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Conquering Fat Logic: how to overcome what we tell ourselves about diets, weight, and metabolism
Why do diets fail? Is it because of genetic disposition? A sluggish metabolism? An underactive thyroid?
A behavioural psychologist reveals the truth about dieting, including how she lost over 100lb in one year.
After years of failed diets Dr Nadja Hermann weighed over 23 stone at the age of 30. All her life, she had heard and read about hundreds of reasons why diets wouldn't work for her. But when her weight started to seriously affect her health, she took a hard look at the science and realised that most of what she believed about dieting was a myth. What was more, those very myths were preventing her from losing weight.
Forget clean eating, paleo, or fasting — it was conquering these elements of ‘Fat Logic’ that finally led to Hermann achieving a healthy weight. One and a half years later, she weighed 10 stone, and has maintained that weight to this day. Now, using humour, the insight she’s acquired, and a dose of science, Hermann debunks widespread lies about weight loss, and shows how it is possible to attain a healthy weight.
A behavioural psychologist reveals the truth about dieting, including how she lost over 100lb in one year.
After years of failed diets Dr Nadja Hermann weighed over 23 stone at the age of 30. All her life, she had heard and read about hundreds of reasons why diets wouldn't work for her. But when her weight started to seriously affect her health, she took a hard look at the science and realised that most of what she believed about dieting was a myth. What was more, those very myths were preventing her from losing weight.
Forget clean eating, paleo, or fasting — it was conquering these elements of ‘Fat Logic’ that finally led to Hermann achieving a healthy weight. One and a half years later, she weighed 10 stone, and has maintained that weight to this day. Now, using humour, the insight she’s acquired, and a dose of science, Hermann debunks widespread lies about weight loss, and shows how it is possible to attain a healthy weight.
370 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 10, 2019
59 people are currently reading
296 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
April 13, 2019
I read this after reading an article by the author in the Guardian. The Guardian piece was basically the shortened version of this and as much as it made me want to read the book - it also spoilt it for me a little as it was so concise.
At the heart of this is basically the argument that we have all been conditioned to accept being overweight as normal. Anyone who is normal weight we now see as underweight. You have to fight your own internal "fat logic" when reading it, otherwise, you can start to think that so many listed reasons why you can and should be thin begin to sound like the author has a disorder.
What stops this from being a five-star book for me is that it goes too in-depth into the issues. After a while the arguments stop being persuasive and start sounding like someone on the edge of obsession. This also makes it a far heavier, less concise and ultimately less persuasive read.
However, I wanted this book to do for me for overeating, what Allen Carr did for me for smoking. IE describe it so clearly and concisely in behavioural terms that I literally don't want to do it again. I think it has achieved that.
I've always steered clear of the more faddish diets but in recent years some level of fasting has worked and it's gratifying to hear this is okay. Ultimately it is calories in and calories burnt and everything else from carbs to sugar is a red herring so long as your body is getting all the nutrients it requires.
I'm in the process of going from 126 kilos at my heaviest to almost 100 kilos now. This book has inspired me not to settle for going from being classified as Obese II to merely overweight. I'll take it slow (this far has taken a couple of years) but I want to get down to the correct BMI. I'm about half way.
I think one of the reasons I've been motivated to lose weight is, living in Asia, your weight is not a taboo topic. No one pretends you're thin when you're not. Your weight is a reasonable topic of conversation. Oddly enough that has made me feel less embarrassed about it and made me more likely to tackle it in a sustainable and informed manner.
It's a theme that is reflected in the book. Western attitudes mean you're more likely to be criticised for losing weight than you are for gaining weight.
The Vietnamese argument of "why is it offensive for me to say you are overweight - you ARE overweight" is, actually very healthy. It makes you feel like it was your choice to get this way and - if you choose to - it can be your choice to change.
In short - from a behavioural point of view - much of what is working for me and keeping me motivated, chimes with the content here. It's not a diet book. There are no recipes or tips, it just one at a time chips away at all that fat logic that stops you committing to weight loss. In that sense, it's the only diet book you'll ever need.
It's 25% too long for me but still a very worthwhile read.
At the heart of this is basically the argument that we have all been conditioned to accept being overweight as normal. Anyone who is normal weight we now see as underweight. You have to fight your own internal "fat logic" when reading it, otherwise, you can start to think that so many listed reasons why you can and should be thin begin to sound like the author has a disorder.
