false 2082730 1580052339 9781580052337 235 69 Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2082730.Half_Assed_A_Weight_Loss_Memoir 945125 Jennette Fulda 236 69 Gotta finish this before I go back to Japan... mom wants to read it! 0 2008-12-28T18:37:56-08:00 209176 165 2008-12-28T18:37:56-08:00 Gotta finish this before I go back to Japan... mom wants to read it! 0 2008-12-28T18:36:01-08:00 209173 165 2008-12-28T18:36:01-08:00 Sometimes, it's like I'm reading my own brain. 0 2008-12-21T18:58:05-08:00 193523 105 2008-12-21T18:58:05-08:00 4 0 false Sat Jan 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jul 12 07:36:45 -0700 2008 Sun Jan 04 19:22:56 -0800 2009 Half-Assed, I hoped to keep up my healthy habits and motivations during the holidays (my first in the USA since 2003, that's five years!) and surrounded by some of the unhealthiest people I know - my family.

Jennette wasn't the magic pill that kept me off of white flour, refined sugar, and processed meats while I was home. To be fair, that was a tall order for anyone to fill. One willpower happy meal, and super size it!

But, I know that Jennette will be one of the voices in my head when I am back in Japan, facing my normal routine again, and wondering, "Do I buy the seaweed flavored potato chips or the other food that takes far more prep work to make it edible?" (The answer is the latter!)

As I read Half-Assed, there were a thousand moments where it felt like I was just reading my own brain/heart/history on paper... and wondering why it wasn't me who put it there! The comedic, snarky, savvy, fat chick is quickly becoming an archetype in weight loss chick lit, but Jennette's version is probably the least bull-shittified version of her that I have met in book form.

There's no Prince Charming (unless you count the cat). There's no annoying "YOU CAN DO IT, TOO!" cheerleading pep; in fact, she relates how annoying the if-she-can-do-it-so-can-you attitude gets to the weight-loss-successful. When I read it, I immediately thought of it as the former-fat-girl equivalent of "You have such a pretty face!" The fat girl compliment from HELL, the second half of which is, "Shame about the rest of you."

Half-Assed is a good, enjoyable, self-deprecating, comedic, HONEST collection of short essay-memoirs that I would happily recommend to anyone staring down the long, long road of 100+ pound weight loss.]]>