This Is Big: How the Founder of Weight Watchers Changed the World -- and Me

by Marisa Meltzer

From a contributor to The Cut, one of Vogue's most anticipated books "bravely and honestly" (Busy Philipps) talks about weight loss and sheds a light on Weight Watchers founder Jean "a triumphant chronicle" (New York Times). Marisa Meltzer began her first diet at the age of five. Growing up an indoors-loving child in Northern California, she learned from an early age that weight was the one part of her life she could neither change nor even really understand. Fast forward nearly four decades. Marisa, also a contributor to the New Yorker and the New York Times, comes across an obituary for Jean Nidetch, the Queens, New York housewife who founded Weight Watchers in 1963. Weaving Jean's incredible story as weight loss maven and pathbreaking entrepreneur with Marisa's own journey through Weight Watchers, she chronicles the deep parallels, and enduring frustrations, in each woman's decades-long efforts to lose weight and keep it off. The result is funny, unexpected, and a testament to how transformation goes far beyond a number on the scale.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Audiobook, Food, History, Feminism

305 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 14, 2020

About the author

Marisa Meltzer is author of Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music and co-author of How Sassy Changed My Life: A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time. Yes, she really loves the nineties that much.

As a freelance writer, her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Elle, Slate, New York Magazine, Teen Vogue, and many other publications. She has covered such diverse topics from why Miley Cyrus is a good role model to which Pride and Prejudice adaptation has the best Mr. Darcy and she's reported on Parisian riots and overachieving New York City high school students.

She is a graduate of The Evergreen State College and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Reviews

[Maribeth Franken · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure how to feel about this book. While I loved the chapters on the life of Jean Nidetch and the founding of Weight Watchers, I found the autobiographical chapters to be frustrating and dripping with privilege. I've been on Weight Watchers on and off (but mostly on) for the last three years and, like the author, have struggled with weight all my life. I was so excited to read this book because I thought I would be able to relate to so much of it. Instead, I found someone who complains about her weight and the effect it has on all aspects of her life, but doesn't seem at all committed to the work it takes to change it. Someone who has no qualms about spending exorbitant amounts of money on weight loss camps/cruises/retreats, etc. (something which most people don't have access to), even though she herself admits to going into these things begrugdingly. One particularly appalling passage reads, "The program agreement specified that the woman who ran [a weight loss program] was not a doctor, dietitian, therapist, nutritionist, or psychologist - that she was not, in fact, any kind of licensed professional at all. I read this, and then allowed my mother to hand over $1,275 - because when I called the program director to discuss signing up, she said, "I think my program can help you." Not surprisingly the program ended up being a waste of mommy's money. At one point, she even admits to being a snob, and that overwhelming sense of entitlement weaves its way through the entire book.

In the end, what I had hoped would be a story that spoke to me on a deep and personal level turned out to be nothing more than chapter upon chapter of complaints without much real change. Read the chapters on Jean Nidetch, skip the chapters on Marisa Meltzer.

[Andi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. While I enjoyed reading the biographical information about Jean Nidetch and the history of diet culture in America, I found the memoir aspect of the book a bit lackluster. The author came across as deeply unhappy and did not seem to make much progress on this front during the course of her research for this book. The author wove together a good tale of the diet culture in America and I liked the aspect that every other chapter was about her own life... but I left this book deeply unsatisfied that there wasn't a bigger change in her life and her relationship to her body and weight. This all said, I finished this book in 36 hours, so I liked it enough to plough through it. I would definitely read something else by this author, but not on this topic.

