regulatory body (i.e. they have to pass a licensing test, meet standards of care set by their board, and meet continuing education requirements to maintain their credentials). In other words, they know what they're talking about, and most utilize HAES and IE frameworks to help clients achieve their goals and maintain their nutritional needs no matter the size of their body. Nutritionists are NOT REGULATED. Yes, you read that right. Anyone can call themselves a nutritionist. They don't have to have the proper training, credentials, or knowledge. They can (and often do) spread false, uniformed nutrition information that can do more harm than good. Vet your sources before taking nutritional guidance from nutritionists and dietitians to ensure that you are getting the best care.
b. Doctors only get ONE TO TWO classes in nutrition and dietetics during their education. They are not experts in nutrition. Doctors are often weight-centric and prescribe weight loss, which is not only detrimental to health, but is also lazy doctoring. If you are struggling with disordered eating, know your rights in the doctor's office. You do not have to be weighed, you do not have to accept a doctor's guidance to lose weight, and you can always ask for a differential diagnosis. Vet your doctors and keep them accountable to providing equitable and weight inclusive care.

4. Kazdin has an awful experience with her first eating disorder therapist (who exclusively practices CBT). This therapist is not at all person-centered or trauma informed. Objectively, she is not a good therapist, as further evidenced by Kazdin's later discovery of this therapist's affiliation with Noom. Unfortunately, Kazdin's experience with this poor therapist colors her writing about all therapists. She is understandably jaded toward the sub-par therapeutic care that she received, but this leads her to make assumptions and sweeping statements about all therapists and therapeutic systems.

Overall, I would recommend this book. It is important, and it does a great job of lifting the veil on the dark parts of ED recovery. The mix of nonfiction critique and memoir makes the narrative accessible and enjoyable. Read with an open mind and be willing to exercise your critical thinking muscles. Thank you Cole Kazdin for all the work that you put into this book and the vulnerability that you showed in sharing parts of your own story. I truly believe that people will find healing and comfort for having read your book.

Wow, that was a lot. If you've made it this far, thank you for reading. I hope you learned something about the world of eating disorder treatment and recovery. I wish you all the best as you seek out the best care for yourself and endeavor to learn more about eating disorders for yourself and/or the people in your life.

This part-memoir, part-investigation of how the American healthcare system treats and diagnoses eating disorders fills a gap in the current book industry by challenging modern diet programs (Noom, WW, etc) and investigating the racist care that keeps many women from healing their relationship with food and control. Kazdin, the narrator and author, is humorous yet serious, offering her own eating disorder as clout for the thin- and white-privilege that shields her from medical malpractice. I recommend this book to anyone who has or had an eating disorder, disordered eating behaviors, or is seeking out healthier body positivity messaging.

This book was a great read. For someone who has suffered from disordered eating and a continuous battle with my body, I felt connected to these words and the story. All awhile nodding my head about the society we live in and what is driving this obsession with women's bodies.

Absolutely fascinating a look at womens obsession issues with eating our bodies.Perfect for discussion gave me so much to think reflect on.#netgalley #st.martinsbooks

Kazdin unpacks our relationship with eating and food culture in a mix of memoir and research. It was a very insightful read and one that I will return to and encourage my friend to read!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.