Such a Pretty Weight-Loss Memoir

16th May 2008

Such a Pretty Weight-Loss Memoir

posted in Book Reviews, Diets |

Jen Lancaster - Such a Pretty Fat I had never heard of author Jen Lancaster until I saw a note in my local paper today announcing a book signing with her at a local Borders store tonight. Lancaster is in town promoting her third memoir, Such a Pretty Fat.

The title immediately bleeped on my fatdar, so I looked up the book on Amazon and watched the video clip there. Lancaster insists her book isn’t a weight-loss memoir, but the video, book description and reader comments suggest otherwise. As she writes:

“To whom the fat rolls…I’m tired of books where a self-loathing heroine is teased to the point where she starves herself skinny in hopes of a fabulous new life. And I hate the message that women can’t possibly be happy until we all fit into our skinny jeans. I don’t find these stories uplifting; they make me want to hug these women and take them out for fizzy champagne drinks and cheesecake and explain to them that until they figure out their insides, their outsides don’t matter. Unfortunately, being overweight isn’t simply a societal issue that can be fixed with a dose healthy of positive self-esteem. It’s a health matter, and here on the eve of my fortieth year, I’ve learned I have to make changes so I don’t, you know, die. Because what good if finally being able to afford a pedicure if I lose a foot to adult onset diabetes?”

In the video, the 40-year-old Lancaster says that she enjoyed healthy self-esteem and good confidence and never had a “compelling reason” to lose weight until she went to the doctor and was “essentially delivered a death sentence.” Her somehow non-weight-loss book claims it documents her attempts to lose weight in a healthy, non-dieting manner through improved diet and increased exercise with a trainer named Barbie who looks like her doll namesake, animated.

The book certainly represents a departure from traditional weight-loss memoirs in that it doesn’t promote conventional forms of dieting – “Weight Watchers can kiss the fattest part of my ass” is a personal Jen Lancaster axiom. And it’s very refreshing to see someone who is very confident in herself, regardless of her body weight. I haven’t read the book, but it sounds like Lancaster is trying to practice something like intuitive eating, while yet restricting sweets and junk food. In a sense, food restriction of any kind is counterintuitive eating, but I also recognize that intuitive eating is a process, one in which you sometimes have to forego certain foods to determine what it is your body and mind really wants and needs. Reader reviews also suggest Lancaster rejects the good food/bad food ideology and argues as I do, that it’s not food itself that’s healthy or unhealthy, but rather our relationships with food.

But I’m also disturbed by some of the things I’ve read and heard about this book. What screams out most to me is the equation of fat with a “death sentence.” Granted, I am not privy to Lancaster’s medical records and I recognize that for some people, body weight plays a role in some health issues, but I also have to wonder if Lancaster’s doctor isn’t like one of the dozens of fatphobic doctors spotlighted on the blog First, Do No Harm. You know the kind: Walk in with a respiratory infection or even a cancerous tumor and walk out with a prescription for Weight Watchers.

In the video, Lancaster introduces Barbie and they go on in-depth about how grueling the workouts are and the shenanigans Lancaster pulls to get out of exercise. We also see Barbie insultingly holding a donut in lieu of a carrot in front of a sweaty Lancaster pounding away on the treadmill. Folks, I cannot stress this enough: Physical activity should be something you want to do, not something you have to do. And it should be done not in the name of weight loss, but because it makes you feel stronger and healthier, both mentally and physically. If you find yourself making excuses to get out of physical activity, perhaps its time to reevaluate your activity. If contorting your body in machines reminiscent of medieval torture devices isn’t your bag, find something else to do that you enjoy, like walking or gardening or playing with your kids.

While I still think the book to be decidedly a pseudo weight-loss memoir, it is a weight-loss memoir of a different nature. Says Lancaster in the video:

“I am not giving anyone a prescription, do A, do B, then C and you’re gonna’ get thin. The basic equation is you eat less and you move more and you lose weight But that’s not everything. Through movement and through eating less, I discovered what was at the core issue of my weight. And until you look inside yourself to discover the core of what it is that’s keeping you heavy, you’re not going to be successful.”

