This book is a collection of column articles by a Welsh columnist, Hannah Jones. Jones was put on a mission to go on a diet to start a new column about dieting, hence the 31-year-old size 24 columnist joined a gym, went to weight loss support groups, and wrote her column.
In one of the articles she talks about meeting fifty-something year olds who have been dieting forty-something years. Sure, perhaps not extreme dieting all the way, but more adopting fad diets of every generation. This makes one wonder – is there something fundamentally wrong with the ideal that in order to marginally achieve that one has to work hard forever? She starts each article with quotations from famous people (or not). This one is by Dawn French, which is really funny but serious at the same time:
“If I had been around when Rubens was painting, I would have been revered as a fabulous model. Kate Moss? Well, she would have been the paintbrush.” (p.68)
Clearly addressing an issue of social expectations and trends.
There’s one part that is particularly true and close to heart which I quote:
“Once you tell people you’re on a diet they expect you to look different within a week or a month. If that doesn’t happen not only does the person feel a failure inside,but they also feel publicly judged on the outside.” (p.148)
Doesn’t that hit a nerve somewhere?
She also talked about Hollywood and its race to size 0 (equivalent to UK4), and about how there is in fact a lot of competition within weight loss support groups. She raises the issue of binging, fashion, discrimination and politics. All in all it was a very enjoyable read. Most of the articles are just so funny, and many a times I can empathize with the things she talks about.
You can borrow a copy of this in electronic form from the NLB Digital Resources website.
