SPECIAL PRAISE FOR
Starved
“Anne McTiernan has written a gripping, deeply personal memoir that often reads like some of the best dramatic fiction out there. Starved is both a search for understanding the complications of family and a parallel exploration of our relationship with food, as either nurturer or torturer. Anne’s history as a young girl growing up in 1950s Boston and her drive to both heal herself and break free from a toxic relationship is framed through both the eye of the clinical researcher and the heart of great author in this fantastically well–written memoir bursting with intelligence and hope. An absolute achievement.”
—DOMINGO MARTINEZ
New York Times best–selling author of The Boy Kings of Texas and 2012 National Book Award in Nonfiction Finalist
“As a leading obesity researcher, Anne McTiernan has conducted some of the most groundbreaking studies on nutrition, exercise, and health. But in this book, she provides extraordinary insight into her own personal struggles with food. It’s an emotional and riveting life story, and one that anyone who has ever had a strained relationship with food—which is most of us—can find solace in.”
—ANAHAD O’CONNOR
Bestselling author and health writer for the New York Times
“Starved is an absorbing, and sometimes shattering, primer on abuse and resilience. Anne McTiernan mines her past to bring up the painful, real details that make this memoir sing—even as it breaks our hearts.”
—CLAIRE DEDERER
New York Times best–selling author of Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses
“A heartbreaking and inspiring story of a young girl who faces neglect and punishment by her family and church but survives through sheer will and goodness—and intelligence.”
—MIRIAM E. NELSON, PhD
Professor and author of the international best seller Strong Women Stay Young
“McTiernan’s absorbing memoir details her early abandonment and troubled relationship with family and food, and readers will cheer as she completes her difficult journey to self–acceptance.”
—STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
New York Times best-selling author of Everybody Rise
“Dr. McTiernan’s remarkable life story is a testament to the power of human resilience and the determination to do good. Instead of spending her life seeking vengeance for the abuse and hardship she endured as a child, this inspirational physician has dedicated her adult life to helping people and improving their lives. I am in greater awe than ever over her enormous accomplishments.”
—JOANN E. MANSON, MD, DrPH
Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
“Anne McTiernan is a master storyteller who writes with great wit and insight. If you grew up without the support you needed to survive and yet somehow still thrived, you will likely see yourself in her story. But no matter how you grew up, you will find yourself rooting for her.”
—THEO PAULINE NESTOR
Author of Writing Is My Drink
Central Recovery Press (CRP) is committed to publishing exceptional materials addressing addiction treatment, recovery, and behavioral healthcare topics.
For more information, visit www.centralrecoverypress.com.
© 2016 by Anne McTiernan
All rights reserved. Published 2016.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Publisher: Central Recovery Press
3321 N. Buffalo Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89129
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McTiernan, Anne, author.
Title: Starved: a nutrition doctor’s journey from empty to full / Anne McTiernan.
Description: Las Vegas: Central Recovery Press, 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016025978 (print) | LCCN 2016028636 (ebook) | ISBN 9781942094296
Subjects: LCSH: McTiernan, Anne,--Health. | Eating disorders--Patients--United States--Biography. | Abused children--United States--Biography. | Mothers and daughters--United States--Biography. |
BISAC: BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs. | PSYCHOLOGY / Psychopathology / Eating Disorders. | SELF-HELP / Personal Growth / Self-Esteem. | BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Inspiration & Personal Growth.
Classification: LCC RC552.E18 M423 2016 (print) | LCC RC552.E18 (ebook) | DDC 362.19685/260092 [B] --dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016025978
Photo of Anne McTiernan by Susie Fitzhugh. Used with permission.
Every attempt has been made to contact copyright holders. If copyright holders have not been properly acknowledged please contact us. Central Recovery Press will be happy to rectify the omission in future printings of this book.
Publisher’s Note: This book contains general information about eating disorders, family trauma, and related matters. The information is not medical advice. This book is not an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.
This is a memoir--a work based on fact recorded to the best of the author’s memory. Our books represent the experiences and opinions of their authors only. Every effort has been made to ensure that events, institutions, and statistics presented in our books as facts are accurate and up-to-date. To protect their privacy, the names of some of the people, places, and institutions in this book may have been changed.
Cover design and interior design and layout by Marisa Jackson.
To my husband and our daughters
TABLE OF Contents
Prologue
CHAPTER 1: Starving
CHAPTER 2: Fattening Up
CHAPTER 3: Crumbs
CHAPTER 4: Changing the Menu
CHAPTER 5: Binging
CHAPTER 6: Irish Stew
CHAPTER 7: Just a Taste
CHAPTER 8: The Doughnut Shop
CHAPTER 9: Easter Treat
CHAPTER 10: Thanksgiving Famine
CHAPTER 11: Icing on the Cake
CHAPTER 12: Purging
CHAPTER 13: Hungry for Love
CHAPTER 14: Sugar and Spice
CHAPTER 15: Power Hungry
CHAPTER