“You Just Need to Lose Weight”: And 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon

“You Just Need to Lose Weight”: And 19 Other Myths About Fat People Reviews

• 
  destiny ♡ howling libraries

  DNF @ 24%
  
  "You Just Need to Lose Weight" is a valuable resource that has a lot to offer for the right audience — most notably, people who want to learn how to fight anti-fatness from ground zero.
  
  As someone who has dealt with this in my own life and the lives of my loved ones since I was born, I didn't feel like I was gaining anything except the feeling of being generally miserable because the entire book up to my stopping point was such a painfully honest reminder of how so many people view fat bodies (and even "average" bodies in many countries).
  
  Great book for a lot of people, just way too high-risk/low-reward for me with the impact this author's blunt prose had on my mental health.
  
  Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
  
  ✨ Representation: the author takes care to discuss the impacts of anti-fatness on BIPOC fat individuals as well as using trans-inclusive terms.
  
  ✨ Content warnings for: graphic anti-fatness, medical trauma, mentions of fat children being removed from families due to their fatness, mentions of racism
  
  ———
  
  twitter |
  booktok |
  bookstagram |
  blog
• 
  Traci Thomas

  Really good work on anti fat discrimination. Detailed and organized in a very clear effective way. For both fat and thin people. A really commitment to intersectionality and activism. Only drawback is that it got redundant by the end.
• 
  Candace

  I would like to buy a copy of this book for everyone I know and maybe put a copy in every hotel room drawer just like the Gideons do for the New Testament.
• 
  Nathan Shuherk

  A very good exploration of ideas, but that doesn’t feel like a book. It’s a slightly disjointed series of posts that too often overlap each other, but for those new to the topic, would still be incredibly insightful and helpful to read.
• 
  Beth Menendez

  Yep, I’m an unapologetic Aubrey Gordon fan. Read this book for a lot of reasons- read it to support your friends, your family, that coworker who cracks you up. Read it to learn more about how the numbers and catch phrases we bandy about maybe aren’t so accurate. That those “ideals” we think we should uphold are really made out of straw. Read it to realize that every body is it’s own beautiful creation. Love love love this book
• 
  brea

  Hmmm, this is a tricky one to review. It wasn’t bad per se, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed. I have long been a follower and fan of Aubrey Gordon (back to the yrfatfriend days) and the thing I love and respect about her the most is her intense research and her passion for information, and that research and passion just did not come across in this book.
  
  Don’t get me wrong, nothing in this book comes off as factually incorrect, nor do I feel she is spreading misinformation, but I feel like she’s trying to tackle too much in too little space. I would have preferred instead of her touching just a bit on 20 myths, that she would have gone HARD on like 2 or 3 myths and really sank her teeth in and showed the research and facts behind why the myths are utter bullshit, the damage it does, and the greater societal impact. I guess… I guess I wanted more of a maintenance phase episode? Those feel more vigorously researched than these chapters.
  
  This felt very much like a “welcome to fat studies” primer, which certainly isn’t a bad thing but it’s just not what I was looking for and not what I expected since we kind of already got that from her last book.
  
  I don’t know, I adore Aubrey but I’m not sure the book is her best medium. I think she’s a person who really shines in conversation and that’s why Maintenance Phase has been such a slam dunk — a lot of her cheeky wit and sarcasm felt like it was missing from this book and it just didn’t work for me. I missed her personality!
  
  The more I sit on this, even as a fat studies primer I think I would recommend many of the other books she mentions in her book (like Belly of the Beast, Hunger, and Fearing the Black Body) before I’d recommend this one… it was just too little if everything because it was trying to do too much at once. Again, not a BAD book, just not up to par with some of her other content and not nearly as in-depth.
  
  Final rating: 2.75/5
  
  Thank you to Libro.fm and the publishers for early access to this book for review purposes.
• 
  Jessica - How Jessica Reads

  Not as funny or profane as Maintenance Phase; but Gordon's voice still clearly resonates.
  
