Synopsis:
Blending kitchen table wisdom and her own experience in losing her sister to gastric bypass surgery, author Robyn McGee explores the historical and cultural roots of obesity among black women, offering practical guidelines to weight loss and living a more healthy and balanced life. Though she advocates a slow and steady approach to weight loss under a doctor’s supervision and a commitment to exercise, healthy eating, support groups, and therapy, she also understands that many black women, like her sister, will still choose the option of gastric bypass surgery despite the fact that 1 in 200 patients die from the surgeries.
McGee argues that a range of factors often lead to obesity in black women, including the problem of fat acceptance in the black community, historically negative images of black women, compulsive bingeing and purging, childhood sexual abuse, and a lack of attention to black women in the medical community.
With the memory of her sister’s lifelong struggle with weight firmly in mind, McGee conveys to readers the importance of honoring themselves by making healthy choices, starting slow and being patient, seeking help when they need it, and finally, remembering that they are much more than a number on a scale.
