List Price: $15.95
Amazon Price: $9.52
Average Customer Rating: 
(15 reviews)
Editorial Review: After undergoing gall bladder surgery at age twenty-three, Jennette Fulda decided it was time to lose some weight. Actually, more like half her weight. At the time, Jennette weighed 372 pounds.
Jennette was not born fat. But, by fifth grade, her response to a school questionnaire asking “what would you change about your appearance” was “I would be thinner.” Sound familiar?
Half-Assed is the captivating and incredibly honest story of Jennette’s journey to get in shape, lose weight, and change her life. From the beginning—dusting off her never-used treadmill and steering clear of the donut shop—to the end with her goal weight in sight, Jennette wows readers with her determined persistence to shed pounds and the ability to maintain her ever-present sense of self.
Customer Reviews:
4 of 4 found this review helpful:
Fabulous!, 2008-06-23
This is a fabulous book! It was like reading an autobiography. Only I haven't lost half of me. Jennette is very entertaining and very motivating. I wanted to get out and start running every time I read this book. I've already passed it on to my mom and a co-worker as well. Love it!
5 of 5 found this review helpful:
SHE TELLS IT LIKE IT IS, 2008-06-20
Jennette Fulda tells a remarkable story of determination. It's an incredible journey of dispair, joy and redemption. Fulda tells it like it is with honesty and large doses of humor. Anyone who is seriously overweight can relate to her stories. Only an obese person can truly understand life in a fat-unfriendly society. Her weight-loss journey is not an easy one but Fulda seems to have the inner-strength needed to succeed. She tells her own story without offering specific weight-loss advice. This is NOT a diet book. In fact, she refuses to discuss her exact method of losing weight. The diet she followed remains unnamed. She follows a healthier way of eating and tries to banish bad foods from her life, but there are a few mishaps and setbacks along the way. She knows it has to be a permanent lifestyle change. It's a journey of self-discovery on all levels. Her weight immobilizes her with so many aches and pains until exercise becomes her salvation. She is ashamed and self-conscious of her weight but her will is strong. It is her story and no one else's. She doesn't want to be come a weight-loss guru and doesn't preach for or against any way of thinking. She has her own views on fat acceptance and weight loss. It's up to the reader to find what is the right path and how to begin. Here story of dispair is one that so many seriously overweight people can understand. In Fulda's case, dispair becomes hope and hope becomes cautious joy as she nears her ideal weight. She tells her story with a humor that is often self-depracating. It's no secret that she succeeds in her quest before you start the book. She no longers suffers the stigma and pain of severe obesity. Readers just beginning their journey to weight loss might be put off with some of the humor. Fulda often uses humor to hide her pain, embarrassment and humiliation. Her humor can be a bit disparaging for a person who is still obese and the pain, embarrassment and humiliation is still a daily routine. She describes how she sat in an arm chair her weight spilled over the sides and looked like a muffin top. It's a funny visual unless being a muffin top is your reality. There is great joy in knowing that someone did succeed and ended the misery and pain of obesity. Her experiences show that the obese person is not alone in their suffering. Although obesity is a national epidemic, there are few books that address this issue in such a frank way. This is a gem of a book for anyone who suffers with obesity and seeks hope.
0 of 2 found this review helpful:
The blog is better...., 2008-06-06
I am a big fan of Jeanette's blog, I have read her entire blog archives 2-3 times and some of my favorite entry's even more than that. Getting inside the head of someone who was successful loosing weight while they were doing it has definately helped me devolop the right mindset for my own weightloss journy. With that being said, while I'm in love with her blog, the book is basically the movie version of her blog that is not as good as the book.
I absolutely did not mind spending money on Jeanette's book because I am such a fan or her blog. This book is basically trying to turn her blog into a book. I would say 70-80% of the book materieal is taken verbatum from her blog archives....the same exact jokes, puns and all. At times it felt like she was trying to squeeze a clever take on something she covered on her blog, into the book where it just didn't fit, even though she would shorten it and try to make it fit.
I am glad I bought this book and read it because it did fill in some of the blanks of things I was wondering about from reading her blog. It was nice to know her thoughts about her blog and the online community, also a little more information about her past. I wonder how someone not familiar with her blog would fare trying to read her book, becasue with the blog it is easy to know what weight she is at and how long she's been dieting with each entry. It seemed like this book jumped around alot and would be harder to follow for someone that doesn't read her blog.
It was a fast easy read, I enjoyed learning some new things about Jeanette's story. I just think the story reads better on a blog, where jumping all over the place is expected. I would definately refer a friend to her blog before recommending the book. I realize that alot of the things she posted on her blog had to make it into the book, because they are both on the same topic. It's just the same exact jokes about EVERYTHING was a bit much. I was hoping it would be more of a look back at the journey with some new insight rather than her regurgetated blog entries.
6 of 6 found this review helpful:
Well-written, Honest, Insightful, and Funny, 2008-06-02
This book was presented to me as a gift recently and, although it's not one I would've picked on my own, I found it to be quite a good read. Jennette's voice is personal and vulnerable but never pitiful or bitter. I found her story of ultimate self-empowerment uplifting and have already purchased a copy of this book for a friend. :-)
4 of 4 found this review helpful:
A Must Read, 2008-05-31
This is a great book. Very witty and encouraging. If you have weight to lose, or just want to be inspired, this is the book for you. I read it very quickly and loved it.
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