MSI Press Blog

  Excerpt from The Optimistic Food Addict by Dr. Christina Fisanick. Lovely in My Bones (part 1)                            I remember well wanting to be the woman Theodore Roethke knew. She was “lovely in her bones.” I am not sure that I knew what he meant when I first encountered those lines. In fact, I think back then, around fifth grade, I misunderstood entirely. Trained to understand beauty and worth by the media and American culture from the moment my eyes could see, I figured Roethke meant that this woman was physically stunning—slender, sleek, and, well, skeletal. I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to BE her. But even more, I wanted someone to feel that way about me, to wax poetically over my face and form, but I believed that my body—fat, frumpy, and flabby—would never give rise to such melodic praise.               Whether Roethke’s focus remained solely on this woman’s physical form is debatable, but he never utters her name. We never learn what she does, if she is

  What is a book jewel? A sometimes-overlooked book with remarkable insight and potential significance. Starting in August, we will share near-daily, as possible, reviews of the monthly book jewel - short, succinct reviews that can be read in 1-2 minutes with links to the reviewer by reviewers whose words are worthy of being heard and whose opinions are worthy of being considered. Sometimes a couple of minutes contains more impressive thought than ten times that many. We will let you decide that. This month's book jewel is  The Optimistic Food Addict  by Christina Fisanick. Amazon review by Frequent Amazon Shopper - Short, honest memoir I thought this book was well-written and fairly concise. It's not a step-by-step guide to recovery from binge eating disorder, it's a personal account of one woman's journey from childhood to adulthood, from bingeing to early recovery. She touches on the fact that the intuitive eating model of recovery doesn't work for her and explai

Too much holiday food? Gained some weight? Need to move on from overeating in general? New Year's Resolution weighing you down?  Take some advice from Christina Fisanick, author of The Optimistic Food Addict? Ending the Tyranny of Day One:  Stop Starting Over and Start Living Your Life in Recovery by Christina Fisanick “I will start day one again on Monday.”  “I blew it! It’s back to day one tomorrow.”  “I am ready to get back to eating healthy. Day one starts today!” I hear those words often in recovery circles, especially at this time of year when overeating during the holidays and then dieting in the new year are the “norm.” Even people without disordered eating struggle with guilt for eating too many high calories foods and abandoning their exercise routines. However, for people who suffer from an eating disorder (and people for whom dieting is a way of life) continuously starting over and over and over again can actually hamper recovery and overall heal

  How do I know if he’s actually an addict?   Tony, the mental health professional   To be clear, until recently, there wasn’t anything in either the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) or the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Classification of Diseases (ICD) that talked about sexual addiction or pornography addiction. Recently, the WHO updated the ICD to include Compulsive Sexual Behavior Disorder (CSBD) as a mental health condition. While this designation doesn't exactly meet the standard for addiction, it is definitely the strongest statement made by a body of experts in the field of sexual mental health.   Let me share a very 30,000-foot view of what is happening to the brain when viewing pornography.  When a man watches porn, his brain releases the feel-good drug, dopamine. There is some fascinating research around what is called “The Coolidge Effect.” The idea is that a male will mate with

  Did you overeat during Chistmas (right after overeating on Halloween and Thanksgiving) and plan to do it again on New Year's Eve and Day? This time of year sure is fun (from the good food, happy food, and much food perspective), but it can bring pounds and regrets. So, below are some articles/posts with good (and perhaps surprising) reading on the topic: From HuffPost: The Toxic Phrase We Should Stop Saying around the Holidays The Point: We should go to the gym for health reasons, not with the singular intent to burn off calories  From Webmd: 9 Ways to Manage Binge Eating Disorder over the Holidays The point: Take control to not become the tail being wagged by the dog; while oriented toward binge eating disorder, most of the recommendations work for anyone who tends to eat just a tad too much at this time of year From MSI Press Blog: Recovering from Holiday Overeating: Overcoming the Tyranny of Day One The point: Dr. Christina Fisanick Greer, author of The Optimistic Food Addict

Dr. Christina Fisanick, author of The Optimistic Food Addict , was recently interviewed by Refinery29 about binge eating disorder during a quarantine. The article contains an interesting and helpful video. Read/view the article and video HERE .

From the review on the Book Shipper Blog: I always admire someone who shares their story and invites us in to read about it.  It is a tough and brave thing o do. I have read many, many, recovery books on eating disorders and this book touched me.  Read the full review HERE . Read posts by and about Dr. Fisanick and her book HERE .

Christina Fisanick Greer, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of English at California University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches writing, literature, digital storytelling, and creative non-fiction. She has written dozens of articles about writing, especially as a form of therapy, and is the author of nearly thirty books. She lives in West Virginia with her husband, son, and two cats. Her book,  The Optimistic Food Addict: Recovering from Binge Eating Disorder , has attracted the attention of the Associated Press and of the National Eating Disorders Association. This book has been reviewed by many sources with high marks. Read these reviewers, along with many interviews of and articles by Christina HERE Read other posts by and about Christina and her book HERE .

  You would be surprised where you might find some unique -- and tasty -- recipes. Some of more interesting books have some special recipes tucked inside them. See, for example... Dia de Muertos . Ever wonder how to make some of those yummy Day of the Dead treats? Sula has the recipes for you! Syrian Folktales . Muna has included more than a folktale from each region of Syria; she has also included recipes from each region of Syria. Maybe this is one of the reasons that this is one of our best-selling books. Girl, You Got This! -- you might be surprised -- contains healthy recipes for mothers-to-be who are paying involved in fitness activities. HOWEVER, unlike Amazon's stubborn classification of The Optimistic Food Addict as a cookbook, it is anything but. Dr. Fisanick, the author, shares personal stories of coping with overeating and provides much self-help and guidance to readers. There is not one recipe there! (Seek instead, recipes in the books listed above.) But, should be i

Many of our authors have had incredible lives or incredible experiences -- or both! Surely, you can find one or more that sits beside you and keeps you company for years. All are difficult to put down.   Looking for love in your 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and yes, even your 80’s or 90’s?  57 Steps to Paradise  will help you navigate dating in midlife and beyond. Lorenz unzips her soul and exposes her foibles during 50 years of men weaving their way in and out of her life, providing a heap of wit and wisdom to help you make life-changing decisions about love and, perhaps, a life partner. A diverting and informative story of searching for love in mid-life by a divorced social worker, who intertwines entertaining stories of successful love interests with well-known movies containing similar plots and themes. Written as diary entries covering a 15-year period, the author shares openly, in detail, and with insights her experiences with dating, friendships, affairs, and relationships. Written ca

  WHEN A MOTHER DIES YOUNG   By   Joanna Charnas   My mother died thirty years ago this week, eight days after her forty-ninth birthday, and she’s been on my mind as the anniversary of her death approaches. Mom’s cause of death was probably avoidable. Her will stated she didn’t want an autopsy, but because she died at home and had not been under the care of a doctor, the law required she have one. Her autopsy revealed her primary cause of death as pneumonia. Mom feared hospitals for reasons she never disclosed. She’d had a couple knee surgeries, and perhaps her hospitalizations after the operations traumatized her. About six months prior to her death, my brother and I discussed her frail health, which included diabetes, small airway disease, a bad back and knee, a bladder issue, and other ailments too numerous to list. I told him she would rather die at home if living meant a hospitalization. I had no idea then how prophetic this statement would be. In addition to her o