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The Incredible Shrinking Critic: 75 Pounds and Counting: My Excellent Adventure in Weight Loss
A humorous personal account of the author's successful weight-loss journey describes how she charted her initial weight loss in a New York Daily News column, made progress without avoiding foods or embracing fad diets, and received support and inspiration from numerous readers.
- GenresNonfictionMemoirHealth
304 pages, Hardcover
First published September 7, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 30, 2024
A decent, logical, and funny book about the author's weight loss journey...part memoir, part comedy, part logical and scientific ideas, part helpful tips, and part about the emotional aspects folks sometimes have to deal with (maybe especially women, in today's culture) to lose weight.
You, like me, may be "tricked" (not on purpose) by the title--I am not the first person who assumed the author was extremely self-critical and that the book would be about how she had to work with that to fix her food issues. Turns out: no! She does not strike me as particularly down on herself--it just turns out she was a film critic as she took the weight loss journey. How she managed food/exercise choices into the wine and dine film festivals, or sometimes long days of sitting watching films, was instructive.
Her ideas are not new and startling; in fact, pretty old-fashioned (granted, though I just read this in 2021, it was written in 2006-- long before so many overeaters now find help by addressing the metabolic errors so rampant these days with focused approaches such as ketogenic, intermittent fasting, addressing serotonin deficiencies, adrenal & thyroid issues, etc). Her approach is more reminiscent of the coaching at Weight Watchers: small changes, accountability, do exercise you actually enjoy; things like that. This can work wonderfully if the extra eating causing weight is a habitual, behavioral or emotional --rather than biological issue.
However if one is deeply emotionally fraught, it may not work--though the author was a warrior at this, considering her traumatic history around body issues. If it's a very biological issue, these approaches may help a little, but not a lot--the overeater or overweight may need help with hormones, food allergies, or more.
I give props to her bravery as I read with a bit of my "mouth gaping" of her emotional reasons for gaining the weight. One never knows about others, why they are how they are...a good reminder. I would have never considered this issue and it's worth reading this part (near the beginning) even for those who don't have weight issues--eye opening if upsetting. Kudos to her for overcoming this challenge, and understandable why she wound up taking the "weight as protection" path.
Overall fun though and inspiring. Most weight loss books and plans are so serious ("heavy"!)--a nice change!
You, like me, may be "tricked" (not on purpose) by the title--I am not the first person who assumed the author was extremely self-critical and that the book would be about how she had to work with that to fix her food issues. Turns out: no! She does not strike me as particularly down on herself--it just turns out she was a film critic as she took the weight loss journey. How she managed food/exercise choices into the wine and dine film festivals, or sometimes long days of sitting watching films, was instructive.
Her ideas are not new and startling; in fact, pretty old-fashioned (granted, though I just read this in 2021, it was written in 2006-- long before so many overeaters now find help by addressing the metabolic errors so rampant these days with focused approaches such as ketogenic, intermittent fasting, addressing serotonin deficiencies, adrenal & thyroid issues, etc). Her approach is more reminiscent of the coaching at Weight Watchers: small changes, accountability, do exercise you actually enjoy; things like that. This can work wonderfully if the extra eating causing weight is a habitual, behavioral or emotional --rather than biological issue.
However if one is deeply emotionally fraught, it may not work--though the author was a warrior at this, considering her traumatic history around body issues. If it's a very biological issue, these approaches may help a little, but not a lot--the overeater or overweight may need help with hormones, food allergies, or more.
I give props to her bravery as I read with a bit of my "mouth gaping" of her emotional reasons for gaining the weight. One never knows about others, why they are how they are...a good reminder. I would have never considered this issue and it's worth reading this part (near the beginning) even for those who don't have weight issues--eye opening if upsetting. Kudos to her for overcoming this challenge, and understandable why she wound up taking the "weight as protection" path.
Overall fun though and inspiring. Most weight loss books and plans are so serious ("heavy"!)--a nice change!
August 22, 2007
Eh. All right. Nice to read about someone successfully losing weight the slow and steady way, but she meandered off into talking about the perils of emotional eating way too much for me to connect with. I don't eat too much for emotional comfort; I eat too much because I like food, damn it. :) Some good solid advice and support here, though. Not bad.
