Diary of a Fat Housewife: A True Story of Humor, Heart-Break, and Hope

by Rosemary Green

Overview

For anyone who has ever wrestled with a weight problem, here is one woman's daily struggle to control her weight. Rosemary Green was once 320 pounds, but is now thinner than she has been in the last ten years.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446602815
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	03/01/1996
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.80(d)

Editorial Reviews

Green, a former beauty queen, was once slim, but with each of her first five pregnancies (she has six children), she gained more weight, until she exceeded 300 pounds. Making no excuses for her weight, this ``last honest fat person in America'' began a diary in 1982 to record her pain, valiant dieting attempts and frequent relapses. Her story chronicles the daily life and eating habits of a person suffering from ``morbid obesity.'' Green adamantly insists that obesity is a disease like alcoholism or diabetes, and that the only effective remedy is to change one's eating patterns forever-one day at a time. The author punches holes in fad diets, rejects the ``big is beautiful'' philosophy, deplores ``fat discrimination'' and dismisses the excuses obese people make about their weight. She also stresses the importance of supportive friends and family. Although still over 200 pounds, Green has not given up her goal of being thin again. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Green's journal begins with a poem, "The Fattest Day," and progresses through her "nine year journey" of weight loss. Weighing in at 208 pounds at the book's end, the former beauty queen claims success in spite of yo-yoing years with a loss of 100 pounds. She calls her weight loss program "Winning at Thinning," but the wavering success, though definitely typical of most people with severe weight problems, certainly does not suggest one of the more effective programs. More significant than her plan are her frank descriptions of what it feels like to be fat, emotionally and physically, which are not just for those who share her condition. And she suggests that society be a tad more sensitive and understanding about the disease of obesity.

Denise Perry Donavin