"I would prefer to die than fail another diet.”
If you ever feel like an
outsider in your life, this book is for you. If you have ever had a
secret that kills you from the inside, this book is for you. If you are
or have ever been obsessed and struggling with body image, this is a
must-read for you.
In her book Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain, Portia de Rossi, an Australian actress best known for her role as lawyer Nelle Porter on the American TV series Ally McBeal
and the wife of the popular talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, pours out
her past turmoil, in which she struggled with anorexia and her secret of
being a gay. It is a record of one’s heartbreaking past that cannot be
more honest and emotional.
Portia first started her modeling career when she was
12. When the other kids were cramming themselves with books preparing
for school exams, she was struggling to shed as many pounds off her
body. “Rough” would be the word to describe her childhood. Her father
died when she was only 9. Her friends called her names because of her
big legs, and she ended up constantly comparing herself to other kids
and had never been satisfied with her looks. When she went to a modeling
agency, they told her to lie about her measurements to get more
modeling jobs. From then on, she decided to be on a strict diet in order
to land more jobs. Sadly, it resulted in her irrational craze to get an
impossible amount of weight off her body. “After the diet, I’d do the
job, I’d binge, and then I’d have a few days to get the weight off
before I did the next job.” Portia kept a daily calorie intake below 300
(women are advised to eat a minimum of 1,200 calories per day to avoid
nutritional deficiencies) and kept record of her weight on a wall. The
numbers kept declining until she weighed only 82 pounds (she was 170 cm
tall) when she was found collapsed on the set of a Hollywood film. “I
would prefer to die than fail another diet.”