November 21, 2018
When my neighbor recommended this book, I thought it was going to be about shrinking the inner critic inside your head so that you can accept yourself and love yourself enough to take better care of yourself or something. It's not about that--the author was actually a movie critic, and she's the one shrinking.
I found this book way more helpful than I ever expected. I had been stuck for a few years at the stage of thinking I wanted to lose weight but actually being more committed to staying fat/safe. This book found me right when I actually became ready to lose weight, and it changed my perspective enough to help me really do so.
Two main things struck me:
1. There's a scale of not-great, better, and ideal behavior (I don't remember her specific words, but this is the idea). Instead of seeing things as all or nothing, just try to move a little in the direction of "ideal." Over time, that adds up and starts creating results, which you can use to fuel your motivation to be even better. The idea of giving up all desserts forever is not one I can imagine myself agreeing to (or sticking to), but eating smaller portions of dessert on fewer occasions is doable. Going to the gym every day? Not gonna happen. But walking in the woods more often? Sure. And above all, not seeing everything as black and white, "well, I just ate a chocolate chip, so I might as well eat all the cookies I'm baking and then go out for ice cream as well, so I can get it out of my system and eat only twigs tomorrow," but rather, "hey, a cookie or two is maybe not-great eating, but these cookies were worth it. Other than that, I'm eating 'better' or 'ideal' like I usually do."
2. It doesn't help to make everything such a big deal or be extreme about anything. If I try to eat 1200 calories or less every day, I get really fucking hungry and obsessed with food. If I think about wanting to lose 45 pounds, I just get discouraged and give up. But if I just eat a little better and focus on losing the next 4 pounds, that's super motivational and effective.
Also, I'm not sure if this was actually in the book or a coincidence, but I know a lot of people recommend visualizing yourself how you want to look and/or doing what you want to be able to do, to help yourself stay motivated. I was having a hard time doing that, but I had reason to believe that I might fit into a smaller size of pants. I didn't own any pants that size, so I decided to do a 3-D visualization of myself wearing smaller pants. I took myself to the store and tried on smaller pants, and not only did they fit, but my shirt size had also changed from large to medium!
This was way more powerful than I expected, because once I had lost a few pounds and wanted to celebrate, I didn't do what I usually do and go get some ice cream. My commitment to my new pants helped me move past the point where I'd usually stop and then gain weight back, and instead stay on the wagon and keep going.
I found this book way more helpful than I ever expected. I had been stuck for a few years at the stage of thinking I wanted to lose weight but actually being more committed to staying fat/safe. This book found me right when I actually became ready to lose weight, and it changed my perspective enough to help me really do so.
Two main things struck me:
1. There's a scale of not-great, better, and ideal behavior (I don't remember her specific words, but this is the idea). Instead of seeing things as all or nothing, just try to move a little in the direction of "ideal." Over time, that adds up and starts creating results, which you can use to fuel your motivation to be even better. The idea of giving up all desserts forever is not one I can imagine myself agreeing to (or sticking to), but eating smaller portions of dessert on fewer occasions is doable. Going to the gym every day? Not gonna happen. But walking in the woods more often? Sure. And above all, not seeing everything as black and white, "well, I just ate a chocolate chip, so I might as well eat all the cookies I'm baking and then go out for ice cream as well, so I can get it out of my system and eat only twigs tomorrow," but rather, "hey, a cookie or two is maybe not-great eating, but these cookies were worth it. Other than that, I'm eating 'better' or 'ideal' like I usually do."
2. It doesn't help to make everything such a big deal or be extreme about anything. If I try to eat 1200 calories or less every day, I get really fucking hungry and obsessed with food. If I think about wanting to lose 45 pounds, I just get discouraged and give up. But if I just eat a little better and focus on losing the next 4 pounds, that's super motivational and effective.
Also, I'm not sure if this was actually in the book or a coincidence, but I know a lot of people recommend visualizing yourself how you want to look and/or doing what you want to be able to do, to help yourself stay motivated. I was having a hard time doing that, but I had reason to believe that I might fit into a smaller size of pants. I didn't own any pants that size, so I decided to do a 3-D visualization of myself wearing smaller pants. I took myself to the store and tried on smaller pants, and not only did they fit, but my shirt size had also changed from large to medium!
