Obesity Books

Losing Your Pounds of Pain This book shows how you can break the damaging connection between emotional pain and overeating to uncover your true, natural self by shedding the false skin of unhappiness.

This sensitive, sympathetic book helps readers determine whether or not weight-loss surgery is right for them. Author Michelle Ritchie shares both her personal journey as a successful weight-loss surgery patient and her professional advice as an experienced weight-loss counselor. In sometimes funny, sometimes painful prose, she discusses her life before and after surgery and bluntly analyzes her own complicity in her obesity. As she describes her four-year battle to maintain her new, healthy weight, Ritchie emphasizes personal responsibility, reminding readers that surgery is not a quick-fix solution but a tool that works only as well as the choices patients make after the procedure. Also included are a detailed description of gastric bypass surgery; its pros and cons; tips for keeping weight off after surgery; daily food plans and sample shopping lists; information on cross-addictions; and a thoughtful discussion on intimacy and relationships after surgery.

Death by Supermarket: The Fattening, Dumbing Down, and Poisoning of America Although Americans worship youth and beauty, we are aging rapidly. Death by Supermarket makes a compelling case that the epidemic of obesity and degenerative and neurological diseases in the US is the result of a new form of malnutrition. Writes Author Nancy Deville, "There is a division of the classes occurring in America that has less to do with money and more to do with personal choice. Increasingly, two distinct groups are emerging: those who eat factory food products, diet, take cocktails of over-the-counter and prescription drugs, and are overweight, depressed, and sick. The other group represents those who eat organic, real "historic" food, don't diet, avoid taking drugs, and are healthy, fit, and happy." First, factory food products made us fat and sick, and now Americans are being preyed upon by the diet and drug industries. But by turning away from dieting and drugs, and giving our bodies and brains the nutritional building blocks found in real "historic" food, we can reclaim our genetic potential and become a healthy, happy, sexy population.

Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World In this astonishing expose, journalist Greg Critser looks beyond the sensational headlines to reveal why nearly 60 percent of Americans are now overweight. Critser's sharp-eyed reportage and sharp-tongued analysis make for a disarmingly funny and truly alarming book. Critser investigates the many factors of American life -- from supersize to Super Mario, from high-fructose corn syrup to the high cost of physical education in schools -- that have converged and conspired to make us some of the fattest people on the planet. He also explains why pediatricians are treating conditions rarely before noticed in children, why Type 2 diabetes is on the rise, and how agribusiness has unwittingly altered the American diet.

"It was more than that I had kissed away my twenties and was miserable. I couldn't be naked with anybody, couldn't wear a backless dress, couldn't go to the beach—all the things a person should be able to do."

hen Muhammad Ali's daughter Khaliah hit 325 pounds, she didn't need to be told again that she was morbidly obese. A lifetime of dieting, of starving, had not helped. She thought about gastric bypass surgery but couldn't pursue it after reading the statistic that as many as one in twenty-five people suffers complications, and sometimes death, from the operation. She could not afford to risk leaving her young son without a mother.

Miserable, depressed, and unable to walk up a flight of stairs without losing her breath, she did not know which way to turn—until a friend pointed her toward a new type of surgery called gastric banding. It is just as effective as gastric bypass with a fraction of potential complications. With the band placed around her stomach and completely taking away her hunger, Khaliah slimmed down to half her former size.

The band she used has been the surgical option of choice in Europe for more than a decade but is only just now arriving in the United States. It is sure to become number one here too. Unlike gastric bypass surgery, gastric banding is reversible, is completely safe during pregnancy, involves no nutritional deficiencies, and best of all, takes away hunger forever, not just for the first year or so.

Khaliah wraps her story of weight loss in this memoir of what it was like to grow up the daughter of one of the world's most famous men, and teams up with her surgeons at the New York University Medical Center to detail the lifetime of misery suffered by an obese girl; the ins and outs of the banding operation; and the joy, serenity, and health resulting from a solution that until now had eluded her.

One dry bagel or an English muffin and jam? An envelope of chicken noodle soup or a can of black bean soup? Nationally acclaimed author Dr. Howard Shapiro will help you choose!

This invaluable companion to the best-selling Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weight Loss will lead you straight to the great-tasting brand-name foods you need to help you lose weight for good.

