The Fat Girl's Guide to Life

First of all, to the two readers who rated this at one star: One obviously did not read the book, or did so with the "Indignant Thin" logic that Wendy touches on in the book. Have you never heard of sarcasm? Or did you not read the part where Wendy cited a study where Fat people were actually at less risk of cancer death than thin people? And to the other person: Wendy did NOT advocate smoking cigarettes to lose weight. She pointed out that it is what many people (including herself) have done in an attempt to lose weight. And she did not say your husband does not exist. She merely stated that many men are not strong enough to overcome the pressure to date and marry the women who are thin, and she has yet to find her man who is strong enough. I really, really, REALLY liked this book. I have been on Atkins, I have tried South Beach, I grew up with the fruit-and-vegetable-Nazi mom. I was "Tubby Troll" in high school. I feel Wendy's pain, and indignation, that the Fat people of the world are being forced into the Thin mold that society expects. I bellydance for two hours a day every single day. My doctor has never complained about my blood panels or my fitness tests. Just the fact that I'm an 18. Like Wendy points out, I'm fit and fat. This is not a contradiction. I encourage everyone to read this book, and practice fat-tolerance. BTW, Wendy, come to San Diego. I get hit on every day in the mall while I'm walking to my job at Torrid.

I Sergio, the obsessed metal head am not only in love with heavy metal music, but also REAL beautiful women, and by that I mean Large beautiful women. I myself am not an overweight person, and if you think I'm biased, it's probably just due to the fact that I find large women to be gorgeous.Wendy Shanker's first book is basically her opinions on fat women and how they're wrongfully percieved in America (and parts of the world) and the story of her full figured body's coming to be. It goes to point out and destroy the stupid stereoptypes usually depicted about big women in media and society; such as laziness, depression, poor health, and only good for a laugh. It also goes to point out lots of FALSE conclusions, such that thinness equates to health, and that 61% of all Americans are overwieght; where the term "overwieght" is so loose in fact that super big celebrities such as George Clooney, yes, George Clooney are considered "overweight." Also that the survey was taken by only an amount of 1,446 people in 1999 and that's where we get the 61% from, forgetting that the U.S. contains a population of over 200 million. Wendy goes on to talk about other issues, such as clothing availability and accommadations for big people. Most importantly, that to be fat means poor health, gimme a break! If anything, being fat means being healthy, as long as the person doesnt wieght 300-400 lbs! She also tells of her time in a Duke wieght center where she spent literally thousands of dollars, underwent rigerous excersize conditions and starvation, only to come out with a net wieght loss of only 2 lbs. Also how big companies like Wieght Watchers and Atkins are in it for the business, as a whole w/ the rest of corporate America, are profiting off the self esteem of the American public. Wendy shows women how to be strong, and gives great ideas on how to stay healthy even while being fat; not to mention giving men a whole new perspective on big beautiful women. Basically, your target goal in excersize should be to KEEP healthy, yes KEEP; and your target should NOT be to get thin as so many women sadly believe, and as so many stupid ignorant (white) men sadly exploit.The book is also very funny. Wendy is a feminist, but a fair feminist, not the "we should spell women w/ a Y instead of E" type. She pokes fun at herself and at times though she may seem to poke fun or speak badly of fat people, it's at face value she's doing it, but if you know how to read between lines (as she also gives a brief lesson on) you'll notice it's all tongue-in-cheek. She constantly refers to fat women as "fat chicks," further emphasizing the down to earth qualities w/in her. Any man who reads this will undoubtably fall in love with Wendy, as you truly feel like you get to know her and her stuggles, and I myself am surprised to learn that she is still single (and no, it's not b/c she's fat you moron).To all those boneheaded ignorants out there (men in particular) who believe that beauty only com

Wendy Shanker has a winner with "The Fat Girl's Guide To Life!" Clever, forthcoming and inspiring, it chronicles her struggles with weight, her self-image, and how she has come to terms with both, even if (as she admits) it's a shaky truce sometimes.But this is not just a personal diet memoir. There's a lot of great information about living your best life in the body you've got, that FITness is more important than FATness, that there are fashion options out there to make the most of what you're got, and that attitude is everything, baby!For seasoned fat acceptance activists, this book may seem like "size acceptance lite." But for those women who might be contemplating another round of Weight Watchers or Atkins, this book is a fun and accessible intoduction to the ideas of size acceptance. Read it and smile, read it and join the ranks of Fat Girls everywhere!

Despite the title, virtually every woman would benefit from reading this book since very few are immune to distorted body images or have never dieted before. In THE FAT GIRL'S GUIDE TO LIFE Wendy Shanker superbly exposes the brutal truths of the revolving-door diet industry and shrinking sizes of the fashion industry. She intelligently writes with compassion since she has suffered most of her adult life from being overweight and spent a substantial amount of money on diet and exercise in an effort to slim to society's ideal size. Shanker has since made peace with her body and is adamant to let other women know that they're not alone in their battle for the perfect body. She dispenses practical diet and exercise advice that every woman can benefit. While reading I was continually surprised at how Shanker manages to curtail popular ideologies including avoiding the ineffective diet regimes of Weight Watchers along with the commonplace practice of counting calories. Most surprising though was her unsatisfactory experiences of her month-long stay at the highly esteemed Duke Diet & Fitness Center. I have heard much about Duke's reputation but Shanker paints a very different picture of Duke being slow to adopt to new exercise programs and having futile support systems. Her tidbit of frequently seeing a pizza delivery van outside the center's hotel made me chuckle.Throughout her book Shanker sidesteps the stereotype of an overweight person: she's healthy, beautiful, socially active, has a successful career, and is intelligent. She is also feisty and her personality shines through in her book. THE FAT GIRL'S GUIDE TO LIFE is at the same time serious and insightful, funny and original. Highly recommended.

I'm probably not in the category "Fat Girl" as defined by Shanker, but I have felt like one all my life thanks to our thinness-obsessed culture, where size 0 and 2 actresses are given a million dollars a week to make us feel lousy about the way we're made. Every sentence Shaker writes resonates with meaning and I found myself nodding with approval and in agreement with her. She offers great advice on how to look and feel your best the WAY YOU ARE--whether or not the way you are is reflected by the 1% of our population who actually resembles a supermodel.Buy it, own it, read it--whenever you start to feel the panic that society has implanted in you that says "I'm not thin enough".