Big Fat Lies: The Truth about Your Weight and Your Health

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Summary: The most important book in size-acceptance today.
Review: Big Fat Lies is a must read for every medical professional who is ever responsible for the care of an "overweight" patient. If you are fat, even a little, you should arm yourself with the information in this extremely well researched book before going to the doctor's office.

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Summary: A must read.......
Review: For all fitness professionals. This well written book will challeng you to rethink your notions about obesity and weight loss. The concepts will assist you in coaching and supporting your clients to achieve realistic fitness goals and healthy eating behaviors for a lifetime! A MUST read for anyone who has battled to achieve an elusive body weight, that someone somewhere, told them was ideal. For anyone who has suffered through any diet - a must read

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Summary: Could be the most important book you read this year.
Review: Glenn Gaesser, Big Fat Lies (Gurze, 2002)

Do yourself a favor-- find this book and read it as soon as possible.

The first two sections of this book show a study in selective reasoning by the medical establishment. Gaesser provides a mountain of evidence that all we've been told by the insurance industry, the medical industry, and the fitness over the last half-century or so regarding weight loss is a lie. We hear some of it now and again on the news, especially how low weight is linked to osteoporosis, but you've never seen this much of it together all in one place. Gaesser's position is that exercise, not weight, is primarily responsible for a person's health, and that "exercise" as we know it today (high-impact aerobic exercise) is not the be-all and end-all foisted upon us. All of which points out why overweight and obese people should be reading it (and popularizing it), and they are its target audience to be sure, but Gaesser makes a lot of noise about the normal- or underweight unfit, too.

The first two parts of the book are the theory, the third part is the practice. Gaesser provides a simple, easy-to-follow exercise regimen suggestion, infinitely customizable for the average person, and dietary suggestions without ever proposing a diet per se; his goal is to steer us towards eating healthier rather than rationing out what we can and can't eat. Again, the thin will benefit from following his guidelines just as much as the overweight. It's all common sense, of course, but he does point out a number of things that may surprise the average grocery shopper (for example, the actual amount of fat to be found in whole milk, which is staggering).

The book's only real flaw is stylistic; Gaesser, not to much surprise, has adopted the medical-jargon use of "overweight" and "underweight" as nouns rather than adjectives, and it's enough to drive the average stickler up the wall. It is certainly not, however, enough to put anyone off reading this. It may be the most important book you read all year, and should go on the short shelf of sacred books next to Peele's The Diseasing of America. **** ½

Rating:
Summary: Germ of truth, distorted by wishful readers
Review: I believe Mr. Gaesser wrote this book intentionally to pander to the so-called "fat but fit" crowd. If you look at pictures of the man, you see that he is rail-thin, as are most exercise physiologists. That's because they know about exercise, and they are proof positive that it leads to leanness. If being fat isn't so bad for you, why don't you carry around an extra 50, Mr. Gaesser?

Gaesser's central observation that insurance company actuary tables are not an accurate indicator of health is indeed true. But his "fat but fit" groupies are so wrong that I question whether they've actually even read the darned book. His message is that inactivity, not obesity, kills.

Now, this is where his argument seriously breaks down, as he apparently believes there's such a thing as an obese person who actively exercises. Sadly, Mr. Gaesser must never have conducted or reviewed any sequestered studies. If he did, he would know that obese people habitually under-report their eating and under-report their physical activity. Subjects lose weight on enforced exercise and eating regimes. Period. If science truly found a group of people who ate 1600 calories a day and got regular exercise yet remained obese, everyone in the world would know about it. (And sorry, taking the stairs twice a day instead of the elevator doesn't count as exercise.)

Gaesser does not claim in this book, by the way, that obesity is genetic. I at least have to give him that. He knows it's overeating and sedentary lifestyle that causes it.

He completely ignores the very real ancillary problems of the obese: Poor circulation, skin disorders, female hair loss, "varicose" veins, joint stress and diabetes, to name a few.

As a formerly fat guy, I find self-proclaimed "fat but fit" people incredibly sad. I have been where they are, thinking that thin people didn't have to control what they ate to stay thin (but secretly knowing it's not true). I finally grew up, quit stuffing myself at every meal, and learned to work out. Shocker: I'm thin, healthy and happier than I've ever been in my entire life.

