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Weightless: My Life as a Fat Man and How I Escaped
You know what you need to do to lose weight, so why can't you do it? Morbidly obese and desperately unhappy, Gregg McBride asked himself this question for years, until something different finally "clicked," and enabled him to embark on a weight-loss journey of 250 pounds that has now lasted ten years and still counting. Alternately hilarious and heartbreaking in its honesty, Weightless is Gregg's story, but it is much more. It's an exclusive weight-loss plan with menus, recipes, exercises, and motivational techniques. Weightless will move, educate, entertain, and inspire anyone who is ready for change. Gregg McBride is a film and television writer and producer living in Los Angeles, where he works for companies including Disney, Paramount, Sony, ABC Family, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, and others. McBride has made multiple appearances on the Today Show and is also the author of the book Just Stop Eating So Much! , as well as a featured blogger for the Huffington Post . Joy Bauer, MS, RD, CDN , is the longtime nutrition and health expert for the Today Show , a contributing editor to Woman's Day magazine, and the New York Times best-selling author of Food Cures and Joy Fit Club .
330 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 18, 2014
9 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Gregg McBride
5 books23 followersHaving once weighed over 450 pounds and then shedding the excess weight after learning to love himself for who he is at any size, Gregg McBride has made multiple appearances on the Today show and is the author of the books Weightless and Just Stop Eating So Much. His children’s book, Biron the Bee Who Couldn't, encourages readers to set life goals based on their individual dreams rather than what society tells them they should do.
Gregg’s Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, A Heavenly Christmas, premiered to the highest ratings in Hallmark Channel history. His horror feature Six Till Midnight is currently in pre-production with Timur Bekmambetov producing, his thriller Mary Bailey is in production for Lifetime, and his Christmas musical for BET just wrapped in March. Other recent credits include the legal drama Sister Code for BET and the inclusive dance movie Brand New Moves for Nickelodeon.
Gregg's motivational speaking engagements include appearances for McCann Health Worldwide and Frontier Airlines. He’s also a featured blogger for Psychology Today and HuffPost and a meditation teacher for Insight Timer. Gregg lives with his husband on the West Coast, where they are both dedicated to animal rescue and are “paw-rents” to Latte, a specially trained service dog who works with Alzheimer’s patients, and Shelby, a foster-fail cat who identifies as a dog.
Gregg’s Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, A Heavenly Christmas, premiered to the highest ratings in Hallmark Channel history. His horror feature Six Till Midnight is currently in pre-production with Timur Bekmambetov producing, his thriller Mary Bailey is in production for Lifetime, and his Christmas musical for BET just wrapped in March. Other recent credits include the legal drama Sister Code for BET and the inclusive dance movie Brand New Moves for Nickelodeon.
Gregg's motivational speaking engagements include appearances for McCann Health Worldwide and Frontier Airlines. He’s also a featured blogger for Psychology Today and HuffPost and a meditation teacher for Insight Timer. Gregg lives with his husband on the West Coast, where they are both dedicated to animal rescue and are “paw-rents” to Latte, a specially trained service dog who works with Alzheimer’s patients, and Shelby, a foster-fail cat who identifies as a dog.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 13, 2015
This is a moving and inspiring story of one man's weight-loss journey.
Gregg McBride had an unhappy childhood: his father was an alcoholic and would beat him, and his mother frequently had affairs and would spin elaborate lies about herself, such as telling her boyfriends that Gregg and his sister were adopted.
To comfort himself, Gregg would binge on junk food. He would steal money from his parents to buy loads of candy bars, potato chips and ice cream, then sneak it into his room to secretly eat it all. The binge eating continued throughout Gregg's childhood and into his college years. By the time Gregg was 22, he weighed 464 pounds.
Gregg wrote that he frequently tried a variety of crash diets, but he could never last longer than a day and would always end up eating junk food. Finally, after hearing some tough words from a coworker, he decided to stop "dieting" and instead focus on nutrition and healthy living. He went to a doctor to get advice on a meal plan, and he started exercising daily. He lost 250 pounds in one year!
If any of you reading this have struggled with weight-loss in your life, you can probably guess what happened next. After losing a lot of weight, Gregg took a break from his healthy habits and started eating junk food again. He regained 100 pounds, and then had to work hard to get the weight back off. He now maintains a weight of 175.
