I just finished a book called Diary of a Fat Housewife by Rosemary Green. It's an actual journal written by a woman about her battle with excess weight. I was fascinated with it - couldn't put it down - because I wanted to see how her weight would change with every entry. I could really relate to her description of binge eating - going to the convenience store and buying several candy bars and eating them all, eating so much that she would be up all night with indigestion, etc. What I didn'tlike about the book was that the author never really focused on the healthy aspects of eating well - she was totally consumed with the numbers on the scale and being 'thin and beautiful'. In earlier years, she had been some kind of local beauty queen, and she seemed fixated on being that person again, 10 years and 4 or 5 children later. Anyway, it was an interesting read, so I thought I'd share the title.

i did not like that book at all. it made me feel down about weightloss in general because she was so unhealthy. i reccommend "chunk to hunk" by fred anderson. now THAT is a weightloss diary worth reading.

I think it would be cool if maybe we could do a book swap on these kind of books....I know some other posters have chatted about books. Is any one else interested???

I agree,Holly, that the author definitely wasn't looking at weight loss in a healthy way. Instead of making me feel down on weight loss, though, it helped me to realize that my feelings about food, weight, self-esteem are pretty positive. So, it was self-affirming, even though not in the way the author probably intended.

Gina, what exactly do you have in mind when you mention a book swap?

We've done this in the past. In fact, I still have to mail Suzie76's book back to her.

Diary of a Fat Housewife was a good book, but she was soooooo disciplined & freaky about her eating, it made me wonder what kind of habits she'd be passing onto her children.

Good in Bed I lent out as well, best book ever; wonder if they've done the casting for the HBO TV Series they're supposed to be making out of it? It's fiction, but sooo good.

So yeah, I'd be all for a book swap. I promise not to take 6 months to get your book back to you either. *hangs head in shame*

LOL....I would be game.......it beats paying for book online or at a book store. I don't think I have any cool books that some how relate to weight loss. HMMMMM, maybe I will buy a book tonight....read it, and then swap it out. Any ideas of books that no one has yet that I can purchase?????

I usually borrow my books from the library, but I would be glad to swap book titles with you guys. In fact, here's another one: Appetites by Geneen Roth. It's premise is that overeating is a symptom of being 'hungry' in other ways - spiritual, emotional, relationship-wise. In one part, the author is upset because she is losing her hair in clumps due to a medical problem. She is doubtful that her husband could possible love her when she looks so hideous. He says he loves her no matter what, that he loves her essence. She says to herself, "I don't even know what the essence is or who he sees; I only know that this is not the way my life is supposed to look...I know how things are supposed to unfold. If I make the right decisions, have the right body, the right hair, make a success of myself, then life will go smoothly and I will be loved...I still place inordinate emphasis on how I look and what I do, on what I produce and what I achieve, on how I perform and what I say or do or look like on a given day. Each moment rests on the next, waits breathlessly to see if I deserve the next."

That passage really spoke to me, especially the part about achievement being the measure of one's life. The fact that I don't have a fulltime teaching job is really hard for me to deal with - it makes me feel like a failure.

Any comments?