“You Just Need to Lose Weight”

A few years ago I attended a continuing ed training focused on helping clients with weight/emotional eating/body image concerns. That training was so helpful to me in so many ways, and one of the great side effects was that I was introduced to Aubrey Gordon. She is an amazing thinker and community organizer, and has written for many years under the pseudonym of “Your Fat Friend.” She is also the co-host of the AMAZING podcast Maintenance Phase.

Anyway, needless to say reading one of her books has been on my list for a while now. As suggested by the title, this book is organized into 20 chapters, each one focused on a different myth about fat people (perhaps relevant here - one of the chapters focused on reclaiming the word “fat” as a neutral body description, akin to short/tall). If you have never thought about your views on body size, never questioned your innate reaction to congratulate people for weight loss, never thought about how larger bodies are portrayed in the media (or as the punchline of jokes), this may be a great book for you! It is heavily research-based, but for me the biggest punches come from stories and experiences of her own life.

If you are already a Maintenence Phase listener, you have probably been exposed to a fair amount of the information in this book (although not all). And if you expect it to read like a MP episode, that is not quite the vibe. Many of the chapters end with questions to think about and/or actions to take, which I really appreciated. I'm very glad I read this book!