When he was overweight, Gregg struggled with expressing his sadness to others, but in the book he wrote openly about his depression, and he even went to a therapist to work through his anger and frustration with his parents.
He also wrote candidly about his experience with plastic surgery. When someone loses as much weight as Gregg does, they have a lot of excess skin that won't go away. After months of being uncomfortable with more than a yard of saggy skin, he had a surgeon remove it, and it took months to recuperate. I was pleased that Gregg included this chapter in the book, because the extra skin issue isn't often addressed by the diet industry.
Gregg has a good sense of humor and was always able to crack jokes and get people to like him, and the book includes numerous essays from friends on their perspective of Gregg's behavior and attitude.
The writing in this memoir is simple and straightforward, and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to be inspired by an incredible journey of weight-loss. I think this book is also a good reminder to be compassionate with others, regardless of their size. Nearly every day I see some example of "fat shaming" in public, on the news or on the Internet, and it isn't helpful. That person being judged may be dealing with some serious issues, and being mean to them is juvenile and crass. Gregg had innumerable experiences with people being rude or not treating him like a human being, and it only made him feel more depressed and miserable. Kindness and compassion can do a lot more good than rudeness and shame.
My rating: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4
Favorite Quotes
"Any overweight person knows that walking out in public with excess poundage can be a devastating experience requiring extreme courage. Whenever I walked down the street, I felt I became the butt of all jokes, the focus of all cut-downs, and the target of all laughter. Likely this wasn't always the case, but often it was. And as a result I was becoming a literal shut-in."
"My excuses had all but run out. For most of my life, I had blamed my excessive weight for not making friends, not finding work, not falling in love, and for anything else I wasn't achieving instantly. After the weight loss, I blamed loose skin and permanent stretch marks. After the loose skin was removed, I blamed the scars. And now? Despite the progress I'd made earlier with the therapist, I was still blaming my parents' abuse whenever necessary or convenient. Pointing the finger came easily, as did being the self-proclaimed victim."
"Too many of us have bought the lie the media has been selling us over the years. We look at super thin and often super hot celebrities with lots of jealousy, thinking that they're blessed with perfect metabolisms and look amazing no matter how much they eat or how little exercise they do. Looking good, and more importantly, feeling good, takes work. Plain and simple. That means I have to think about what I eat every day, especially if I'm going to have a treat of some kind. It's all about balance."
"The past does not make up who I am today, in this moment. But it does inform who I am today. Those past decisions and choices are a large part of what gives me my savvy, my humor, and my lust for life. And even, on occasion, some smarts. And isn't that what life is all about? Living? Learning? Growing? For all that to happen, there has to be accepting. That's the real gift I've learned to give myself on a daily basis. Acceptance."
Gregg McBride had an unhappy childhood: his father was an alcoholic and would beat him, and his mother frequently had affairs and would spin elaborate lies about herself, such as telling her boyfriends that Gregg and his sister were adopted.
To comfort himself, Gregg would binge on junk food. He would steal money from his parents to buy loads of candy bars, potato chips and ice cream, then sneak it into his room to secretly eat it all. The binge eating continued throughout Gregg's childhood and into his college years. By the time Gregg was 22, he weighed 464 pounds.
Gregg wrote that he frequently tried a variety of crash diets, but he could never last longer than a day and would always end up eating junk food. Finally, after hearing some tough words from a coworker, he decided to stop "dieting" and instead focus on nutrition and healthy living. He went to a doctor to get advice on a meal plan, and he started exercising daily. He lost 250 pounds in one year!
If any of you reading this have struggled with weight-loss in your life, you can probably guess what happened next. After losing a lot of weight, Gregg took a break from his healthy habits and started eating junk food again. He regained 100 pounds, and then had to work hard to get the weight back off. He now maintains a weight of 175.
When he was overweight, Gregg struggled with expressing his sadness to others, but in the book he wrote openly about his depression, and he even went to a therapist to work through his anger and frustration with his parents.
He also wrote candidly about his experience with plastic surgery. When someone loses as much weight as Gregg does, they have a lot of excess skin that won't go away. After months of being uncomfortable with more than a yard of saggy skin, he had a surgeon remove it, and it took months to recuperate. I was pleased that Gregg included this chapter in the book, because the extra skin issue isn't often addressed by the diet industry.
