Before I read Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi, all I really knew about her was that she's married to Ellen Degneres and is/was a model. Called me ignorant or not hip with the times, whatever, that's all I knew.
Newsflash: she was Nelle Porter on Ally McBeal (never watched this show), Lindsay on Arrested Development, and a spokeswoman for companies like L'Oreal.
Porita has also suffered an eating disorder for most of her life and weighed as little as 82 pounds at one point.
This may not be news to some of you; when this all came out in the news - when she finally admitted it - I wasn't really following 'pop culture' and it didn't really hit my radar. Her book is a biography, a memoir, as she stated, "to help myself understand how I came to have an eating disorder and how I recovered from it".
She writes with such depth and such blatant imagery that you can't help but feel that you're struggling right along with her when she carefully measures out one cup of yogurt to last her for a week. When she stuffs too many pieces of gum into her mouth and has to workout so intensely to burn off those extra, unquantifiable calories that she forgot about her dog that she left outside. When she binges on so much food, then throws it up a block away from her house so no one will know what she's doing. It's absolutely heartbreaking, but so raw and moving. It really makes you think and reflect, whether or not you have personally suffered an eating disorder.
In the epilogue, Portia further describes how she has been in a constant battle with food - she always saw food as either "good" or "bad". There was no in between. Either you restrict all the bad foods, or you binge on them knowing that you can just throw them up later and work off the extra calories. She segues into the thinking behind dieting - one that I strongly agree with.
I won't get all into it now (go read the book!) but I will say that her new mindset is inspiring. Eat when you're hungry. Stop when you're not. Sure, you may have food left on the plate. Sure, it may be just so delicious that you want to gobble it all up. And that's ok sometimes; chances are, if you just have to eat that whole bag of potato chips in one sitting, you probably won't want to do it the next day, or ever again even. Lesson learned. Listen to your body. Give it what it needs. Don't under nourish, and don't over nourish. It's the simplest concept but one that many of us struggle with, myself included.
My resolution, starting now, is to listen to my body more carefully. To just put the damn breakfast burrito down (ohhh but it's so good right now!) when I'm not hungry anymore. To start moving more - not necessarily bust my butt at the gym all the time (because I seriously loathe it) - but to find activities and hobbies that I love that keep me moving. Little things can make the biggest difference.
Enough about me.. go read the book. I promise you won't regret it. And if you do.. I'll read whatever book you tell me too!
8 comments:
This is the only review I've read of this book, but it sounds great. I also need to just listen to my body and move more. Ugh, a lot more. :P
If you like biographies and stunning imagery that makes you feel like you're there, read anything by Elie Wiesel. He's a holocaust survivor, so his books are intense but he keeps them very small (they're tiny books) so you aren't overwhelmed. And it's heartbreaking but no so much that you can't finish. They need to be read.
She was in Nip/Tuck too I think for a period of time. I may have to read this...sounds very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
I've heard other great reviews of her book. I'm nervous to read it because it is just so REAL. I know that sounds crazy and kind of naive but it breaks my heart to hear of someone going through pain like that.
I'm the kind of person who flinches when someone else stubs their toe. I may have to give this book a chance though! :)
I've been really wanting to pick this book up, thanks for reviewing it. I LOVE Portia ever since I became hooked on Arrested Development, and I'm really grateful that she's going public with her struggles. I agree 100% with your post, and I think the attitude our society has towards food and weight is so detrimentally polarizing when it comes to eating disorders and body image.
this is great, thanks for posting it!! i'm going to go pick it up!
this is one book i still haven't read but want to
I had the exact same reaction, and posted a tiny blurb about it too... but your review is perfectly eloquent. I really hope everyone does read it- it's SO GOOD!
LOVE the recommendation. I've been bikram-ing all week and have really tried to eat when hungry and not overeat, but not starve myself either (tho that's never been an issue, as I love food to much to avoid it!).
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