  Each chapter includes a fat-related myth that is carefully debunked, and then ends with reflection questions and action steps, making You Just Need to Lose Weight an excellent tool for those working to end anti-fat bias.
• 
  Jake Arlow

  This is a great starting point for people on their journey of unlearning anti-fat bias and supporting fat liberation (esp as a non-fat ally!), but if you listen to maintenance phase (WHICH U SHOULD!!!!) much of this will be familiar! That is not a bad thing--I love having this easily accessible, and, as Aubrey mentioned on the show, this is a great jumping off point, and something that you can share with friends and family (w their consent) in the form of packets/printing off different chapters. If you haven't read either of Aubrey's books, I'd recommend starting with "What We Don't Talk About When we Talk About Fat," but as a resource this is so wonderful. Highly recommend
• 
  Leah

  does a great job of explaining anti-fatness as a systemic issue instead of just an interpersonal one. if you listen to maintenance phase already, it covers many of the same topics. aubrey has such a nice voice I like listening to it :)
• 
  Vicki Liu

  I am new to fat activisim and general anti fat bias discourse and I found this to be a very digestible, eye opening, and well structured read. I also had the pleasure of attending an online book launch and discussion by the author Aubrey Gordon and Virginia Sole Smith and their different perspectives really emphasized that there are even different levels of discrimination for every size/"level" of fat. The book seems very well researched and most if not all cited sources are primary sources. I also appreciated that at the end of each chapter were reflection questions and section for opporunities for action. It's uncomfortable to confront your biases and examine them closely and the book does help guide you in a way so as to not raise your defenses. I was also particularly impressed with her dedication to intersctionality--how anti fatness and anti-blackness can go hand in hand and she touched on how anti fatness harms other marginalized groups (trans, LGBTQ+ groups, indigenous, PoC, disabled). The last chapter in particular touches on systesm of oppresion and how we must actively fight against them.
• 
  Jessica McSweeney

  I highly recommend this book to everyone, but most especially to people who consider themselves social justice-minded and who haven’t had the chance to really unpack their own anti-fat bias yet.
  
  I wish someone had handed me this book anytime between the ages of 16-29 — I was deep in my own ED and body dysmorphic disorder, and was causing harm left and right. Aubrey does a really wonderful job of not only making this information digestible (I’d say definitely moreso than her last book given the chapter breakdowns) but also the tough, compassionate love people who are not superfat need to hear. The reflection questions at the end of each chapter are wonderful, too.
  
  For people who’ve done a ton of work around fat activism, I don’t think you’ll necessarily learn anything new, but it never hurts to have the refresher and to feel seen by Aubrey’s words. I both picked up a new book rec from her as well as solidified some of my feelings around the body positive movement’s centering of thin, white bodies while reading this, and think anyone will find something valuable. For people who’ve never really touched this work in a big way, prepare to have a lot of things challenged — in the best way. ❤️
• 
  Becca Boland

  Please read this book. Please.
• 
  Hannah

  I'm a huge fan of Maintenance Phase, and like other reviewers have mentioned, this is as good as you'd expect from how brilliant Aubrey is, though it's also decidedly less funny and entertaining. I'll say for me it wasn't exactly eye-opening simply because it's content I've made a point of learning and exposing myself to for awhile now anyway, but I'm glad I read it because it can always bear reminding and because now I know it's something I can shove at a lot of people who desperately need to read it.
• 
  January

  “You Just Need to Lose Weight”: And 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon
  7h 11m narrated by the author, 224 pages
  
  Genre: Nonfiction, Feminism, Health, Essays, Science, Social Justice, Mental Health, Adult, Self Help, Self-Improvement, Sociology
  
  Featuring: Anti-Fat Myths and Biases, Suggested Reading, Opportunities For Action, Fat Activism, List of Terms, Diet Culture,
  
  Rating as a movie: PG-13
  
  My rating: DNF @ 17% 1:13:04 15 minutes into Myth 2- Any fat person can become thin if they try hard enough. It's just a matter of 'calories in, calories out."
  
