Katie Couric on Her Recovery From Bulimia

Recovery from eating disorders doesn't seem to get as much media attention as recovery from drug and alcohol addiction—but that could be changing. During her new ABC talk show earlier today, Katie Couric opened up about battling bulimia in her late teens and early twenties. “I wrestled with bulimia all through college and for two years after that," she said. "And I know this rigidity, this feeling that if you eat one thing that’s wrong, you’re full of self-loathing and then you punish yourself, whether it’s one cookie or a stick of gum that isn’t sugarless, that I would sometimes beat myself up for that.” Couric was joined on the show by eating disorders specialist Cynthia Bulik, as well as singer and X-Factor judge Demi Lovato, 20, who has also been candid about her struggle with eating disorders and cutting, for which she sought treatment in 2010.  “How do you have a healthy relationship with food, and say, ‘You know what, I can have one cookie and it’s okay?’ That is such a huge thing for people who wrestle with this,” said Couric, 55, who credits therapy with helping her in her recovery. Bulik praised the news anchor for her honesty, and for serving as an example to others that recovery is possible: "Just knowing that you can get past that, and learning strategies from someone who’s been there, that’s what it’s all about in terms of recovery,” she said.