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| Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir | 
 enlarge | Author: Jennette Fulda
Publisher: Seal Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $9.19
You Save: $6.76 (42%)
New (33) Used (13) from $7.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  23 reviews
Sales Rank: 11733
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 250
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 1580052339
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.1963980092
EAN: 9781580052337
ASIN: 1580052339
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20081204231446T
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Gutsy, Bold, and Honest Ass-Kicking August 2, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Jennette Fulda's Half-Assed is not your average weight loss memoir. Not only did Fulda lose over half her body weight, but she does not offer any apologies. In some ways, the book is as much pro-fat as pro-thin. This book, based on her blog Half of Me, chronicles how she got so fat, and, to some extent, what she did to lose the weight. Some of her struggles, such as finding clothes and getting around, are obvious, while others were more hidden, which she explores with humor and wisdom.
Fulda's is an easy read, one that I'm glad I read in part on the treadmill. There is no whining here, even when Fulda presents evidence about why it may be harder for the severely overweight to lose weight. She covers the highs and lows of her journey, as well as the way, as she lost weight, readers and others turned to her for advice as she blogged every step of the way.
Though it seems hard to believe that someone could just happen to wind up weighing 372 pounds, she shows how her lack of education about nutrition spiraled into a weight gain that she didn't truly recognize as a problem, let alone know how to handle, until it had reached such massive proportions. "The fat lost its shock value. It didn't scare me like it scares a skinny girl who's just put on ten pounds and can't fit into her favorite jeans. Ten pounds was a trivially small percentage of my overage." This is but one of the ways that even conceptualizing losing weight was a challenge for Fulda, one she wound up meeting head-on. Both her writing and her weight loss path show a woman with determination, independence, and the ability to sort out what worked for her and what didn't on her own.
Fulda also doesn't give you a saccharine "and now I'm thin and happy" ending. She makes the reader feel the true pain of her weight gain, as well as the not-always-perfect life she leads now. While losing the weight (and blogging about it) drastically changed her life, it was not a panacea, and Fulda doesn't try to spin it that way. She also admits that, yes, there is a chance she might gain weight again, and boldly asserts that being fat is not the worst thing in the world (a fact you might not realize from, well, living in the United States). About her former fat girl life, Fulda writes, "Given the choice between that life and the life of a skinny starlet in rehab, I'd put the fat suit back on fast enough to jam the zipper."
I also must add that this book is published by Seal Press, a feminist press (one I publish with as well), and I think adds a feminist spin to the topic of weight loss. Fulda is not talking about trying to conform to some mediagenic image of perfection, and in fact sounds like she had a pretty good sense of self-esteem when she was overweight (before she got obese), one which aids her as she starts to lose weight. To even have the vision that she could lose half her body weight in a healthy way is a provocative idea at a time when many people simply opt for plastic surgery. She reveals her own issues without pandering to the sexist ideal of ultra-skinnyness at all costs.
My one quibble is that she did not elaborate on the specific diet she chose to use (she has revealed on her blog and in interviews it was the South Beach diet), which made some parts of the book less informed than they could be. Though she explains that this would be like "asking Yo-Yo Ma what kind of cello he played and then expecting to buy one and become a brilliant cellist," I think it could have informed her memoir, but that's a small quibble. Anyone who's ever struggled with their weight, or just wants to read an inspiring story of one woman who forged her way through the world of weight loss, should check out Half-Assed.
 THE MISSING LINK IN WEIGHT LOSS BOOKS! July 15, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is not just another diet book but a book about what really happened during those years of losing weight. I get frustrated with success stories that don't delve into the mind and emotions of the struggle to succeed. Or often times when they try to explain the journey after-the-fact it just comes out sounding so cliche' and empty. Fulda breaks the mold with this book and brilliantly communicates raw and real emotions of the struggles, victories and failures of her phenomenal weight loss achievement. Her commitment is the key to her attitude progression from 'fat girl syndrome' to 'weight loss mentality' to 'athletic decision making'.
There are no secret recipes, instructions or food rules, no exercise plans, etc, etc and thankfully so. If you don't know what to eat or how to exercise by now then you may not be ready for this book because this is where the rubber meets the road. This isn't about how to eat but about how one person got it done and is keeping it done! Not everyone is ready to hear about the struggle when they are still making 'plans' to lose weight but for those of us who are in the trenches this is a MUST READ! This is about a girl who didn't quit - a REAL American hero.
Though thoroughly entertaining this book is not meant for sensitive people. There are times when the language is quite rough and her merciless thoughts about others are a little tough but that's what this book is - her inner thought life. You may even get offended (like you would if you could read the minds of people around you) but I'd encourage you to get over it quickly and read on. I finished this book in 2 days, I don't even know how I found it because I wasn't looking for anything like this on Amazon but it showed up...to use Jeanette's words, my computer must know I'm fat!
True to life, and very funny. July 13, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I don't do a lot of reviewing, although I READ others' reviews. Guess I'm too lazy. I did want to post a comment about this book, because the unflinching portrayal of the ongoing process of getting thin was very familiar, and at times almost painful, but I also laughed out loud ALOT!(which I don't even do with Road Runner cartoons).
Looking forward to ANYTHING else this author writes, whether it relates to weight or not.
Sharing the journey with humor and honesty... July 12, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Being one of the millions of obese people out there, I saw this book at the library and picked it up... Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir By Jennette Fulda. I can't say that I knew about her beforehand from her writing [..] But after reading Half-Assed, I'll be adding her to my blogroll and re-examining my own weight issues.
Contents: A History of Fatness; Living Large; The Snooze Button; No Epiphanies; Diet and Exercise; Stumbling Blocks; The Incredible Shrinking Woman; The Girl in the Mirror; Too Small for My Britches; Two Weddings and a Funeral; Trail Mix; I Should Know Better By Now; My Online Waistline; Acquired Tastes; Decloaking; Half-Assed; The Secret; Killing the Fat Girl; Notes; Acknowledgments; About the Author "Before" and "After"
Fulda doesn't set out to write a book about her weight-loss program or some secret formula she discovered. This is nothing but a raw look at the pain and realities of being fat, and the struggles she had in losing over half her body weight. And in my opinion, that's why this book works so well. The celebrity weight-loss winners all seem to want to "sell" you on their methodology and program. Fulda doesn't go into any great detail about what to eat, how much to eat, exercise programs, and the like. You learn her fears and self-loathing as she climbs to over 360 pounds. You're listening to her live through the fits and starts of finally getting traction on her weight loss goals. And more importantly, you also experience her ups and downs over the many months that it took to get to her current half-Fulda state. I enjoyed watching her mindset change as she went from someone who she felt didn't deserve any attention to someone who knows what it's like to be "normal". She's brutally raw in her writing style, and she doesn't pull any punches about the difficulties involved in making such a radical change to your body. It's also refreshing to see her current attitude towards her body. She's still at a point where the charts would say she's "chubby", but she also is comfortable with that knowing from where she started her journey. It's nice to see a weight loss story that doesn't end with the person becoming supermodel-thin and a fitness magazine covergirl. Fulda is no different than you and me... Flawed, imperfect, but working away on life.
If you're looking for a "do this, this, and this" book, head elsewhere (or go over to her blog). But if you want to understand and experience life through the eyes of someone who's been there and is still working at doing that, read away.
Fabulous! June 23, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is a fabulous book! It was like reading an autobiography. Only I haven't lost half of me. Jennette is very entertaining and very motivating. I wanted to get out and start running every time I read this book. I've already passed it on to my mom and a co-worker as well. Love it!
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