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A review by showlola
The Big Skinny: How I Changed My Fattitude by Carol Lay
1.0
Oh I had such an emotional response to this book.
Maybe the author feels happier with her life now that she is a "size 2 or 4" and is just gleeful at sharing that with the world, but everything here came off as so self righteous and condescending. As seems to be the case with most diet books, the material here is very repetitive (mentioning her dreadful pre-skinny thigh chafing episode in two nearly identical panels twice in the first 30 pages).
It was easy to figure out her height and BMI based on her specific numbers (almost 8 pounds underweight at 117.5 puts her at 5'9") and the fact that she referred to herself as zaftig at 137 pounds (or a BMI of 20.9 - a healthy BMI is 18.5 to 24.9) was completely infuriating. Even at her "fat" weight of 160 (BMI 23.6), she was never clinically overweight, let alone obese. This book has been sold as being the weight loss journey of a woman who was 30 pounds overweight and if the numbers she uses in her book are right on that was never, ever the case.
What really put me over the edge was the suggestion that her parents might have lived longer, healthier lives if they had only walked the dogs a little longer each day or taken a water aerobics class. Never mind that her Mother died of cancer at the age of 69. As a daughter who's thin father was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 42, I nearly exploded at the implications here.
Carol Lay controls her weight by writing down every calorie that she consumes, exercising everyday, and weighing herself each morning. She mentions that she gets pleasure from the 'control' she now maintains, which is something commonly associated with eating disorders. I know I'm being harsh here, but this is a woman who needs to maintain a daily obsession with her weight in order to maintain it. Ms. Lay may be perfectly healthy about her weight loss, but encouraging this kind of behavior as part of a weight loss regimen can be very dangerous.
I would applaud the book for pointing out that there are no easy answers when it comes to weight loss. Sustained weight loss requires a dedication that is admirable and difficult to maintain, but this book is not the answer to relaying that message. The art was pretty meh and the attitude here (not to mention the lack of real insight or motivation - for me at least) was frustrating at best.
Maybe the author feels happier with her life now that she is a "size 2 or 4" and is just gleeful at sharing that with the world, but everything here came off as so self righteous and condescending. As seems to be the case with most diet books, the material here is very repetitive (mentioning her dreadful pre-skinny thigh chafing episode in two nearly identical panels twice in the first 30 pages).
It was easy to figure out her height and BMI based on her specific numbers (almost 8 pounds underweight at 117.5 puts her at 5'9") and the fact that she referred to herself as zaftig at 137 pounds (or a BMI of 20.9 - a healthy BMI is 18.5 to 24.9) was completely infuriating. Even at her "fat" weight of 160 (BMI 23.6), she was never clinically overweight, let alone obese. This book has been sold as being the weight loss journey of a woman who was 30 pounds overweight and if the numbers she uses in her book are right on that was never, ever the case.
What really put me over the edge was the suggestion that her parents might have lived longer, healthier lives if they had only walked the dogs a little longer each day or taken a water aerobics class. Never mind that her Mother died of cancer at the age of 69. As a daughter who's thin father was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 42, I nearly exploded at the implications here.
Carol Lay controls her weight by writing down every calorie that she consumes, exercising everyday, and weighing herself each morning. She mentions that she gets pleasure from the 'control' she now maintains, which is something commonly associated with eating disorders. I know I'm being harsh here, but this is a woman who needs to maintain a daily obsession with her weight in order to maintain it. Ms. Lay may be perfectly healthy about her weight loss, but encouraging this kind of behavior as part of a weight loss regimen can be very dangerous.
I would applaud the book for pointing out that there are no easy answers when it comes to weight loss. Sustained weight loss requires a dedication that is admirable and difficult to maintain, but this book is not the answer to relaying that message. The art was pretty meh and the attitude here (not to mention the lack of real insight or motivation - for me at least) was frustrating at best.