Customer Reviews

Fat Chance: Losing the Weight, Gaining My Worth

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Julie Hadden thought her chances of appearing as a contestant on "The Biggest Loser" were pretty slim, but not only did she make the cut for Season 4, she ended up being slim herself and keeping the weight off long after the show was over. But even after she made the initial selection and appeared on the first show, she wasn't picked for either the Red or Blue team and thought that all the questionnaires, interviews, and appearances before judges was going to be for nothing. Then after an hour of waiting for the bus to take her and the rest of the "losers" out of the desert where they had finished the first race, who should come screaming out of the dust on her motorcycle but Jillian Michaels herself, ready to form the first "Black Team". They were going to be on the show after all!

If you've ever wondered how the contestants lose so much weight each week on the show, Julie tells of the grueling exercise routines they endure on a daily basis. It's not just the "Last Chance Workout" before weigh-ins where they go all out to burn calories and build new muscle, but 6 long hours of that same excruciating workout everyday. She refers to Jillian's workouts as "beatings." Jillian's motto, "Don't quit unless you faint, puke or die!" takes on an all too real meaning for the contestants in the following weeks. They all found out that they were capable of far more than the ever realized, but the process wasn't much fun at the time. Julie tells about what it took for her to keep going and not give up, even when she was only losing a couple pounds per week. In the end she was to lose almost half of her original body weight! I found it amazing that after all the "beatings" and seemingly impossible workouts, that Jillian Michaels was her hero.

This book is very interesting for it's inside look at "The Biggest Loser" but it's much more than that. It tells about Julie's background and her internal struggle with herself to keep on going and to not give up on becoming the person that she deserved to be. The book was mainly about her faith in God and how that helped her to get through the show and the weight loss process and to keep the weight off afterwards. If you find talk about other people's religious beliefs not to your liking you may find this book a little over the top. But if you want to realize what it took for one woman to conquer her problem with weight and ending up with her life changed because of the huge burden of all those extra pounds, this book is for you.

So many Americans are what is called morbidly obese, they weigh so much that they are in danger of several illness and death due to weight. Julie Hadden was one of those people. She had the perfect life, a wonderful husband, a son, and the chance to stay at home to raise him. She had family, friends, and a strong spiritual life. She was blond; who could ask for more? But, she was also severely overweight and it was ruining her life. She didn't have the energy to play with her son, was embarrassed to go out in public, and even ashamed to be intimate with the husband who adored her. She needed a change.
That's exactly what she got. When she was picked to compete on The Biggest Loser, she was thrown into a radical program that overhauled her whole life. In the book, Fat Chance, she tells us about her struggle, her pain, and her triumph.
The book is divided into three parts, her life before the program, the grueling days on The Biggest Loser, and the struggle to keep the weight off once she was on her own again. Julie is a very charismatic writer and her personality shines through her words. I never watched The Biggest Loser and I knew nothing of her before the book, but by the second chapter I was convinced she was a warm, friendly person. Her writing is simple and welcoming, as casual as a talk with a good friend.
A wonderfully refreshing part of the book is Julie's faith. People don't often openly speak of their religion, but Fat Chance is not only a story of weigh loss, it is a personal testimony of her faith. While she had always been a `born-again' Christian, she didn't have a strong personal relationship with God. However, when she faced the toughest challenge of her life, the breakdown and rebuilding of her whole body, she found strength in the Lord. It is delightful to read and to think perhaps your faith could be that strong.
This book is a great read for everyone, skinny and thin. It isn't a book just about weight loss; it is a book about facing your demons and surviving. Julie's demon was her weight and the emotional issues behind it, but what she did will inspire anyone who has a large barrier to overcome and needs the strength to succeed.

I am in the process of losing weight and reclaiming my health. Although this book did not start my journey, it has inspired me to continue at a time that I had reached a plateau. The heartfelt journey that Julie engages us in strikes every area that is touched by changes that started with our body. Thank you Julie for writing this book and motivating the rest of us to see ""we are worthy of our dreams" too!!!!

It was a dream come true. Julie Hadden was picked from hundreds of thousands of candidates to become a contestant on the fourth season of the reality TV show "The Biggest Loser". Hadden had struggled with weight and self-esteem issues for years and for her this was the chance to turn her life around. Nothing about Julie's life before, during, and even after has been easy but her experience on "The Biggest Loser" not only changed her life but changed her relationship with her family, friends, and God.

