What's so funny about losing weight?

Amid the vast landscape of weight loss books (and by vast, we mean headache-inducingly massive), a few stand out. One is Janice Taylor's "All Is Forgiven, Move On," a follow-up to her 2006 book, "Our Lady of Weight Loss." The second, like the first, is a funny, informative, enlightening and uplifting look at losing weight -- and it even includes crafts!

In "All Is Forgiven" (Viking Studio, 2008), Taylor doles out even more sage advice for dropping pounds and keeping them off (or as she puts it, "permanent fat removal"). What we appreciate most is the matter-of-fact, girlfriend-ish way she talks to her readers. While she admonishes them to eat more vegetables, exercise and for God's sake get rid of the junk food, Taylor never does it in a finger wagging way. Nor is she horribly dry and tedious, even when quoting research studies. Like "Our Lady," she also includes easy, tasty, healthy recipes. All of that helps take the stress out of dieting and exercising, which, as we know, can be angst-producing and lead to the dreaded downward spiral of self-loathing.

"If people have lost weight," says Taylor by phone from her New York home, "there's fear and anxiety if they've fallen off the wagon that this monster has returned, and that sets off the downward spiral."

That's why she decided to focus on forgiveness and moving on in the new book, hence the title. "At the heart it's about loving yourself," she adds. "I can't think of anything more important than loving yourself, in a non-narcissistic way. Then you can be there for other people."

Taylor has kept off more than 50 pounds for several years, and works as a weight loss coach, motivational speaker and hypnotherapist, in addition to blogging for Beliefnet.

She shares her philosophy about the realities of losing weight: "It's as hard as you want to make it. People have this agreed-upon reality that it's this horrible thing. So you start out depressed, deprived and defeated, and that's good. It gives you enough energy to get going. But if you think it's going to be hard and you're never going to make it, what makes this time different from all the others?"

That made us dive back into the book for one more bit of inspiration.

"We have a tendency to negate our wins by focusing on the minor slips of the day," Taylor writes. "If you said, 'No, thank you,' four times, rejoice. What else did you do today that was stupendous?"

-Jeannine Stein

Comments

[Shelly]

I can't wait to get this book. I'm going to share it w/my WeightWatchers group that meets once a week during lunch. I've lost weight but it's creeping back and I need to look at maintaing my healthy weight as a positive thing...not a burden.

[Siggy]

What a great take on weight loss. Sooo needed. Thanks for letting us know about Janice.