For most of us (especially women), our relationship with food is complex, as is our perception of what we should look like. To break it all down, I spoke with Cole Kazdin, Award-winning journalist and author of What’s Eating Us: Women, Food, and the Epidemic of Body Anxiety.

Women of all ages and backgrounds struggle with a preoccupation with food and body anxiety. Cole was one of those women. She suffered from disordered eating. People would tell her how great she looked and asked for her secret. Her secret was quite a secret…she purged after eating.