Hungry: Lessons Learned on the Journey from Fat to Thin

In this intimate story, Zadoff describes his ""twenty-eight years fighting a war against food, fat, and my body,"" and the ""food addict"" diagnosis that finally made sense of it: ""sneaky, secretive, dishonest, and deceptive... I behaved like a junkie with food."" Imparting ""what I wish I'd known all those years,"" as well as raising the profile of overeaters' plight, Zadoff's book begins with snappy chapters detailing his dysfunctional relationship with food, followed by strategies for recovery. A good first step, he suggests, is to create a food ""traffic light"" list in which ""red"" foods are triggers to avoid: ""Like an alcoholic, if I put a trigger food in my mouth, I will once again be at its mercy."" Readers won't find a ""magic formula,"" but will learn not only that commitment and discipline pay off, but that they don't need to overwhelm: ""When I wake up in the morning, I commit to eating three meals, just for today."" Zadoff occasionally relies on self-help cliches (happiness ""is like a muscle... If I don't exercise it, it atrophies""), but his compelling first-person insight into a largely misunderstood condition, not to mention his common-sense solutions (heavy on the need for a support network of family, friends and professionals), is valuable, encouraging reading for problem eaters of all kinds and those trying to help them.