Weight Loss Reading List

I am a voracious reader. I read for information, but mostly for entertainment. I read weight-loss and self-help books like novels.... and I read novels like weight-loss and self-help books. When I was losing weight—and still—I started seeking out and enjoying a variety of books with a weight-loss theme. Some were diet books, of course; others were memoirs; still others were novels with characters who have gained and/or lost weight. I found that reading these books not only entertained me, but also motivated me to stick with what I was doing.


Fiction

Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
Bridget is a chick lit pioneer—and an early starter in the library of books about heroines with weight issues. Of course Bridget never really had a weight problem, except in her head. I never really figured out whether Helen Fielding actually thought that Bridget was legitimately chunky, or whether Bridget's obsession with her weight was meant to be ironic. (I also don't quite know why Bridget wasn't fat, with all the binging on chocolates and so forth that went on in the book!) When the movie came out, Bridget's character had gained about 10 pounds, so that Bridget as played by Renee Zellweger was a teeny bit voluptuous.

Jemima J by Jane Green
Now here is a book about a protagonist who really did have a weight problem. Jemima loved her bacon sandwiches, and it showed. Until one day she sent a computer-slimmed photo to a man she met on the internet, and finally gained the inspiration to diet and exercise her way to a truly slender Jemima. This is a bit of a fairy tale—there's a reason it's subtitled "A Novel About Ugly Ducklings and Swans"—but in the end Jemima does learn a few truths (as well as achieve an appropriately happy ending).

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
After breaking up with her boyfriend, Cannie is shocked and upset when he writes an article about "loving a larger woman." She decides to participate in a weight loss group, and through her experiences there—and a dramatic surprise—makes some major changes to her life and future.

The Next Big Thing by Johanna Edwards
The Real World meets The Biggest Loser in this novel about a woman who wins a spot on a weight loss reality show.

How to Be Cool by Johanna Edwards
This time the protagonist has already lost the weight. Kylie Chase, a weight-loss success story (and former geek), now teaches others how to be stylish and popular and cool. She is ready to make a splash at a long-delayed high school reunion, and being interviewed by a popular men’s magazine. But then her perfect world starts to fall apart….

Conversations with the Fat Girl by Liza Palmer
Plus sized Maggie copes with her insecurities after childhood friend Olivia becomes svelte following gastric bypass surgery.

Eating Heaven by Jennie Shortridge
Eleanor writes about food for diet magazines, but in her own life enjoys food too much and too much food. But when her beloved Uncle Benny becomes ill, she transfers her food obsessions to cooking for him. This book is set in Portland, Oregon, and makes you want to go there immediately.

He Loves Lucy by Susan Donovan
This is a fun bit of fluff for everyone who wants and needs to lose a lot of weight. Lucy, a marketing executive, participates in a contest to lose 100 pounds and win a big cash prize. But maybe the real prize is her handsome trainer....

Alternate Beauty by Andrea Rains Waggener
Ronnie finds her job in a plus-size boutique in jeopardy—because she's too fat. Then one day she wakes up in an alternate universe where fat is the ultimate beauty and thin is despised. It's a dream come true—except now she's losing her appetite.

The Perfect Fit: Fat-Free Dreams Just Don't Taste the Same by Louise Kean
Sunny (who lives in Wimbledon, near London), has lost 98 pounds and now, as a thin, athletic woman, is able to save a child from kidnaping by chasing down the kidnaper. In doing this she begins the process of coming to terms with her own body and the idea of the perfect man.

Slim Chance (Red Dress Ink (Numbered Paperback)) by Jackie Rose
Evie becomes obsessed with losing weight to fit into a Vera Wang wedding dress, as the dress becomes more important than the wedding -- or the marriage -- or the groom.


Memoirs

All these books could have essentially the same description—“author tells the story of her weight-loss experiences”—but yet each is unique, interesting, and inspirational. (And isn’t it good to hear of so many weight-loss successes?)

Passing for Thin: Losing Half My Weight and Finding My Self by Frances Kuffel
Literary agent Frances Kuffel tells her story of losing 188 pounds and how it changes her life. Her story is gripping, even as it portrays her in sometimes less than sympathetic -- or likeable -- lights. Kuffel used Overeaters Anonymous, although her book does not necessarily promote this program over others.

I'm Not the New Me by Wendy McClure
McClure is a sharp-tongued—and funny—narrator of her efforts to lose weight and create her weight-loss blog. She is also a connoisseur of the ephemera of the old-style Weight Watchers program.

Tales From The Scale by Erin J. Shea
A collection of stories about several women’s weight loss experiences.

The Weight-Loss Diaries by Courtney Rubin
The author starts her weight loss project with a magazine assignment to chronicle her weight-loss efforts in print. Her bittersweet experiences include coming to terms with a bingeing disorder and stories of her successes and failures.