Fat people, you aren't children and you aren't stupid. No, you do NOT eat less than thin people. No you are NOT as active as thin people, including Mr. Gaesser. You are kidding, and killing yourselves. This book is horrible justification for self-destructive behavior.

Rating:
Summary: Germ of truth, distorted by wishful readers
Review: I believe Mr. Gaesser wrote this book intentionally to pander to the so-called "fat but fit" crowd. If you look at pictures of the man, you see that he is rail-thin, as are most exercise physiologists. That's because they know about exercise, and they are proof positive that it leads to leanness. If being fat isn't so bad for you, why don't you carry around an extra 50, Mr. Gaesser?

Gaesser's central observation that insurance company actuary tables are not an accurate indicator of health is indeed true. But his "fat but fit" groupies are so wrong that I question whether they've actually even read the darned book. His message is that inactivity, not obesity, kills.

Now, this is where his argument seriously breaks down, as he apparently believes there's such a thing as an obese person who actively exercises. Sadly, Mr. Gaesser must never have conducted or reviewed any sequestered studies. If he did, he would know that obese people habitually under-report their eating and under-report their physical activity. Subjects lose weight on enforced exercise and eating regimes. Period. If science truly found a group of people who ate 1600 calories a day and got regular exercise yet remained obese, everyone in the world would know about it. (And sorry, taking the stairs twice a day instead of the elevator doesn't count as exercise.)

Gaesser does not claim in this book, by the way, that obesity is genetic. I at least have to give him that. He knows it's overeating and sedentary lifestyle that causes it.

He completely ignores the very real ancillary problems of the obese: Poor circulation, skin disorders, female hair loss, "varicose" veins, joint stress and diabetes, to name a few.

As a formerly fat guy, I find self-proclaimed "fat but fit" people incredibly sad. I have been where they are, thinking that thin people didn't have to control what they ate to stay thin (but secretly knowing it's not true). I finally grew up, quit stuffing myself at every meal, and learned to work out. Shocker: I'm thin, healthy and happier than I've ever been in my entire life.

Fat people, you aren't children and you aren't stupid. No, you do NOT eat less than thin people. No you are NOT as active as thin people, including Mr. Gaesser. You are kidding, and killing yourselves. This book is horrible justification for self-destructive behavior.

Rating:
Summary: The Truth About Weight Tables
Review: I learned the truth about both Weight Tables and Diets, as well as the importance of Nutrition and Exercise. In this book, Dr Glaesser explains the historical context of the American Weight Tables and their formation by Met Life Insurance Company. His extensive research has shown that people with higher weights can be fit and sometimes even fitter than the ones that actually fit into the prescribed weight tables. For me this is a startling finding. I am relieved to learn that Glaesser recommends allowing our bodies to equilibrate around our natural set point rather than yo-yo dieting to try to attain a weight that we have been taught is optimal. In depth discussions of good vs bad types of body fat are also informative and further make Big Fat Lies a good and instructive read.

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Summary: Great work Glenn...
Review: Just excellent, now you have given the obese an excuse to embrace their lifestyle further endangering the lives of their children and raising insurance premiums for us all to support their increased use of mediacal care. I applaud your self-serving effort to publish such a book, knowing full well that it is this do-nothing, indulge, be lazy, feel good about yourself routine that sparked the obesity problem in the first place.

Another point not even visited was the contrast in the American obesity problem vs that of European/Asian nations. Evidence of obesity there is significantly lower than in America correlating with a marked decrease in healthcare spending. How do you explain that?

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Summary: educated decisions
Review: Read this book before you try one more plan to get thin. It helps you see that, for most people, losing weight is an aesthetic decision, not a health one. You can look at yourself more kindly, realizing that you are not ruining your health, unless you actually do have a weight related condition. You can look at other big folks more kindly- be honest; you know you judge others!- realizing you have no more idea of whether they are unhealthy than their thin counterparts-as if it was any of your business! But, really, the facts helped to loosen the hold this topic had for me. There are other books that go farther with appearance acceptance, but this one is a great start to feel confident it's really okay to go there!

Rating:
Summary: The Skinny on Fat
Review: Thinner is not necessarily heathier. Explaining medical information in a highly readable style, this book turns conventional wisdom on weight gain on its ear. If more people had access to the information in this book, the multimillion-dollar diet industry would be in trouble.