[Jaimie Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book. I HATE this book. I LOVE the honesty & HATE the honesty. Marisa Meltzer at times comes of as your typical overweight self hating woman who blames other people for her weight issues/problems on top of being extremely judgemental & privileged as hell! She also comes off as hilarious, completely relatable, 100% real & honest, one of the most self aware people I've heard speak about themselves in a LONG time! To admit those things about yourself in a book takes some big lady balls!!! Major kudos to u Marisa. ❤️
I love how this book is about her journey but also the history behind not just weight watchers & the founder Jean who omg I love!!! ❤️
But also just a history in dieting & facts!
Such a fun book that will make u life yourself, gate yourself, cry, laugh, stuff a pie (gulity), go for a run(also gulity) , & start to look at yourself for real. Because at the end of the day we all got issues & it's not about food. That's just the easy excuse

[Mehrsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good book--I enjoyed reading it because the author is really self-reflective and honest about her struggle for weight loss and I think it will appeal to many people who struggle against competing forces in their lives (not just weight loss). The bio of WW's founder was also fascinating because Meltzer was not totally critical nor hagiographic, but conflicted in the same way she is about her own journey.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is sort of a memoir hybrid with Meltzer exploring the history of Weight Watchers though the lens of her lifelong battle with her weight.

While she is very honest about how much she doesn’t like her body, the negative attention it attracts, her eating habits and her many attempts at weight loss she does gloss over quite a few events and issues in her life that I felt could have been explored.

I’m not sure if the mash up of autobiography of Jean Nidetch and Meltzer’s own story was the best idea. Both were interesting but since Meltzer didn’t delve into what I feel was some real obvious points of interest in her own life and didn’t seem to talk to first person sources of Nidetch’s, the book seemed a little hollow to me. I would have liked to have known more about Nidetch’s decision to step down from head of Weight Watchers rather than speculation and I would have liked a more honest look at Meltzer’s issues around eating, her hardcore drug use as a child and her family. I felt like she invited us in but only opened the door a crack. Perhaps she should have just kept it at regaling us with stories of the glamorous thin people she interviewed or her own recent Weight Watchers experiences if she didn’t really want to get into details.

That said, I did enjoy the book. She is an engaging writer and I learned a lot of about Jean Nidetch who was a real unsung trailblazer. I wish the editor had taken a firmer hand and directed the narrative a bit more in either direction. I didn’t feel the book needed to end with the author skinny and married and didn’t expect it to but I did expect a little more exploration into her own life and relationship with food that was only touched on shallowly.

[㋛ ㋡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book started a dialogue re: weight/size/diet culture with a friend I've known nearly my whole life. My friend shared many of the same struggles as the author: some I knew about, many I did not. Weight/size/dieting really is a taboo subject but takes up so much headspace. I'm holding my breath for a Jean Nidetch series a la Mrs. America. Marisa's storyline has to stay! I appreciate her critical eye. I appreciate, too, that she's willing to admit how she can be a total snob. Because same. And I truly appreciate that her storyline doesn't have a magical ending. She has a little bit of enlightment and allows herself a little bit of ease. That's A LOT and it feels "real."

Also, there are a lot of parallels between WW meetings and AA meetings & I never would have guessed tbh (the power of a shared struggle, vulnerability, mixing of a diverse group of people, and a little-or a lot- of humble pie).

[Britt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the parts that were biographical of the Weight Watchers founder, but not so much the author’s biography. I give it to the author for her candor in describing her struggles with food and weight, but it is draining to hear about and makes you almost have a complex about weight. I know no one is immune to body pressures, but I personally don’t like hearing about people’s constant focus on food and diet. I also don’t necessarily buy that people that lose the weight like Jean are happier and so much more successful in life. It feeds into a stereotype that overweight people are just drowning their sorrows in food. Studies show that anyone on a diet is unhappier than those not (even when the diet is a success) and thinner people are no more happy than overweight people. Hey, I’m all for getting healthy if you want to, but I think we focus way too much on size numbers and this book just irritated me for that reason.

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's about the woman, Jean Nidetch, who founded Weight Watchers. She has a successful entrepreneurial story that's been lost to history. It's about how she went from fat Brooklyn housewife to thin woman who lives in Brentwood and is a millionaire to founding Weight Watchers. It's also a parallel story of the author's lifetime of dieting and her weight loss journey. It was great because the author takes the reader through her whole discovery story instead of making it just a biography of Jean Nidetch.

The author wrote, "I have tried for years to wear my heaviness with a certain hard-won pride. I flirted with fat acceptance, tried to believe that weight should not define who I am and that beauty comes in different packages, but is that even possible today unless you decide to live alone without Wi-Fi in a yurt in Montana?" And she said, "Good feminists do not diet."