The Incredible Shrinking Critic: 75 Pounds and Counting: My Excellent Adventure in Weight Loss by Jami Bernard
Bernard tells the story of a two-year weight loss effort and success.

Scoot Over, Skinny: The Fat Nonfiction Anthology by Donna Jarrell
Another anthology of weight-related essays, although not necessarily weight loss stories.

Til the Fat Girl Sings: From an Overweight Nobody to a Broadway Somebody-A Memoir by Sharon Wheatley
Wheatley writes engagingly of her childhood weight issues and how they eventually impacted her career goals of becoming a Broadway musical actress.

Teenage Waistland: A Former Fat-Camper Weighs in on Living Large, Losing Weight, And How Parents Can (And Can't) Help by Abby Ellin
The title tells the whole story.

Secrets of a Former Fat Girl by Lisa Delaney

Delaney, a free-lance journalist who has written for health magazines, lost 70 pounds and has kept it off for 20 years. Her entertaining book offers good tips and motivation, though it does promote the rather disturbing idea that size 8 is not good enough (Delaney is a size 2 and weighs 115 pounds at 5'4").

Diet and Self-Help Books

The Perricone Weight-Loss Diet by Nicholas Perricone, MD
Nicholas Perricone began his publication career by telling us how to stop aging and look younger by eating salmon and other anti-inflammatory, low-glycemic foods. Some of us (me included) found out that this plan also helped us lose weight! Apparently Dr. Perricone figured it out too, and hence this book. While the recipes are sometimes complicated, the plan, and concept, are are great! (Worked for me!)

The Forever Young Diet and Lifestyle by James & Joan O'Keefe
Another favorite for me, along similar lines as the Perricone plans.

Bob Greene's Total Body Makeover by Bob Greene
It worked for Oprah—the first time.

The Best Life Diet by Bob Greene
A kinder, gentler Bob Greene, with less of the boot camp approach. (It worked for Oprah—the second time.)

The Good Mood Diet: Feel Great While You Lose Weight by Susan M. Kleiner and Bob Condor
A new twist on the low-glycemic plans, focusing on how healthy, anti-inflammatory foods can also help improve emotional well-being.

Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Well-Being by Andrew Weil
Dr. Weil offers a whole life plan to care for your body and self.

Stop The Clock! Cooking: Defy Aging--Eat The Foods You Love by Cheryl Forberg
A great collection of recipes featuring anti-aging foods... Some of her recipes have been adapted for Dr. Perricone's books, and she has been a consultant for the Biggest Loser show.

The South Beach Diet by Arthur Agatston
As diet books go, this is one of the best--sensible, low-glycemic, and it works.

DVD and Video

Frontline: Diet Wars
An excellent overview of various diet programs and theories, including Atkins and Pritikin, hosted by Stephen Talbot (Gilbert on Leave It To Beaver), who takes on the weight loss challenge for himself.

Scientific American Frontiers: Fat and Happy?
Alan Alda explores obesity and weight loss in America.

Scientific American Frontiers: Losing It
This sequel to Fat and Happy follows several subjects who try various weight loss methods (including Alda, who does a stint in Weight Watchers).

Scientific American Frontiers: Surgical Slimmers
This program examines surgical weight-loss solutions.

Nova: Marathon Challenge

13 novices train to run the Boston Marathon.

Supersize Me
Completely engrossing documentary of Morgan Spurlock's experiment eating nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days. He wrote a companion book which is even more in-depth, Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America.

Why do they do this?

Is it sabotage or self-destruction?

When co-workers bring in goodies to work, knowing that you are trying to resist treats (and have a problem doing so), and knowing that said treats are absolutely no good for themselves or anyone else in the office, what is the motivation?

I know that 90% of the motivation is to do something nice for everyone, something that will make them happy. But I also believe that just a little bit of it is a set-up, a way of creating temptation for those of us who don't want the sweets, so that we will either succumb or make ourselves miserable by resisting. I know this is attributing very unkind attributes to people who are supposed to be our friends. But mostly I don't think they know that they have this motivation. It's subconscious. Buried deeply along with the mixed feelings they probably feel about those of us who have successfully lost weight when they have not.

I have tried, half-jokingly, to restrict the amount of unhealthy treats brought to the office. I have insisted on buying cheese sticks and 100-calorie packs and other less terrible goodies. Last week I brought some strawberries, but I think they were mostly eaten by me. Then inevitably, when I am not around, in come the cookies and chips and, today, doughnuts.

Lucky for me, I am much more able to resist doughnuts (and chips also) than I am cookies and candy. So as long as I don't succumb to "just a taste"—which would probably lead to more tastes—I am okay.

When I do criticize or try to restrict the "bad" food, I am accused of trying to deprive everyone else of what they want, what makes them happy. I admit my main reason for wanting to keep the stuff out is to protect myself from temptation, and I really wouldn't dream of trying to tell other people what to eat. (Maybe just passive aggressively suggest it.) But really, nobody needs this stuff.

