Product Description

Say the name Nikki Grahame and most people will remember the bubby, highly strung and hugely entertaining Big Brother 7 contestant, famous for her diary room outbursts. Since leaving the Big Brother house, she had forged a successful career for herself in presenting and writing. Yet Nikki isn't just another reality television contestant and her life story is not like any other you will ever read. From the age of eight until she was nineteen, Nikki battled anorexia nervosa - but few cases have been quite as extreme as hers. What she has been through while suffering from this illness might surprise you - it will definitely shock you. At just seven years old, Nikki began feeling that she was overweight. A remark about her being fat from a fellow pupil at a gymnastics class along with insecurity brought about by her parents' separation and he beloved grandfather's death, were the catalysts for Nikki's long-term eating disorder. Aged just eight and weighing just under three stone, she was diagnosed as anorexic. For the next eight years, Nikki was in and out of institutions - seven in total - during which time she attempted suicide twice and had to be sedated up to four times a day so that she could be force-fed. At one point, she was sedated for fourteen days while doctors sewed a tube into her stomach, through which she was fed in order to get her weight out of the critical range. Nikki admits that she knew every anorexic's trick in the book: from breaking into hospital kitchens to water down full-fat milk, altering her diet sheet and switching name tags on food to ensure that she received smaller amounts, to even stuffing a door-stop down her trousers before a weigh-in. The extremes that she went to in order to avoid eating and find ways to exercise excessively shocked doctors who have worked in the field for years. As Nikki says, 'I've always wanted to be the best at everything I do, so I had to be the best anorexic - and I was.' This is the heart-rending and powerful story of a girl who lost her childhood but was brave enough to finally admit that she wanted to live again. With searing honesty, Nikki recounts her long and painful road to recovery, how she has had to come to terms with the long-term ramifications of her illness, how she coped with being in the Big Brother house and how she uses her new-found fame to promote awareness of eating disorders and to help those who are suffering from similar problems. This compelling book tells the story of an incredible journey.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34619 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 316 pages

About the Author
Nikki Grahame was born in Watford in 1982. Her parents separated when she was a child and she cites both this and the death of her beloved grandfather as catalysts for the start of her severe eating disorder. Between eight and nineteen years old, Nikki was in and out of hospitals and institutions as she battled with anorexia nervosa. At one point, her weight was so dangerously low that she went into a coma; one of the doctors treating her said that hers was the worst case of anorexia he had seen in 32 years. Although she will never be 'cured' of the illness, Nikki made the decision that she wanted to live her life again and has not looked back since. Her time as a contestant in Big Brother 7 made her a household name and, since leaving the house, Nikki has established a career in the media. She has written columns for OK!, the Sun and More magazine and has been a presenter on Big Brother spin-off BBLB. Nikki devotes a lot of her spare time to increasing awareness of eating disorders and hopes that by sharing her life story, she will help others who fall victim.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic heart renching book
I found this book a great insight into how entrenched someone can get in Anorexia, there is no glamour what so ever, which is important to me as this illness is so often misunderstood. It bought me to tears many times whilst reading, to see what a difficult struggle and fight that Nikki had endured. To us she seemed hilarious and entertaining to watch little did we know this immense battle she had nearly lost. It is well worth reading, for family, friends and sufferers. I don't think this would trigger someone nor make them worse however everyone is different and as Nikki wanted 'to be the best Anorexic' it may prove dangerous for some suffering with the illness. Overall a very emotional read but truly worth it!

nikki grahame dying to be thin
i found this book very truthful and honest, it must have brought back some very bad memories for nikki in order for her to give such an honest account of her struggle with anorexia. it gives people an indepth look at the problems and aftermath of anorexia. i would be very interested to read her mums view and struggle to cope with nikki over the years as her life too must have been hell. i wish nikki lots of luck for the future and hope she never has to return to her painful past

an emotional rollorcoaster
An amazing book, full of honest reflections on a difficult life. The book takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions through good times and bad. It is a book of hope and inspiration for many people with not only anorexia, but those who find life a struggle in lots of ways. Nikki shows that with willpower and support all hurdles can be overcome. It is a compelling read, well written and impossible to put down.