Fed Up! – Wendy Oliver-Pyatt

I have been thinking a lot lately about food. I have changed the way I eat, but i am not really ready to talk about this yet (it’s funny how a blog about what you read really tells so much about how you live. I mean, I guess in my case I am a teenage love-sick vampire, but you get my point – it’s hard to write about how you feel about what you read without it reflecting about well, how you feel).

But, this was a self-help book I picked up on the Strand Annex for 70% off (they are closing the downtown location). I bought it because I felt that I needed a diet book, or something to give me some sort of structure – but to my surprise, the book ended up being exactly the opposite. The premise is essentially – stop dieting and just eat. Not a fat-acceptance book, but the idea that diets make you fat, and you always regain and feel like a failure and continue the cycle, but if you just give yourself permission to NOT diet, then you will lose weight because your body will find its natural rhythms and you will stop the cycle of binge eating.

It makes sense to me, and its actually kind of what was going on during the beginning of the summer when I lost a good deal of weight (and have kept most of it off.) The book itself was kind of a “well, duh” but sometimes I think you need to read something and have it codified before it kicks in. I had a conversation this weekend that really struck me. My issues with weight don’t just effect me, they effect those that love me. And I am holding myself back my being so obsessed with my size.

All in all, a decent book for people who struggle with weight or always feel like they are dieting. I particularly liked the portions of the book that talked about doing something with your life that is meaningful and focus more on who you are as a person rather than what your thighs look like. It also had some cool tips and ideas for raising healthy non-fat conscious kids and that’s something I worry about a lot – putting my own neuroses on kids. Also, without being New Age hippie-dippy, it recommends massage. How can you not like a book that recommends massage?

Moose: A Memoir of Fat Camp – Stephanie Klein

I am a little torn on this book. I really liked it and the recollections of camp were both painful to read, heartbreakingly funny and inspiring. What kind of ruined the book for me was the author’s tying it back to her current struggle with weight, and not just that it was unresolved (those of us with weight issues know it will never be “resolved”) but just how bitter she sounded. I don’t know – it was kind of like a coffee stain on an otherwise engaging read.

Bright Lights, Big Ass – Jen Lancaster

Another memoir from Jen. It was funny, I laughed but I still don’t like the girl on a personal level. Or however personal you can get from reading someone’s book and blogs.

Half of Me – Jennette Fulda

THIS was a really inspirational book. A woman loses 200 lbs. doing essentially what I have been doing (eating mindfully and working out.) She has blogged the whole way, but luckily – this book isn’t really about her blog. It’s hard to explain why this book was such a lightbulb for me – I think it was because she is coming from a similar place as me (wasn’t tortured by anyone but myself about my weight, didn’t try a ton of diets, wasn’t abused or anything) and yet succeeded – and succeeded by doing things her own way, in her own time, healthfully. She talks about the Fat Acceptance movement, about feeling impossibly skinny while still being a Lane Bryant regular and about the dialogues we carry in our head. This is a library book, but I am tempted to buy it, just to keep around for inspiration. Luckily, her blog is available online (where else would blogs BE available?) at www.pastaqueen.com

Such a Pretty Fat – Jen Lancaster

I had been meaning to read this memoir for awhile, because I love the author’s blog but the Queens Library didn’t have anything by her (she has already written 2 or 3 other books.) I had a gift certificate to half.com, so this is what came of it.

The premise is that a woman with high self esteem who generally likes her body decides to lose weight because of a doctor’s orders. It’s her struggle to lose weight, even though she didn’t really want to. It’s a little irritating to read these kinds of stories and find them personally inspirational because a ) I don’t have the money to sit at home and if I lost weight it would have to fit into my lifestyle b) I don’t have the money for a personal trainer and c ) no one is paying me to lose weight. It also kind of bothered me that it was kind of hyped that she had to lose weight because of her doctor’s “death sentence” but it really just sounded like her doctor was all “Hey fatso, lose weight or you are going to be in trouble.” The same thing the rest of us tubbos hear. BUT – I did like the book. Anyone who makes fun of Weight Watchers is okay in my book, and she really is hysterical.

I am not really motivated to read her other books (read: pay for them) but I will keep my eyes open anyway.

P.S. Despite reading her book and feeling motivated to go to the gym, I went to a bridal shower and pigged out like I haven’t in months. Maybe I should stay away from would-be motivational books.