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Katie Couric revealed that she had bulimia for seven to eight years when she was a teenager during a chapter of the new memoir Going There, which will be released on October 26. The 64-year-old journalist detailed some of her struggles with an eating disorder during the 1980s, including purging and extreme dieting, in the book, as detailed by The New York Post, which received an advance copy of the book.

In one section of the book, Katie reflected on getting rejected from Smith College and drinking baking soda and water. After downing the mixture, she put her finger down her throat to force herself to throw up. She also explained how dieting “was a way of life,” and her mom and sisters would eat a diet  consisting of cottage cheese and Tab soda. “Starve, cheat, binge, purge — the cycle would take years to break,” she wrote.

While Going There may look back on some of the dark times that Katie went through as a teen, the anchor has gotten much better about loving herself and being healthy, as she detailed in a profile for People on Wednesday October 13, ahead of the book’s release. Katie mentioned she doesn’t look at the scale, even turning around when she goes to her doctor for a check-up. “Like so many women of our generation, I aspired to be thin and lanky and all the things I’m not,” she said. “There was so much pressure on women, and dieting was so much a part of the culture.”

Katie revealed that Karen Carpenter’s death at 32-years-old from heart failure after struggling with anorexia “shook [her] to the core,” and brought her bulimia to an end. “I really just started to understand how dangerous it was,” she told People, before explaining how she tried to make sure her daughters understand healthy eating. “I do the best I can. I think probably some of my own neuroses were channeled to them, but I try to emphasize healthy eating and taking care of yourself.”