Angry Fat Girls: 5 Women, 500 Pounds and a Year of Losing It…Again
I thought about just linking to my LT review, but then the review turned into far more of a blog than a book review, so here it is. And this is a lot more streamlined then it was, and then my brain was when I read this over this weekend. It’s given me a lot to think about, and I imagine I’ll be revisiting it
I like this book a lot better than I liked Kuffel’s first book, Passing for Thin. I found it flowed together a lot better, odd since it was a story of a number of women rather than Kuffel’s journey, which she told in passing. I believe Kuffel has grown significantly as a writer since her first book.
When I read Passing for Thin earlier this year and realized how dated it was, I found myseld wondering what Kuffel had done and whether or not she had kept the weight off. The appearance of AFG in my Amazon recommendations told me all that I need to know on that front, and I was glad to find this available at the library.
“But I’ve discovered that this Weight Thing is clearly easier to bear within a system of sisters”
While I cannot see myself participating in a twelve-step program for weight loss, I 100% agree with Kuffel in this point. When I first began Weight Watchers I was online only. I never thought I’d be one to attend meetings or to take anything from them. However my thoughts changed slowly and I decided to give them the same three-month “trial” that I did WW as a whole. My three months is “up” this week, but I can’t imagine not going to meetings. I don’t know about WW claims of meetings-goers losing more weight, but I know that I love the questions that come up from others. I get a lot of info from the message boards as well, but I can’t keep up there whereas I find myself taking a lot of notes at meetings and nodding in “Wow, I hadn’t thought of that” sense with questions/comments from others.
Although I’m a long way from goal/lifetime/maintenance, I find myself fearing what happened to Frances: one-hundred pounds in three years. I have lost weight in the past and I’ve gained it back. This time, I think it’s different. I’m older (30 vs. 18/19) and I want it. But I fear slipping. Sometimes I think it’s good that I’m a slave to the scale. I’ll catch the slip early, but then again I know the stories of others who have gained it back. What will keep me from being a statistic? I think that’s part of why I’m reading a lot on different aspects of diet/fitness/weight loss and nutrition. I want to know about the pitfalls before I fall into one.
I like how Kuffel worked the women’s stories into information on particular issues about weight, obesity, food and other issues. It’s part of what made the story cohesive and nicely wove narrative with important information. And yes, it sent Mt. TBR through the roof because I realize how much there is that I don’t know. At the same time, Kuffel left some stories unfinished and I found myself wanting to know how/why it ended with Katie and Ahmed. The reader was left hanging as to how the issues there sent her spiraling back to more than 400 lbs, but maybe it didn’t matter.
The women’s journeys intrigued me in many ways. They all came from different places, and were in different places in their lives, yet weight united them. Weight is not only a woman’s struggle but it’s something that unites women in a way that it doesn’t men. There are a couple of men in my WW meeting and I know there are men meetings, but dealing with weight in a group setting is very much female. Still, it was nice to see how Kuffel wrapped in the experience of some men, including Linday’s husband Jalen. Their experience with different weight loss programs also is a microcosm of women worldwide, who are always on one diet or another. A friend of mine said to me a couple of weeks ago when we were discussing the various diets “The only diet that works is the one you stick with”. So true. For me, that’s weight watchers. For others, it’s Atkins/South Beach/cabbage soup/etc. There is no perfect diet. We’re all different with different metabolisms, tastes and lifestyles and because of that, no one food plan or diet will work. I think they key to being successful with anything is to recognize your body/personality type and worth with it, not against it.
I was glad to see Kuffel tackle the issue of weight loss surgery and the issues that go with the surgery. Not being able to lap band one’s head is a key point. I know that many insurance programs/doctors require that patients lose ~10% of their weight before clearing them for surgery. I truly believe that if the person can lose the 10%, s/he will either be able to avoid the surgery or be more successful with it. Too many people see WLS as a fix, not really realizing that they’ll end up in the same bad place if they don’t adjust their eating habits following surgery. A good number of people who are overweight have emotional eating issues. I know I do myself. Mindful eating is something I’m working on. Sometimes I wish I could lap band my brain.
AFG is the book that got me back into wanting to blog, and I spent some time this weekend looking for the blog. It wasn’t until the epilogue that I found out that Kuffel and the AFGs had abandoned the blog. I was sorry to hear that. I still want to know more about Mimi, Wendy, Katie, Lindsay and Frances.
