Product Description

As the daughter of Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson, Carnie Wilson grew up in the fast lane and has had a lifelong struggle with obesity. Here, she picks up on her previous title "Gut Feelings", showing the progression of weight loss through a personal diary and detailing how she got her head in the right place as she lost more than 150 pounds. Carnie goes on to discuss how she re-established her career as an actress and singer in Hollywood, as well as her minute-by-minute description of posing for "Playboy" Magazine. Finally the last part of the book reveals the specific weight-loss plan that Carnie still uses to keep slim. However, she points out that this is certainly not the end of the road yet. She honestly admits that she's "still hungry" for knowledge, love, acceptance - and yes, a piece of chocolate or two.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #121454 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 200 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781401902285
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Born the daughter of Marilyn Wilson and Beach Boy legend Brian Wilson, Carnie Wilson has overcome a lifelong struggle with obesity to achieve personal satisfaction, professional success, and new dimensions of physical and emotional health. Now dedicated to helping others, Carnie is a spokesperson for Spotlight Health, a group of dedicated celebrities, medical experts, and media and marketing specialists whose goal is to dramatically enhance consumer and physician awareness of vital health issues. Author of Gut Feelings, hardcover ISBN: 1-56170-907 and tradepaper ISBN: 1-4019-0040-2.

Customer Reviews

Is This Empowerment?
I was interested to read Ms. Wilson's story and I certainly appreciate her sharing at such a deep level. However, I think the whole substance of this book can be summed up in this quote from page 118 of the current edition: "...Maybe posing [for Playboy] was just what I needed to finally free and completedly liberated. Some women run marathons, some climb mountains, or kayak across the deep blue sea, some jump out of planes and live to tell the story...I was going to jump out of my fears and pose nude for Playboy..."

Um, there's a difference between the things Carnie listed and posing for Playboy...one is about your pushing yourself to achieve a physical feat, the other is about changing yourself to what the dominant culture wants. Based on what she says in this book, Carnie is happy because she is attractive in a Playboy kind of way. But no matter how much plastic surgery you have, you can't maintain this kind of body forever. If this is where Carnie is getting her happiness, no wonder she is STILL HUNGRY.

I also have had WLS and have lost over 150#...and I know it's a struggle to not be defined by externals. But I would NOT recommend this book to anyone considering WLS because it is much more about fitting yourself into a mold and much less about reestablishing physical and mental health .

Mixed Views
As a nutritionist for a bariatric surgical program, I empathize with Carnie Wilson. She nicely depicts the personal struggle for self-identity in people who lose a great deal of weight through bariatric surgery. The style of writing is enjoyable and funny. She has a sense of humor that makes for lighter, enjoyable reading.

However, from a nutritional standpoint some of her diet information is completely inaccurate, and I'm wondering how false nutritional information is permitted to be printed. For example, on page 172, she describes diet sodas as having "tons on sodium." Diet sodas have approximately 25-50 mg of sodium per serving, amounts that fall under the category "very low sodium" as defined by the Food and Drug Administration. Also, fruit, as she described as being "loaded with sugar", has approximately 15 gms of carbohydrate per serving, and can easily fit into a meal plan designed for a patient who has had WLS.

Carnie does a great job of describing how she confronted the battle of weight loss; however, she should leave the nutritional recommendations up to a professional.

so so
I really enjoyed reading about Carnie's experience because I have also had WLS. She offers great ideas, although I caution you that one should always talk to his/her own Dr. and not just taking her advice. Anyway, my complaint with her book is that she is sooooo inlove and sooooo happy all the time. It seems as if this was a panacea. Yes, I am happy and I have had great results from WLS, but it isn't all peaches and cream. In fact, there are many days that I don't even want to face the world. She seems to glamorize the surgery too much and she talks about her wonderful, fantastic, amazing husband too much! Enough already- we get it you're happy!