Hungry: Lessons Learned on the Journey from Fat to Thin by Allen Zadoff [Kindle Edition]

Allen Zadoff (Author)

Book Description

Weight loss advice, laughter, and inspiration from the delicious, caloric, yet uncomfortably large life experiences of a formerly fat man.
Allen Zadoff spent years reasoning that a big, healthy man should have a big, healthy appetite and that his rapidly increasing girth was no more than a regular guy thing.

At 350 pounds, however, it became clear that what had started as a little weight problem was destroying his life. Desperate to find a new way of living that would carry him into thin and beyond, Zadoff began to focus less on what he ate, and more on the physical and emotional underpinnings of what he came to understand as a disease. The pounds melted away, and so began the adventure of a lifetime.

Following Zadoff's incredible journey both up and down the scale, Hungry blends his personal story with surprising strategies for weight loss success; it is as laugh-out-loud funny as it is inspirational.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this intimate story, Zadoff describes his "twenty-eight years fighting a war against food, fat, and my body," and the "food addict" diagnosis that finally made sense of it: "sneaky, secretive, dishonest, and deceptive... I behaved like a junkie with food." Imparting "what I wish I'd known all those years," as well as raising the profile of overeaters' plight, Zadoff's book begins with snappy chapters detailing his dysfunctional relationship with food, followed by strategies for recovery. A good first step, he suggests, is to create a food "traffic light" list in which "red" foods are triggers to avoid: "Like an alcoholic, if I put a trigger food in my mouth, I will once again be at its mercy." Readers won't find a "magic formula," but will learn not only that commitment and discipline pay off, but that they don't need to overwhelm: "When I wake up in the morning, I commit to eating three meals, just for today." Zadoff occasionally relies on self-help clichés (happiness "is like a muscle... If I don't exercise it, it atrophies"), but his compelling first-person insight into a largely misunderstood condition, not to mention his common-sense solutions (heavy on the need for a support network of family, friends and professionals), is valuable, encouraging reading for problem eaters of all kinds and those trying to help them.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"There's no shortage of books on how to lose weight. Hungry is not that sort of book. It's about the importance of understanding the emotional sources of hunger, about how much more effective that understanding is than any diet could ever be, about the myths we create about our bodies that must be debunked. Its gentle, non-preachy, funny and forgiving tone is uncommonly appealing." -- Los Angeles Times

"[Zadoff's] compelling first-person insight into a largely misunderstood condition, not to mention his common-sense solutions (heavy on the need for a support network of family, friends and professionals), is valuable, encouraging reading for problem eaters of all kinds and those trying to help them." -- Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• File Size: 214 KB
• Print Length: 192 pages
• Publisher: SKLA (August 3, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008RCQAE8
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,370 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #38 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Mental Health > Eating Disorders
  • #52 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Recovery > Drug Dependency
  • #65 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Diabetes

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This Was The Deepest Weight Loss Book I've Ever Read! January 6, 2008

By Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Man TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

What if your problem with weight had more to do with a deep hunger for meaning in the world rather than for that big slice of chocolate cake staring at you? Could our obesity not really have anything at all to do with calories, but rather attaining the hopes and dreams we don't even know we want yet? Deep questions like these are what Allen Zadoff explores in his book entitled Hungry.

After allowing his weight to get up to 350 pounds in his late 20s, Zadoff thought he knew why he got to be so big. It had to be a whole host of reasons--a slow metabolism, not enough willpower, a big appetite, a desire to be manly and eat that way, big boned, and it made him happy. But in the end, he wasn't happy and traveled down a path that led him to lose over 100 pounds while gaining a whole new perspective on life.

Hungry takes you down this road that Allen Zadoff took to shed the pounds and turn his world upside down. It's an inspiring story of hope for better tomorrow with behavioral methods concerning food that would intrigue a psychologist for weeks! And before you ask, his diet had very little to do with what kind of food he ate. That didn't matter to him (and he doesn't think it should matter to you).

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Stuffed with Truth! October 29, 2007

By S. McDaniel

Format:Hardcover

This book is amazingly heartfelt. It gets you in the gut--no pun intended! A friend recommended this book because it's so funny and true. It's not just about food and weight--the author delves into the roller-coaster emotions and fears of self-worth that we all share as people, regardless of our body type. Anybody who's ever chased the latest diet hoping to find happiness needs to read this book!

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The Real Deal November 1, 2007

By John Clavin

Format:Hardcover

This book is the real deal. It is the true memoir of a man who lost 150 lbs simply by experiencing a shift in perception. He put on a new pair of glasses to see a bigger picture of the world that he had never seen before. The book is nicely divided into small bite sized chapters that get right to the point with Allen's elegant and witty writing style.

More About the Author

Allen Zadoff was born in Boston, Mass and went on to live in upstate New York, Manhattan, Tokyo, and Los Angeles. A former stage director, he is a graduate of Cornell University and the Harvard University Institute for Advanced Theater Training. His novel Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have received the Sid Fleishman Humor Award and was a YALSA Popular Paperback for Young Adults. His thriller series, BOY NOBODY, debuts in June 2013.

Visit Allen on the web at www.allenzadoff.com.