What stops this from being a five-star book for me is that it goes too in-depth into the issues. After a while the arguments stop being persuasive and start sounding like someone on the edge of obsession. This also makes it a far heavier, less concise and ultimately less persuasive read.
However, I wanted this book to do for me for overeating, what Allen Carr did for me for smoking. IE describe it so clearly and concisely in behavioural terms that I literally don't want to do it again. I think it has achieved that.
I've always steered clear of the more faddish diets but in recent years some level of fasting has worked and it's gratifying to hear this is okay. Ultimately it is calories in and calories burnt and everything else from carbs to sugar is a red herring so long as your body is getting all the nutrients it requires.
I'm in the process of going from 126 kilos at my heaviest to almost 100 kilos now. This book has inspired me not to settle for going from being classified as Obese II to merely overweight. I'll take it slow (this far has taken a couple of years) but I want to get down to the correct BMI. I'm about half way.
I think one of the reasons I've been motivated to lose weight is, living in Asia, your weight is not a taboo topic. No one pretends you're thin when you're not. Your weight is a reasonable topic of conversation. Oddly enough that has made me feel less embarrassed about it and made me more likely to tackle it in a sustainable and informed manner.
It's a theme that is reflected in the book. Western attitudes mean you're more likely to be criticised for losing weight than you are for gaining weight.
The Vietnamese argument of "why is it offensive for me to say you are overweight - you ARE overweight" is, actually very healthy. It makes you feel like it was your choice to get this way and - if you choose to - it can be your choice to change.
In short - from a behavioural point of view - much of what is working for me and keeping me motivated, chimes with the content here. It's not a diet book. There are no recipes or tips, it just one at a time chips away at all that fat logic that stops you committing to weight loss. In that sense, it's the only diet book you'll ever need.
It's 25% too long for me but still a very worthwhile read.
February 11, 2020
An excellent book that cuts through the many myths and fallacies the surround issues of weight loss and gain.
I was struggling with my weight when I purchased this book quite by chance. I was losing weight, but I was losing it really slowly. Then I realised that I had succumbed to the sort of 'fat logic' that Nadja Hermann expounds upon in this book. By ignoring the self-defeating 'fat logic' my weight is now decreasing apace and I am feeling much better for it.
The book explains how weight loss works in a manner that is sometimes funny and easy to understand. With the same incisiveness, this book also smashes the misconceptions prevalent in the weight loss world. Some key myths that book helps to dispell are the 'starvation mode myth,' 'the muscle gain will cancel out my fat loss myth,' and the 'Lossing weight is bad for you myth.'
I would very strongly recommend this to anyone struggling with these issues. This book has been a massive help to me and I hope it can be one for you too!
I was struggling with my weight when I purchased this book quite by chance. I was losing weight, but I was losing it really slowly. Then I realised that I had succumbed to the sort of 'fat logic' that Nadja Hermann expounds upon in this book. By ignoring the self-defeating 'fat logic' my weight is now decreasing apace and I am feeling much better for it.
The book explains how weight loss works in a manner that is sometimes funny and easy to understand. With the same incisiveness, this book also smashes the misconceptions prevalent in the weight loss world. Some key myths that book helps to dispell are the 'starvation mode myth,' 'the muscle gain will cancel out my fat loss myth,' and the 'Lossing weight is bad for you myth.'
I would very strongly recommend this to anyone struggling with these issues. This book has been a massive help to me and I hope it can be one for you too!
February 17, 2019
Should be mandatory reading
I really enjoyed this book, as it clarified for me so many things which I had innocently misunderstood about being overweight and the process of weight loss. I honestly think everyone should read it. Journalists, parents, teachers, doctors, everyone. A very enjoyable but informative read
I really enjoyed this book, as it clarified for me so many things which I had innocently misunderstood about being overweight and the process of weight loss. I honestly think everyone should read it. Journalists, parents, teachers, doctors, everyone. A very enjoyable but informative read
November 12, 2021
Bloody brilliant. Finally something to cut through all the bullshit we’re so tired of hearing.
January 11, 2021
Headline
This book was fairly interesting to read and did well in dispelling a lot of common myths about weight and weight loss backed by a LOT of scientific studies and personal anecdote where appropriate.
I thought this was a really nice mix between clinical and personal information to help people break down their own preconceived notions about health and weight loss.
