Anorexia Journey Chronicled By Red Bank Author

RED BANK, NJ — "Living in color instead of black and white," is how Meredith O'Brien describes her ultimate victory to emerge from an eating disorder she was burdened with since childhood.

And her memoir about her experiences has just had its debut. "Opening the Door: My Journey Through Anorexia to Full Recovery" is her first book. Its chapters are written as personal vignettes of her life, both an autobiography and as a guide to help others recognize they can get better.

The disease comes into focus through her eyes.

It begins when she is a child. She was first diagnosed with anorexia at age 13, and was eventually partially hospitalized at age 35. There has been a relapse. But that is over. It was a long journey, she recalls.

"It's very personal, and I want to share the skills I learned through personal vignettes, about how my life was shaped," she says.

But let's start with the here and now. O’Brien is a licensed clinical social worker and a certified intuitive eating counselor with a private practice of five professionals, Meredith O’Brien & Affiliates, in Red Bank. She specializes in treating those with eating disorders. She also manages an eating disorder coaching business, Recovery from Anorexia, LLC. She also writes a blog.

But in the past, the traits that brought her to professional success were magnified.

"I was a Type A personality. I needed to be the best at everything. I had tremendous anxiety. If I got any criticism, it was the end of the world," she recalls.

She describes herself as a "chubby child," who was in competitive Irish step dancing. Already in the throes of an eating disorder, she was praised for her thinness and that justified to her the obsession with dieting.

There is much in the book about O'Brien's family, how the family transitioned from Northern New Jersey to Monmouth County. And O'Brien has her own family in Fair Haven now - her longtime boyfriend and her her pet dog Mavi, all adding to her hard-won contentment.

And it was family that inspired her recovery. She is an involved, loving aunt to four nephews. And at a low point in her illness several years ago she faced a turning point, she said. Her father said he no longer felt comfortable with her being responsible for the boys on their jaunts to movies or the beach. "You can't feed yourself; you can't take kids to the movies," she recalls her father telling her.

That was when she determined she would not let anorexia hold her back, she says.

When she was sick, she said she was would not leave the house and "have people judge me."

Now, she says, "I open the door. I say 'yes' to life."

"Opening the Door: My Journey Through Anorexia to Full Recovery"

• By Meredith O’Brien
• Koehler Books, distributed by Ingram
• ISBN: 9781646637157
• 342 pages
• Hard cover, $28.95; soft cover, $21.95; e-book, $7.99

The book is also available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other national distribution sites. It is also available on her website.