To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/mar...

[Roxanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is so much in this book that I didn’t know about the history of diet culture in this country and how Weight Watchers came to be. I learned so much about the founder’s life and her own issues with weight and addiction.

The book alternates chapters switching from a piece in the founder, Jean’s life to the author’s life story and journey through Weight Watchers. This was fine and interesting in the first half of the book but it felt anticlimactic in the second half where I was more drawn to the Jean chapters. There was a lot the author left unsaid about her life and her story which left me wondering what more could’ve been explored and written to bring more depth to her side of the book. I liked this read as a whole and found it to be pretty thought-provoking.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography of the founder of Weight Watchers with alternate chapters describing the author’s failed diets and her year of trying to follow Weight Watchers. The biography wasn’t that interesting but I was interested in reading the author’s lifetime struggles with her weight. What’s the best diet? One that you can live with and not simply endure. Dieting is at odds with pleasure. Can you build a life around rejecting pleasure?

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is part memoir and part biography of the flashy, fascinating founder of weight watchers (Jean Nidetch). The memoir portions of this book are boring. As boring as any diet talk. The parts of the book about Jean are great—Jean had such a life! I don’t know why this wasn’t a straight biography?

[Diana Moran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED IT!

[Shan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honest and real account, with the author's personal story that starts in the 1970s interwoven with Jean Nidetch's WW origin story beginning in the 1950s. The author narrates in a matter-of-fact voice that sometimes contrasts with the emotionally resonant material. The author is a successful writer with the means to try expensive diets, diet-centered cruises, diet-centered camps, and so on, but she's also someone who's been told all her life that she's unlovable because of her size and that her size is her own fault.

I have Jean Nidetch's own 1966 Weight Watchers Cookbook on the top shelf of my cookbook cabinet. It sounds so simple: here's what to eat; eat that and nothing else. Fish for lunch, meat for dinner, 4-7 eggs a week but only at breakfast. Jean tells her own story in the introduction. I've also read Jean's The Story of Weight Watchers--it's been decades but it's stuck with me all these years.

Lucky for all of us living here in 2021, there's been a lot of research on the physiology and psychology of weight since Jean Nidetch's time. Still, parents like Marisa's who want what's best for her--which doesn't include life as a fat person, with its constant little humiliations and finger-pointing like some of the ones I see in other GR reviews--likely don't have any better understanding now than they did in the 1970s, unless they've walked in her shoes.

The history is interesting. Jean's a fascinating character, and the author filled in gaps in my own knowledge about her later life and the business side of the empire she created.

The memoir has its ups and downs, and doesn't tie up in a neat bow. The author's conflicted, as I was while listening to the book. She awakened my own resentments from being put on a diet by a stepmother at 9 years old. My mother had died from cancer less than a year before, and in her last year a succession of aunts and grandmothers lived with us and did their best to comfort and care for us, including plenty of good cooking in an effort to tempt and strengthen my mother, so of course I was a bit chubby--I've seen the pictures, and that's the accurate description--when my dad remarried. Mom lived in Jean Nidetch's world, in which girls were supposed to be thin, mainly to look good and attract boys.

It's complicated. The author is conflicted; unhappy with her weight, resentful of the pressures to be different than she is, unwilling to embrace the fat-is-beautiful movement or seek out a partner who fetishizes fat, and doing that thing so many of us do, cycling between periods of deprivation and periods of what-the-hell indulgence. The diet landscape now, including at WW, is more geared towards adopting a healthy lifestyle that includes everything in moderation (my 1966 cookbook has nearly a full page of illegal foods like yogurt, alcohol, avocados, and ketchup), but it exists in an environment that's constantly on the attack. Food ads, delicious restaurant food full of fat and sugar, easy processed foods ditto; the sheer amount of time and energy required to plan and shop and cook ... and it's not like you can go cold turkey from food, just put the whole thing and all its dubious pleasures behind you the way you did nicotine or alcohol or whatever.

