Eight million women in the United States suffer from anorexia nervosa and/or bulimia. For these women, the road to recovery is a rocky one. Many succumb to their eating disorders. Life Without Ed offers hope to all those who suffer from these often deadly disorders. For years, author Jenni Schaefer lived with both anorexia and bulimia. She credits her successful recovery to the technique she learned from psychologist Thom Rutledge. This prescriptive, supportive, and inspirational book introduces Rutledge's technique. As in the author's case, readers are encouraged to think of an eating disorder as if it were a distinct being with a personality of its own. Further, they are encouraged to treat the disorder as a relationship rather than as a condition. Schaefer named her eating disorder Ed; her recovery involved "breaking up" with him. Schaefer's eloquently written vignettes are heart-wrenchingly honest and sometimes funny and illustrate examples of the various thought-processes she learned and applied to different challenges throughout her recovery, including bingeing, relapse, low self-esteem, fear of dining out and socializing, dating, and making it in the music business.