  My thoughts: 📱14% 58:34 Myth 2- Any fat person can become thin if they try hard enough. It's just a matter of 'calories in, calories out." - Oh, boy! This is going to take a while. It comes off very preachy and the narration sounds like the author is yelling at you.
  📱17% 1:13:04 15 minutes into Myth 2- Any fat person can become thin if they try hard enough. It's just a matter of 'calories in, calories out." - I'm done with this rant.
  
  Why I quit: I wanted to like this book but I don't think I'll get much out of it. So far it is more about the author's personal issues than the topic at hand. She's very passionate about this topic but her passion comes off as aggressive speech and I'm not doing hours of her yelling at me. I don't relate to this topic on that level, I breezed over the myths and no thank you based on the explanations of the first two.
  
  Recommend to others?: Honestly no. This story seems very personalized and less about enlightening people and more about sharing a personal agenda disguised as understanding a group.
• 
  Carla

  You Just Need to Lose Weight really hit home for me. I am a larger woman, one wearing those plus sizes and as I read and listened to this book, I found myself nodding my head over and over. The gist of this book is the stereotyping of Fat People, bashing them for being lazy, not taking care of themself etc. and how the government, doctors and people have made it okay to discriminate larger people. I learned a lot in this book. Aubrey Gordon has done a lot of research about the origin of the "Obesity Epidemic" and how it came about. I was not surprised to hear that many of the people on the WHO's committee on obesity were businessmen involved in producing weight loss medication and running weight loss programs. What did surprise me was how the medical profession bought into it, even when there is research and numbers showing that it is not as bad as it is touted. With the government on board with insurance companies, it gives people permission to discriminate, harass and more. I am not going to regurgitate all the main points in this book because I really think it is important to read this book. The author does not forget about the many other kinds of discrimination that are still around and growing all the time, in fact the last myth is that fat discrimination is the last socially accepted discrimination there is. She is adamant that it is not and lists many others that are still around. Each chapter of the book asks questions at the end so you can think about your reactions and experiences. It also give suggestions of things you can do to help end fat discrimination and books you can read to enlighten yourself. I am glad I read this book and it has left me with a lot to think about and a lot to do.
• 
  ashes ➷

  (thank God + the publisher for an ARC because when shipments were delayed on release day I was ready to off myself)
  
  This book does exactly what it sets out to do: serve as an easy-to-use handbook for dismantling anti-fatness from the ground up. While that means it does repeat research and ideas from both her (amazing) podcast
  Maintenance Phase and her last book What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat, I was never bothered due to the inherent difference in audience all three have... and, admittedly, the fact that I just wanted to read more Gordon and I did not care what it was about. I would have read her review of a cotton pillowcase.
  
  You've heard it from me before: Gordon's writing is acerbic; it's quick-witted; it's well-researched in a way that is easy to read and simultaneously makes you feel like a secret genius when you've finished it. All of that is still more than true here, and she chooses to present it in a different style: rather than being a book you read through all in one go like her first, this comes across as a read-what-you-like handbook, particularly for those moments in which you hear some bullshit and think "now, I know that's not right, but I don't feel like I have the facts on hand to debunk it..." NOW YOU DO! It's also great for general self-improvement, particularly given the actionable items at the end of each chapter.
  
  For that reason, I was completely fine with the repetition from her other work even though I had not only just read her first book but also binged several podcast episodes. The calories-in-calories-out chapter here in specific reads as a cleaned-up and book-formatted version of her
  podcast episode... which, to me, was awesome, because 1) good review of the content! 2) I prefer reading to listening a lot of the time 3) I believe the audiences for the two are fundamentally different. The time and energy it takes to listen to her entire podcast vs. read this entire book are different, and the way people approach them will be different, so I recommend people treat this as a kind of "handbook adaptation" of Gordon's other work and go from there. It's not going to be for all Gordon superfans, which doesn't bother me at all.
  
