Overweight

This is a well written book.. written by a Doctor who is a specialist in the field of weight problems, who appears on TV regularly, and more importantly who has helped people I know to lose weight and more telling, to keep the weight off with a common sense diet plan that works!

This book is written in everyday language for adults and children. In a country with obesity and anorexia so common, it's refreshing to have a down-to-earth explanation of what stresses a teenager (or pre-teen) faces, and a kind approach to working with some of these challenges.

One doesn't suddenly start eating a "perfect diet". We are, at times, fast food consumers, and Dr. Cederquist understands this, and opens your eyes to the healthier choices available at McDonalds, Arbies, Burger King, KFC, etc. She give concrete examples of healthy choices for many items from the grocery store, in selecting cereals, pizza, fish, desserts, lunch meats, potato chips etc., so one doesn't go into withdrawal!

Start, gradually, by following a more balanced diet in a day with less fats and sugars, and portion control. Read the food labels. Learn the calories in foods, with your children, then make healthy choices! Perhaps keep journals on food, often overlooked emotions, excercise, when helpful, and see the progress, and occasional fall backs. If the less healthy food's out of the home, it's not eaten!

When you and your child learn and actually use these facts and hints, it's easier to plan for success, avoid binges, eating out of boredom or from worry, etc., and still enjoy eating, only it's now with a healthier approach.

Today, start long lasting healthier habits, one page at a time, one simple day at a time.

Help your child eat wisely, live longer, (and perhaps get teased less), with this book's easy-to-follow directions.

As an academic child and adolescent psychiatrist, studying the problems of weight in children and youth, I have been very frustrated to find limited smart and clear materials for families and practitioners.

Dr. Cederquist has the very rare brilliance to know vast amounts of material and to make it practical and clear.

Good luck to anyone who tries to improve on this work!

Combination Physician, Master Teacher & a Writer like this one come around rarely...

FearlessBooks.com. - -
The first step in helping an overweight child is not the introduction of a new diet, says Dr. Caroline J. Cederquist, a family physician and national spokesperson on weight management. Instead, 'tell your child that she is okay, no matter what she weighs. Say it loud and often. . . . Let [your child] know that children come in many shapes and sizes, and none of them is inherently wrong. Your child is more important than what she weighs!'

Solid emotional support is a crucial foundation, says the author of Helping Your Overweight Child, because the psychological and emotional stresses of obesity can be just as tough on kids as the physiological consequences. That's why she recommends that kids old enough to write should be urged to start keeping a journal, so that they can become aware of how they may use food inappropriately to deal with stress while they are still young. After all, our excuses and rationalizations get more sophisticated as we grow older!

While providing a concise and basic overview of all the health fundamentals, including a survey of 'Nutrition 101' and the obvious arguments for displacing TV-watching with exercise, Dr. Cederquist revisits psychological concerns often ' including the dynamics of family communication and suggestions for coping with an overweight child's tendency to binge or relapse along the path to better health. Along the way she dispenses helpful tips on environmental factors, such as restricting dining areas to a well-kept dining room or kitchen out of earshot of televisions and video games, and serving food from the stovetop in single portions so that second helpings are always farther than an arm's reach.

And while the author provides about twenty pages of healthy recipes for kid's favorites prepared in the home, she also faces the modern reality of childhood eats in America by providing complete nutritional breakdowns of all the foods served at junk food palaces like McDonalds, Wendy's, and Denny's, as well as standard grocery-store offerings. In each case, she lines up her 'better choices' (1 serving of Annie's Shells and Cheddar: 280 calories, 4 grams of fat) 'as compared to' the usual, unhealthier suspects (1 serving of Kraft Deluxe Macaroni and Cheese: 300 calories, 10 grams of fat).

At a concise 158 pages, this is a guide that will not overwhelm concerned parents with too much information while providing them with a serious but not overly stern guide to changing childhood eating habits. Since those habits are very likely to be rooted in psychological and environmental factors that influence the whole family, what proves to be healthy for the overweight child will likely benefit his or her siblings and parents as well.