My only criticism of the book is that I don't think that the people who would benefit from this type of book are the ones who are going to read it. I'm currently on a weight loss journey and found this book through the same sub reddit that inspired the author to write the book so a lot of these points I was already familiar with. I would be very interested to see how many people not already committed to weight loss buy this book and were inspired to change their perspective
This book was fairly interesting to read and did well in dispelling a lot of common myths about weight and weight loss backed by a LOT of scientific studies and personal anecdote where appropriate.
I thought this was a really nice mix between clinical and personal information to help people break down their own preconceived notions about health and weight loss.
My only criticism of the book is that I don't think that the people who would benefit from this type of book are the ones who are going to read it. I'm currently on a weight loss journey and found this book through the same sub reddit that inspired the author to write the book so a lot of these points I was already familiar with. I would be very interested to see how many people not already committed to weight loss buy this book and were inspired to change their perspective
July 28, 2019
An epiphany.
September 26, 2022
Don't believe everything you read. If everyone can just lose a ton of weight by having only 500 calories a day, then they would be happy for a while but dead for longer.
Read
August 10, 2024oh woof, I'm actually more than a little embarrassed to be logging this one BECAUSE I went into it expecting it to be an unequivocal hate read into which I could poke merciless holes but then ended up finding that some of it...genuinely changed my thinking (there are some bits that are definitely bunk, though; she backs up most of her points with research but then on a couple of occasions she's like hmmm I just think so, because vibes. lol)
my loan expired like a month and a half ago but when my next hold comes through I'll return to this with like a top 5 insights (and top however many harum-scarum hokum bunkum~) or whatever
edit/update when the hold came back in ok nvm I don't have the mental capacity to do that but here are some miscellaneous uncategorized notes below the spoiler cut, reader beware because they are NOT tidied up lmao
my loan expired like a month and a half ago but when my next hold comes through I'll return to this with like a top 5 insights (and top however many harum-scarum hokum bunkum~) or whatever
edit/update when the hold came back in ok nvm I don't have the mental capacity to do that but here are some miscellaneous uncategorized notes below the spoiler cut, reader beware because they are NOT tidied up lmao
January 30, 2021
This book was phenomenal. I have been guilty of a lot of items discussed in this book. It was so good to finally have advice from someone who lived the fat life, had the same struggles and found her way. Her technique of calorie deficit is not something i myself have tried but having tried all the others (weight watchers, slimming world, juices, shakes etc) i am going to do it Nadja's way. Everything she said resonated with me apart from 1 chapter in which her docs never discussed her weight. Shes lucky... Mine discuss it every single time!!! Thoroughly enjoyed this book and feel like my fat logic has been identified and challenged!
July 23, 2019
Has some value.
Went in taking it with little more than a grain of salt. It is equal parts enlightening (where research is cited) and belittling (where it reads like a self-loathing diet blog). Nonetheless, it contains some information of value in the way of ostensibly dispelling a few common weight loss and body myths. It's just too bad for the author's tone, I suppose.
Went in taking it with little more than a grain of salt. It is equal parts enlightening (where research is cited) and belittling (where it reads like a self-loathing diet blog). Nonetheless, it contains some information of value in the way of ostensibly dispelling a few common weight loss and body myths. It's just too bad for the author's tone, I suppose.
March 14, 2021
Now more than ever we need to face the consequences of the obesity epidemic. The pandemic has shown us that it is paramount for people to be a healthy weight. People offer many reasons as to why they can't lose weight. This book shows through science and anecdotal evidence that weight loss is achievable for everyone. I highly recommend this book for anyone struggling with weight loss.
June 24, 2019
Nicely done. Readable and based on research rather than "expert" (drip under pressure)opinion. Although Nadja does write about what worked for her during her fat losing journey, she rarely preaches. Each person has to determine what works for them, but Nadja's book certainly inspired me.
July 24, 2019
This book has been invaluable to me. While I learned nothing new from it, reading about the various myths around weight loss, and how our brain can trick us, has made this a very good book for me in my personal journey.
February 15, 2019
Anyone who is trying to lose weight should give this a careful read before reading stuff on the internet
November 25, 2023
What I appreciated most about this book was the author’s meticulous use of scientific sources. She did a great job dismantling the myth that being fat is outside of one’s control. I took away a star because the book was bloggy; she went on long tangents about her own weight loss journey. But I would recommend this book nonetheless. It is timely for a country where nearly half of everyone is obese and even mainstream news sources are pushing the narrative that fat people don’t eat too much and that some people are physically incapable of losing weight.
