Saving Sara is an extremely detailed memoir of a woman’s struggle with food addiction. Born into an academic family, Sara Somers spent nearly fifty years battling her demons, whose names are sugar, grains, and simple carbs. Sara remembers incidents from as early as nine years old, going through her times as a camper (stealing food), counselor at the same camp (not a good fit), and always isolating herself while trying desperately to fit in and find love.
Like all addicts, she resolves again and again that THIS time it will be different, only to give in to her obsession with her next fix. Sara is close to my age, and I related to many of her experiences and struggles, particularly as she recalls that she “shot out of the academic cannon of undergraduate education in no particular direction with no skills except for bullshit,” then “…discovered that I was good at thinking about things, studying things, and then talking about them.”
Over the years, she “…had tried hypnosis, encounter groups, Ayds—a caramel-type candy that was supposed to make one feel full, alcohol, Weight Watchers, amphetamines, behavioral therapy, promised to friends, the Atkins diet, the macrobiotic diet, Slim Fast, and probably many more diets or programs that now elude me.” One essential thing she learned was that “Shame…taught me to be afraid of people who would actually help me and to trust people who would hurt me.” As she spent years in AA, she “…turned to alcohol when I tried to control the food” and finally accepted that food “was my bottom-line addiction.”
Essential to her finding her way was her acceptance that she “…equated asking for help with being weak, with being a bad person.” Many people will not understand her rigidity as she follows the greysheets program, meaning she weighs EVERYTHING she consumes, “not one-eighth of an ounce over or under.” My own feeling is whatever works for someone is THEIR solution, and Sara Somers has clearly found hers. It may not be for everyone, but will be of interest to food addicts or those interested in addiction and recovery in general. Thanks to She Writes Press and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review. Three and a half stars.