It made no difference that I was exercising four to five times a week, that I was eating healthy foods, or that I was doing yoga for my internal and mental health. I still had mounds and mounds of loose skin to contend with. And even after trying to conceal the masses of skin hanging from my chest, stomach, back, pelvis and thights, I would still have the appearance of "puffiness," no matter what I was wearing. This was very disheartening and took a lot of wind out of my sails.
Gregg has a good sense of humor and was always able to crack jokes and get people to like him, and the book includes numerous essays from friends on their perspective of Gregg's behavior and attitude.
The writing in this memoir is simple and straightforward, and I would recommend it to anyone wishing to be inspired by an incredible journey of weight-loss. I think this book is also a good reminder to be compassionate with others, regardless of their size. Nearly every day I see some example of "fat shaming" in public, on the news or on the Internet, and it isn't helpful. That person being judged may be dealing with some serious issues, and being mean to them is juvenile and crass. Gregg had innumerable experiences with people being rude or not treating him like a human being, and it only made him feel more depressed and miserable. Kindness and compassion can do a lot more good than rudeness and shame.
My rating: 3.5 stars rounded up to 4
Favorite Quotes
"Any overweight person knows that walking out in public with excess poundage can be a devastating experience requiring extreme courage. Whenever I walked down the street, I felt I became the butt of all jokes, the focus of all cut-downs, and the target of all laughter. Likely this wasn't always the case, but often it was. And as a result I was becoming a literal shut-in."
"My excuses had all but run out. For most of my life, I had blamed my excessive weight for not making friends, not finding work, not falling in love, and for anything else I wasn't achieving instantly. After the weight loss, I blamed loose skin and permanent stretch marks. After the loose skin was removed, I blamed the scars. And now? Despite the progress I'd made earlier with the therapist, I was still blaming my parents' abuse whenever necessary or convenient. Pointing the finger came easily, as did being the self-proclaimed victim."
"Too many of us have bought the lie the media has been selling us over the years. We look at super thin and often super hot celebrities with lots of jealousy, thinking that they're blessed with perfect metabolisms and look amazing no matter how much they eat or how little exercise they do. Looking good, and more importantly, feeling good, takes work. Plain and simple. That means I have to think about what I eat every day, especially if I'm going to have a treat of some kind. It's all about balance."
"The past does not make up who I am today, in this moment. But it does inform who I am today. Those past decisions and choices are a large part of what gives me my savvy, my humor, and my lust for life. And even, on occasion, some smarts. And isn't that what life is all about? Living? Learning? Growing? For all that to happen, there has to be accepting. That's the real gift I've learned to give myself on a daily basis. Acceptance."
August 28, 2025
An amazing story from the author on his own personal journey. McBride had horrible parents and his way of dealing with the craziness was overeating. After reaching over 450 pounds McBride found a way to lose the weight. It was simple, eat less and move more. Also get good sleep and drink lots of water. It is simple, then again not always easy.
After getting the weight off McBride had to deal with the emotional weight he still carried. This book is about his journey and his childhood. There are added short essays from friends that provide some insights to McBride's life at that time, usually not realizing how much he struggled. Through it all he had a great sense of humor.
Unfortunately, I didn't find an overwhelming amount of humor in the book. Certainly there were moments, but it is not a funny book. Also despite his experience of being a screenwriter and writer of ads, his book isn't well written. There's something about it that's somewhat flat. It's not a bad read, not bad writing, just not great. Regardless, if anyone wants to read about one person's journey on dealing with weight issues, this is a good choice.
After getting the weight off McBride had to deal with the emotional weight he still carried. This book is about his journey and his childhood. There are added short essays from friends that provide some insights to McBride's life at that time, usually not realizing how much he struggled. Through it all he had a great sense of humor.
Unfortunately, I didn't find an overwhelming amount of humor in the book. Certainly there were moments, but it is not a funny book. Also despite his experience of being a screenwriter and writer of ads, his book isn't well written. There's something about it that's somewhat flat. It's not a bad read, not bad writing, just not great. Regardless, if anyone wants to read about one person's journey on dealing with weight issues, this is a good choice.
January 31, 2015
Brave and honest recount of the author's weight-loss journey. Congrats to him!