Two important guides to weight and eating are presented in these excellent surveys by Frances Berg. Children And Teens Afraid To Eat (0-918532-55-8, ...) examines six major eating and weight problems, from undernutrition of teens to eating disorders and obesity, blending statistics with a survey of underlying social causes and the actions which need to be taken to help teens. Women Afraid To Eat (62-0, ....) documents the physical and psychological harm done by social images which focus on the detriments of eating. From fad diets to weight prejudices, this tells women how to break free of weight obsession.

Without a doubt, this book should be reading material for all parents before their first child is born.

We want to think our youth are active and healthy. During my years of teaching, I have been more and more disturbed at inactivity of our children, disruption of normal eating, and the amount of fat and sugar calories served in school lunch rooms.

The food the children who carry their lunch bring from home can be nourishing, but parents might be surprised if they watch their children eat. A child's lunch sack might have a good turkey sandwich with greens, two large cookies, a bar of candy, and a soft drink. The child almost always has the candy ond/or cookies at recess. When lunchtime comes, he often throws that good sandwich in the trash with the apple. The food he brought from home has now become two cookies, candy, and a soft drink.

During recess too many children are inactive. Day after day, we watched the same ones stand around talking all recess while they eat their candy or cookies. After observing this for a few years, we scheduled a quarter-mile run twice a week and a full mile on Friday for P. E. Also, three times a week we have exercises appropriate to the age groups. You'd be surprised how many look forward to all the activity once they get used to it. We think it also stimulates brain activity in the classroom.

On the other hand, there are the healthy, active children who might have a cookie at recess, then play hard. They eat their sandwich and apple at lunch and the cookies and are eaten or saved for after school. In these children's lunch boxes there is porbably no candy. What's happening here? Berg says studies show that parents that don't "bug" their children about eating, produce children who don't have hang-ups about eating.

Berg writes that research shows that family attitudes can play a big part in the future eating patterns of their children. When a healthy baby's hunger is satisfied, it will then stop drinking. Parents who "urge him to finish the bottle, disguise cereal with applesauce to get it down" and thus feel frustrated for fear the baby isn't eating enough, is teaching the infant that it's important to eat more than his body needs. All parents should read carefully and think about what Berg has to say.

A parent who "hesitates to let a chubby toddler have seconds, makes a preschooler stay at the table until she finishes her peas, insists that the child eat 'two bites of each food,' or lectures a school-age child to get him to drink his milk...is overmanaging, and it teaches children to ignore their natural signals of hunger and satiety."

By allowing a child to listen and heed these natural signals, Berg tells us that this is an important way to begin the youngster on a lifetime of healthy eating patterns.

Americans serve too large portions. A friend of mine returned from a long vacation in England and remarked that she didn't see an overweight English person all the time she was there. I said I was surprised, I always thought Britons were gluttons. She said she did, too, but she didn't see any.

Berg tells why. "A Healthy Weight Journal subscriber in London sent me an article titled: 'Portions all out of Proportion' that decried 'America's elephantine cuisine.' The writer compares national foods: hot dogs (350 calories in the U.S. versus 150 calories in Britain), cookies (493 vs. 65), ice cream cone (625 vs.160), muffin (705 vs. 158), and a meal of steak and fries (2,060 vs. 730). Until recently, our very large muffins were called "jumbo muffins," the article notes, now they are simply 'muffins.' " Apparently, we are the ones who have become the nation of gluttons.

Berg says that even some our food that is considered healthy, non-junk food is astoundingly high in calories. And the more a child above the age of 3 is served, the more he eats. Big portions promote over-eating. Berg says studies show that our school-age children are getting heavier every year. Younger and younger children are becoming anorexic to stay slim, an astounding number alternately diet and binge. These patterns used to be found among those high school age and older, now they appear among elementary children.

Berg says problems such as eating disorders, dysfunctional eating, undernutrition of teenage girls trying to be thin, hazardous weight loss, and size prejudice all are increasing. Surprisingly, all that can be prevented. The author, Francie Berg, when asked why she wrote this book, says she grows more and more concerned about the appalling research on children and youth eating problems. The true facts were there, but no one was telling those who need to know: our parents and teachers.

Now that she's telling us-we need to listen.

Berg's research is well done. Anyone who doubts what she writes, can read the studies for themselves as her sources are well documented.

Jeanie T.

