You Don't Have to Be Thin to Win: The Official Chub Club Coach's Workout Program (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Judy Molnar was always the tallest kid in the class and always played sports, mainly basketball and volleyball. By college, she was 6'1", 180 pounds, and very fit. Yet her coach saw her as "a large woman with a weight problem" and tried to put her on a 1,200 calorie diet to get her to an impossible 150 pounds. The result was that Molnar became scale-obsessed and started to hate training and working out. She quit sports, took a sedentary job after college, and ate herself up to a weight more than the 350 pounds her scale registered. You Don't Have to Be Thin to Win is the story of her "journey from the couch to the course" to reclaim her health, and her "personal recipe of goal setting, education, enthusiasm, and a fair bit of sweat." She shares excerpts from her journal about her triumphs, setbacks, and day-to-day efforts toward fitness. Her lifestyle completely changed--her fitness training became the center, and a few years after making her change, she was racing and doing triathlons. She dropped 130 pounds, went "from doughnut junkie to healthy and fit," and became Rosie O'Donnell's Chub Club coach. After telling her personal story, she helps you move more and eat better with motivational strategies, tips for getting in shape, descriptions of a few different activities and how to start, and nutritional facts. This book is so motivating that you're likely to get up from the couch and read it on the treadmill. --Joan Price

Product Description

In January 1996, Judy Molnar was six foot one, weighed 330 pounds, and was a size 26W. She didn't own a bike or a swimsuit. At her annual physical, after hearing the doctor's usual sermon about her weight, she accidentally saw the phrase "morbidly obese" written on her chart. Only then did Judy realize that she had to take some action or she might not be around for her next yearly exam. And on that day she set out to learn how to eat, exercise, and get into shape.
        Having tried all of the traditional starve-yourself, go-for-the-burn programs that just left her drained and in pain (and ultimately made her eat more), Judy knew that she was going to have to create a program that worked for her. Over the course of two and a half years, through working with coaches, nutritionists, and trainers, she developed an incredible program that has helped her lose 130 pounds and 12 clothing sizes. In 1999, she even completed one of the most strenuous sporting events: the World Ironman Triathlon Championship in Hawaii. Television host Rosie O'Donnell heard about Judy's commitment to a healthy lifestyle and invited her to come on the show to share her story. Rosie was so inspired by her message--"Eat less and move more" --that she created a position for Judy on her show by making her the Official Chub Club Coach.
        You Don't Have to Be Thin to Win is Judy's special recipe for health and fitness. She shows you everything from how to buy sneakers and how to find a way to move that works for your body and your time constraints to how to get through a grocery store and come out with foods that will make you a winner. And Judy is inspiring: Even if you feel that getting your body in shape is impossible, her story and many of the poignant success stories from her work as the Official Chub Club Coach will get you off the couch and moving. Judy's story and this program demonstrate that anyone--no matter what size, shape, or age--can lose weight and become healthy to enjoy a richer, fuller, and more active life.

Not just another fitness book

"In 1996, I got scared. I went to the doctor and learned that I was no longer fat, I was 'morbidly obese.' This was no longer about a dress size; this was life and death. And so I began an extraordinary journey from being a 330-pound sedentary woman who ate five or six doughnuts for breakfast to losing 130 pounds, getting fit enough to compete in the World Ironman Championship Triathlon in Hawaii, and becoming the Official Chub Club Coach for The Rosie O'Donnell Show. While I might not fit the conventional image of an athlete or fitness expert, I am healthy and hap-pier than I've ever been. I wrote this book for people who, like me, have tried every program from A to Z--diets, gyms, trainers --and are looking for real and realistic results. You Don't Have to Be Thin to Win tells my story, illustrates my program (the only one that has ever worked for me), and shows you how you, too, can win your health and life back."

