Fat Girl Walking: Sex, Food, Love, and Being Comfortable in Your Skin...Every Inch of ItAuthor: Brittany Gibbons
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Memoir
Released: June 2nd 2015
Review Source: Dey Street Books
Told through a series of larger-than-life snapshots, a hilarious memoir in essays about love, sex, marriage, motherhood, bikinis, and loving your body, no matter what size you are from the acclaimed blogger and body image advocate.
Brittany Gibbons has been a plus size her whole life. But instead of hiding herself in the shadows of thinner women, Brittany became a wildly popular blogger and national spokesmodel--known for stripping on stage at TedX and standing in Times Square in a bikini on national television, and making skinny people everywhere uncomfortable.
Talking honestly about size and body image on her popular blog, brittanyherself.com, she has ignited a national conversation. Now in her first book, she shares hilarious and painfully true stories about her life as a weird overweight girl growing up in rural Ohio, struggling with dating and relationships, giving the middle finger to dieting, finding love with a man smaller than her, accidentally having three kids, and figuring out the secret to loving her curves and becoming a nationally recognized body image advocate. And there's sex, lots of it!
Fat Girl Walking isn't a diet book. It isn't one of those former fat people memoirs about how someone battled, and won, in the fight against fat. Brittany doesn't lose all the weight and reveal the happy, skinny girl that's been hiding inside her. Instead, she reminds us that being chubby doesn't mean you'll end up alone, unhappy, or the subject of a cable medical show. What's important is learning to love your shape. With her infectious humor and soul-baring honesty, Fat Girl Walking reveals a life full of the same heartbreak, joy, oddity, awkwardness, and wonder as anyone else's. Just with better snacks.
Typically I do not read memoirs. Not because I loathe them or anything, I rather be reading Young Adult novels. In the search to read something refreshing, I decided to give this book a try and I am glad I did. This book is for everyone. Just because the title is “Fat Girl Walking” doesn’t mean this book is not for “skinny” girls. No, this book is about being confident, to be yourself. It is to embrace your inner beauty and to love yourself. No matter what people think of you.
Absolutely amazing. The day this book arrived, I was on my way to work. I decided to take it with me. During my break, I cracked this book open and well, let’s just say I had to sneak the book to finish it. Clearly I finished this book within few hours.
Pretty much this book had me laughing out loud at work. At time I was shaking so hard I had to take deep breath to cool down. So beware - do not read this at a public place if you cannot manage to stop laughing. Although this HILARIOUS, it is also inspiring. There is one part that I loved the most:
“The point of this all is that it taught me that when I f***ed up, I could get back and I could either try again or face the consequences, which were completely manageable”.
This is so true. There is nothing in this life, besides death, that one is not capable to manage. If you mess up, no matter how small or big the situation is - like Brittany said, you can either try again or face the consequences. One as a human being is capable to manage anything and everything.
Thank you, Brittany for sharing such an inspiring story. Everyone should read this book - it holds great messages about being human. And of course, about being yourself. Give it a try, you won't regret it!
NOW WHAT?
My fitness and body aspirations at thirty are different from my aspirations at twenty. At twenty, I just assumed I’d work out until I was so tiny, people became concerned for my health and I’d roll my eyes at them from my Victoria’s Secret bras and Abercrombie jeans. Now I just want to maintain my current weight so I don’t need to buy new clothes. When you look at weight loss, it’s often clothing driven. Weddings, vacations, and high school reunions, all things you are supposed to be thin for. But what if you have a gorgeous wedding dress in your current size, loads of flattering bathing suits, and a killer pair of jeans? Starving myself has suddenly become a moot point. I have options; I’m no longer a fashion pariah. So where does that leave my weight? Well, unless I’m sitting atop you, what I weigh is really none of your business.
I like to put good food in my mouth, and while I am aware of the calories I ingest, instead of cutting them I make them count. I have a full-on love affair with food, appreciating the different cultures and processes within it. In fact, I take entire vacations around eating. It’s how I remember where I’ve been; I’ve either eaten, thrown up, or started my period without the proper supplies there.
Beignets with my best friend in New Orleans. Too much rum on the beaches of Playa del Carmen on our second honeymoon. Orlando, Florida, the city of emergency men’s tube sock maxi-pads.
You see, these flabby parts aren’t problem areas; they’re parts of a scrapbook.
I like to put good food in my mouth, and while I am aware of the calories I ingest, instead of cutting them I make them count. I have a full-on love affair with food, appreciating the different cultures and processes within it. In fact, I take entire vacations around eating. It’s how I remember where I’ve been; I’ve either eaten, thrown up, or started my period without the proper supplies there.
Beignets with my best friend in New Orleans. Too much rum on the beaches of Playa del Carmen on our second honeymoon. Orlando, Florida, the city of emergency men’s tube sock maxi-pads.
You see, these flabby parts aren’t problem areas; they’re parts of a scrapbook.
Her hilarious memoir, Fat Girl Walking, will be released by HarperCollins May 19th, 2015.
I absolutely love the sound of this book, I'd clearly been living under a rock and hadn't heard of Brittany but I have now followed her blog and will definitely be checking out the book :)
ReplyDeleteAnother for the TBR list! x