Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir
by Jennette Fulda
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Book Reviews of Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir
Book Review: Fat Can Be Funny And Upbeat
Summary: 5 Stars
Jennette Fulda wrote a very honest, funny, and easy to read novel that chronicles her weight loss adventures as she drops over two hundred pounds. I believe that most people would feel uplifted by her phenomenal achievements and inspiring journey.
My favorite thing about this book is that even as an obese woman, Fulda never seems to loathe herself. She admits to being a bit shy, but at no part in the entire novel is she flat out speaking negatively about herself or her bad habits. Jennette remains upbeat throughout the whole tale, even when she falls off the wagon once in a while. She also expresses joy over her ability to continue losing a steady amount of weight over a long period of time. Fulda's attitude delights me because she expresses so much pride in her achievements. She also feels no inherent need to be a skinny girl, she just wants to feel healthy and live better. I loved it when she got down to around 200 pounds, and was just so dang pleased with herself about it. She talks about shopping for clothing and feeling beautiful even though she knows that her goals haven't been met yet. I think that it is important to love yourself every step of the way, and not just when you have been able to lose that last ten, twenty, or even a hundred pounds. If you can love and support yourself and your imperfections you've got a much better shot at long lasting happiness.
I also like the fact that Jennette didn't turn this into just another diet book. Fulda mentions making diet changes, but she stresses the point that a magical diet cure is not the answer. There is not one set of rules that every person will be able to follow successfully. I appreciated it that she placed more emphasis on getting out into the world to do physical activities. Park far away from the entrance! Take the stairs! Don't worry about looking silly just get out there on a nice day and go for a jog! Your diet is something that should be gradually changed which is why dieting generally fails. Too much at once just can't stick! Start with something simple, and then build on it. This seems to be the underlying theme of the novel. For example, at her highest weight Fulda begins with a simple walking routine on her treadmill. Walking leads to running, and collectively this activity results in massive weight loss.
Even if you only have twenty pounds to lose I would still recommend this book. The positive tone and humorous style will at the very least provide some good entertainment.
There are a number of editing mistakes, but that's probably the only negative thing I can say about this book.
Book Review: Sharing the journey with humor and honesty...
Summary: 5 Stars
Being one of the millions of obese people out there, I saw this book at the library and picked it up... Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir By Jennette Fulda. I can't say that I knew about her beforehand from her writing [..] But after reading Half-Assed, I'll be adding her to my blogroll and re-examining my own weight issues.
Contents: A History of Fatness; Living Large; The Snooze Button; No Epiphanies; Diet and Exercise; Stumbling Blocks; The Incredible Shrinking Woman; The Girl in the Mirror; Too Small for My Britches; Two Weddings and a Funeral; Trail Mix; I Should Know Better By Now; My Online Waistline; Acquired Tastes; Decloaking; Half-Assed; The Secret; Killing the Fat Girl; Notes; Acknowledgments; About the Author "Before" and "After"
Fulda doesn't set out to write a book about her weight-loss program or some secret formula she discovered. This is nothing but a raw look at the pain and realities of being fat, and the struggles she had in losing over half her body weight. And in my opinion, that's why this book works so well. The celebrity weight-loss winners all seem to want to "sell" you on their methodology and program. Fulda doesn't go into any great detail about what to eat, how much to eat, exercise programs, and the like. You learn her fears and self-loathing as she climbs to over 360 pounds. You're listening to her live through the fits and starts of finally getting traction on her weight loss goals. And more importantly, you also experience her ups and downs over the many months that it took to get to her current half-Fulda state. I enjoyed watching her mindset change as she went from someone who she felt didn't deserve any attention to someone who knows what it's like to be "normal". She's brutally raw in her writing style, and she doesn't pull any punches about the difficulties involved in making such a radical change to your body. It's also refreshing to see her current attitude towards her body. She's still at a point where the charts would say she's "chubby", but she also is comfortable with that knowing from where she started her journey. It's nice to see a weight loss story that doesn't end with the person becoming supermodel-thin and a fitness magazine covergirl. Fulda is no different than you and me... Flawed, imperfect, but working away on life.
If you're looking for a "do this, this, and this" book, head elsewhere (or go over to her blog). But if you want to understand and experience life through the eyes of someone who's been there and is still working at doing that, read away.
