Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book should really be called, "How to Never Look Fat Again If You Aren't Really Very Fat To Start With", as the advice is for women who THINK they are fat, or are perhaps 20 pounds overweight. Not for the women of this country who are really, actually, fat. I'm writing this review as a woman who is really, actually, fat. Let's start with the first chapter, which is when I should have known to return this book. Charla Krupp suggests "psychological counseling" for women who are more than 50 pounds overweight. Which is nice - if you have insurance and that insurance covers it. Most health insurance in the US does not cover any treatment for obesity, including counseling. Also -- and most importantly -- if a fat person picks up a book like this, they want advice for NOW, not when they lose fifty pounds. If I lost fifty pounds, I wouldn't need the bloody book! And don't get me started on her obvious lack of knowledge of many common medical reasons behind weight gain -- I realize this isn't a medical book, but if you are going to write a book about fat, you need to have some understanding of why people get fat and understand that it is not always simply a matter of will. This is obvious in, as another review mentioned, her attitude (and our cultural attitudes) towards being fat. Krupp gets some things dead wrong. Things like facts, which make me wonder, where was her editor? For example, in the chapter about fat arms the author mentions a friend who had bariatric surgery, lost a bunch of weight, then had plastic surgery to fix floppy skin. The friend had a lot of side effects from the surgery - long scars, lack of feeling in the arms, etc. Krupp then archly says, "Dumbbells, anyone?" Cute, but Krupp sounds like the dumbbell here because no amount of working out with weights will fix post-bariatric surgery loose skin. You can tone your muscles, but not your skin, as the skin and muscles are not the same. Having to have excess skin surgically removed after bariatric surgery is very, very common, and some editor should have noticed this. On to a few of my quibbles with her clothing/makeup suggestions: First, for both books -- Ok, Charla, we get it; dark-washed boot-cut blue jeans for everyone! We get it! Except for one thing - they look really out of place when it's summer. I don't care how fat my butt looks, I'm wearing white. It's hot. Second, who chose the "high fat" looks? They suggest the people have no mirrors and haven't bought any clothes since 1988. Of course you don't wear a wide patent-leather red belt over a white dress if you're fat through the midsection. Of course you avoid sleeveless tops if you have ham hock arms. Your target audience is fat, not stupid. The two are not synonymous. I noticed that Krupp contradicts herself between her first book and this one. For example, in the book about not looking old, she says to apply makeup with a light hand, and not do visible contouring. But in this book, she suggests using darker-than-skintone high-pigment sticks on fat areas and to sculpt cheekbones with them. Right, so I can look like a fat girl who tried to draw on some cheekbones. Lovely. In both books, Krupp also has a strange obsession with giant, highly-whitened teeth. She shows all these people who have giant bright-white Chicklet smiles. I don't find them attractive or sexy or youthful, in fact, they remind me of Mister Ed. But that's probably just me. She has a few good ideas - but honestly if you've read fashion or women's magazines in the last decade, you don't really need this book. If you must read it, follow one other reviewer's advice and get it at the library.