Recounting a life plagued with depression and overeating
By: Bethany Cortale
Life is a work in progress, and no one knows this better than Kristin Martini Baldassari, who battled depression and overeating for most of her life.
In 1990, when Ms. Martini Baldassari had her first child, she weighed 200 pounds. Her problems with overeating dated back to her childhood. Today, Ms. Martini Baldassari 70 pounds lighter is a vibrant, glowing, warm and spiritual woman who is helping other women struggling with weight loss, depression and anxiety.
Ms. Martini Baldassari’s problems with food started early. She lost both of her grandparents, who primarily raised her, when she was 5. They died within six hours of each other.
Five-year-old Kristin turned to food for comfort. She instinctively felt the need to take care of her little brother and the rest of the family while her father worked hard at his restaurant business and her mother, deeply depressed, coped with the loss of her parents.
Ms. Martini Baldassari had easy access to lots of calories. Her father regularly brought food home from the restaurant, especially her favorite baked goods such as sugar-coated donuts.
So began many years of struggle with overeating.
"When we are operating out of fear, we tend to obsess and try to control things. Overeating is part of an addiction. It is no different than shopping, cleaning, smoking or drinking," said Ms. Martini Baldassari.
Now holding a master’s degree in counseling from Rider University, Ms. Martini Baldassari is putting her struggle to work. In January, she opened Harvest Moon in Pennington, a holistic healing center. In March, she began an association with Dr. Joanne Kalish in Montgomery.
Dr. Kalish’s Health For Life Weight Management Program concentrates on clients’ physical and medical conditions while Ms. Martini Baldassari focuses on their emotional states.
Her specialty, as one might expect, is food addiction.
Feb. 26, 1993, is a date that Ms. Martini Baldassari will never forget. That was the day she went to her first Overeaters Anonymous meeting at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton. At the time, Ms. Martini Baldassari was at the peak of addiction, when she would binge and obsess over food. She was always thinking about weight loss. She tried almost every diet on the market.
"I equated weight loss with happiness," explained Ms. Martini Baldassari. "I wanted the unconditional love of my grandparents that I lost when they died. I realized no amount of food could give me that."
There were still mountains to climb. Her marriage failed. She endured a crippling depression. But she made it through.
The idea for Harvest Moon came to Ms. Martini Baldassari while visiting North Slope Organic Farm in Lambertville. She discovered a part of herself that loved nature. The farm sponsored a "Harvest Moon Dinner." She was awestruck by the name and decided to use it for her practice.
Many of Ms. Martini Baldassari’s clients come in for weight loss, but the issues they discuss end up being so much more than just weight. There are family-of-origin issues that have gone unresolved, bouts of anger, fear and depression. "Life is a process, and we are always evolving, working and moving in the direction of wholeness. Diets don’t work. All that diets do is put life on hold. The illusion of a diet is that when we are thin, then we will be happy. We are constantly waiting to be happy," she said.
Ms. Martini Baldassari makes it a priority to practice spiritual principles in all her affairs through meditation, motivational reading and exercise. She has been inspired by, and recommends, Geneen Roth’s "Feeding the Hungry Heart" and "When Food Is Love," among other books.
"I don’t worry anymore," Ms. Martini Baldassari said. "I take life one day at a time and do the next right thing. Now I’m conscious of being spiritually fit.
"I feel that where I’m at is beyond my wildest dreams," she said. "Wonderful people have come into my life. I enjoy seeing my children grow and taking time to smell the roses."
The Harvest Moon Healing Center is located at 2405 Pennington Road in Pennington. On Mondays Ms. Martini-Baldassari works out of her Montgomery office, located at 611 Executive Drive in Montgomery Commons.
For more information, call (609) 737-0403 or e-mail Ms. Martini-Baldassari at [email protected].

