Such a Pretty Fat

I had a great time reading Jen Lancaster's latest memoir, Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie is Not the Answer. I loved Lancaster's first two memoirs, so I was looking forward to this one. In this memoir, Lancaster covers a topic that has caused considerable frustration to many people: weight loss. After a stern lecture from her doctor, Lancaster decides that it's time to stop sweating while she eats, time to stop treating her body like a fraternity party, and time to stop promising to go to the gym instead of actually going. If you've read her previous books, you know that Lancaster does not suffer from low self-esteem. She knows she is a little overweight, but she also knows she looks good. When she actually steps on the scale and realizes how much weight she has gained, she wonders when it was that she turned into Jabba the Hut. She attempts several different diets-Atkins, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers. She also decides to invest in personal training sessions at her local gym. Hoping that her trainer will be a homely girl with a hump and a skin condition, she is dismayed to find that her trainer turns out to be gorgeous-long blond hair, tan, perfect teeth, enviable figure and her name is...Barbie. Since Jen hates exercise, she tries to come up with every excuse she can think of to avoid her workouts, but Barbie keeps pushing her. (Take a look at this hilarious video clip of Jen's attempts at avoiding exercise. Note the pearls she wears while at the gym.) Eventually Jen comes to almost look forward to her workouts and is able to shed some pounds. This is not a how-to diet book. Lancaster isn't pushing any particular method of weight loss or telling us that we can loose weight too, if we just did X, Y and Z, which is refreshing. This is just her experience trying to improve herself, an issue that many of us are familiar with, but Lancaster adds her brand of humor to the story.

I believe that Lancaster is working on another book and I'm hoping we will get to hear about her move to the suburbs. She has always been a city girl ("Give me Libertyville or give me death? I choose death."). But her husband has been trying to convince her that living in the suburbs will be much cheaper than the city. At the end of Such a Pretty Fat, she tells her husband that he wins-they will move to the suburbs. I have a feeling that will make for another hilarious adventure!