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asurges's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting non-fiction about a woman trying to learn to accept her body, but sometimes she even got on *my* nerves. After a while, I just wanted to say, uh huh, we know you have good legs, sorry about your stomach, now shut up.
jenniferdenslow's review against another edition
3.0
Well, it's not, actually.
Frankel's story is a familiar one to many women: a life spent dieting doesn't equal happiness; sometimes it doesn't even equal a 'normal' BMI. In pursuit of peace with her body, Frankel tries the 'no diet' approach. I don't think her new peace of mind comes so much from being thin, but from a life free of obsession with dieting and all the rules and strictures that come with it.
Frankel's story is a familiar one to many women: a life spent dieting doesn't equal happiness; sometimes it doesn't even equal a 'normal' BMI. In pursuit of peace with her body, Frankel tries the 'no diet' approach. I don't think her new peace of mind comes so much from being thin, but from a life free of obsession with dieting and all the rules and strictures that come with it.
rakishabpl's review against another edition
3.0
I needed a pep talk. I was feeling down about my stomach. Depending on the chair, my belly would touch my thighs when I sat down. I had gained some weight over my vacation. I need to go up a size in pants. I was talking a good game about loving my body as is and getting off the diet merry-go-round, but on the inside I was a hypocrit and self-hating. So, I returned to this memoir "Thin Is the New Happy" to see if it would give a swift kick in my well-padded rear.
It did, sort of.
Val got lessons in yo-yo dieting and self-hatred very early on in her life, and it took her nearly 40 years to get over it. She received from her mother, her classmates, her co-workers, and mainly herself (she internalized the criticisms and insults hurled at her). Val confronts her demons and then exorcizes them, and her exorcism is just more than a nice makeover. Eventually does pull herself together, and that it is motivating as hell.
Near the end of the book, she talks about healthy eating and not dieting, and how no-diet causes her to lose a dress size. I found this is a little difficult to swallow, because I want Val to not focus on losing dress sizes but focusing on how diets really don't work. It's almost like she is saying "I found another way to get slimmer."
It's a quick, funny and sometimes painful read but I recommend it highly even if your issue isn't dieting or body image.
It did, sort of.
Val got lessons in yo-yo dieting and self-hatred very early on in her life, and it took her nearly 40 years to get over it. She received from her mother, her classmates, her co-workers, and mainly herself (she internalized the criticisms and insults hurled at her). Val confronts her demons and then exorcizes them, and her exorcism is just more than a nice makeover. Eventually does pull herself together, and that it is motivating as hell.
Near the end of the book, she talks about healthy eating and not dieting, and how no-diet causes her to lose a dress size. I found this is a little difficult to swallow, because I want Val to not focus on losing dress sizes but focusing on how diets really don't work. It's almost like she is saying "I found another way to get slimmer."
It's a quick, funny and sometimes painful read but I recommend it highly even if your issue isn't dieting or body image.
oceanlistener's review against another edition
3.0
This book gets 3 stars just for the author's extremely frank, and often painful, look into her own negative habits and thought processes regarding weight. I could identify embarrassingly well- although I've never been a yo-yo dieter, I've certainly got absurd levels of self-loathing when it comes to weight. Her admissions of focusing on weight in lieu of other, more difficult issues, is revealing as well.
But other than an examination of the American female relationship with appearance (and it doesn't even go that far, since it's only about herself), there isn't much in this book that hasn't been done better elsewhere. Frankel doesn't actually learn to love herself the way she is, or to be more accepting of her appearance- in the end, she just learns a new way to be skinny.
She even says it at the end- being thin is better than being fat.
So, congrats to her for finding out that she's actually a skinny person who had been thwarted by her diets for all these years. Seriously, I'm happy for her. After 30+ years of being chronically unhappy because of 20 pounds, it must come as a relief. However, it doesn't offer anything to the some of the rest of us, who are naturally fat people who would like to either learn to accept that, or learn how to be thin.
Also, nary a word about being healthy, except for a token mention at the end? It's just obsession over appearance, which makes me at least feel better for not being *that* shallow!
But other than an examination of the American female relationship with appearance (and it doesn't even go that far, since it's only about herself), there isn't much in this book that hasn't been done better elsewhere. Frankel doesn't actually learn to love herself the way she is, or to be more accepting of her appearance- in the end, she just learns a new way to be skinny.
She even says it at the end- being thin is better than being fat.
So, congrats to her for finding out that she's actually a skinny person who had been thwarted by her diets for all these years. Seriously, I'm happy for her. After 30+ years of being chronically unhappy because of 20 pounds, it must come as a relief. However, it doesn't offer anything to the some of the rest of us, who are naturally fat people who would like to either learn to accept that, or learn how to be thin.
Also, nary a word about being healthy, except for a token mention at the end? It's just obsession over appearance, which makes me at least feel better for not being *that* shallow!
krismarley's review against another edition
2.0
The chapter Stacy London (from What Not to Wear) comes to her home reads like an daily devotional on the importance of finding clothes that make us joyful. Skip the rest
emelymacintosh's review against another edition
3.0
About 3/4 of the way through this one it started getting preachy. The chapter with Stacey London sounded completely cheesy. I felt like I was reading the actual script to an episode of What Not To Wear. There is no way you could actually get me to believe that they really had a conversation like that.
pepper1133's review against another edition
3.0
I know that I should celebrate what Frankel is trying to do in this book--getting women to accept the notion of "not-dieting" as a lifestyle choice. In that regard, she succeeds up to a point--I'm completely willing to embrace her suggestions, but I just wasn't that interested in hearing how she incorprated it into her own life. She comes across as hugely self-important, and that just wasn't a turn-on for me.
niccakicca's review against another edition
3.0
I like the premise of this book - love yourself and move on from body issues. I think that in reality it’s a lot harder and there are many people who have medical issues or live in food poverty areas that this would not help.
I found it inspiring and an easy read.
I found it inspiring and an easy read.