Monday, May 19, 2008

Half-Assed

I’m going to step away from the personal family stuff for a little while but just to let you know, my Dad is obviously still in the hospital, and we’re waiting for pathology results, which I HATE, and joking all aside, Xanax really does work when it’s necessary. Thank you all for your nice comments, thoughts, prayers. My family is THE most important facet of my life. I’m lost without them.

Oh, and I’m lost without books too, which brings me to the book I’d like to tell you about today because I promised to share a great new memoir with you all, even though it is kind of Half-Assed. Ha, see I can still joke!

Actually, the book is really and truly Half-Assed, a Weight-Loss Memoir and you can win it here.



Here’s a blurb:

Blogger Fulda explains how she lost 186 pounds. In January 2005, she weighed twice that. A year earlier, after having her gallbladder removed at the age of 23, she'd realized her weight was threatening her life and vowed to get into shape. "Only I didn't," she writes. "I stayed fat for at least another year. Wake up call received. Snooze button pushed." Fulda did eventually take control, changing her eating habits and taking up exercise: first walking, then jogging, then a combination of jogging, pilates and weight training. She started a blog, "Half of Me," to chronicle her progress. As of February 2007, she had lost half her body weight; in the final chapter, she writes that she's within 15 pounds of her goal weight (160 pounds) but warns, "I may have lost the weight, but it could still find me again." Fulda provides a fair amount of weight-loss information only the diet-and-fitness-obsessed could really love, but the book is redeemed by the engaging account of her personal history interwoven throughout. In a conversational and honest voice, she describes tackling the age-old paradox of trying to accept herself while also trying to change. This dialectical process caused her to run afoul of online "fat acceptance" communities, which work to decrease the marginalization of the overweight and the obese. "If I really accepted myself as I was, it meant I'd recognized who I was to the best of my ability, flaws and all," writes Fulda. "It didn't mean I was necessarily satisfied with all the materials that made the house of me." A winsome, charming memoir of personal discovery.

And Jennette was on THE TODAY SHOW! She is totally famous! See her interview here!

As you know, I’ve been doing Weight Watchers since December 1 (for like my third--AND FINAL--time!), and I’m back under my goal weight, having lost 21.8 pounds. I may not be Half-Assed, but I feel so much better than I did November 30, that’s for sure.

If you’ve ever struggled with your weight, even if you have five pounds to lose, it’s hard, and it is still a struggle, no matter what, and it’s a personal struggle, and I give Jennette major kudos for sharing her amazing journey with millions of people online and through her inspiring memoir!

WAY TO GO JENNETTE—YOU LOOK FABULOSO GIRLFRIEND!

Want to win a signed copy? It's EASY! Simply share a story--funny, poignant, touching, gross-outish, whatever you're feeling--about a dieting experience you may have had and Jennette will choose a winner!

PS--Ooh, I just thought of another title for your book: DO THESE PANTS MAKE ME LOOK FAT?

So, come on, have at it ... let's hear your Scale Tales and Eating Woes and you could win!

In the meantime, I have a date with Emily Giffin tonight!

18 comments:

Shelley said...

Awww, I've been following the Pasta Queen's story on her blog for quite a while now. I'd love to win a copy of her book.

Dieting story...hmmmm.

Almost two years ago, my brother and I decided to have a Biggest Loser contest. We started in July of 2006, after we visited him and his family in Virginia. They were coming to AZ for Christmas, so that was our deadline. We talked my mom, my dad, and my brother's wife into participating. We all threw in $50, so $250 to the winner. My brother bitched and moaned about the winner being based on percentage of weight lost, instead of actual lbs lost. He had the most to lose, you see. I said to him, "Your wife only has 30 lbs to lose, and you can lose 100...how is that fair?" He relented.

Long story short (I know, too late, right?) when they got here for Christmas, I had lost about 30 lbs, and that bastard had lost 60 lbs. His whiny ass gleefully took my money.

Here's my revenge though...I'm only about 5 lbs over what I was at the weigh in. According to my mother, my brother has gained all that weight back, and then some. Take that, buttwipe.

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting the link to Jennette's information! I'm reading her blog now... even though I'm exhausted and need to go to sleep.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Domestic--make sure to come back to enter the contest!

Beth from the Funny Farm said...

Yep, even losing 5 pounds is HARD!

B. said...

I meant to leave a comment on your other post, but I'll leave it here. I hope everything turns out well with your dad. I know how hard waiting for test results can be, but hopefully you're thinking positively although it's so tempting to think the worst.

I don't have a diet story because I've never dieted (I know everyone will hate me)so I won't be in the running for this book, but I LOVED the book I won!! Good luck to all the entrants!

Kwana said...

My prayers are with your dad. I'm so sorry.
I'm going to go and read that blog. I'm on WW get again and have been struggling for way too long. Just cant get with the program.
Would love to win the book since I can use all the inspiration I can get.

DeeMarie said...