"Fat Chance" is Julie Hadden's inspiring tale about her experiences with being overweight and losing that weight on television in front of millions of people as well as her life both before and after her appearance on "The Biggest Loser". Hadden has a nice story-telling style - she has a nice sense of humor, is direct, and very honest about herself - both her good points and bad. Hadden talks about what it was like to be overweight at an early age and how self-conscious she was about it. She doesn't blame anyone but herself and is honest about how her eating habits were not only hurting herself but her husband and child. Her glimpses of her life both past and present are interesting, especially how "The Biggest Loser" made her famous, but the most interesting part is when she talks about being on the show. She doesn't really offer any juicy backstage gossip, but instead talks about how hard she and the others worked on the show, not only to lose weight and get in shape but to gain their self-esteem. While she is clearly a Jillian Michaels' fan, she doesn't sugarcoat how tough a taskmaster Michaels is (Michaels wrote the forward to the book).

Religion and her relationship with God have helped Hadden attain her weight loss and maintain it and that is something she talks a lot about in "Fat Chance". Scattered throughout the book are text boxes which expand on information in the paragraph next to the box. At the end of each chapter Hadden also offers "My Best Advice" to help the reader even more. The book is neatly divided into three parts: "Moment of Recognition: Something's Got to Give"; "Jell-O Bones and a Bucket of Tears: My Surreal Existence on Reality TV"; and "At Home in My Own Skin: Returning to the Old Life I'd Sometimes Never Lived". Each section roughly covers her life before, during, and after her appearance on "The Biggest Loser". The appendices at the back of the book contain some suggested sample workouts, some recipes, and some FAQ's.

"Fat Chance" is an inspirational book that shows how one person's life changed after she lost weight. Well done.

I'm actually not particularly religious in that although I believe deeply in God - I rarely go to church. But I found this book to be very spiritually motivating. It shows how Julie Hadden used her faith to help her lose weight; regain her self-esteem and endure the grueling competition that she faced on The Biggest Loser.

The book is sprinkled with Bible verses, but to me that only showed how deeply Julie Hadden "walks the talk" of her faith.

I actually have read all The Biggest Loser books and frankly I found this to be the most inspiring. I personally feel that every large church that hires speakers should choose Julie to give a talk to their congregation. I know so many women who devote so much time to their families and church that they have absolutely nothing left over to give to themselves. I think that Julie could really help them with this.

Oddly enough, Julie participated on the only season of Biggest Loser that I have NOT seen. Therefore, I had no expectations of what to expect from her book. It had come recommended to me, so I thought I'd give it a try for extra weight-loss motivation.

I enjoyed reading this book and had to force myself to not race through it. I myself appreciated the Christian references. However, non-Christians might have an issue with those, as they are a very big part of this book.

Thanks for sharing your journey with us, Julie.

Julie Hadden, a contestant on The Biggest Loser Season 4, lost almost 100 pounds and has kept it off. In her book, Julie describes how she became obese, her experiences on The Biggest Loser, and her life after reality television.

Julie shares about her childhood as a chubby little girl and tells how she struggled with weight all of her life. An added factor to her battle has been a diagnosis of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). After the birth of her first son, Julie's weight began to increase until she felt hopeless and helpless.

There was much about Julie's story that I relate to. The life-long struggle with weight. Being a stay-at-home mom. And being a Christian. Part of why I like this book so much is that Julie credits her success on The Biggest Loser, and her current life, to God. She unashamedly talks about how God got her attention during the reality show and made her faith very real.

For Julie, church attendance and moral living is no longer about checking off a report card. It's about knowing Jesus and following him. It's about finding your worth and value not in the number on the scale but in the one who created you.

That's a story I can relate to and recommend to all my friends! If you struggle with your weight or your self-esteem or know someone who does, I highly recommend you read Fat Chance. I felt inspired and challenged by Julie and hope I get a chance to hear her speak some day.

I love this book. Very interesting and easy to read. Gives a new perspective on the spiritual views of weight loss. Would recommend to anyone who needs a boost of self esteem.

This isn't the type of book I usually read, and having never seen "THE BIGGEST LOSER" on TV, I was skeptical at best. But I was pleasantly surprised..Hadden's book has quite a bit of content, and most of all highlights her Christian walk before and after appearing on the show.

I read it almost straight through. Well worth the read for anyone struggling with weight issues..and as the author points out, we all have some kind of extra weight we're carrying around with us that we need to discard.

Excellent message.

I thought this would be about Julie and not a rerun of the "Biggest Loser." I did not learn anything new that I did't already hear on the TV show.