Yes, the “basic equation” may result in weight loss, but this isn’t true for all people nor is it always healthy. And the “core issue” of why we weigh what we do isn’t always something we can control or even change. It is assumed that fat people are fat for a reason: they’re emotional eaters, compulsive overeaters, binge eaters, they don’t care about health or the environment, they’re lazy, they’re gluttonous – all convenient assumptions which indicate some kind of emotional flaw or moral shortcoming to explain away what many perceived as an unnatural physical state. I’m not sure how long Lancaster has been working out, but considering she’s been able to pen a memoir about her experiences, I assume it’s been a while. And yet if you look at her photo, you’ll notice she’s still what medical definitions would probably classify as obese. Perhaps if Lancaster delved deeper into her “core,” she might discover that what is “keeping her heavy” isn’t immaturity or overeating or sloth, but rather forces of a different, perhaps genetic nature.

Criticisms aside, I don’t want to entirely dismiss Lancaster, either. Many of us use food as vice or in a reactive way to cope with stress, depression, and trauma, which, in turn, breeds destructive thoughts and behaviors. Why food? It’s ubiquitous, it’s legal and it’s relatively cheap. Her suggestion to examine our own relationships with food is an important one, although I think we ought to do so without the expectation that weight loss will naturally follow. For more on intuitive eating, see here for a great list of tips.

Has anyone read this author before? Am I off the mark with my conclusions? Do you see Lancaster’s slightly less self-loathsome and fat-hating memoir as representative of the direction weight-loss memoirs are going in? If so, is this a good thing?

Click to Bookmark

This entry was posted on Friday, May 16th, 2008 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Book Reviews, Diets. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

1 On May 16th, 2008, jamboree

said:

Holy hell, when will people stop DEMONIZING diabetes?? My husband is a type 1 diabetic, insulin dependent, and will not lose a freaking foot UNLESS he doesn’t take care of himself. Like many lifelong conditions, if not treated properly, a person’s health will suffer.

Seriously. Diabetes is not a death sentence. Gah.

posted on May 16th, 2008 at 2:33 pm

2 On May 16th, 2008, Reas

I haven’t read this particular book, but I read her first: “Bitter is the new Black.” She’s an unapologetic Republican (strike one). But my God. HILARIOUS.

The first book was about her money struggles (she went from being an uber executive with a six-figure income to selling stuff on eBay to make ends meet), and it does some touching upon her weight gain, but not much. I would assume this third is more of the same: long on self deprecating humor, sarcasm, and entertainment, short on actual empathy for others or self discovery. And she’s a total, self-absorbed brat (but at least owns up to this.)

She has a strong following. I think the appeal is a watered-down version of the “Oprah factor”: Married, no kids, Chicago dweller, strong woman persona, and a total open-book (no pun) as far as personal struggles are concerned. And she’s not a gazillionaire, so I guess that makes her seem more like a regular person.

I’ll likely read the book because I think she’s hysterical, and that’s always a plus for me.

(I’m looking for my copy of her first to scan the ending, and I can’t find it. Grr.)

As for less self-loathsome memoirs being a good thing? Of course they are, even if they come via a flawed messenger (and who among us isn’t?)

posted on May 16th, 2008 at 2:41 pm

3 On May 16th, 2008, rebecca

Excellent analysis, Rachel. Thank you. I haven’t read the book and am not going to, now; I appreciate your review.

Pity — such a good TITLE.

posted on May 16th, 2008 at 3:11 pm

4 On May 16th, 2008, Staci

“I’m not sure how long Lancaster has been working out, but considering she’s been able to pen a memoir about her experiences, I assume it’s been a while. And yet if you look at her photo, you’ll notice she’s still what medical definitions would probably classify as obese. Perhaps if Lancaster delved deeper into her “core,” she might discover that what is “keeping her heavy” isn’t immaturity or overeating or sloth, but rather forces of a different, perhaps genetic nature.”

Jealous much?

posted on May 16th, 2008 at 3:49 pm

5 On May 16th, 2008, ladyjaye

“In the video, Lancaster introduces Barbie and they go on in-depth about how grueling the workouts are and the shenanigans Lancaster pulls to get out of exercise. We also see Barbie insultingly holding a donut in lieu of a carrot in front of a sweaty Lancaster pounding away on the treadmill”

Hmmm, if a trainer ever did that to me, I’d suddenly add boxing to my workout and punch her…

And indeed: if you’re doing tons of shenanigans to get out of exercising, then your workout routine isn’t the right one for you.

posted on May 16th, 2008 at 3:55 pm

6 On May 16th, 2008, Rachel

Jealous much?

Am I jealous of an overzealous trainer shoving doughnuts before my face in attempts to “motivate” me in an activity I apparently despise in a vain attempt to lose weight? Not at all.

Bitchy much?

posted on May 16th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

7 On May 16th, 2008, Juliet

Sounds like a weight loss memoir to me… and you don’t have to call it a diet, but with the combo of that trainer and food restriction, that’s exactly what it is.

Worse, it has the same insidious nature as Weight Watchers’ new “stop dieting, start living” campaign, or Queen Latifah saying she doesn’t want to lose weight because she cares about being thin, just that she wants to be healthier - even though she’s doing that with Jenny Craig food, which is full of corn syrup and other crap that probably isn’t really good for you if your “goal” is to avoid diabetes.

You have this mixed message of being “broken” with someone saying “well, but my doctor told me I had to do it, it wasn’t about self-esteem.” That’s all well and good, and maybe even true… but I’d like to know if she got a second opinion. I’ve had two doctors push WLS at me, but my current doctor adamantly refuses to refer patients because she once was caring for four post-op and one died in the first year and the other three went through so many complications that she just doesn’t see it as an answer. The first two doctors both had friends who did the surgery - they got kickbacks.

So I just think we need to be careful to avoid doing something because someone says we’ll die if we don’t. Doctors, sadly, make arbitrary statements all the time. As you said, Rachel, perhaps her problems were legit and serious… but more likely, her doctor was a fat phobe like so many others.

posted on May 16th, 2008 at 7:20 pm

8 On May 16th, 2008, Alex

I read her “Bitter Is the New Black.” Ugh. She is nothing but racist against Latinos and whines about living in the ghetto. While the couple next door bought their home for 800+k. She should be embarrassed by herself, but she’s too busy feeling entitled.

I hated it, and will never get anything she writes. I spent the entire book rolling my eyes.

posted on May 16th, 2008 at 9:10 pm

9 On May 16th, 2008, Mary

I have PTSD and depression (both mercifully in remission with medicine), and being in the psych hospital in Grand Rapids was terrible compared to Chicago. In Chicago none of my doctors hassled me about my size, even and especially my FABULOUS ob doc. She didn’t regard either my size(I’m somewhere in the 50s for BMI) or my healthy twin pregnancy as “high risk” since they weren’t. My psychiatrist was the hospital’s director of psychiatry, and fat himself, and never once discussed my weight, because I didn’t bring it up and because his specialty was, you know, *psychiatry*.

Fast forward a year to a hospitalization in a “Christian” hospital. I was admitted because I dissociated and was wandering the streets until the police found me and took me home. I was also suicidal and my flashbacks were pretty bad. What was the first thing Dr Y asked during his intake assessment? “Have you ever considered bariatric surgery?” “You know, you are killing yourself slowly. This is much more important than your mental health.” I was SUICIDAL, people, and that’s the best comfort and reassurance I could get.

The second time I went there I had a different doctor, Dr V. He didn’t tell me to have bariatric surgery, because it’s *the easy way out*. He immediately told me (and I mean immediately as in before he asked me about my psychiatric symptoms) that he could tell that my sin was gluttony by looking at me. Until I overcame gluttony and realized it was a sin and repented to God I would always have depression. I needed to make out prayer cards* of scripture to help me avoid sinning.

The next day a dietician showed up and said Dr. V had told her I was binge eating. It turned out this was because I’d reported eating more chocolate than usual. When I told the dietician that my binging was eating a candy bar every day for the last couple of weeks, she asked what I was binging on then? I said I wasn’t binging anything, but I thought a candy bar every day was excessive, and I usually have one every week or so. I told her about the “gluttony” remark, and she made a formal complaint. She knew all about HAES! She told me she wasn’t going to write a plan for me because there was nothing wrong with intuitive eating and a candy bar a day is not binging. She was the only staff really deserving the title “Christian” in her behavior to patients.

*My husband DID make me prayer cards, ones that showed the positive verses about fat! And there are plenty! I love that man!

posted on May 16th, 2008 at 9:12 pm

10 On May 16th, 2008, Lois Waller

If willfully restricting food isn’t a diet, what is? I keep wondering why people who are clearly on diets refuse to call a spade a spade. I suppose it’s because most people know that diets don’t work, but simply avoiding the D-word is not going to make one’s body magically drop weight at a prescribed pace and keep it off forever! Most people can’t and shouldn’t subsist on 1200 calories or fewer a day for the rest of their lives. Most non-athletic types are risking injury or overexertion by attempting grueling workouts. How many times have we seen (or experienced) the too-much-too-soon-burn-out phenomenon?

