Novels and Memoirs about weight loss

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100df
100df Posts: 668 Member
edited May 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
Reading is my favorite hobby. I have read some interesting books around weight loss.

Thought we could share.

The Dieter by Susan Sussman
The main character's best friend dies of lung cancer so she gives up smoking, gains a lot of weight and her life falls apart. It is a funny and sad book at the same time. Lots of the popular diets are mentioned.

Fat Chance by Nick Spaulding
The main characters participate in a weight loss competition sponsored by a radio station. Again, funny and sad. Available on Kindle Unlimited

Diary of a Fat Housewife by Rosemary Greene
I have read this one many times through the years.  Before I had a weight issue even.
It is a true story. Hard to read because her obsession with sweet food mirrors mine.  Her approach is completely different than mine though. She wanted her thin husband to be her partner in weight loss. Blamed him and sometimes her kids if she overate.  I think I am so drawn to her story because I never want to blame anyone but myself.

Does anyone have other recommendations?

Edited to add:

Blubber by Judy Blume
What it's like to be fat in 5th grade. Realistic for when I was that age. Not so sure it's the same now as there are more fat kids. Also, lots of school districts have cracked down on kids being mean to one another. Classic Judy Blume

Replies

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    I can't think of any fiction (other than kids books) with that theme that I've read and would particularly recommend (I am probably forgetting some, however). Years ago I read Losing It by Laura Fraser, which I liked a lot. The author doesn't lose a lot of weight (she wasn't that heavy), but does kind of an expose of dieting culture and a lot of different dieting approaches.
  • Sis359
    Sis359 Posts: 26 Member
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    Born Round: A Story of Family, Food and a Ferocious Appetite by Frank Bruni is a good read.
  • vivmom2014
    vivmom2014 Posts: 1,647 Member
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    I enjoyed a memoir I got at the library called "703: How I Lost More than a Quarter Ton and Gained a Life" by Nancy Makin. She didn't go into how exactly she did it but it made for compelling reading, and what a success story!
  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    edited May 2016
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    Stephen King's Thinner, in his Richard Bachman incarnation. It's not really a feel-good weight loss story, fair warning.
  • TickleAnn
    TickleAnn Posts: 21 Member
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    I just finished a non-fiction book called Year of No Sugar, by Eve Schaub. It's an entertaining, easy read about how sugar affects us and how much is in our food. I know it was responsible for my cravings and lack of weight loss. I'm doing so much better without it and I NEVER thought I'd get off it!

    Here's her website:

    https://eveschaub.com/
  • alyssa0061
    alyssa0061 Posts: 652 Member
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    Fiction - Life in the Fat Lane by Cherie Bennett

    The main character gains copious amounts of weight in high school from a metabolic disorder. I haven't read it in years but as an overweight child and teen (and now adult) it spoke to me on many levels. I read it countless times through middle school.
  • stephinator92
    stephinator92 Posts: 162 Member
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    Jemima J - Jane Greene

    Complete fiction, ugly duckling story and weight loss is a huge part of it
  • amyepdx
    amyepdx Posts: 750 Member
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    Oh and Jen Lancaster "Such a Pretty Fat" was hysterical although in her later books she admits she didn't stick with it. In her latest memoir "I Regret Nothing" she's taken a more long term approach and I think she's lost more & kept it off.
  • amyepdx
    amyepdx Posts: 750 Member
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    stephinator92 wrote: »
    Jemima J - Jane Greene

    Complete fiction, ugly duckling story and weight loss is a huge part of it

    I remember that one - I need to re-read it!
  • 100df
    100df Posts: 668 Member
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    I didn't think this through before I posted. It has cost me as only 1 book is available to download from the library! Appreciate all the suggestions! I started the book about the woman who weighed 703 lbs last night. It's going to be a doozy!

    I forgot about a couple of them. Jen Lancaster can make me laugh until I have tears whether it's about fat or not. I have read all of her books.

    I don't know if I have read Life in the Fat Lane but swear I have seen it around the house. My daughter may have read it. I am going to check before I download.

    Good thread! Always love getting book suggestions on any subject. Weight loss is always interesting.
  • dammitjanet0161
    dammitjanet0161 Posts: 319 Member
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    Not fiction but The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl is a good read - it's a weight loss diary but she's a good writer.

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