I’ve had a spate of weight-loss related reading lately (go figure!) and my favorite was Shauna Reid’s The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl. In the grand tradition of bloggers who’ve turned their online ramblings into book deals, Shauna has taken the writings from her weight-loss blog and turned them into a heartfelt and quite funny book.

Now, normally I don’t go in much for the blog-turned-book, since I have the perhaps erroneous supposition that they are better off remaining in their digital form (my dismal experience with Julie and Julia turned me off so much) but Shauna’s book seemed different. And to my mind, it was.

There were several commonalities between my own experiences and Shauna’s – issues surrounding body image, food, self-esteem, etc. – all the things that are common to so many of us who’ve had lifelong body and major weight issues. But Shauna isn’t throwing herself a pity party here. True, she relates many of the sad tales of the fat chick, with all the tears, humilations, compromises, and frustrations that are the hallmark of a life lived fat, but she does it in such a spunky, clever and endearing way, that rather than just thinking to myself, “Poor girl,” I was instead internally cheering her on, saying “You go, girl!” Of course, we have the benefit of knowing our intreprid superhero comes through the journey, battles the fat and wins – even if it’s a fight that requires lifelong vigilance.

When searching Amazon for the Dietgirl book, the site made some helpful suggestions for other books I might like, among them, Jennette Fulda’s book, Half-Assed. Now who could resist a title like that? Not me. Jennette’s memoir is similar to Shauna’s in that they are both describing their personal and physical journeys from fat to fit, but Jennette’s humor is drier and her writing seems more reserved. But again, to read about someone who, through sensible eating and exercise, loses 200+ pounds, helps reinforce the idea that this is possible, and just because a person is extremely overweight doesn’t mean they have to always be that way.

After reading Jayne Williams’ previous book and finding it invaluable, I wanted to read her follow-up, titled Shape Up with the Slow Fat Triathlete, hoping for the same down to earth practical advice and information. Although it is her second book, I think it would have been more useful to me to have read it first. As it was, most of the content was stuff I already knew, or since I already consider myself an athlete, was superfluous advice and info. It’s good info and definitely a book I would recommend to people who aren’t yet active, but it was too basic for my needs. (I hope that doesn’t sounds as cocky as I think it does!) For those contemplating a non-couch potato lifestyle, I would recommend reading this one and then after getting all inspired (because you will) and ready to try a tri, read her first book.

Another Amazon find was a collection of writings edited (and partly written by) Erin J. Shea, called Tales from the Scale. Each section focuses on a different aspect of being overweight, losing weight, or maintaining a weight loss and each of the half dozen women contribute to each section. As such, it was a little difficult to identify each woman and they all sort of mixed together. I could relate to some of their stories more than others (the woman who felt fat at 188 was less sympathetic to me than the one who was well into the 300s) but it was still a funny, very real look at how these women battled their weight. 

Finally, there was Weight Loss that Lasts, a book that I picked up mainly to see what the ‘Top 10 Diet Myths’ were, and if there was anything I didn’t know. Since the book was written in partnership with Weight Watchers, there is an obvious bias towards that method of weight loss (and all the people profiled inside had lost weight on Weight Watchers rather than other ways). I’m a Weight Watcher myself, so I was in agreement with a lot of what was said, but I also believe that there is no one right plan for everyone (the book does say this as well – even though it’s pretty obvious which one they think you should go with) and it’s more important to find what works for you rather than trying to force yourself to do something you won’t stick with for life. Anyway, for me, I didn’t really read anything I didn’t already know or believe, so it wasn’t that enlightening for me. For others, I could see it being a ‘lightbulb moment’ book.

And with that, I think I’m done with weight loss books for awhile. There are several novels that have been piling up on my nightstand table so I think it’s time to return to some good old-fashioned fiction.