Weight loss and dieting are a huge industry in the United States. I recently read that Americans spend up to $46 billion dollars a year on dieting products and self-help books. It also said that 1/3 or American adults are overweight. There are also television shows such as Biggest Loser that bring our attention to extreme dieting.
In her memoir, Passing for Thin, Frances Kuffel writes about how she lost half her body weight by the old fashion way of dieting, exercise and with the support of her group. While the intricacies of what she needed to eat and do to lose her weight (think a sixteen ounce salad for lunch…no sugars or no flour) are incredible she was able to stick with it and sponsor others to make the changes that she made.
What was almost more amazing than the diet and weight loss was how she described the perceptions she had of herself and how they changed as she lost her weight. She also writes about how so many others did not know how to relate to her anymore after she was no longer the “fat girl.” The joy that she experiences doing new things like hiking, rafting, and dating is palpable. She is able to write about her continual struggle with weight and a food addiction in an impressive way that brings attention to how society really does look at weight and physical appearance. How easily we make judgments.
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