Heavy Lettuce: Adventures of a Journeyman Dieter

Johnny T. Flynn
Sunset Avenue Publishers (2006)
ISBN 0976352516
Reviewed by Beverly Pechin for Reader Views (07/06)

There is nothing worse than a skinny person writing about the trials and tribulations of being ‘fat’.  How would they really know what it’s like?  Have no fear, as “one of our own” from the Growing Up Chubby Club has finally found the way to not only share ideas, techniques and facts but has managed to mix in a good dose of humor at a not always quite so funny subject.

You will thoroughly enjoy the stories of the author as he grew up ‘fat’ and all of the crazy ways he tried to change himself for various reasons.  Spoken like a true dieting guru, Johnny Flynn not only touches on some of the most detailed moments of his life, young and old, but shares some of the most successful ways to go about finally losing that weight and keeping it of.

Using facts and figures to show you the way, he includes some insights to various fad diets and some not so ‘fad’ dieting programs, including Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and eDiets.  While he never bashes any of the programs mentioned he does comment on a time when he visited a Weight Watchers meeting with his sister.  He tells of one woman who had finally reached her goal and gives quite a comical overview of his desire to boo her off the stage when she said absolutely nothing into the microphone but cried intensely.  While the actual event itself isn’t comical, the comedy itself comes from the fact that poor Johnny sat there wanting so badly to boo her off the stage for her meager attempt at sharing her ideas and ways but the fear of his sister smacking him into oblivion kept him quiet.

While Flynn never gives you an out and out, step by step diet plan; he does arm you with knowledge and techniques.  He shows you how to manage your daily calorie intake, make healthy choices based on labels and knowledge and forces you to begin taking responsibility for your own decisions when it comes to food.

A wonderful, knowledgeable book of facts combined with a humorous look at not only growing up as a ‘fat kid’ but laughing at ourselves at a nation filled with obesity and taking on the responsibility of changing our ways.  Dieting tips, enlightening stories and my most favorite stories of chocolate (that demon so many of us fall to) that will leave you laughing calories away as you finally decide to take charge of your life and become what you’ve always wanted to become, a thinner, healthier you.

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