Book Recommendations for Eating Disorder Recovery

By: Jennifer Rollin, LCSW-C, Therapist & Founder of The Eating Disorder Center

If you’re in eating disorder recovery, the books you choose matter. Certain books may unintentionally reinforce diet culture, weight stigma, or ideas about not being "sick enough." Other books can help you feel less alone, challenge deeply ingrained beliefs, and support you in building a life that isn’t centered on shrinking your body.

Below are some of my most frequently recommended books for eating disorder recovery. These books are Health at Every Size (HAES) aligned, recovery-focused, and written with compassion rather than shame or rigid rules. You do not need to read all of them—or read them in any particular order. Take what resonates, leave what doesn’t, and remember that books are a supplement to recovery support, not a replacement for professional care.


The Inside Scoop on Eating Disorder Recovery

By: Jennifer Rollin, MSW, LCSW-C & Colleen Reichmann, PsyD

As an eating disorder therapist and the founder of The Eating Disorder Center, I co-wrote The Inside Scoop on Eating Disorder Recovery with psychologist Colleen Reichmann to answer the questions we hear most often in our clinical work: Am I sick enough? Why does recovery feel so hard? What actually supports finding freedom from an eating disorder?

This book offers an honest, validating look at eating disorder recovery—without glamorizing illness or oversimplifying healing. We address common myths, gently challenge the eating disorder voice that thrives on comparison, minimization, and self-doubt.

This book may be especially helpful if you struggle with feeling “not sick enough,” find yourself constantly comparing your recovery to others, or want compassionate, evidence-based guidance grounded in real clinical experience and our lived experience of being professionals who recovered from an eating disorder.


The Body Is Not an Apology

By: Sonya Renee Taylor

This powerful book explores body shame through a broader social justice lens. Sonya Renee Taylor introduces radical self-love not as forced positivity, but as a practice of resistance against systems like fatphobia, racism, ableism, and sexism that fuel body hatred.

This book can be especially impactful if you feel stuck in deep or longstanding body shame, want to understand how culture and oppression shape body image, or find that body respect feels more accessible than the idea of loving your body.


More Than a Body

By: Lexie Kite, Ph.D. & Lindsay Kite, Ph.D.

Written by the founders of Beauty Redefined, More Than a Body focuses on reducing appearance-based self-worth and body surveillance. Rather than pushing body positivity, it helps readers shift attention toward values, meaning, and how they want to live their lives.

This book is especially helpful if you struggle with chronic body checking or comparison, feel that your worth is tied to your appearance, or want to learn how to live fully even when body image is difficult.


Sick Enough

By: Jennifer L. Gaudiani, MD

This is an incredibly validating and important book, particularly for people with restrictive eating disorders or atypical anorexia. Dr. Gaudiani clearly explains the medical consequences of restriction across body sizes and dismantles the harmful myth that someone must be underweight to deserve care.

This book may be especially meaningful if you’ve been dismissed by providers due to your weight, tend to minimize your symptoms or medical risk, or need medical validation to support recovery motivation.


Beyond a Shadow of a Diet

By: Judith Matz & Ellen Frankel

This compassionate book guides readers through letting go of chronic dieting and rebuilding trust with food and their bodies. It emphasizes attunement and emotional awareness rather than control or willpower.

This book can be helpful if you’ve spent years cycling through diets, experience guilt or shame around eating, or want a gentle, non-diet introduction to healing your relationship with food.


Anti-Diet

By: Christy Harrison, MPH, RD

Anti-Diet explores the history and harm of diet culture, weight stigma, and healthism while weaving in research and recovery stories. It’s both educational and empowering, offering language to challenge deeply ingrained cultural messages about weight and health.

This book is ideal if you want to understand why diets don’t work, feel angry or disillusioned with diet culture, or want support in challenging internalized weight stigma.


The Bottom Line

Reading books with inspiring, recovery-affirming content can be a powerful asset in eating disorder recovery. At times when motivation feels low or the eating disorder voice feels loud, the right words can help interrupt old narratives and remind you that change is possible. Books can offer language for experiences you haven’t yet been able to name, normalize struggles that feel isolating, and gently expand what feels imaginable for your life beyond the eating disorder.

While books are not a substitute for professional support, they can serve as steady companions along the way—something you return to when you need reassurance, perspective, or hope. Even small moments of resonance can matter. If a passage helps you feel less alone, more understood, or slightly more willing to keep going, that’s meaningful progress. Over time, exposure to recovery-oriented ideas can help loosen the grip of diet culture and support you in building a life that feels fuller, more connected, and less centered on your body.

Schedule a FREE 15-minute consultation to explore how eating disorder therapy or recovery coaching can help you to find freedom.

🌟 Available in MD, VA, DC, PA, FL, and CA for eating disorder therapy
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Jennifer Rollin, MSW, LCSW-C (she/her), is an award-winning eating disorder therapist and the founder of The Eating Disorder Center, a specialized therapy practice for eating disorders and body image concerns. Jennifer uses ACT, CBT, and DBT to help clients find freedom from eating disorders and body image struggles.  Jennifer is recognized as a leading eating disorder expert and was named one of the top professionals in the field by a premier treatment center. She is the recipient of the Best of Bethesda Award for Best Individual Therapist (2025) and the Best of Rockville Award (2020–2024). She helps clients to live full, meaningful lives, beyond food and body image concerns.

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The Eating Disorder Center is a premier outpatient eating disorder therapy center founded by Jennifer Rollin. We specialize in helping children, teens, and adults struggling with anorexia, binge eating disorder, bulimia, OSFED, and body image issues. We provide eating disorder therapy in Rockville, MD, easily accessible to individuals in Potomac, North Potomac, Bethesda, Olney, Silver Spring, Germantown, and Washington, D.C. We also provide eating disorder therapy in Arlington, Virginia and virtually throughout Virginia. Additionally, we offer eating disorder therapy virtually in Florida, Pennsylvania, and California. We provide eating disorder and EMDR trauma therapy in Rockville, Maryland and virtually throughout Maryland and Virginia. We provide eating disorder recovery coaching via Zoom to people worldwide. Connect with us through our website at www.theeatingdisordercenter.com