To be overweight is to fail" . It sums up our society's attitude towards eating and body size today. This is a quote from 'AFRAID TO EAT: Children and Teens in Weight Crisis' by Frances M. Berg. While the book is a cultural commentary, it is also filled with practical advice on ways to prevent eating disorders, obesity, and dysfunctional eating.

The first step to help, is to help understand the roots of the problem. This book does that. It points out the many ways in which we are not nurturing our children, particularly our girls. We are a society that has become fatter and fatter, yet simultaneously bombards our kids with the message that they need to achieve a body size and shape that is biologically unsustainable for the majority of them. This may be the seed for eating disorders. How high levels of obesity and disordered eating and starving teens can coexist is explained. AFRAID TO EAT explores the many forces at play....cultural expectations, media, the role of family and athletics, peer pressure, and more. It explores the issue of size rejudice and lifestyle choices, both of which lead to eating disorders and obesity.

The second half of the book focuses on how to prevent eating disorders, how to make changes to promote normal eating where it doesn't exist, and how to intervene with childhood obesity. There are guidelines for healthy food choices, designs for new health approaches for families, how to include schools in prevention programs, and finally a call to action that challenges us to make changes in attitude (e.g. a greater appreciation for healthy lifestyles versus being thin), lifestyle (e.g. active living, improving phys ed programs in school), prevention (e.g. by promoting healthy attitudes and lifestyles and developing special prevention programs for schools and communities), health care (e.g. reduce size prejudice in health care, focus on improving health, not on ineffective weight loss) and knowledge ( e.g. improved communication to consumers, better education in medical school).

There is useful information in this book not only for a parent, but also for teachers and health care workers. Perhaps after reading it you can share it with your school nurse or phys ed teacher. I am sure you will find its approach not only informative but practical and useful. The word 'vitality' is used a lot in this book as it helps us focus eating away from dieting and size/shape obsession towards eating that promotes a healthy and 'vital' lifestyle.

I work as a professional nutritionist and see firsthand the consequences of the fear of eating. This book takes a big stab at addressing the revolutionary changes that need to be made in our personal and societal approaches towards eating. I recommend it to any who want to join in that revolution, or simply wish to help their own kids enjoy nutritious, guilt free eating for life.

Finally a book that does not make Plus Size sound FAT and unhealthy. I think this book is great and gives a realistic approach to weight. Not a "Diet" book but a "real life" book that you can apply to your own lifestyle whatever you size is.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! It does a great job of encouraging people of all sizes to make little changes in their lives that will lead to improved health, not necessarily weight loss (although that could happen as well). What I really liked about this book was that their beginning program was designed for true beginners! Most beginning exercise programs start with 30 minutes 3-4 times/week. The goal of this book is to get you into the habit of exercising, not tire you out at the beginning. It starts you with 3 10-minute sessions for the first two weeks. You can do that! You gradually build to doing 3 30-minute sessions over 13 weeks. The book doesn't leave you there, either... it offers a phase 2 intermediate program and then a choice of 2 phase 3 maintenance programs. One which is more challenging than the other. The book is filled with profiles of large active fit people--regular people and celebrities--which are truly encouraging. There are aerobics instructors who weigh more than 200 pounds, people over 300 pounds as well. People of every size proving that you can be large and fit and healthy. The book also covers healthy eating, emotional eating, and other topics. One thing I really liked about this book is that they also talked about other topics related to health, such as wearing seat belts, going to the doctor for a Pap smear, and quiting smoking. All in all, a motivating empowering book! Also check out Glenn Gaesser's "Big Fat Lies" and Marilyn Wann's "Fat!So?".

In this world of weight loss and diet books, finally a book that makes sense. Just The Weigh You Are is a no nonsense book that encourages people, no matter what size, to live healthier lifestyles. Between some of the chapters are the personal stories of people from all walks who have battled with weight and self image issues all their lives. This is a very straight-forward, no nonsense book which gives real insight into taking better care of yourself, stopping self-loathing and taking control. Whether you are thinking of losing some pounds or struggling with self acceptance, it is a must read.

When I bought the book I thought it would talk about healthy food & healthy eating habits.The book was more than that since it relates eating with self-confedence & dealing with problems,which solved the question I have always been asking myself :"why am eating if I'm not hungery?".

