PROLOGUE

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Letter From Andrea

July 10, 1993

My name is Andrea Clark. I am twenty one years old now, married to the man I love, with a beautiful child, and living in Christ day by day. But when I was a senior in high school, I nearly died in a horrible struggle against a disease thousands of young women battle every year; Anorexia Nervosa. I also had a bout with Bulimia. This is my story as I recorded it in my diary. It tells the story of my struggle and how I overcame it through faith in God and the love of my husband and family. I hope it will serve as an inspiration to all the girls who are struggling with Anorexia now. May God be with them all and protect them in their time of desperation. Now, here is my story.

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January 5, 1989:

Dear Diary,

Today I weighed myself on the bathroom scale and what I saw horrified me! I gained five pounds over the holidays! I am putting myself on a strict diet. I will never eat another fattening thing again. For supper I had a few carrot sticks and a piece of lettuce. Tomorrow I am going to have a banana for breakfast. I have even given all of my Christmas candy to my little sister, Karen. I never will forget the scene when I gave it to her. I walked into the room, handed her the candy, and watched the shocked expression on her face. She looked up at me with suspicious eyes and said, “What are you up to, Andrea? I’m telling mom and dad.” I just laughed and walked out. Twelve year olds can be so stupid sometimes! But I love her even though I’ll never admit it to her. Uh-oh, I have to go. Mom’s calling me to doe the dishes. I’ll write back soon.

January 10, 1989:

Dear Diary,

I am so proud of myself! I lost two pounds last week! Today I exercised for a whole hour. I’ll try it again tomorrow. Today I had a cup of cereal for breakfast, a cup of cereal for lunch, and a granola bar for supper. Mom tried to get me to eat a little more, but I,m not going to spoil my hard work. Well, I have to go do my holiday homework now. I’ll write back tomorrow after I exercise.

January 11, 1989:

Dear Diary,

I am so mad at myself! Today mom and dad took me and Karen out to have pizza for dinner. Karen kept taunting me with the pizza, saying, “Hey, sis, look at this!” and she would take an exaggerated bite, knowing I am on a diet. So do you know what I did? I came home and ate five peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I was so upset about it afterwards that I went upstairs and threw them up in the toilet. That made me feel a little better. It was certainly easier than starving, but tomorrow I’m not going to eat a bite! And I’ll exercise an extra half an hour. I’ll learn to control my appetite if it’s the last thing I do.