A few months ago, I was approached by an author who stumbled upon my blog and asked me if I’d be interested and willing to read and review her book, Skinny Me. As I’d never done anything like this before, I was nervous about it–but I decided to go for it and asked her to send me all the necessary information. After reading it, I was truly excited to be able to write this review!
Skinny Me, by author Charlene Carr, details the weight loss journey of a young woman named Jennifer Carpenter. The book is told from Jennifer’s point of view, and thus gives the audience a perfect look into the mental aspect of weight loss. As many of my blog buddies and other folks out there know very well, weight loss can be (and usually is) ALL about the mental, and boy does this book hit that nail right on the head!
Throughout the book, Jennifer is confronted with real life issues that any person who has ever embarked on a weight loss adventure would find familiar. I found myself identifying with her thoughts ALL the time–especially when she gets nervous about being around lots of food at social events. Been there, done that! But what I really identified with throughout the book (and found that I was mad at myself for doing so) were the very private thoughts of Jennifer throughout the book. Some of these thoughts were hateful thoughts directed not only toward herself, but toward others. Feelings of jealousy toward women who she assumed were happier because they were thin, feelings of animosity toward friends who didn’t feel that they needed to lose weight like she did, and feelings of resentment toward others for how they treated her before she began her weight loss journey. Although these thoughts aren’t “pretty,” I really found that they are ALL thoughts that I’ve had in the past and still have occasionally. It really caused me to take a hard, introspective look at WHY Jennifer had those thoughts, and why I’ve had them before. It also made more aware of the fact that those thoughts only contribute to negativity, and y’all–I don’t need none ‘o that in my life anymore, and neither did Jennifer!
The other thing that I ADORED about this book was that it caused me to re-examine all of the reasons I began to lose weight. It also helped me remember why it is so important to not focus on that perfect “number” on the scale, and to find reasons to love myself as I am and as I have been at ALL of my previous weights.
I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone who has ever had any kind of weight loss experience, thoughts about starting a weight loss journey, or friends and family who have lost weight or who would like to. It provides unique insight into what is really happening mentally during what, to many, may look like “just” some hard work with food and exercise.
You can find the first chapter of Skinny Me here . You can find Charlene on twitter–@charcarr1 and on facebook here. Her new book, Where There is Life, is available now as well. It follows the story of Jennifer’s cousin, picking up her story where it left off in Skinny Me.
In conclusion, go read the book, it’s great! (Btw, Charlene also does writing workshops for those of you out there–blog buddies–who are looking to perfect your writing skills! Check it out!)
That’s all for this week, folks. Have a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving next week!!
In It to Lose It! 