April 27, 2019
Надя Херманн похудела за год на 87 кг. Со 150 до 63. Описывая все главные заблуждения толстяков, она не опускается до оскорблений вроде одиозной Лены Миро, но методично вышибает у читателя на лбу простые слова: жрать надо меньше.
И всё.
Собственно, этим книга и подкупает. Не понравилось правда очень поверхностное обращение с источниками и русский перевод.
В остальном - мне нужна была эта книга в 20 лет.
И всё.
Собственно, этим книга и подкупает. Не понравилось правда очень поверхностное обращение с источниками и русский перевод.
В остальном - мне нужна была эта книга в 20 лет.
May 4, 2024
Easy to read and very helpful in busting myths around weight loss and health. Though I would caution anyone against copying the author's weight loss methods at home, since she was under constant doctor's supervision and had a reason to lose weight as fast as possible.
May 20, 2024
In this book, Nadja Hermann, a behavioural psychologist with "a background in nutritional science" (apparently she attended a high school that specialised in nutritional science) fights valliantly against a set of strawman arguments and wins thanks to some imperfect analogies and cherrypicked studies. The stickmen in her little cartoons never stood a chance!
We already know that being overweight is a risk factor for a myriad of health issues, and we already know that if you cut calories then you will lose weight. This book doesn't really add anything further of value.
It's up to the reader to decide whether the author's 500 kcal per day diet plan to enable rapid weight loss from morbid obesity to normal weight is feasible or desirable.
We already know that being overweight is a risk factor for a myriad of health issues, and we already know that if you cut calories then you will lose weight. This book doesn't really add anything further of value.
It's up to the reader to decide whether the author's 500 kcal per day diet plan to enable rapid weight loss from morbid obesity to normal weight is feasible or desirable.
October 1, 2024
The only book on weight loss you will ever need. Truly. Just read it. It will break any illusion about why you may be fat and it will show you the way... with tough love. Tough but you know it's all true.
March 26, 2019
Very good. Nails all the lies we tell ourselves about losing weight.
October 31, 2019
Spent so much time justifying the data, that the main reason seemed missed.
April 14, 2023
As someone who only saw any proper result in losing weight when I started counting calories, this book put me right back on track and gave a boost to take it more seriously.
The logic is simple and yet we are always trying to come up with a "but". I myself was very stubborn regarding many things related to dieting - "this does not work for me", "I tried counting calories before and didn't work", "there must have something wrong with my metabolism". Alas, it was all bs. I was just doing it wrong or poorly. When I really committed myself fully to it it worked 100%.
I have learned so much and changed my relationship to food itself just by counting calories and weighting what I eat.
Still a long way to go but I have never been so confident in doing this like now.
And sometimes when I feel anxious about doing something wrong I go back to the book and read a chapter about the topic that is worrying me.
The logic is simple and yet we are always trying to come up with a "but". I myself was very stubborn regarding many things related to dieting - "this does not work for me", "I tried counting calories before and didn't work", "there must have something wrong with my metabolism". Alas, it was all bs. I was just doing it wrong or poorly. When I really committed myself fully to it it worked 100%.
I have learned so much and changed my relationship to food itself just by counting calories and weighting what I eat.
Still a long way to go but I have never been so confident in doing this like now.
And sometimes when I feel anxious about doing something wrong I go back to the book and read a chapter about the topic that is worrying me.
July 31, 2025
Odpálilo mi dekel. Autorka si sama prešla cestou z ťažkej obezity po normálnu hmotnosť a dáva v podstate len jedno, už dávno známe odporúčanie - výdaj musí byť väčší ako príjem. Zároveň však nahliada na toto odporúčanie z viacerých možných strán a vyvracia rôzne mýty, ktoré sú s chudnutím spojené. To všetko podporené odkazmi na rôzne štúdie. Veľmi inšpiratívna kniha.
August 13, 2023
A bit choppy and idiosyncratic, but still better than the previous books I read on the subject. What struck me most strongly was how the opposing books build themselves around a small number of sources, whereas this author has a multitude of studies on every topic.
October 14, 2020
Very insightful.
December 12, 2019
Solide aber langatmig.
May 30, 2023
This book came for my throat, in the best way!!
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews