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Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir | 
 enlarge | Author: Jennette Fulda
Publisher: Seal Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $9.36
You Save: $6.59 (41%)
New (21) Used (3) from $9.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 2622
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 250
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 1580052339
Dewey Decimal Number: 362.1963980092
EAN: 9781580052337
ASIN: 1580052339
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Product Description
After undergoing gall bladder surgery at age twenty-three, Jennette Fulda decided it was time to lose some weight. Actually, more like half her weight. At the time, Jennette weighed 372 pounds.
Jennette was not born fat. But, by fifth grade, her response to a school questionnaire asking “what would you change about your appearance” was “I would be thinner.” Sound familiar?
Half-Assed is the captivating and incredibly honest story of Jennette’s journey to get in shape, lose weight, and change her life. From the beginning—dusting off her never-used treadmill and steering clear of the donut shop—to the end with her goal weight in sight, Jennette wows readers with her determined persistence to shed pounds and the ability to maintain her ever-present sense of self.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
 THE MISSING LINK IN WEIGHT LOSS BOOKS! July 15, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is not just another diet book but a book about what really happened during those years of losing weight. I get frustrated with success stories that don't delve into the mind and emotions of the struggle to succeed. Or often times when they try to explain the journey after-the-fact it just comes out sounding so cliche' and empty. Fulda breaks the mold with this book and brilliantly communicates raw and real emotions of the struggles, victories and failures of her phenomenal weight loss achievement. Her commitment is the key to her attitude progression from 'fat girl syndrome' to 'weight loss mentality' to 'athletic decision making'.
There are no secret recipes, instructions or food rules, no exercise plans, etc, etc and thankfully so. If you don't know what to eat or how to exercise by now then you may not be ready for this book because this is where the rubber meets the road. This isn't about how to eat but about how one person got it done and is keeping it done! Not everyone is ready to hear about the struggle when they are still making 'plans' to lose weight but for those of us who are in the trenches this is a MUST READ! This is about a girl who didn't quit - a REAL American hero.
Though thoroughly entertaining this book is not meant for sensitive people. There are times when the language is quite rough and her merciless thoughts about others are a little tough but that's what this book is - her inner thought life. You may even get offended (like you would if you could read the minds of people around you) but I'd encourage you to get over it quickly and read on. I finished this book in 2 days, I don't even know how I found it because I wasn't looking for anything like this on Amazon but it showed up...to use Jeanette's words, my computer must know I'm fat!
 True to life, and very funny. July 13, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I don't do a lot of reviewing, although I READ others' reviews. Guess I'm too lazy. I did want to post a comment about this book, because the unflinching portrayal of the ongoing process of getting thin was very familiar, and at times almost painful, but I also laughed out loud ALOT!(which I don't even do with Road Runner cartoons).
Looking forward to ANYTHING else this author writes, whether it relates to weight or not.
Sharing the journey with humor and honesty... July 12, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Being one of the millions of obese people out there, I saw this book at the library and picked it up... Half-Assed: A Weight-Loss Memoir By Jennette Fulda. I can't say that I knew about her beforehand from her writing [..] But after reading Half-Assed, I'll be adding her to my blogroll and re-examining my own weight issues.
Contents: A History of Fatness; Living Large; The Snooze Button; No Epiphanies; Diet and Exercise; Stumbling Blocks; The Incredible Shrinking Woman; The Girl in the Mirror; Too Small for My Britches; Two Weddings and a Funeral; Trail Mix; I Should Know Better By Now; My Online Waistline; Acquired Tastes; Decloaking; Half-Assed; The Secret; Killing the Fat Girl; Notes; Acknowledgments; About the Author "Before" and "After"
Fulda doesn't set out to write a book about her weight-loss program or some secret formula she discovered. This is nothing but a raw look at the pain and realities of being fat, and the struggles she had in losing over half her body weight. And in my opinion, that's why this book works so well. The celebrity weight-loss winners all seem to want to "sell" you on their methodology and program. Fulda doesn't go into any great detail about what to eat, how much to eat, exercise programs, and the like. You learn her fears and self-loathing as she climbs to over 360 pounds. You're listening to her live through the fits and starts of finally getting traction on her weight loss goals. And more importantly, you also experience her ups and downs over the many months that it took to get to her current half-Fulda state. I enjoyed watching her mindset change as she went from someone who she felt didn't deserve any attention to someone who knows what it's like to be "normal". She's brutally raw in her writing style, and she doesn't pull any punches about the difficulties involved in making such a radical change to your body. It's also refreshing to see her current attitude towards her body. She's still at a point where the charts would say she's "chubby", but she also is comfortable with that knowing from where she started her journey. It's nice to see a weight loss story that doesn't end with the person becoming supermodel-thin and a fitness magazine covergirl. Fulda is no different than you and me... Flawed, imperfect, but working away on life.
If you're looking for a "do this, this, and this" book, head elsewhere (or go over to her blog). But if you want to understand and experience life through the eyes of someone who's been there and is still working at doing that, read away.
Fabulous! June 23, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
This is a fabulous book! It was like reading an autobiography. Only I haven't lost half of me. Jennette is very entertaining and very motivating. I wanted to get out and start running every time I read this book. I've already passed it on to my mom and a co-worker as well. Love it!
SHE TELLS IT LIKE IT IS June 20, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Jennette Fulda tells a remarkable story of determination. It's an incredible journey of dispair, joy and redemption. Fulda tells it like it is with honesty and large doses of humor. Anyone who is seriously overweight can relate to her stories. Only an obese person can truly understand life in a fat-unfriendly society. Her weight-loss journey is not an easy one but Fulda seems to have the inner-strength needed to succeed. She tells her own story without offering specific weight-loss advice. This is NOT a diet book. In fact, she refuses to discuss her exact method of losing weight. The diet she followed remains unnamed. She follows a healthier way of eating and tries to banish bad foods from her life, but there are a few mishaps and setbacks along the way. She knows it has to be a permanent lifestyle change. It's a journey of self-discovery on all levels. Her weight immobilizes her with so many aches and pains until exercise becomes her salvation. She is ashamed and self-conscious of her weight but her will is strong. It is her story and no one else's. She doesn't want to be come a weight-loss guru and doesn't preach for or against any way of thinking. She has her own views on fat acceptance and weight loss. It's up to the reader to find what is the right path and how to begin. Here story of dispair is one that so many seriously overweight people can understand. In Fulda's case, dispair becomes hope and hope becomes cautious joy as she nears her ideal weight. She tells her story with a humor that is often self-depracating. It's no secret that she succeeds in her quest before you start the book. She no longers suffers the stigma and pain of severe obesity. Readers just beginning their journey to weight loss might be put off with some of the humor. Fulda often uses humor to hide her pain, embarrassment and humiliation. Her humor can be a bit disparaging for a person who is still obese and the pain, embarrassment and humiliation is still a daily routine. She describes how she sat in an arm chair her weight spilled over the sides and looked like a muffin top. It's a funny visual unless being a muffin top is your reality. There is great joy in knowing that someone did succeed and ended the misery and pain of obesity. Her experiences show that the obese person is not alone in their suffering. Although obesity is a national epidemic, there are few books that address this issue in such a frank way. This is a gem of a book for anyone who suffers with obesity and seeks hope.
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