Obsessed: America's Food Addiction--And My Own

184 Pages·2013·1.21 MB·English

by  Brzezinski Mika

OBSESSED
ALSO BY MIKA BRZEZINSKI
Knowing Your Value: Women, Money,
and Getting What You’re Worth
All Things at Once
OBSESSED
America’s Food Addiction—and My Own
Mika Brzezinski
with Diane Smith
W
EINSTEIN
B
OOKS
Copyright © 2013 by Mika Brzezinski All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the Publisher. For information address
Weinstein Books, 250 West 57th Street, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10107.
Editorial production by Marrathon Production Services, www.marrathon.net
Design by Ellen E Rosenblatt/SD Designs, LLC.
Cataloging-in-Publication data for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: 978-1-60286-177-0 (e-book) Published by Weinstein Books
A member of the Perseus Books Group www.weinsteinbooks.com
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First edition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my daughters Emilie and Carlie
This book is about making good decisions
by yourself and for yourself
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Mika’s Story
Chapter 2: The Value of a Healthy Thin
Chapter 3: Diane’s Story
Chapter 4: Fat: Whose Fault?
Chapter 5: Fighting the Food Demons
Chapter 6: Mika and Diane: Making Progress, Still Struggling
Chapter 7: It’s How You Think
Chapter 8: It’s What You Eat, and How You Eat It
Chapter 9: It’s How You Move
Chapter 10: Leading the Conversation
Chapter 11: Teach Your Children Well
Onward: What I’ve Learned Today
Notes
Index
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W
riting this book has been both wrenching and rewarding as I faced deep
truths about both food and friendship . . . so first of all I would like to thank
Diane for being a real friend and letting me say what I had to say, and taking it
and running with it.
Thanks to all our other friends who took part in what we hope will be an
ongoing conversation about this very real public health crisis.
Thank you to Harvey Weinstein, David Steinberger, Amanda Murray, and
Georgina Levitt, the wonderful people at Weinstein Books who jumped at the
concept for this book.
Special thanks to our wider circle of friends who supported us every step of
the way, especially Joe Scarborough, my co-host on Morning Joe and wingman
on the issue of obesity. Joe takes constant beatings from me on the air, but he
truly stands by me in the fight to make our food environment healthy.
I want to thank my boss Phil Griffin for always encouraging me to be
transparent and real, despite the consequences. My thanks to Alex Korson, our
executive producer on Morning Joe, for helping us get everything done.
To all the extraordinary women and men we interviewed, a heartfelt thanks
for sharing your insights with us. Thank you for inspiring us.
Karyn Feiden, thanks for your deft touch and vision. Paula Brisco, thanks
for your clearheaded thinking and practical wisdom. To Dan Tully and Emily
Cassidy, thanks for focusing on the details. Lauren Skowronski, you are always
right with me.
Diane and I want to thank our husbands. Tom Woodruff supported Diane’s