Book Review: SHE TELLS IT LIKE IT IS
Summary: 5 Stars
Jennette Fulda tells a remarkable story of determination. It's an incredible journey of dispair, joy and redemption. Fulda tells it like it is with honesty and large doses of humor. Anyone who is seriously overweight can relate to her stories. Only an obese person can truly understand life in a fat-unfriendly society. Her weight-loss journey is not an easy one but Fulda seems to have the inner-strength needed to succeed. She tells her own story without offering specific weight-loss advice. This is NOT a diet book. In fact, she refuses to discuss her exact method of losing weight. The diet she followed remains unnamed. She follows a healthier way of eating and tries to banish bad foods from her life, but there are a few mishaps and setbacks along the way. She knows it has to be a permanent lifestyle change. It's a journey of self-discovery on all levels. Her weight immobilizes her with so many aches and pains until exercise becomes her salvation. She is ashamed and self-conscious of her weight but her will is strong. It is her story and no one else's. She doesn't want to be come a weight-loss guru and doesn't preach for or against any way of thinking. She has her own views on fat acceptance and weight loss. It's up to the reader to find what is the right path and how to begin. Here story of dispair is one that so many seriously overweight people can understand. In Fulda's case, dispair becomes hope and hope becomes cautious joy as she nears her ideal weight. She tells her story with a humor that is often self-depracating. It's no secret that she succeeds in her quest before you start the book. She no longers suffers the stigma and pain of severe obesity. Readers just beginning their journey to weight loss might be put off with some of the humor. Fulda often uses humor to hide her pain, embarrassment and humiliation. Her humor can be a bit disparaging for a person who is still obese and the pain, embarrassment and humiliation is still a daily routine. She describes how she sat in an arm chair her weight spilled over the sides and looked like a muffin top. It's a funny visual unless being a muffin top is your reality. There is great joy in knowing that someone did succeed and ended the misery and pain of obesity. Her experiences show that the obese person is not alone in their suffering. Although obesity is a national epidemic, there are few books that address this issue in such a frank way. This is a gem of a book for anyone who suffers with obesity and seeks hope.Book Review: The blog is better....
Summary: 3 Stars
I am a big fan of Jeanette's blog, I have read her entire blog archives 2-3 times and some of my favorite entry's even more than that. Getting inside the head of someone who was successful loosing weight while they were doing it has definately helped me devolop the right mindset for my own weightloss journy. With that being said, while I'm in love with her blog, the book is basically the movie version of her blog that is not as good as the book.
I absolutely did not mind spending money on Jeanette's book because I am such a fan or her blog. This book is basically trying to turn her blog into a book. I would say 70-80% of the book materieal is taken verbatum from her blog archives....the same exact jokes, puns and all. At times it felt like she was trying to squeeze a clever take on something she covered on her blog, into the book where it just didn't fit, even though she would shorten it and try to make it fit.
I am glad I bought this book and read it because it did fill in some of the blanks of things I was wondering about from reading her blog. It was nice to know her thoughts about her blog and the online community, also a little more information about her past. I wonder how someone not familiar with her blog would fare trying to read her book, becasue with the blog it is easy to know what weight she is at and how long she's been dieting with each entry. It seemed like this book jumped around alot and would be harder to follow for someone that doesn't read her blog.
It was a fast easy read, I enjoyed learning some new things about Jeanette's story. I just think the story reads better on a blog, where jumping all over the place is expected. I would definately refer a friend to her blog before recommending the book. I realize that alot of the things she posted on her blog had to make it into the book, because they are both on the same topic. It's just the same exact jokes about EVERYTHING was a bit much. I was hoping it would be more of a look back at the journey with some new insight rather than her regurgetated blog entries.
Book Review: My Half-Assed Review ;-)
Summary: 5 Stars
I just read Jennette Fulda's Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir. Fulda, who goes by the nickname of "PastaQueen", started as a successful weight loss blogger. Her blog, accessible at pastaqueen.com or from my blogroll, has enjoyed a seven year run as a one of the most successful weight loss blogs on the web.
Having read dozens of weight loss blogs, I've decided my top criteria for identifying the ones I'll follow is that the author tells a good story, and has a good story to tell. Fulda is great writer whose humor and use of analogies makes her story much more than a slog through her loss of 200 pounds. With expressions like joining the "fat person witness protection program" and "Nancy Grace wouldn't have come looking for my fat ass," Fulda makes the time pass while she's sharing her transformation.
Fulda's book concentrates on the journey, the metaphor of weight loss, rather than the tips and tricks of the process. I would have liked her to share what she did to lose weight - she refuses to disclose her actual eating plan - but she feels strongly that diets are personal and that hers works because she likes the particular vegetables and so forth she has learned to eat. At first, it seemed evasive, but avoiding the quick fix advice allowed the story to evolve.
What makes Half-Assed work is Fulda's complete lack of preaching. She tells her story and is self-deprecating without being insecure. This would never work if PastaQueen didn't have an amazing story to tell. Her life is, frankly, uneventful, but in the way that most of our lives are. The beige backdrop keeps from distracting the reader from Jennette. What comes through instead is a normal person - though clearly talented - accomplishing an extraordinary thing, and allowing the reader to feel what it is like to lose, to use one of Fulda's analogies, the equivalent of seven bags of cat food.
Congrats to PastaQueen, for telling a good story, and having a good story to tell. (reprinted from my blog [...])