                Judy Molnar
                Official Chub Club Coach

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Villard; First Edition edition (January 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375504141
• ISBN-13: 978-0375504143
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,658,988 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When Ready, Everyone Needs to Start Somewhere, January 24, 2000

By	Heidi (Youngstown, OH) - See all my reviews

When ready, everyone needs to start somewhere, & Judy Molnar's: You Don't Have to Be Thin to Win, is certainly a good place to do just that. No fads, just facts. She shares, unselfishly, her personal struggles with balancing diet and exercise and also touches on - even her need- to feel acceptance. There are charts, tips, workout schedules, basic nutritional information, inspirational success stories (besides her own), photos, quotable quotes, and answers to some commonly asked questions and concerns. Whether you are just curious to see what a training day in "the life of Judy" is, want to view some of her race photos, or just need help training yourself, she is the coach, athlete and inspiration. She gives us some links to check out on the internet and suggests some other ways to find out all about living a healthy lifestyle. You can even check out her own web site for additional advice and support. As a fellow athena triathlete, going into my third season, I found this book to be very reassuring, occasionally fresh, always inspirational, helpful, and sometimes down right funny (ergo "goose poops" :)!-You'll have to read the book for that one). This book may seem to be about Judy but in essence, it is about YOU - about YOUR DREAMS, and YOUR OWN need to make some life decisions. After all, the operative word in the title is "You". If we learn by example, she is a good one to follow. Because, as she found out, you do NOT have to be thin to win...just determined. A good book by this recent pioneer of the Athena racing world and co-author Bob from "Competitor Magazine". A fast and easy read with useable information. Great for beginners and a nice refresher course for the rest of us - FINALLY!

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ATRUE KINDRED SPIRIT!, December 29, 1999

By	kim barker (Nashville TN) - See all my reviews

As a 28 year old women who has struggled with her weight for most of her life. My first thought when sitting down to read a galley copy of this book was "Oh great just one more Health book that I will never finish". But to my delighted surprise that was not the case. Not only did I finish it, but I re-read it. I was amazed to find That The author had had actually "walked the walk" She had been in my shoes. She had felt the same as I. She understood the pain of yo yo dieting. She understood the reclusiveness that comes with obesity. She had experienced the same low self esteme. Thus begain a wonderful kindred ship. With every chapter I found myself more and more involved. She was not just an author, but a friend that I had been through a lifetime of struggles with. As she told of her experiances in college where her weight was never low enough for her volleyball coach. To her losses in love because her boyfriend didn't want to date a fat person anymore. I new that this author was differant. She was one of us. She had walked the walk so she could talk the talk. Then the realization of what her book was about set in. She had suceeded where most of us fail. She had beat the obesity bug. How. Not with a diet drug or diet drink or even a diet. She suceeded by simply vowing to live a healthy life, full of good foods and excercise. In this book she is able to show through easy reading and positive instruction how anyone and everyone can do the same. Her step bye step chapters and inspirational Personal journal exerts prove that there is hope out there. When Judy Molnar says "You don't have to be thin to win" I believe her. Why? Because she is living proof that it is true. This Book has given me the inpiration and hope I have been searching for for what seems a decade. This book has changed my life. Now let it change yours!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiration Book Gives Simple Steps and Guide to Health, January 15, 2000

By	Shirley (East Tenn, USA) - See all my reviews

I am pleased to say that I have read "You Don't Have to be Thin to Win" by Judy Molnar. I feel this book can help put the pieces together for anyone who reads it. The pieces needed to be healthy and succeed are hard to put together. Yet, Judy Molnar in her book simply takes the pieces needed one by one and gives a simple guide to find health and to win. I found the book very easy to read and very helpful. I have never met Judy but feel after reading the book that I know her. The caring advice in the book shows Judy cares about health. Judy is a person who struggled yet found the way to piece together a plan to succeed in life. She tells of her struggles and success. There are many in this world who need someone to take their hand and lead them with simple steps to become healthy. With this book, Judy gives you the hand and takes the steps with you to succeed. Each of us have different goals but health is the main goal. "You Don't Have to be Thin to Win" gives common sense advice. I will use this book for inspiration in the days ahead and years ahead while putting the pieces together myself to become healthier. What more could a book give than to give you inspiration and a way to take steps toward success to win? I recommend this book because of its inspiration, its touching story and its simple guide to health.