This was way more powerful than I expected, because once I had lost a few pounds and wanted to celebrate, I didn't do what I usually do and go get some ice cream. My commitment to my new pants helped me move past the point where I'd usually stop and then gain weight back, and instead stay on the wagon and keep going.
August 16, 2022
It's humorous, it's never boring. I have to give it that.
But even though this is a movie critic (and I'm a movie buff from early childhood on), the book simply didn't give me the click that I need in order to get serious about losing weight.
So I keep reading these books and hope that one day I'll find the one book that will change it all for me and my 40 extra pounds.
But even though this is a movie critic (and I'm a movie buff from early childhood on), the book simply didn't give me the click that I need in order to get serious about losing weight.
So I keep reading these books and hope that one day I'll find the one book that will change it all for me and my 40 extra pounds.
August 7, 2011
First line: "The fellow who owned the pizza place was a bit of a celebrity in my neighborhood."
This was one of the most honest and practical looks at weight loss there is. Bernard is delightful in that she does not take herself too seriously and she never tries to sugarcoat the truth. The fact is, to lose weight you have to change your lifestyle and those changes must include both exercise and dietary elements. What I appreciated is that Bernard also looks at the emotional and psychological reasons that we have trouble losing weight. Her strategies reflect various methods of dealing with both the physical and mental aspects of weight loss. She also spends quite a bit of time dealing with the fact that weight loss is a long term project - it takes her over two years to drop the 75 lbs of the title. Her original goal was 100 lbs but she acknowledges that sometimes you accept your perfect weight as what you body feels comfortable with and as the level where you are not willing to give up more or workout harder to maintain. She also addresses one of her major relapses and the fact that the work does not end when you hit your goal weight. For those of us who use food as crutch, maintaining a healthy weight will be a lifelong project. I found her ideas very freeing and am encouraged towards my own goal.
This was one of the most honest and practical looks at weight loss there is. Bernard is delightful in that she does not take herself too seriously and she never tries to sugarcoat the truth. The fact is, to lose weight you have to change your lifestyle and those changes must include both exercise and dietary elements. What I appreciated is that Bernard also looks at the emotional and psychological reasons that we have trouble losing weight. Her strategies reflect various methods of dealing with both the physical and mental aspects of weight loss. She also spends quite a bit of time dealing with the fact that weight loss is a long term project - it takes her over two years to drop the 75 lbs of the title. Her original goal was 100 lbs but she acknowledges that sometimes you accept your perfect weight as what you body feels comfortable with and as the level where you are not willing to give up more or workout harder to maintain. She also addresses one of her major relapses and the fact that the work does not end when you hit your goal weight. For those of us who use food as crutch, maintaining a healthy weight will be a lifelong project. I found her ideas very freeing and am encouraged towards my own goal.
August 31, 2007
I really enjoyed this memoir of weight loss, especially since she was doing it the same way I am (and makes a pretty convincing argument that there really is only one way to lose weight and keep it off). Reading this book was like talking to a friend who has made the same journey I want to make and knows all the friendly places to stay and the uncomfortable spots to avoid (or at least plan ahead to make myself as comfortable as possible).
from County Library
from County Library
June 13, 2009
For some reason, this was a hard book to find! I couldn't find it at Borders the other day and i thought they had everything! I finally just ordered a used copy from Amazon. So far its a great read!
April 8, 2012
Humorous account of this movie critics quest to lose 100 pounds. Her story is inspiring with just the right amount of facts concerning nutrition and metabolism. Bottom line: Diet alone will not solve the weight problem. One must also exercise. Duh! I know this!
July 17, 2014
Finally finished it. No new and star lit ideas about dieting. This is mostly her story of how she lost weight and the trials and tribulations she encountered as well as what she has learned. Entertaining and kind of funny.
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May 1, 2008I got it from Bookmooch.
June 25, 2008
This book had me laughing alot. Very entertaining, light hearted and a fast read. Not a "weight loss" book, just a memoir, and a good one at that!
April 4, 2015
"Sometimes you're not ready to see that the bum on the street is really the Sufi master you've been seeking." - Jami Bernard
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews