Author: Julie Hadden
Publisher: Guideposts
ISBN-13: 978-0-8249-4788-0

Click Here To Purchase Fat Chance: Losing the Weight, Gaining My Worth

I loved this book! Fat Chance is so inspiring that it made even me forego eating that piece of chocolate cake and opt instead for lacing up my sneaks to go for a walk.

Julie Hadden, a cast member on Season 4 of The Biggest Loser television show, has written a memoir that transcends the all too usual “I had an exciting experience” memoir. Through the use of humor and a writer’s voice that just wants to invite you over for a cup of coffee, Hadden manages to tell her fat to thin story while at the same time impressing on us the important lessons she learned along the way.

Included in this well told story are humorous incidents, poignant realizations, and true insight into why she was so overweight to begin with. As an example one of her discussions is about how she has learned to pause before eating something she knows she shouldn’t and ask herself “what is it that you are really hungry for?” She realizes now that as a child, she was using food to fill the need of approval and acceptance.

You don’t have to be a Biggest Loser fan to enjoy this book because even those who know nothing of the show will still benefit from its inspiring and straight forward message. But if you are a fan, you’ll love the little bits of inside information she includes as asides in each chapter. For example, the large scale used at the weigh-ins is fake (gasp) and the contestants are weighed at a Dr.’s office earlier in the day. If it’s any consolation, they don’t know what their actual weights are until the taping segment at the scale.

Written in short, digestible chunks (pun intended) Fat Chance is a quickly paced read that will keep you turning the pages, not because you are wondering if she got thin (the answer is on the cover of the book, yes she did) but instead it keeps you wondering how is she going to cope and continue living a thin life where a fat woman once lived. The question “What is it that needs to change?” will keep you up reading this book late at night.

Without being heavy handed, Hadden gives her faith due credit for her surviving the show and for her continuing on, even in the face of birthday cake and tea parties. Her honest relationship with God comes across as sincere and not in the least bit preachy.

As an added bonus to this book, the appendixes include workout routines, glossary of terms, recipes of favorite foods, and a section on frequently asked questions.

Hadden claims that her single most important lesson she learned from being on the Biggest Loser is that she is worthy of living the life she was created for. Her enthusiasm and inspiring words leave you cheering her success while at the same time asking yourself if you are also living up to your own full potential as well.

Julie Hadden is a thirty-seven-year-old stay-at-home mom. She and her husband Mike, live in Jacksonville, Florida with their two sons.