It's an interesting story, with some fascinating tidbits like the I'm-a-pig song they used to sing at Overeaters Anonymous (or was it Take Off Pounds Sensibly) back in the 1950s. Thankfully those days of shame are behind us. I enjoyed listening to this for the most part. It might be triggering for some people with eating disorders; at one point all the Nidetch-era emphasis on getting thin to be prettier had me ready to dig out my elastic waistband pants or maybe a muumuu and tell them all to go to hell, and I had to remind myself I'm currently focused on not getting diabetes or ending up on cholesterol drugs and that's why I'm not eating an entire package of cookies today.

I don't think the author has reached the end of her own struggle and I wish her well.

[Macee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Parts of this book absolutely infuriated me, but almost always only the parts that most reminded me of myself. And its that that made me appreciate the candor the author used when talking about this little-talked about universal experience.

As for the the end, in some ways it really was (always) the patriarchy all along.

[Jennifer Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book alternates chapters between the history of the woman who started Weight Watchers (Jean Nidetch) and the author herself as she struggles with her relationship to her weight/body and joins Weight Watchers. Fascinating social commentary on the idea/evolution of Weight Watchers and America’s opinions on people (in general). The book dragged a bit for me so I wasn’t flipping through the pages with curiosity to see what happened next, but it was an enlightening read. For someone in the fitness industry, it shed light for me on the stereotypes and messages we send to ourselves and others.

[Caley]

I really enjoyed this cross between a deep dive into the founder of Weight Watchers and the author's own experiences
Previously having read Glossy (which I loved), I already knew I loved the author's writing style. It feels welcoming and conversational yet the book was packed with feelings because this was surprisingly emotional
I didn't expect to find myself crying in the coffee shop as I had a pre work espresso...but here we are

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that, if you asked me what I thought of it halfway through, I'd have a very different answer than if you asked me once I finished. This is also a book where the reader's view is important. I'm a WW-er and have been for years. I firmly believe in the program for myself and would recommend it to others, so there is that.

Now, about this book. There are two stories here--in many ways, this book is like Julie Powell's Julie and Julia where a modern woman follows the career of a woman from a past age. So, we have both Jean Nidetch's life and Marisa Meltzer's. There isn't much to say about Jean Nidetch other than she was quite a woman and the chapters devoted to her are entertaining as all get out. I was also very interested in seeing how the company itself has evolved from the mandatory liver days to where it is now.

Now, as for Meltzer. I spent most of the book a bit irritated by her. A lot of her own story seemed a lot like navel-gazing to me and I felt like she had gone into the WW experience with the wrong intention. Indeed, she does say things that sat very badly with me--from saying that she held the stereotype that all WW meetings were fat people complaining about how much they hated themselves to admitted that she and her friend made fun of people's posts on Connect (WW social media platform, which is an incredibly supportive place in the world of social media).

But then something happened in the last quarter or so of the book. Meltzer started to have some real moments of self-realization and I realized that she had been at war with herself and the pages of this book were her battlefield. As she realizes her part in her process and what WW can offer, there is real growth and I ended up finishing this book with a much more positive opinion than I had had halfway through.

I will admit that I would love to see a Julie and Julia type movie of this book--not only because Meltzer is a much more sympathetic person than Powell, but also because Jean Nidetch was one of a kind in the same way, but also a very different way, than Julia Child had been. I doubt it will ever happen as WW has its corporate interests, but a girl can dream.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend this book to any WW-er and to anyone who is looking for a book showing true self-discovery.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am surprised that I greatly liked the history of weight watchers and the authors weight loss story. It maybe because I have similar issues and am finding alternatives to eating my feelings.

[Onceinabluemoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful account of the founder of ww, coupled with the authors personal lifelong weight issues. I admire her honesty, candor and journey.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this, after listening to an interview with Marisa on a podcast. Told in parallel, it's a biography of visionary entrepreneur and FFH ("former fat housewife") Jean Nidetch and a mini-memoir of the author and her lifelong struggle with her weight. I listened to the audiobook, read by Marisa herself, and definitely recommend going that route.