November 23, 2014
Gregg's father was an officer in the air force so the family moved around a lot....to Germany, Indiana, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Singapore. His parents at some point decided they wished they had never met....his father drank and his mother had affairs. Because of his insecurities and the stress of running the household and looking after his sister, Gregg was bingeing on huge amounts of food by the time he was eight.
Despite his size, Gregg still made friends easily....he was creative, funny, easy to talk to. But by young adulthood, he weighed over 450 pounds and wore a sixty-inch belt.
"Weightless" is the honest, sometimes hilarious, and uplifting story of his fight to free himself from food addiction. I really enjoyed reading this book and would love to meet this extraordinary man, who was able to overcome so much.
Despite his size, Gregg still made friends easily....he was creative, funny, easy to talk to. But by young adulthood, he weighed over 450 pounds and wore a sixty-inch belt.
"Weightless" is the honest, sometimes hilarious, and uplifting story of his fight to free himself from food addiction. I really enjoyed reading this book and would love to meet this extraordinary man, who was able to overcome so much.
May 7, 2016
3.5. I appreciated Gregg's very detailed and raw story, though some parts were hard to read. He's not afraid to share his thoughts and experiences which help the reader imagine what life in his shoes was like and covers topics not commonly discussed (ex: pain/impact of skin removal surgery). He doesn't sugarcoat things or make his journey seek easy but it's also not a tale of woe. An inspirational story and a quick read.
February 26, 2015
This book is awe inspiring and also i learnt a lot, especially about how obese people feel. And this book talk about the habit's of gregg, how he felt and what did he do. And yes, life has a lot of up and down, and he managed to lose weight twice and maintain it for the rest of his life. The way the book is written is easy to comprehend as well as humorous sometimes.. It is a helpful book!
May 14, 2018
Weightless is a powerful memoir. McBride shares many painful experiences in this book, but it is never a morose read. He manages to keep a zest for life and sense of humor at the forefront. For me, it made the book that much more impactful, because despite abuse and society’s penchant for looking down on the obese, he overcame it all with nothing more than the decision that he was going to change.
Real change is hard, and he didn’t flinch from sharing that difficulty. I wanted to clap for him at multiple points in the book because he kept trying. I liked the way the book was divided into time frames in his life. He gave examples of his typical diet at each point.
Another fascinating part was short essays written by people who knew him along the way. They talked about how they saw him, and sometimes it aligned with his memory, and other times not. It really added to the story!
I look forward to reading more works by him in the future.
Real change is hard, and he didn’t flinch from sharing that difficulty. I wanted to clap for him at multiple points in the book because he kept trying. I liked the way the book was divided into time frames in his life. He gave examples of his typical diet at each point.
Another fascinating part was short essays written by people who knew him along the way. They talked about how they saw him, and sometimes it aligned with his memory, and other times not. It really added to the story!
I look forward to reading more works by him in the future.
August 6, 2017
McBride delivers a brutally honest memoir in which he examines himself before, during and after his weight loss journey. What makes this book compelling is how the author dissects his behaviors and actions during the lowest points in life. He provides revealing and seemingly humiliating details--all which make him human. He then reaches a shocking conclusion to his off-target motivations, and begins to shed his mental and physical weight. McBride also delves into the issues of abuse, thus proving his bravery as a male author.
March 22, 2019
"Weightless: My Life as a Fat Man and How I Escaped" is one of the most hilarious books I've ever read and also has deep pockets of sadness in unexpected corners. By the end of the book, you will fall in love with the author, Greg McBride, and want to follow him on Amazon and Twitter. I wish he would do Audible versions of his books since he's an actor. It's a true story told with such vivid detail that it seems like fiction or an escape book. If you struggle with your weight, you will love it all the more, but I don't think it's necessary to have a weight problem to enjoy this book.
September 3, 2017
Totally enjoyed reading Gregg McBride's journey and all he discovered along the way. So relatable even if it doesn't involve an extreme weight problem. Gave me much to think about in my own life. A must-read book!
October 10, 2017
Very interesting and honest - a good read!
April 20, 2018
I absolutely loved this book!
