Losing It: 0america's Obsession with Weight and the Industry That Feeds on It

by Laura Fraser

Book Overview

This probing social and cultural history of our preoccupation with weight blows the whistle on a multi-billion dollar industry that feeds on insecurityTaking the same revolutionary and ultimately... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525938915
• ISBN13: 9780525938910
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 328 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The definite book about diets

Fraser does excellent journalistic work here, much needed work indeed. It was the first time I ever heard the notion that people might be ok at their weight no matter what that weight was. It has allowed me to see overweight others as just ordinary people instead of judging them on their weight. What if it didn't matter if we were fat? What if it was not relevant? To me, those are revolutionary questions, and they changed my whole outlook on the demonized obesity. THANK YOU Mrs Fraser. This book should be read by Society and not just a marginal few. This book is also about not being lied to, manipulated, fooled, used, cheated and mistreated by a money-hungry market. In that light, it is very empowering.

Wake-up America!

The book goes behind the closed doors of the diet industry and reveals what's really going on in the world of dieting. This book really is a wake-up call to all those who have fallen into the American diet trap. I was astonished at some of the tricks and gimmicks used by the diet industry! The book even gives some steps to becoming a healthy eater by relying on yourself, rather than following someone else's diet.

This is the best book available on dieting in America.

Losing it is about the millions of Americans struggling with weight problems and never knowing where to turn for assistance. Laura Fraser has seen all the advertisements and tried most of the miracle cures. She's a superb researcher and she will tell you what Weight Watchers is all about. She's been there and done her homework. She starts with the history of weight consciousness in America and explores the contradictory messages of our culture and "the obesity specialists". Finally, a healthy, honest look at this industry which costs us all billions in terms of dollars and self esteem.

eye-opening success

Laura Fraser has done two great things: She has slogged through years of research for the reader's benefit, while also encouraging us to look at the facts independently. The second great thing she has done is given men and women the necessary tools to like the bodies they have been given. What a tremendous gift!

Confirms all you ever suspected about diets!

I found this book to be a real mind-blower; I'd always thought Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig and their ilk had too much stake in their clientele staying fat, and this book confirms not that they are evil, but that they have the size of their bottom line -- and not your bottom -- uppermost in their concerns. I thought it was a page-turner, not at all dull or even self-indulgent of the author, and it was the final piece in the puzzle of why I can't lose weight (and we're talking about that final 10 lbs, no more) and why it's okay not to look like Barbie, or Kate Moss, or the average bulemic/anorexic twenty-year old. I'm seriously considering buying a few dozen copies and handing them out to every friend of mine who has ever bemoaned her shape or cursed herself for loving food. The message should be: there is no bad food, only bad quantities; if you learn to enjoy food and think about every bite, avoid "zoning out" (mindlessly devouring food because it is t! here or because you are stressed out), and make food a blessing instead of a curse in your life, you will be a happier, healthier person. And exercise! (Fervent thanks to my eating disorders therapist for recommending this book -- thanks, Rebecca A.!)