I just want to say THANK YOU! Thank you for your book, I have found so much freedom and peace from it. It has helped change the way I view my body and myself, and also made me look at where I want to be health wise. I feel like I’m looking at food and exercise in a whole different light now that those things have nothing to do with me being a certain size, but instead have to do with the health I choose to be. THANKYOU!!!!! ~Jess M
Whether you are fat or thin, Fat: The Owner’s Manual will educate you about life in a fat body. It includes top notch information, solid science, support, and general inspiration to help all of us navigate a world rife with size prejudice and weight stigma. Ragen’s style is to provide ideas, without moralizing – and she does a particularly good job of separating the civil rights movement of Fat Acceptance from the health practice of Health at Every Sizeâ. Highly recommended! ~Dr. Linda Bacon, professor, researcher, and author of Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about Your Weight.
About the book, I wanted to tell you there were times when I laughed out loud (you have a way with words!), and times when I went what the fuck, are you fucking serious out loud (mostly at some of the crap you’ve had to deal with). Thank you for gathering all this information on studies, as well – it’s easier for me to stand firm when I know better what I’m talking about. Really, thank you for writing this book. It’s helping me rearrange my thoughts a bit and get rid of those lingering threads of “everybody knows” and that’s worth its weight in gold. ~NJ
The book was amazing. In the last two days I found myself pulling out my kindle to read just a few more pages at every chance that I had. I was even guilty of reading during a few meals and asking my fiance if we could just have some alone time last night so I could read. (which he was totally cool with) I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful and inspiring the book was. By far my favorite chapter was the chapter on self-esteem. It touched me so much that I went back and read it a few times. I am currently in recovery from anorexia and can’t even begin to tell you how much you have helped me. Your grace and humor is great and makes the research so much easier to digest. I have loved your blog since it was recommended to me by my nutritionist and have become an avid reader and occasional commenter. I enjoyed that your book was written in the format similar to your blog posts. I will stop rambling because there really aren’t enough words to tell you how thankful I am for everything that you do and how much you have helped me as well as how much I enjoyed your book. But I just wanted to give you a little feedback and let you know how much I appreciate everything that you do and how much it has changed my life for the better, as well as my recovery. Thank you. ~Daniella
We need to change the conversation about weight, and this book is an excellent place to start. Even in just the prologue there are enough thought-provoking questions to challenge anyone’s assumptions and patterns of thinking about weight and health. ~Sharon
I’d been following Ragen’s blog for several months when I purchased this book. She’s such a rational, sane voice when it comes to the national freakout over the wholly manufactured “epidemic” of “overweight” people and the complete and utter sham of the BMI as a measure of health. I grew up in a family that shamed me mercilessly for not being thin. I was made to feel like a complete failure in every aspect of my life because I wasn’t stick-thin. I internalized this abuse, in addition to the wrongheaded, cruel garbage that is the lifeblood of girls’ and women’s magazines. After decades of disordered eating, including a bout with anorexia that nearly killed me, a friend turned me on to the Health At Every Size movement. This book is a great place to start if you’re looking to end your relationship with self-hatred. You’ll never fall for that b.s. about the “obesity epidemic” again. ~Babycakes
The only problem I have with this book is with the title, because in no way is this book only for the “owners” of fat; yes, this must be a great book for people who are fat, but this is a book for anyone interested in issues of equality and in broadening their perspectives. After reading this book, I believe that fat discrimination is perhaps the last frontier in socially-sanctioned discrimination, and that anyone interested in a more just world needs to take this book very seriously. It will change the way you think on a daily basis.
If you are sick and tired of dieting and hating your body, you will love the information Ragen shares in her book. It is like finding an old friend who has gobs of common sense. If you are tempted to go on your next diet, you MUST read about this new alternate way to improve your Health At Any Size. Yes, you can succeed. You just need to select the helpful goals of self-care and body esteem (and stop funding the 60 billion dollar weight cycling industry). ~Kelly Bliss, M.Ed., A.C.E., Psychotherapist, fitness professional, owner of Lifestyle Watchers® and PhatMoves.com, author of Don’t Weight, Eat Healthy and Get Moving NOW!
“Ragen Chastain lays out all things fat and fabulous in this deeply insightful yet wildly entertaining romp. It will make you think, it will make you laugh and it will make you pump your chubby fist in the air and cheer!” ~ Jeanette DePatie aka The Fat Chick
Incisive, practical and always spot on, Ragen Chastain addresses the often confusing world of being fat, fit and very happy. She’s an inspiration to the HAES movement. ~Maria Lima, award nominated author of the Blood Lines series
I not only enjoy reading Ragen’s pearls of wisdom, I enjoy re-reading them, over and over. They inspire me, comfort me, and make me laugh. She reminds us that many of our culture’s timeworn beliefs are mired in myth, that just because ‘everybody’ thinks something doesn’t mean it’s true, and that there are some really smart people out there saying, ‘The emperor has no clothes!’ ~Nina Feldman
Review from Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society
Fat: The Owner's Manual 