I've tried everything. Weight Watchers, South Beach (which worked really well till I decided I needed bread again!) and that whole diet and exercise thing. My weight has fluctuated about 15 pounds for 3 years, and I've lost up to 30 in one diet. I'm currently trying to get back into the exercise program that I'm paying for regardless. And I have substituted Special K for breakfast. I'm losing about 1 lb. each week just by doing that!!

And I've got a contest going for Jess Riley's "Driving Sideways" right now. Stop on over and enter!!

Anonymous said...

One year I ordered 10 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. They arrived 3 days after I'd started back to Weight Watchers for the umpteenth time....

My Two Army Brats said...

Dieting story huh?

Well lets see here. Last time my hubby went to Iraq I wanted to lose 10-15 pounds and was down to a short time before he got home. My wonderful doctor gave me the Cabbage Soup Diet recipe. Now please keep in mind that in all of our military chaos we managed to keep this one doctor for over 3 years. He also took all of my phone consults and would wind up on the phone with my hubby talking trucks.

Anyhow back to the soup. Great way to lose weight fast if you love feeling like your starving and you want to find yourself stealing chicken nuggets from your kids plates. I lost 7 pounds fast but only because my doctor called me everyday to lecture me on my progress and slips.

Then I gained it all back plus another 15 or so.

Now, I've found that having my dad here to visit and belittle me for gaining weight and not being the only thin person left in the family stresses me out enough and I've managed to lose about 30 pounds since Christmas.

There is no good weight loss plan except to be a man.

Men can wear whatever they want to the beach and no one cares how fat they are but let me slip into a bikini and see me clear the beach!

Anonymous said...

Here's to hoping you get good news about your dad - and soon!

The Gang's Momma! said...

When I was intent on losing the newly-wed spread in preparations for starting our family (many, many moons ago - get it, moons, half-ass, ha ha ha!) I joined Diet Workshop. Like a knock-off Weight Watchers. Anyway, carrots were "free" so I weaned myself off of vending machine goodies in the employees' lounge and started snacking on carrots. A LOT of snacking.

Alas, this fair-skinned lass turned faintly yellow. No joke! I looked like I was a 6 month-old eating carrots, squash and sweet potatoes. I lost the weight (then!) but it was a loooooong time till I could look at a carrot again.

Anonymous said...

Well other than losing baby weight (which fell off easily), I have never dieted and over the last 2 years have gained a significant amount of weight and would love to lose 60 pounds. I do not even know where to begin and need some good inspiration in order to feel good again. I do not even know how to diet as I've never had to, but need to do something so I can keep up with my teenage girls. If this book gives any tips on what to do and how I would LOVE to read it. Thank You, Cindy.

Anonymous said...

Sorry for what you're going through with your dad! Yeah, Xanax definitely does help in certain situations, doesn't it? Sometimes you really do NEED that in order to relax enough to function!

eatmisery said...

Come by and see my latest photo!

Anonymous said...

oh so many dieting stories I could share... hmmmm, once about 3 months after one of my kids was born, I thought ("thought" being the operative word)I was doing well losing weight so I jammed myself into a pair of my PRE pregnant side zip groovy pants for work and although they were a touch snug, I was feeling all sorts of good and proud of myself... UNTIL I went to the bathroom and realized I put my pants on BACKWARDS (tag in front AND zipper on the WRONG SIDE!)... Mortified, I quicky slipped my pants off, turn them around and... and... and... I COULDN'T GET THEM ON THE RIGHT WAY!!!!... so now TRULY mortified, I had to return my pants to their BACKWARD position and go back to work with the realization that my dieting was NOT working and my stomach was STILL bigger then my ass!... many diets and 4 kids later I'm still hoping to be half-assed some day!!!

And Manic - I have been reading your blog for MONTHS!!! You are so talented - keep writing and writing!!! and I'm so glad your Dad got good results!
Christine

Barb said...

I've only been following the Pasta Queen's story for a couple weeks now but I find myself going back to it every day and reading more and more.

My life-changing story began last June (the day after my birthday). I had finally come to the conclusion that something had to change and after talking to my neighbor who had recently lost about 60 lbs in 4 months, I decided to check out a program called SureSlim. It is a metabolism based program where your eating plan is based upon what your body requires (which is found out by blood tests).
It has now been about 10 months and I have lost 68 lbs. It's not as much as I would have liked to have lost by now but I'm still working on it and have about another 80 lbs or so to go.
I've been wanting to get the book but I haven't been able to find it in any bookstore so far so if I don't win, I guess I'll have to order it online.

MaBunny said...

Yuppers, losing weight is definitely hard. So far I've lost 15. But not able to exercise much and all is hard. Gratz to her for losing all that weight, I wold lOVe toread her book:))

Moll said...

I know this contest is probably weigh over (get it? i know I am stupid), but I just wrote a blog post about dieting with the evil South Beach Diet if anyone in interested!