I have read many books on overeating and body acceptance over the years, but this is the best! After just reviewing a few pages, I was hooked. She was talking to me...about me.. and I felt a connection like never before. This book put me in touch with feelings I haven't felt in years and have been avoiding by using food to quiet all the noise.....and my hungers are VERY LOUD. Thank you...thank you..for your insight. This book nurtured me!

Lee Martindale's "The Folly of Assumption" is an intelligent and witty collection os short stories that inspire and enthrall the reader. Lee takes the common stereotypes of beauty and ability and turns them on their ears. The emergence of of heroes of size and substance as exciting, vibrant, beautiful people is something long overdue. This collection is sorely needed, appreciated, and worth reading over and over again.

I have known Lee for about a year now. I picked up her latest book at a Convention here in Houston. I know that Lee is a Large Size Activisit. Meaning that she is a fighter for Fat Rights. The stories in this book go along with that theme. A few days after the convention I picked up the book. I am a fairly slow reader...but I sucked these stories up like they were ice water on a hot Texas summerday. All of the stories were just little treats to be savored. I will definatly read this book again. My only complaint is that the book was not longer. I hope that there will be a second vomume soon. I encourage everyone to pick this one up.

Lilian's Story is a book I have had to read for my university english course, and it is one of the most amazing books I have ever read. Lilian is a true survivor when all the odds are against her. I would recommend this to anyone.

This novel is one of the most emotive I have read. It tells the story of a girl and her struggles to conform to the norms of her dysfunctional family and abusive father. She is an outcast not only within her own family but within the colonial, patriarchal society she lives in. Eventually, she rejects the conformism of her upper-class upbringing and becomes an outspoken street person A fictionalised account of the life and times of the late Bea Miles, well known Sydney eccentric

I bought this book some time ago and found it to be a very helpful source for overweight people. Living large can be very difficult and extra assistance is always needed.

Perhaps it isn't fair that I'm reviewing this book. After all, I am one of Ms. Sullivan's subjects--but that is how I came to know and love this book.

I've been fat my entire life, and always wished for someone to show me how and where to fit into a world that is not welcoming or accepting of people who don't fit the kind of airbrushed ideal displayed on magazine covers. Finally, there are resources compiled in a comprehensive, compassionate and unapologetic package, complete with examples of successful fat people who are thriving and making a difference--despite their so-called "inability to fit" the cookie-cutter image and standards which are so celebrated in our society.

Ms. Sullivan addresses every kind of need--from basics, such as clothing and personal care, to the essential tools (social support, activism, advocacy) necessary to evolve oneself into a confident, assertive and productive human being, regardless of body size.

Although I have been involved in the size acceptance movement for nearly 18 years, I am always thrilled and renewed by reading the struggles and triumphs of others. I recommend this book as a "must have" for all people of size, their partners, families and friends. With the resources represented here, any friend or family member can choose gifts, clothing and other necessities--including a fat-friendly travel package knowing it's just the right size. In fact, a copy of this book should be included with the tickets for that Alaskan cruise!

Susan Mason

Susan Koppelman's books preserve short stories that could otherwise be lost, and provide them with new settings that make them even more moving, and interesting than they are alone. This new collection, stories about women's body awareness in our fat-phobic culture, is so discouraging, encouraging, entertaining, and provocative that it should please any woman, fat or thin, satisfied, dissatisfied, or (probably) ambivalent about her body. Organized by theme, the stories build on each other and leave the reader thinking and rethinking each story in light of the ones that came before and after. Some of the stories are very sad; some are very funny. Every one is good fiction, "true to life," suggesting new possibilities and reevaluating old ones. The afterword enriches our understanding of each story and of the cultural pressures on women to hate and to change our bodies. Happily, it also gives us hope and makes us laugh.

This extraordinary book of short stories, The Strange History of Suzanne LaFleshe, had me thinking about all the ways people are perceived to be different, and think of themselves as different, from their peers. The women in these stories are fat, some hugely and obviously, others only in their own minds. Their stories are funny, smart, infuriating, and courageous. Editor Susan Koppelman selected these 25 stories from 167 written over the last century by women on the subject of fatness. Her encylopedic afterward is an additional bonus, giving readers both a view of fatness in our culture and a condensed history of women's short stories in the U.S. An extensive bibliography provides written and online resources for anyone interested in further research.

