Stop Hating Your Body!

Bank Square Books in Mystic, CT, presents an empowering event Saturday, May 28, with authors Karen C.L. Anderson and Nicole Roberge as they share their stories of overcoming issues with weight, how they came to accept themselves and their bodies…and the surprising results. 

Two women, on different sides of the same coin, are the ultimate proof that self-acceptance is a powerful tool, not just in terms of their bodies, but also their lives.

Anderson struggled with obesity, and Roberge with anorexia. Both found happiness and much more once they decided to stop hating their bodies and focusing on their weight. Their stories are, at once, real, inspiring, humorous, painful, and powerful.

Anderson, author of AFTER (The Before & After), was obese for most of her adult life and thought she’d magically lose weight “someday.” She finally got it together and lost 55 pounds in 2005. She became a weight-loss “success story” with her picture on the cover of a weekly women’s magazine and appeared in a national commercial for a popular weight loss web site. She was on top of the world.  But like the vast majority of people who lose a significant amount of weight, she proceeded to regain half the weight she’d lost.

That’s when she started writing with the intention figuring out just what the heck was wrong. Why couldn’t she just lose weight and keep it off?  She decided to stop trying to change her body and changed her mind instead. She stopped signing up for other people’s goals and dreams and finally realized what it was she really wanted. And most importantly, she stopped hating her body. The result? Well, like many “before and after” stories, the results were NOT typical.

Part memoir and part “day in the life” reflections, AFTER (The Before & After) is the result of Anderson’s belief that having a healthy body (mind and spirit) shouldn't be a life-long struggle. It is NOT just another book about how to lose weight. It's about the power of self-acceptance, and it's about realizing that it takes as long as it needs to take. And that's okay.

“Self-acceptance is more powerful than any diet (or diet pill) I’ve ever been on,” she says.

Roberge’s compelling journey into the depths of anorexia, Hang in There, Wherever “There” Is, is a powerful memoir of her struggle with an eating disorder, and ultimately, her quest for recovery, which is detailed eloquently, yet honestly. It is a brave account of her battle with herself, balanced on the scale.

Roberge never wanted to be anorexic. No one does. But it happened without warning and soon took over her life and body.  Roberge’s disease had her committed to a four-hour daily workout and a diet of only fruit. Having been overweight all her life, her obsession started merely as a simple diet and exercise program, but soon was out of control. After losing 90 pounds, both her body and her mind suffered. Then came the chest pains, and soon, she was unable to function. She received poor medical treatment, which only prompted her to do worse damage to her body, until it was almost too late. 

After fearing she was having a heart attack, she realized what she had been doing to her body, and didn’t want it anymore. She chose recovery. She went on to do seven weeks of inpatient treatment at the Renfrew Center for Eating Disorders in Philadelphia. Today, she has four years of recovery and her goal is to reach others struggling with eating disorders and show them that recovery is possible. 

“I realized the kind of terror I had been living in and that I wanted to get out, and how many others there were like me—trapped, isolated, stuck within their tormenting minds, showing their unhappiness through their body.  Begging for help, but unable to speak the words—shrinking to be noticed,” she says.

Now a mentor and advocate, with her own non-profit – “Beautiful Lives” (for Eating Disorder Prevention and Education) – she is using what she learned through her struggle and the strength she found in recovery to help others with eating disorders. No longer a slave to the scale, she is finally at peace with herself and the body she was meant to have.

This powerful event will feature Anderson and Roberge sharing their stories and reading from their books. Their message is that if they could finally come to love their bodies and themselves, anyone can.

For more information, contact Bank Square Books, 860-536-3795, banksquarebooks.com, banksquarebks@msn.com

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Who: Karen C.L. Anderson and Nicole Roberge

What: Book signing and reading

Where: Bank Square Books,  53 West Main Street, Mystic, CT at 12 p.

When: Saturday, May 28, 12 noon

Why: Because self-acceptance is more powerful than any diet,

Title: Hang In There...Wherever "There" Is

ISBN: 978-1-84991-324-9

Publisher: Chipmunkapublishing

Title: AFTER (the before & after): A Real-Life Story of Weight Loss, Weight Gain and Weightlessness Through Total Acceptance
ISBN: 978-1-60910-723-9
Publisher: BookLocker.com Inc.