Dr. Shapiro shows you how easy it is to choose healthy foods that you will love-- the ones that fit into your lifestyle, whether you skip meals, eat on the run, or love to spend time in your kitchen. With Dr. Shapiro's Picture Perfect Weight Loss Shopper's Guide, deprivation and dieting will become things of the past. You'll never want to go to the supermarket without it!

No strict diets, no scary guidelines--just the essential nutrition expectant moms need to start their babies on the road to lifelong health

All parents know that kids need nutritious foods as they grow. But new research confirms that what you eats during pregnancy can also profoundly affect the health of your baby when that baby becomes an adult--for better or for worse. Endorsed by the Harvard Medical School and written by one of the world's leading experts in nutrition for pregnant women and babies, this guide offers more solid information and medically sound advice on prenatal nutrition than any other book on the market.

Join them as they chronicle their travails with weight and struggle to lose pounds and find themselves . . .

The Inner Fat Girl: the little voice that longs for an identity beyond her body

I've Always Liked Big Girls: experiences with sex, dating, and feeling sexy beyond a size six

In Tales from the Scale, author Erin J.Perfect for anyone who has every fought to lose pounds, Tales from the Scale delivers encouragement, hope, and more than a few laughs along the way.

5-HTP: The Natural Way to Overcome Depression, Obesity, and Insomnia 5-HTP is a naturally derived amino acid that has been shown in comprehensive studies to be safer than prescription drugs for the treatment of insomnia and depression, and can also be used for treating obesity, migraine headaches, fibromyalgia, and premenstrual syndrome. It may prove to be more popular than St. John's wort for the treatment of depression and other serotonin-related conditions, as it's been shown to produce results in as little as two weeks, while the herb may take a month or longer.

Author Michael Murray, N.D., a leading naturopath and coauthor of The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, delves very deeply to explain the hows and whys of depression at the neurotransmitter level, and the illustrations of presynaptic membranes may be a bit much for the lay reader. There are also several sections with intimidating titles along the lines of "Enhancing 5-HTP with Catecholamine Precursors." But the book's comprehensiveness makes up for its occasional denseness. Murray includes enlightening sections on nutrition for peak serotonin synthesis, other complementary herbal supplements, and many online and physical sources for obtaining 5-HTP. --Erica JorgensenThe most authoritative and comprehensive guide to realizing the amazing health benefits of 5-HTP

Written by one of America's leading naturopathic doctors, 5-HTP explains how this natural amino acid can safely and effectively regulate low serotonin levels, which have been linked to depression, obesity, insomnia, migraines, and anxiety.

5-HTP is also a powerful antioxidant that can protect the body from free-radical damage, reducing the risk of serious illnesses such as cancer. 5-HTP has already helped thousands, and Dr. Murray, citing extensive scientific studies and case histories, shows how this groundbreaking supplement can help you.

Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time: Practical Advice For Preventing Cancer The mortality rate from cancer hasn't changed in 60 years despite the billions invested to find a cure. Avoiding Cancer One Day At A Time provides solid, practical advice for preventing cancer by avoiding carcinogens and implementing lifestyle/dietary practices that modify cancer causing factors.

Combining their experience in family medicine and epidemiology with their passion for disease prevention, the authors provide the most up to date and effective advice for preventing cancer from developing in ourselves and our loved ones. Many "how to" examples for preventing cancer by being environmentally aware, avoiding infections, living the proper lifestyle and getting the proper nutrition are provided. Chapter by chapter summaries and listings of the latest cancer prevention web sites are great references. Worksheets assist readers in implementing the advice in very tangible ways, and the recipe collection of cancer avoiding meals is a winner!

"An empowering book from the first page. Health principles and the best in sound research. It will change how you live with simple graces such as removing your shoes, pleasing your body with good taste, keeping yourself environmentally conscious, and relationally wise. Health care from a preventative perspective we all need." -- Gwen MacDonald, M.D., Owner and President of Pediatrics Plus Family

"Something for everyone. Each chapter sparked my interest and inspired me to read more. This book covers the spectrum of cancer prevention, and the depth of writing, index and resources enable anyone to find the specific information they're interested in." -- Amy Casey-Paal MPH, Epidemiologist, Minnesota Department of Health Cancer Control Section

Recommended Books on Obesity