I purchased this book because a friend of mine suggested it. She thought that it went right along with the Body Talk and Essential Oil book that I had been using. I thank her every day that she had suggested it.
I found this book so fascinating that I couldn't put it down. So I finished it on the day that I received it. It makes so much sence of why it is that we put on weight. It helps you to analyze what has triggered the weight gain that you have. And gives examples of how we can overcome the triggers.
This book has been a real eye opener for me. It made me look at myself differently and how I can improve on myself.
There is alot of self analyzing that you have to do but it gives you the tools that you need to do it with.
I would heartily recommend this book for someone that wants to do serious weight loss for life.

I'm telling everybody I know about this empowering book because it's helped me so much. It's the most refreshingly honest diet book I've ever read. All the studies the author writes about in the book are listed in the notes at the back so you can look them up for yourself and show them to your doctor if you want to. As we all know, it's impossible to take charge of your weight if you don't have all the facts. You begin clutching at straws. This book is called The Power because accurate information is power, and this is the FIRST REPORT telling women about all the new, cutting-edge research coming out of the biggest, most well-equipped fat labs. The most important surprise is how stress makes you fat. The big secret is a stress hormone called cortisol. Cortisol opens the unhealthy fat cell doors so the fat can go in. Cortisol can cause you to store more unhealthy fat even when you don't overeat! (That helps explain why I gained nearly 70 pounds when I really DON'T eat that much.) Scientists have now linked high cortisol levels to Depression Fat, Anger Fat, Binge-Eating Fat, Night-Eating Fat, Polycystic Ovary Fat, Lazy Thyroid Fat -- in all to 11 different ways you can gain unhealthy weight. Options. Making your own choices and finding your weight, your way. That's what The Power is all about. Buy this book. It will change your life. I've lost 60 pounds so far. Only 10 more to go!

The author of this excellent book boils down all the latest research about weight. She then includes a bunch of quizzes so you can diagnose yourself, find out what fat type you have, and then figure out how to solve it. The author makes the point (and I agree with her) that most diet books disempower women by giving us ironclad "rules" to follow, even down to telling us precisely which foods to eat. Don't you just hate those little sheets of "the right foods" that doctors hand out. Women aren't stupid. We know the difference between a brownie and an apple. What we don't know is why we feel compelled to eat the brownie instead of the apple. This book tells us WHY WE GAINED WEIGHT and how we can use this information to get thin. A refreshingly honest book that's long overdue. I'm already becoming the scientist of my own body, I've lost 23 pounds in two and a half months -- and this time I'm keeping them off because I have THE POWER. My husband (my best cheerleader) tells me, "You go, Girl!" And I have!!!

I think this is first in the series. The great attraction is the character of Savannah Reid who is forty plus and gets fired from the local police force for being overweight and sets up as a private eye. She is overtly heterosexual. Many varieties of sex are hinted at but the main carnal pleasure described is food, and there is some excellent food description.
On the negative side: The murder mystery gets solved by a new character being introduced who tells Savannah who did it. A few sentences like "Savannah had only one cognitive thought after she hit the floor" and an unlikely confession by the murderer.

To answer the previous reviewers' question, the author's real name is Sonja Massie, and she's written other books under that name.

I really enjoyed this debut of the character Savannah Reid. In this book she's introduced as a police detective in her forties (a nice change of pace) who gets chosen to head up the investigation into a city councilwoman's husband's death. It is a powderkeg, and unfortunately for Savannah, she does her job too well, much to the dismay of the powers-that-be. The price she pays for her tenacity is the loss of her job on a trumped-up rules violation. Needless to say, when she is asked to continue investigating the case by the person who is the prime suspect, Savannah agrees. On top of all this, her very naive yet stubborn teenage sister arrives unexpectedly from Georgia, announces that she is going to stay with Savannah permanently, and promptly becomes involved with an older man well-known to the local police dept.

Savannah is interesting, independent character. She seems to be comfortable with herself, and isn't afraid to go after what she wants. Ms. McKevett has also created a nice assortment of secondary characters with their own quirks and flaws. The mystery had some nice twists and turns. I'm looking forward to the rest of the books in the series.

This is the first book in the Savannah Reid series. It's a great start to a very enjoyable series. Savannah is super. Keep 'em coming !G.A. McKevett - who are you ? I'd love to read more of your works !