20/20 Tackles Orthorexia

I am both thrilled and crushed all at the same time tonight. Thrilled to see that 20/20 aired an extensive story on orthorexia, and crushed because I missed it. I'd actually talked to one of the producers of this episode to share my personal story of orthorexia and recovery. And frankly, I thought the story was dropped. It wasn't. And I'm so glad it wasn't. I guess 20/20 stories just take a lot of hard work, research and time to get produced.

I'm so glad these producers found the resources they needed to complete the story, and I certainly hope I'll be able to get my hands on a copy of it. In the meantime, if you missed it too, you can at least read the online version of the story here.

I want to give a big shout-out tonight to Miguel Sancho, John Stossel and 20/20 for diving into orthorexia, a disease that's often quite perplexing to those outside of it.

If you're not familiar with orthorexia, it's basically an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. People with orthorexia become obsessively fixated on the purity and health of every morsel of food that goes into their bodies. And thanks to the saturation of our airwaves with dieting messages and dieting gurus and diet, diet, diet, it's no wonder that orthorexia has become our nation's next eating disorder.

As you know if you've read my book, orthorexia was my eating disorder of "choice." I am living proof that you can recover -- FULLY -- from it, and it's my mission to help you do exactly that. Food doesn't have to be an obsession. And if we all commit to seeking out supportive, rather than diminishing, resources, we can end our nation's unhealthy obsession with dieting. Statistics show that 80 percent of eating disorders start out as diets. Don't be part of that statistic. Easiest way to achieve that -- don't diet.

Instead, learn to eat when you're hungry, stop when you're full and love your self. And...send a message to 20/20 to say, "Thumbs Up" for giving a voice to a previously silent eating disorder.