  I also couldn't stop reading the damn thing, so: recommend to everyone, just like I did with her last book. I honestly don't know if, given the choice between recommending solely one or the other, I could pick, because the two are so different stylistically and cover so much of the same content. I'll have to percolate.
• 
  Tori Larson

  This book taught me so much and provided me with frameworks and vocabulary to begin interrogating my internalized antifatness. Incredibly readable, intensely researched, poignant.
• 
  Morgan

  “You Just Need to Lose Weight” and 19 Other Myths About Fat People by Aubrey Gordon is one of my most anticipated releases of 2023 and it didn’t disappoint. Gordon does a fantastic job of explaining (and debunking) common myths people hold about fatness as well as giving people reflection questions and some applicable steps to combat the myths in daily life. I highly recommend this for anyone new to this topic as well as fans of Aubrey Gordon’s work. Thank you to Edelweiss and Beacon Press for the e-arc.
• 
  Grace

  The author's described this as a sort of quick primer, perfect to inform yourself and others of key myths around fatness in a relatively brief, easy-to-understand format, and I really think it delivers. If you've spent a lot of time educating yourself on anti-fatness, I don't think there's necessarily much here that you won't have encountered before, and there are definitely times throughout where the information felt a bit repetitive, but that seems largely by design. And, as so many of us know, just because information is readily available and frequently cited, doesn't mean people will internalize it, so I think in a lot of ways the repetition just underscores the information. I listened to it on audiobook since, unlike her first book, this one is read by the author, and beautifully so. I really appreciated that most every chapter included reflection questions, as well as guidance for concrete actions readers can take to fight for fat justice. I really think everybody should read this, and it's particularly perfect for those newer to their work on anti-fat bias.
• 
  Marissa Landrigan

  Required reading. If you still hold any beliefs about the correlation between weight and health, the efficacy of any form of dieting, the pervasiveness of anti-fat bias and discrimination, or if you’re simply interested in increasing your awareness, you must read this book. Read it if you know and love any fat people. Highlights: reflection questions and opportunities for action at the end of every chapter. Impressively intersectional analysis. Truly great writing too.
• 
  Liv Pasquarelli

  *content warning: disordered eating and experiences of anti-fat bias
  
  
  Aubrey Gordon continues to contribute essential work to the fat liberation canon. Her first book, “What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat,” opened my eyes to the fallacies we’re taught about fatness, and how those fallacies have shaped and controlled me all my life.
  
  “You Just Need to Lose Weight” dug deeper. Every chapter pulled back another curtain, brought up the lights, and revealed the clandestine ways anti-fatness had crept it’s way into the deepest parts of me.
  
  Anti-fat bias has haunted me my entire life, yet I clung to the last straight sizes for dear life, 15 years after I had entered recovery for ED. The anti-fat sentiment I was raised with has almost killed me many times, yet here it was, peering back at me in places I didn’t know existed.
  
  The book ended where all books on social liberation movements should end, but are often forgotten. Perhaps that’s why, despite the title claiming 19 Myths, we close on Myth 20: “Anti-fatness is the last socially acceptable form of discrimination.”
  
  Aubrey Gordon has always done an excellent job weaving intersectionality into everything she does. This chapter was graceful, kind, yet clear and direct. I have heard these words before. I admit to feeling their resonance after being humiliated in a doctors office for the millionth time, or after a cab driver called me a “fat b*tch” when I reacted to him almost hitting me with his car on a New York City crosswalk. No one ever says anything. These public injustices are at best, ignored and at worst, applauded or even encouraged. How is this even happening? I would think to myself.
  
  Myth 20 pointed out the inherent flaw that comes when one only looks at the world from their perspective. I’m enraged by the public acts of injustice and violence that I and others fat people face, simply for existing. I still am, because I should be. However, the last chapter of this book made clear that while I have faced anti-fat bias, mistreatment, and abuse, I cannot forget my privilege as a white woman and as a smaller fat person.
  
  So many people, including myself, get stuck in the pain of our experiences of bias, causing us to forget the layers of prejudice black, indigenous, and people of color face. Like with most movements of social progress, queer and trans people of color have paved the way to where I stand in the fat liberation movement.
  
  Intersectionality is crucial to move any movement forward, but especially in creating change in the Fat Liberation Movement, because anti-fatness harms everyone in every aspect of society, but it hurts BIPOC, LQBTQ+ people, trans people, and disabled people the most.
• 
  Joe Marino

  Our society celebrates/promotes thinness over all other body types. And at any cost.
  