I know people who are adamantly not-dieting, yet they’re still counting calories or carbs, and they feel guilty as hell if they eat one fucking cookie. THAT’S A DIET. Geez.

It’s interesting that our society laments an overall lack of accountability, but a disordered, brutal, self-hating hyper-accountability surfaces when it comes to weight loss.

Also, Staci? Your comment is ridiculous. If you believe Lancaster’s approach is reasonable and worthwhile, have at it, but people who find fault with it are anything but jealous.

posted on May 16th, 2008 at 9:27 pm

11 On May 17th, 2008, Bree

Don’t pay any attention to Staci. She (or he, because it could be that infamous Rick) has been trolling FA websites for over a month, spewing hateful garbage. Clearly she or he has no other worthwhile purpose in life other than to ridicule fat people.

posted on May 17th, 2008 at 12:18 am

12 On May 17th, 2008, Courtney

Why is everybody so anti-weight watchers? I’ve been on it for several months now and lost 21 pounds in what I consider a healthful, sustainable manner - I think it’s the only decent weight loss program out there…
I love your blog, by the way. Just confused by the anti-weight watchersness I sometimes read here…

posted on May 17th, 2008 at 10:47 am

13 On May 17th, 2008, Rachel

Courtney, I’m anti-dieting, even if the diet suddenly stops calling itself a diet. In the vast dieting realm, I have to say that WW is probably one of the least evils. I think it does encourage people to examine their relationships with food and it teaches nutrition and portion sizes. Yet, it still emphasizes a point system wherein subscribers are encouraged to eat according to the plan and not according to their bodies. And from what I’ve heard of the many many WW survivors here and on other sites, WW facilitators also encourage behaviors that would be disordered otherwise, they promote the good/bad food ideology, and they lead people to feel ashamed for being fat or overeating.

You can read more about what I am anti-diet here.

posted on May 17th, 2008 at 1:08 pm

14 On May 17th, 2008, susan

I’ve always hated every form of exercise I’ve tried, but I still force myself to do it. I guess if I had a trainer who made it grueling, I’d come up with excuses too.

For the brief time I was in Weight Watchers, I lost all respect for the program. Ugh. I imagine it depends on the leader but my leader was a woman who’d lost 100 pounds by not allowing herself to eat anything that had fat or sugar in it. She didn’t trust herself around food and promoted all kinds of unhealthy crap like fat free hot dogs and weird recipes made with Splenda.

After a few months of listening to women stand up and berate themselves for eating things “not on plan” I couldn’t stand it anymore.

posted on May 17th, 2008 at 4:44 pm

15 On May 18th, 2008, Courtney

Thanks for explaining further. I do weight watchers online but I have a severe allergy to soy which forces me to eat all natural foods - for me weight watchers just helped me with portions I think - I can’t think of any food I avoid beyond, obviously, soy. I also though combined it with mediteranean recipes almost exclusively.

posted on May 18th, 2008 at 5:19 pm

16 On May 18th, 2008, NotDieting.com

I almost bought the book just yesterday! When I flipped through a few pages I realized it wasn’t pro-size acceptance at all. I’m glad I didnt’ get it.

posted on May 18th, 2008 at 9:45 pm

17 On May 27th, 2008, curvy angela

Love her or loathe her, Jen Lancaster comes up with great book titles. Her second book, between “Bitter is the New Black” and “Such a Pretty Fat” is “Bright Lights, Big Ass.” Wouldn’t that make a great bumper sticker?

I read “Bitter,” and I didn’t really care for Jen’s take on most things, but I did love that in the first book she was unapologetic about gaining weight into the lower plus-sizes. She’s a clothes lover, and her size complaints were about finding clothes–her self-esteem (or arrogance, perhaps) never faltered in spite of weight gain. I have been curious to see how she addressed weight issues in these last two books.

She started as a blogger. On her blog, jennsylvania, she describes herself as:
I’m a fat chick with high self esteem who wrote a book about being a fat chick with high self-esteem. The book ends with me being slightly less fat and slightly more healthy (with the same amount of self-esteem.)

A fat chick with high self-esteem? Sounds good to me.

posted on May 27th, 2008 at 9:37 pm