Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY11:28 a.m. EDT May 6, 2013

The co-host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” says she has been obsessed with food for years.

She has struggled with several eating disorders

Brzezinski’s disordered eating patterns started in high school

Her new book is called “Obsessed: America’s Food Addiction — and My Own”

Mika Brzezinski, co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, knows that the fact she has written a book about her obsession with food may rub some people the wrong way.

After all, at 5-foot-6½, she weighs about 132 pounds and wears a size 6 dress. That’s up from her usual 118 pounds and size 2.

Many people may not want to hear about a “skinny girl” with food issues, but Brzezinski, 46, says she has paid a high price for being thin. For years, she has maintained a cycle of overeating, starving, binging, running. She has struggled with multiple eating disorders, including a brief bout with bulimia, binging and purging, and a type of exercise bulimia where she would gorge then run for 10 miles. And one psychologist said she had an unhealthy obsession with eating healthful foods, which some call orthorexia nervosa.

“I know I’m not going to be a likable character to everybody. I can tell by the way people are responding, but if it gets the conversation going about food obsessions, I’ll take the hit,” says Brzezinski, author of Obsessed: America’s Food Addiction — and My Own, written with Diane Smith.

Her disordered eating patterns started in high school when she says she would scarf down two or three Big Macs at a time. In college, she would eat a large pizza, and starve herself for three to five days eating no food and going for 10-mile runs. About four months ago, in a sleeping-pill-induced trance, she wolfed down a jar of Nutella with her bare hands.

She comes from a family of overachievers; her father, Zbigniew Brzezinski, was the national security adviser to former president Jimmy Carter. In her family, intellect was valued, and she didn’t think she measured up. But, she says, “I don’t want to blame this on anyone. I think everybody gets to that place of having these problems in their own way.”

In a new book, Mika Brzezinski discusses her “fight with food.”(Photo: Handout)

In her career, being thin and fit is celebrated. One time she was turned down for a job as TV host for weighing too much. “It’s hard to come to terms with this, but every time I am 120 pounds, I seem to have success. People tell me how good I look, that I look like a model, that I look amazing.”

But when her weight creeps up and she’s at a healthier level, those positive messages don’t come as often, she says.

Brzezinski decided to address her own eating issues after she confronted her friend Diane Smith, also a TV journalist, about being too heavy. “I was worried about her health and her future. We had shared all the things two friends could share, except one. Neither of us ever broached the subject of how we battled with food.”

via Mika Brzezinski puts food obsession at the forefront.