I confess I am not a huge fan of reality TV, have only watched The Biggest Loser a few times, and lack a significant personal story about weight loss. (I am about 15 pounds heavier than I prefer.) Yet, maybe because I am a therapist, I was curious and drawn find the healthy lesson in Fat Chance - Losing the Weight, Gaining My Worth by Julie Hadden with a foreword by Jillian Michaels, team trainer from The Biggest Loser. Fat Chance offers the first-hand inspirational story of the author's success and struggles with low self-esteem to lose weight through The Biggest Loser competition. I enjoyed the book.
Julie Hadden is a reality TV series, The Biggest Loser, Season 4 contestant from 2007. The idea of auditioning for the show came from Julie's skinny girlfriend, who learned producers from The Biggest Loser were hosting an open casting call in their hometown of Jacksonville, Florida in the summer of 2006. An initial motivation for auditioning was that Julie wanted to lose weight, which would help resolve a medical condition interfering with becoming pregnant.
Julie recounts details of her successful audition and how she ended up on Jillian Michael's team. Up to now, in the six seasons that Jillian has been involved, a member of her team has always won. The author also discloses her emotional roller-coaster journey throughout the four months of competition and the grueling training with Jillian.
Complete with visually descriptive titles and language, the author provides an insider's view of The Biggest Loser, and her struggle to gain a sense of worthiness and lose weight. Her personal tale includes her spiritual journey, illustrated with several biblical references focusing on the support her faith provided.
Julie recalls vivid life memories, including one from her parents' rocky divorce and custody battle. When her father was moving out, he asked her who she "wanted to go with". Her mother offered Julie a role of Lifesavers if she picked her. In response, her father promised all the Lifesavers she wanted. She became aware at age 8=eight that she was "fat" when her very thin mother enrolled her in Weight Watchers.
By junior high, she was painfully aware of her "XXXL" sizing and was labeled "The Freezer" by a classmate after Chicago Bears defensive lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry. Her high school years were shaped by her self-image as a fat girl.
Throughout their marriage, her husband, Mike, was an enabler regarding her weight. When she groaned she had gained weight, he would provide treats like chocolate cake, nachos, and egg rolls and she would feel better. When she gained so much weight her clothes wouldn't fit, she would refuse to go out with her husband. The next day, she would "find eight new pairs of pants on the bed" from her husband.
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