FitSugar

Book Review: Half-Assed by Jennette Fulda

FitSugar — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 14:30:00 PDT

The clever title and cover image of Half-Assed ($15.95) brought more than a delighted half-smirk to my face. After reading the tag line "Think the last 20 pounds are the hardest? Try the last 200," I realized that the author was standing in one of the pant legs of pants she used to fit into. Then I was amazed. I never thought a weightloss memoir would be a page turner, but this book certainly was. Fulda is funny and insightful, and the book is littered with gems like: "Being fat is like having a built-in asshole detector." She compares the process of building muscle by lifting weights, the destroy and rebuild cycles, to the many incarnations of Rome. And we all know that Rome wasn't built in a day.

Her path to losing weight is not a direct one. Muffins and hormones can create mundane detours, but she fights them off. What I enjoyed most about the book was Fulda's realization that she enjoyed cooking and exercising, that eating well and working out made her actually feel better. She experiments with star fruit and flax seeds. She starts running and takes up Pilates. She writes "Weight loss itself was a somewhat empty reward. All the cool things I could do because of my new fitness and health were the real prize."

At the beginning of Half-Assed, Fulda weight 372 pounds, and by the end she is down 200 pounds but still shy of her goal weight. Although the book is satisfyingly written, you do end up wanting more and because Fulda still writes her Half of Me blog, you can still keep up with her. Get her book here.

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Healthy Dose Link Time: Jessica Biel's Secrets to Staying Fit

FitSugar — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 11:27:57 PDT

Jessica Biel's simple secrets to a fit and healthy lifestyle - That's Fit
Jennifer Hudson to release memoir chronicling her weight loss journey - Fit Celeb
The five gym mistakes you're probably making, and how to fix them - Self
Discover the flavors of the world in The Biggest Loser cookbook - Fit Bottomed Girls
What it really means to breathe in yoga - lululemon
The best (and worst) foods to grill up this season - Fitness

Janet Jackson on Piers Morgan: Some Stars "Eat Kleenex" to Lose Weight

Michele Foley — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 12:30:48 PST

On CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, Janet Jackson talked at length about her constant struggle with self-esteem and body image. The interview, which aired on Tuesday evening, is a revealing look into Janet's past and coincides with the release of her new book True You - part memoir, part advice book on dealing with the pressures surrounding body image.

Besides describing her own struggles with weight and body image, Janet gave a revealing look into the extreme lengths that celebrities endure to maintain their weight: "Some of the stories I hear . . . I'm not going to name names (but) this is the worst. Eating tissue, Kleenex, so it fills the stomach. So you're full. So you don't want another bite to eat and so that's what you eat."

Janet admits to only hearing the stories secondhand, but the idea of anyone eating tissue for weight loss is both shocking and sad. It's also a reminder of the unnecessary lengths many individuals put themselves through to look a certain way.