I found this a captivating and easily digestible biography of Jean, from plump housewife and eating partner to her equally plump husband to founder / face / champion / cheerleaders of Weight Watchers Int'l. Within, I thought the history component was fascinating: the weight battle women (and men) have been navigating over the decades and evolving sensibilities, the truly mind-boggling trends in packaged and processed foods ("..I swear people were thinner in the 60s because the food was so awful.."), and of course, learning more about Weight Watchers' rise in popularity, the community that was created, and its scale / acquisition / rebrand. This book is also a powerful narrative on society's immensely biased and cruel treatment of "overweight" (or, simply average) demographic. Marisa herself has been subject to some truly, truly horrendous comments and ridicule. I was glad to have listened and learned. Highly recommend.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard several interviews with the author on podcasts I like and was super excited to get my hands on this book. This is part memoir and part biography, and I loved it. It's rare to find a book about the body and how the writer feels about their body that is so realistic, honest, and relatable. While I thought Jean deserved her own standalone book, I thought Meltzer did an incredible job weaving their stories together.

The memoir chapters involve the author attending Weight Watchers meetings for a year, so skip this if intentional weight loss is a trigger topic for you.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who's done WW off and on for years, I had heard the organization's basic origin story but that's it. I knew very little about Jean Nidetch's life. I found Meltzer's book about her both balanced and fascinating. Meltzer's own chapters about her struggles with her weight were relatable and honest. I didn't think THIS IS BIG was going to be the kind of book I read in one sitting, but that's pretty much what I did. For me, it was informative, thought-provoking, and interesting. I enjoyed it overall and would read more from Meltzer.

[Greta Cross · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was truly a 10/10 read and I look forward to picking this up and referencing it again. I hope to write a book like this one day!!

Marisa does such a beautiful job of blending Jean’s life, work, accomplishments and hardships with her own. I felt so connected to both Jean and Marisa as I read this and I felt so heard and spoken to.

As a girlie who went to Weight Watchers meetings with her grandma and mom every week growing up (felt like such a big girl award at the time), I enjoyed being able to really learn about the company’s history.

Can’t wait to read more from Marisa soon!

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won a copy in a goodreads giveaway.
If you have ever struggled with weight loss and body acceptance, this is worth the read. I liked that it wasn't judgemental and didn't claim to have all the answers.

[Kristi Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part biography of Weight Watchers, part autobiography of author and part analysis of the intersection of feminism and diet culture. Very informative and entertaining!

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. From a woman’s perspective but resonates with me as a gay man.

[Ami Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I appreciated the author's critique of the health/wellness industry and the "impossible standards of beauty/ impossible standards of body acceptance."

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marisa - Jean’s story is incredible and so is yours. Thank you so much for this book and your honesty and truth. I resonated with this deeply and loved it. Excellent book and superb writing.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over several decades I have read about 2/3 of the books on dieting out there.

Like Marisa and many readers, I’ve been dieting since I was 12.

Marisa is the first author of the genre with a sharp sense of humor. She’s a great writer, and an old hand at lifelong dieting.

She dismisses so much of the wacky PC out there now about weight, shaming, and presents an honest, at times painful, look at what it means to be obese in the current culture.

The book revolves around the creation of WW and Jean Nidetch, the founder. While her coverage of Jean isn’t in deep depth, it’s about as much as the average reader wants to know.

Marisa feels a kinship with Jean’s spirit. She’s a veteran of WW, and like many in AA, her feelings are mixed. She yo-yos like most of us.

She’s very open about the pain she feels as a 260 lb woman in the city. She acknowledges how much pain the extra weight causes her. As a fellow yo-yo dieter, I truly appreciate her honesty. It’s pointless to say you shouldn’t be judged, because you will be.

While she never finds her key to sustainable lower weight (and much research is currently underway to understand the addictive properties of food, especially junk food), it’s clear few can just muscle through weight loss.

Kudos to you, Marisa Meltzer, for a strikingly honest, well written book. You make no excuses. Love ya for it.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative, deep, sensitive book. Author Marisa Meltzer describes the challenges, struggles and self-perceptions of those who founded ww and those who are in and out of self-help groups and their striving for self-acceptance.