Making Weight: Men's Conflicts with Food, Weight, Shape and Appearance

What an excellent, normalizing, humanizing book on men's struggle with weight, shape and appearance. Dr. Holbrook's account of anorexia is a truly courages precedent of self-disclosure. The entire author trio offers a panoramic overview of various facets of male eating. The authors offer a psychologically healthy paradigm that shifts men's focus from weight management to shape management (after all, as the authors wisely note, "shape is easieer to change than weight). The books is replete with empirically sound discussion of the pitfalls of dieting and highly practical healthy eating and wellness tips. The book is accessible yet encyclopedic in scope: for example, it offers a discussion of the so-called sensory specific satiety and its interplay with appetite and overeating. The book is by no means a rehashing of wellness truisms - the authors have managed to offer gender-specific, male-centered discussion of a whole gamut of food/eating-related topics ranging in scope from sexuality to fitness to such appearance topics as hair and love handles; and have offered a more than superficial analysis of self-help, psychological and psychopharmacological treatment options. Of particular importance is the section for significant others of men with eating problems. The book offers ways to reach out to men struggling with weight management, in face-saving, ego-non-threatening ways. As such, the book is written with a good degree of psychological savvy and is clearly informed by the authors' extensive professional as well as personal experience with eating disorders in males. "Making Weight" certainly makes the grade as a no-nonsense resource for men struggling with weight, shape and appearance. Pavel Somov, Ph.D. Author of "Eating the Moment: 141 Mindful Practices to Overcome Overeating One Meal at a Time" (New Harbinger, 2008)

While I don't aggree with everything in the book. The book provides a good overview of males with eating disorders as well as Dr. Holbrook's personal story. I think some of the low ratings are because certain chapters are hard to understand but it is overall a good book.

This book offers the lay person a comprehensive guide to weight and body image issues in men and promises to be a valuable resource for men and their families. The authors make compelling arguments for how and why these problems have increased for males over the last decade. The book is directed primarily toward men "who can't stand the way they look in the mirror, and the ones who are so driven for perfection that they neglect the deeper areas of life"(p.xiv). However, it is also intended for family and friends of such men and professionals who may treat them in clinical practice. The tone and style of the book would appeal a bit more to a lay audience than a professional one, and I think would make a good "recommended reading" for a therapist to offer to a client.Overall, this book makes a very important contribution ... and one that you can recommend to your patients for an informative and insightful examination of men's concerns with weight and shape.

You'd never suspect from looking at the cover articles of men's fitness magazines at your local newsstands, but until now men had cause to feel neglected by the body dissatisfaction mavens of the academic community. In contrast to the scores of books written about women's issues about their bodies, eating disorders, and related topics, the literature addressed to males has been thin indeed. Men with eating disorders can now feel cared about too.Dr. Tom Holbrook's account of his own struggle with anorexia nervosa is a highlight of the book. This remarkably candid, self-revelatory story of an astute psychiatrist whose struggles permeated his medical and psychiatric training and subsequent practice is probably matchless in the annals of wounded healers. The last sections concern recovery, dealing with topics from basic nutritional information designed to foster realistic dietary and meal planning for gaining (or losing) weight, to psychological, social and spiritual aspects of recovery.