• 'Wiping Away The Crumbs' (193 pages) is about my recovery from bulimia. This book doesn’t claim to be the answer to bulimia. I realise full well there is no miracle cure. However, since I’m a survivor, I have valuable information I want to share with you. Armed with these tools, you will be able to walk the path to recovery as someone who is prepared to meet the challenges that lie up ahead.

• This book doesn’t assume that everyone with bulimia needs professional help. I recovered 100% without going into therapy or seeking salvation in prayers to a divine entity. I didn't join a cult or invest in a yoga mat.

• I will reveal all the tools I used to get healthy and happy again. I strongly believe that you can recover too. Let me show you everything you can do to help yourself.

• This book isn’t just about bulimic behavior. This book is about living a healthy and happy life in which you can cope with stressful situations.

Excerpt from Chapter 1: When You've Hit Rock Bottom
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DIARY EXCERPT, Tuesday 17 December

"Walked home from work in the rain. The streets were crowded with people hunting for Christmas presents, but I just couldn’t enjoy watching them. I had that feeling again. That familiar rush of panic that pulls at my muscles and sets off a storm in my brain. Where did it come from? “Eat, Kat, you have to eat. Listen to me. Eat. Now. Fill yourself. There is no other remedy but food.” I closed my eyes and tried counting my footsteps. One. Two. Three. Four. And then that other voice interfered. “Stop it. Stop thinking about food. Look skyward and smell the icy air. Sing a song. Keep counting your footsteps.” Five. Six. Seven. Eight. I shook my head, clenched my fingers and ordered the obsessive thoughts to go away. Leave me alone. Move to Hawaii. Go bother someone else.

As usual, my wishes weren’t granted.

Five minutes later I stepped out of a bakery with a ridiculous amount of bread. Ideal food for a binge. So that is what I did, I binged again. Afterwards, sitting on the floor amidst crumbs and cookie wrappings, I felt disgusted and ashamed. People in Africa are dying of hunger and there I was with more food in my stomach than an average African has access to in a year. Note to self: Must donate large sum to Unicef.

I’ll only eat apples and drink water for the rest of the week. Weak people need to be punished.

I took a bath and cried in the tub with my hands covering my ears. My mind was driving me crazy. You fat, bloated, stupid cow. Why can’t you just act normal? Why do you always have to screw up? This just can’t go on. Is this really how you want to live your life? Is it?

I looked down at my stomach and detested everything about it, everything it held. Why do self-help books urge you to take a bath as an alternative to a binge? Don’t they realize that taking a bath gives you way too much time to fret and obsess?

Frank called at 9:30. “How are you?” he asked. I raised my eyes to the ceiling. “Me? I’m just fine.”

Liar, liar, pants on fire. Lying and hiding. Oh, I do those so well. Should have been an actress. After talking to Frank for about half an hour, I put down the receiver and walked over to the fridge. I hesitated for at least ten seconds, trying to resist the urge.

And then I opened it."


About the Author:

Kat Redant suffered from bulimia for 3 years. To celebrate the fifth anniversary of her recovery, she wrote an Ebook about her path to freedom, hoping to inspire others to seek their way out of this devastating illness. "I am convinced bulimia is not about food. It is a desperate attempt to run away from life because it's just too overwhelming and threatening. Bulimia is the only way a person can cope, as long as they don't have other tools at their disposal that will help them deal with overwhelming situations." (Kat Redant)