June 8, 2015
I wavered between three and four stars for this one. I really enjoyed the story, and found Gregg's journey very inspiring. I love his honesty about the reasons behind his overeating and all the steps he had to take before he could finally get to a place where he could stop yo-yo-ing up and down the scale. It was also fascinating to read about his horrible childhood with a pathologically lying and abusive mother, and his struggles to get used to the new, thin Gregg after he lost weight. I also love his sense of humor.
The book was released by a small publisher, though, and I think it could have been improved by a good editor. There was some repetitiveness, a heavy use of cliches and a few mistakes (like writing "tenant" instead of "tenet" that distracted a bit from the story.
Overall, though, great read!
The book was released by a small publisher, though, and I think it could have been improved by a good editor. There was some repetitiveness, a heavy use of cliches and a few mistakes (like writing "tenant" instead of "tenet" that distracted a bit from the story.
Overall, though, great read!
May 11, 2015
Inspirational and honest
I am trying to lose weight, myself. It was helpful to hear about Gregg's journey. I feel for him and the (what could have potentially continued to be) devastating experience of his childhood. Gregg's gifts are in his honesty and candidness, and that was what I appreciated most.
I was also really desperately looking for his personal insights about his binge eating. That he does deliver. I was 60% of the way in when they really appeared. I think this is only fair because much of the rest of the book leads up to these realizations by describing his disordered eating. It was well worth my time to read the entire book and I definitely have some take-always to think about.
I am trying to lose weight, myself. It was helpful to hear about Gregg's journey. I feel for him and the (what could have potentially continued to be) devastating experience of his childhood. Gregg's gifts are in his honesty and candidness, and that was what I appreciated most.
I was also really desperately looking for his personal insights about his binge eating. That he does deliver. I was 60% of the way in when they really appeared. I think this is only fair because much of the rest of the book leads up to these realizations by describing his disordered eating. It was well worth my time to read the entire book and I definitely have some take-always to think about.
March 13, 2015
This isn't so much a diet book as it is a memoir. Although it does contain a section in the back with some real world ideas (in other words no fad-y) for taking off the pounds. Have to admit I was more fascinated than I thought I'd be by this guy's life. He doesn't hide any of the details of his journey up and down the scale. And refreshingly, he owns his part in his weight gain, too. Gotta love authenticity. This is also a fast read, which is good since I kinda didn't want to put it down until I knew the ending (even though the before and after pics on the back reveal that he did actually lose all of the weight).
June 17, 2015
This is pretty much a memoir of a morbidly obese man who loses a huge amount of weight. He comes from a terribly dysfuntional family and details the horrors and humiliations he endured. It would have been a lot better if it had been about half as long and had less repitition and detail about his miseries. To his credit he does advocate a healthy lifestyle and eating patterns, and shuns crash and fad diets.
September 19, 2014
Gregg's raw and honest account of growing up in a dysfunctional family and subsequent years of self-discovery was touching. I am glad I read this book. I would recommend it for anyone interested in both weightloss and overcoming personal struggles. Well written and full of jaw dropping stories... I still am unsure how Gregg came out mostly ok in the end (today).
January 31, 2016
This is a book I'd read again, because it forces one to take a long, hard look at themselves. This isn't just about weight loss, or obesity. In fact, that's only a part of the book. Gregg takes you through his harrowing experiences from early childhood until today and leaves you feeling that you can do this too.
December 13, 2014
this book was very raw and very sad at times (when he pays a hooker to cuddle just so he can be touched). the observations of fat and thin people and their relationships with food were right on track.
January 3, 2015
So this is another book in the list of books centering on weight loss success stories. I think the part I liked more than most of these kinds of books is that he spends more time on pointing out his psychological and social problems that he was avoiding and coping with through overeating.
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September 26, 2014Gregg McBride (B.S. '86)
December 14, 2014
Good little story about this guy's losing weight.
March 28, 2015
Excellent memoirs of a man who lost over 250 lbs and kept them off for over a decade. His story is told with wit and compassion, warts and all. Inspirational.
September 6, 2015
This book comes from the heart! Excellent writing and very inspiring.
March 29, 2017
There is a lot of truth telling in this book. It is not easy being overweight and the author details many of the problems. Probably the first weight loss book I have read that really deals with some of the emotional aspects of being very overweight. If you struggle with your weight I think this book can be tremendously helpful. It is not in the least preachy but is just about this author's journey. It is a beautiful memoir, really and I am glad I was able to read it.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews