The Weight of the World . . .

Nice Girls Finish Fat: Put Yourself First and Change Your Eating Forever by Karen Koenig (613. 25 KOE)

Reviewed by Susan Wolfe

OK. This started out as just another annual resolution…but it is such a darn good book! It deals not only with eating – but about how we put too many things on our plate, literally and figuratively.

Karen Koenig is a psychotherapist with other books to her credit. She writes with both humor and understanding to the layperson…. Thank goodness. This is a fun and interactive book.

• Take the “How Nice Are You?” quiz. See if you are sabotaging your weight by being a Nice Girl.

• Then the “Grab Your Thinking Cap” exercises. Oh yeah. Ouch. Is fulfillment in the frig instead of in other aspects of life?

• The “Nice Girl Recovery Tips” are practical strategies for saying NO.
So often, most of us put ourselves last after children, work, family, etc. Way too busy taking care of everyone else, we don’t take time for ourselves. Most of us gals are guilty, and we don’t even realize that we are doing it. It is so ingrained.

After all, it’s the nice person who puts everyone first, isn’t it? It is selfish to put yourself first.

Sound familiar?

But there is a link between being nice to others and neglecting yourself. We too often reward ourselves with food. We stuff down anger and frustration with food. It’s there, but we ignore it or try to move past it. Who has time to address negative thoughts?

I guess the word is really neglect. We then punish ourselves. We sabotage diets. There is usually a reason behind why we do the things we do. We are just used to reacting in a certain way. It is hard to even recognize those traits.

What is nice about Koenig’s book is the descriptions and various people profiled in the book. (Time to get nailed.) It helps you take a good look at yourself. She gives ideas for becoming more self-focused and assertive.

So did I lose any weight? I’m a work in progress. Put I now try to put myself on my list of things to do each day and take better care of myself.