  Those who do not meet conventional standards of thinness face ridicule, mistreatment, discrimination, and a general lack of understanding from others.
  
  There is a common misconception that being "overweight" is a choice. Believing that an individual’s weight is fully within their control allows body shamers to feel justified when making certain value judgments (e.g., "overweight people are lazy", "the reason why people aren't thin is because of their own bad decisions/behaviors/lack of will power"). This only promotes stigma and shame, assigning blame to someone based on incorrect/superficial assumptions.
  
  The reality, as this book notes, is that the science behind weight (how to lose it, how it is gained, how to keep it off long term, why some people are just naturally bigger than others) is far more complicated than people give it credit for. There are many genetic markers, medical issues, and hormonal factors to consider behind weight.
  
  People also commonly make assumptions about the presumed "health" of a person based solely on their physical appearance. These assumptions are all gross (often intrusive) oversimplifications and distortions of reality. They also very unfortunately have a negative impact on how people are treated/viewed and even receive healthcare.
  
  Perhaps worst of all, people reveal their true fear/disapproval of weight when they make others feel like something is wrong with their bodies that needs to change.
  
  The author said it best when she said that "no one should have to change their appearance to "earn" basic dignity and respect." and that "no one owes you a medical history or explanation for their body."
  
  The book had really thoughtful questions for reflection throughout. Do you offer unsolicited diet or exercise advice, make rude remarks/observations about people's weight? If so, it may be time to rethink whether your "concern" may not actually be about their wellbeing or health but instead just be your own discomfort with their appearance. If you are truly concerned about someone's health, have you considered their mental health before providing "feedback"?
  
  This book also made an argument to reclaim the word "fat" as a neutral descriptor for people akin to "tall" or "short". I definitely believe in the power of reclaiming and redefining terms (similar to what we've seen relatively recently with the word "queer"), but I think we have a long way to go before this word changes its charged meaning.
• 
  Teddy

  An absolutely FANTASTIC piece of writing. It's amazingly researched, providing a springboard to other sources on the subjects discussed. It's also wonderfully intersectional in how it examines intersections of discrimination and oppression, both validating marginalized communities and asking the reader to interrogate these intersections.
  
  This is Gordon's finest work yet -- strongly, strongly recommend, particularly to those who are new to this area of thought. I'll be ordering my own copy, and also placing an order request for one at my library. This book will be shared far and wide in my life.
• 
  Kristy

  This book made me sad, mad, and incredibly self-reflective. I highly recommend it. I wish I had a physical copy so I could pull some quotes, but listening to the author read the audiobook was definitely the way to go!
• 
  maddie (thenmaddieread)

  Absolutely required reading for anyone looking to deconstruct their fat-hatred. Aubrey is a clear and entertaining writer with tons of citations for further reading, and each chapter ends with some reflection questions or calls to action. Read with a pencil in hand.
  
  I do think that structurally, the book could have been improved by combining some of the chapters. It's tough to have a longer, scientifically-based debunking chapter with lots of citations followed up by one or two more social-emotional ones, which are just as important but are often noticeably shorter and tougher to base in anything more substantial than "this is clearly very mentally harmful." There are a few of them that could have been combined into one more impactful chapter but clearly got broken apart to hit 20 myths.
  
  Thank you Beacon and Edelweiss for the ARC!
• 
  Emma

  The perfect book for when people around you are being anti-fat whether they mean to be or not. Also great for when you catch yourself being anti-fat as well, either to yourself or others. Aubrey breaks the book down into digestible, easy to grasp chapters. It's enlightening and backed by legitimate sources and great information to share.
• 
  leah geisler

  I had high hopes for this book because I love Aubrey Gordon, and needless to say, it did not disappoint.
  Such an important book in a world that is so deeply infiltrated with anti-fatness and fat bias, and truly interrogates common assumptions about fat people. The whole book was laid out in a way that could be followed easily and Gordon relies heavily on facts and data to get her point across.