Why am I fat? That’s a question many Americans, myself included, ask ourselves several times a week, if not several times a day. Sometimes the answer is simple: I’m fat because I’m addicted to cheeseburgers and I don’t exercise. Sometimes the answer is more complex: I have emotional issues that I haven’t overcome.
I’ve read many books on the theories behind weight loss. Some want you to eat all carbs, others say no carbs. Some want you to drink a glass of lemon water with every meal. Some say you should color coordinate your food. They all have their points and I think they all have a portion of the answer – but that’s where it gets tricky. We all have different bodies, and what works for you isn’t going to work for me. You show up looking all glam and I’m still fat, and I get frustrated. (After I hit you over the head and steal your dessert, that is.)
I’m registered with Flylady. It’s a fabulous online housecleaning system that helps you organize your home and free up your time. You get e-mails a couple times a day reminding you to do your jobs and to encourage you. One day, the e-mails were talking about a new book written by the Flylady, Marla Cilley, and her friend LeeAnn Ely. It was a wonder book, written to poof all of us skinny. Well, not really, but that’s what the testimonials sounded like.
I went on to the site to see what all the fuss was about, and decided that I would order a copy. What’s one more weight loss book when I already have so many?
The book arrived within three days, and I sat down to read it. Amazingly enough, I could relate to it instantly. It was funny, it was factual, and it broke weight loss down into a system I could understand. Flylady took the same approach to weight loss as she does to housecleaning – do everything in babysteps – and it made the process seem actually doable. In addition, it looks at the emotions behind why we eat and when we started doing it in the first place — and these ladies share their hearts with the reader and help the reader to feel understood. That is valuable.
Now, I’m not writing this review from a position of absolute knowledge. I haven’t lost all sorts of weight yet. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I haven’t had the book that long, and to be honest, I haven’t started the program yet. But what I do have is hope, and that’s the main thing that a person struggling to lose weight needs. There are days when you just feel fatter than words and you’re convinced that will never change. “Body Clutter” helped me to feel that there is light at the end of my long tunnel, and you can’t put a price on that.
I’ll write a follow-up review after I’ve explored the system for myself. But for now, I’m hanging on to that hope for all I’m worth.
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