Just for fun, I printed out several pages showing the calories in various Krispy Kreme doughnuts and taped them onto the boxes. They'll probably be furious at me. But if you're going to eat this stuff, you might as well be informed! The interesting thing is that one original Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut has "only" 200 calories (certainly less than a Starbuck's scone or other more wholesome sounding goodie). So, if you don't care about the sugar, carbs, and fat (undoubtedly trans fats), and can limit yourself to just one, then a doughnut isn't the worst thing in the world to eat. Information is power.

Now, I do have one more confession. I myself have been known to bring in cookies or chocolate on occasion when I either wanted to get them out of my house or, more often, just wanted to treat everyone. If I do it, it's okay. That's the little exception to the rule.

Where have I gone?

To Whidbey Island and back, to England and back, to work and back (again and again and again)....

All these things have filled my time and kept me from writing and keeping up. (I feel like the 10-year-old apologizing to her diary for not writing for so long!)

The Whidbey Island half marathon came and went, very successfully, on April 15. I actually started to write about it but can't find what I wrote on my computer. I am stymied by technology. So all the intense impressions of the moment are now faded away.

My goal was to finish in under two hours (and I wasn't completely sure that I could). It's hard to get a good impression of how fast you are running at the time. I did keep looking at my watch at mile markers and constantly subtracting from the start time, and did have a sense that I was doing okay, around or maybe under nine minutes per mile.

I finally learned what "hitting the wall" feels like around mile 11. What it was to me, was the feeling that I cannot possibly run any faster than I am running at this moment (which was slower than I had been running for most of the race). I didn't feel like I had to stop, but I was stuck in that pace. Luckily I passed through that somewhere after mile 12 and as I was nearing the finish line, put on a burst of speed like I never have before. When I saw the clock it said 1:54 and I was determined to finish under 1:55... and I did. In the end my total time was just under 1:55 but my actual time (from crossing the start line to crossing the finish line) was 1:54:30, for a pace of 8:45 per mile. So much better than I had ever expected!

I was surprised but perhaps shouldn't have been, because I had followed my training plan obsessively, and could not have been in better shape for this race. The weekend before I had run the five-mile Tulip Run in Skagit County, and got an amazing personal best of 8:31 per mile (42:37 total). I also modified my eating plan and ate (gasp) pasta for dinner the night before each of those runs--and I actually think that might have made a difference! I didn't eat anything during the duration of the half marathon and I do wonder whether that might have made a difference in the moments of flagging near the end.

I had a fabulous mix of music on my ipod, which I had spent a couple of weeks putting together for the half marathon. I tested it on the Tulip Run and then tweaked it a little bit for Whidbey. I actually got so into making my playlist that I ended up with four hours of music--the first two and a half were running songs and the remainder was more of a post-run mix. I have put it onto i-tunes as a playlist, although about half my music was dropped off because I had originally downloaded it from another CD rather than i-tunes. However, there's still 154 minutes worth of songs, including my number one running song, "Don't Stop Me Now," by Queen (you definitely need this one). On the i-tunes version of my playlist it comes up about half an hour into the list, whereas I had it about an hour into my run, just when I really needed to pump things up! I had "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor at just about the two hour point, to push me across the finish line, but I had already finished by the time it came up!

Here's the modified version of my playlist, which can be found at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewIMix?id=258837320 .

The week after Whidbey I could feel my body needed recovery and I had some difficult moments running during the next few days. Let's just say my digestive system was all shook up and needed a bit of time to recover.

I also decided to try running just a little less to be kinder to my body. For the rest of the spring, and possibly during the summer, I am trying a running plan of running Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during the week (working out at the Y on Tuesdays and Thursdays) and running one day on the weekend. That way I will generally never run more than two days in a row, allowing a day of recovery between most runs.

During May and early June I spent three weeks in England, where I did a lot of walking and also ran on the days I was in London and other cities (in the country I walk rather than run). Of course I also indulged in a lot of scones and cream and bread and cheese and cake and biscuits (cookies), which despite the constant activity and exercise, resulted in several pounds gained by the time I got home.

A birthday party and a graduation party, both involving copious amounts of cake (my favorite thing), didn't help things in the week after I got home. (I am about 10 pounds over my low weight, although 5-7 pounds up from when I left for England.) I have also been running and/or working out only once a day on most days, in an effort to devote some time to getting caught up at work and updating my travel blog. I do believe that balance is necessary in life, and I can't completely sacrifice my job in order to work out twice a day!

But for the last week I have been quite faithful about eating (pretty) clean, working out daily, if not twice a day (except for today, which is a rest day due to minor injury after a run yesterday), and I have run in two 5K runs (last Saturday and yesterday), so I think I am on a good track.

So, that's where I've been the last two months. We'll just have to see where I'm going from here.