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Fat Cow, Fat Chance: The science and psychology of size Hardcover – 16 July 2020

by Jenni Murray (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 405 ratings
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'A powerful, poignant tale of dieting and despair.' The Times

'A moving, brutally honest memoir about what it feels like to be fat-shamed.' Mail on Sunday
_______________

At sixty-four, Jenni Murray's weight had become a disability. She avoided the scales, she wore a uniform of baggy black clothes, refused to make connections between her weight and health issues and told herself that she was fat and happy. She was certainly fat. But the happy part was an Oscar-worthy performance. In private she lived with a growing sense of fear and misery that her weight would probably kill her before she made it to seventy.

Interwoven with the science, social history and psychology of weight management, Fat Cow, Fat Chance is a refreshingly honest account of what it's like to be fat when society dictates that skinny is the norm. It asks why we overeat and why, when the weight is finally lost through dieting, do we simply pile the pounds back on again? How do we help young people become comfortable with the way they look? What are the consequences of the obesity epidemic for an already overstretched NHS? And, whilst fat shaming is so often called out, why is it that shouting 'fat cow' at a woman in the street hasn't been included in the list of hate crimes?

Fusing politics, science and personal pain, this is a powerful exploration of our battle with obesity.
_______________

'Agony and confusion, humour and hope. A beautiful book.' SUSIE ORBACH, author of Fat is a Feminist Issue

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  1. Print length
    272 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Doubleday
  4. Publication date
    16 July 2020
  5. Dimensions
    14.4 x 2.7 x 22.2 cm
  6. ISBN-10
    0857525840
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0857525840
  8. See all details
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From the Publisher

Fat Cow, Fat Chance - The science and psychology of size
'Agony and confusion, humour and hope. A beautiful book.' - Susie Orbach

Product description

Review

A powerful, poignant tale of dieting and despair. ― The Times

I'd put this book into every school as a warning to girls - and boys - not to waste their lives obsessing over food. ― Mail on Sunday

A perceptive look at health and happiness. ― Sunday Express

Jenni has a light touch when writing about hers and others struggles with eating and bodies. She does it too with the science, so that agony and confusion is mixed with humour and hope. A beautiful book. ― Susie Orbach

Laudably frank. ― The Big Issue

A painfully honest account of [Jenni's] lifelong battle to lose weight and an investigation into the physical and psychological causes of obesity.

― Daily Mail

About the Author

Jenni Murray is a journalist and broadcaster who presented BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour from 1987 to 2020. She is the author of several books and writes a weekly column in the Daily Mail. She lives in north London and the New Forest.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Doubleday (16 July 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0857525840
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0857525840
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 14.4 x 2.7 x 22.2 cm
  • Customer reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 405 ratings

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Jenni Murray

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Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
405 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book very informative, honest, and real. They appreciate the research explained well and evidence from other people. Readers describe the book as readable, enjoyable, and brave. They say it keeps their interest without being too scientific.

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Information qualityReadability
9 customers mention ‘Information quality’9 positive0 negative

Readers find the book very informative, honest, and real. They appreciate the discussion, science, and evidence from other people. Readers also say the book provides a good overview of what it's like to be obese.

"...interested in nutrition, unwanted weight gain, current research into gut physiology and hormones and the inescapable interplay between the emotions..." Read more

"...the science, the evidence from other people very interesting and informative and Motivating I’m glad I ignored my hatred to Women’s Hour and read..." Read more

"...The discussion around the science of obesity was interesting, and Jenni obviously felt that these studies helped absolve her from total..." Read more

"I thought this was a good overview of what it’s like to be obese, to be continually dieting, to be subject to abuse and stigma and to hate one’s own..." Read more

8 customers mention ‘Readability’8 positive0 negative

Customers find the book readable, well-narrated, and enjoyable. They say it's brave, revealing, and keeps their interest. Readers also mention it's entertaining and informative.

"...Her style is easy to read and I learned a lot of new information about dieting and the body’s response to it. It is certainly a book for our time!" Read more

"Literally I'm a big fan and enjoyed this part memoir, part observation of social eating habits and what caused her to put on weight...." Read more

"This is an interesting book, until I read it I was not aware of Jenny's back story which is instantly recognisable, the mixed messages about food..." Read more

"A good read" Read more

Top reviews from United Kingdom

Marguerite Silver
5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable insight into weight gain and dieting.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 July 2021
Verified Purchase
Having read many Amazon readers' reviews before ordering, ranging from 5-star endorsements of excellence to "self-indulgent waste of money", I was curious as to how I would find Jenni Murray's book on yo-yo dieting and her insight into her own almost life-long struggle against obesity. As someone myself who constantly struggles against unwanted weight-gain (although well within normal limits) and whose daughter is similarly obsessed (although she too is within normal limits and gorgeous in face and figure!) I found this book both moving - indeed almost tragic at times - but also ultimately uplifting. Of course Jenni writes at length about her own personal struggle - that's what the book is about! It is most definitely NOT self-indulgent! It is one woman's personal account of the pressures, familial and cultural, which assail us all (yes, men too!) in a society where food, often of poor quality yet addictive, is abundant and cheap. That Jenni is a nationally known media personality, probably the most-respected and admired Woman's Hour presenter over several decades, who continued to function admirably in her public role whilst struggling to such an extent on a personal level, renders her account even more potent in my opinion. She clearly came from a loving, extended family and although the part her mother played in Jenni's battle against obesity is clear from the information given in the book, perhaps more emphasis could have been given to the role which parental pressures (anything from overindulgence of a child to constant nagging about weight) plays in many womens' submission to the tyranny of the bathroom scales. Jenni carried out much very useful scientific research into the physiology of weight gain - there's so much more still to learn - but in addition I'd have liked more on the part emotions play in food obsessions, both weight gain and anorexia. That would have produced a longer book, which would have meant a few more reading hours, no hardship given the writer's ability to inform and stimulate the reader. I highly recomment this book to anyone who is interested in nutrition, unwanted weight gain, current research into gut physiology and hormones and the inescapable interplay between the emotions and eating.
3 people found this helpful
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gill webb
5.0 out of 5 stars Have read many books on the subject of weight loss and this has been the most entertaining and informative . Jenny's history mirrors my own
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 September 2020
Verified Purchase
I would recommend this book to anyone who is a serial failed dieter...that is....everyone i know .!!!! It could have changed my life.
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B
4.0 out of 5 stars Informative and worth a read.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 July 2020
Verified Purchase
I think when you read a book like this you are looking for a solution to your own problem. Inevitably there will therefore be things that don’t meet your needs. I think it would have added more if she had spoken to people in control of their weight and compared their approach to food/exercise/self talk. I suspect we all do or need to do similar things to be at the weight where the negative health risks are minimised whatever the starting point.. Ie if you want to be ‘normal’ do normal things. However I found the discussion, the science, the evidence from other people very interesting and informative and Motivating I’m glad I ignored my hatred to Women’s Hour and read it (sorry,) The only thing that annoyed me was the description of her working day which to be honest seemed like a life of lesuire in comparison to a lot of people I commute with!
13 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Sorry, but a little self-indulgent
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 August 2020
Verified Purchase
I decided to buy this book because I read a good review of it, and I have an interest in health and nutrition. I am well aware of who Jenni Murray is, being from more or less the same generation. I'm approaching 61. I enjoy biographies of people who I am familiar with, and I thought it would be interesting to read about her experiences with an aspect of her life which, obviously, caused her significant problems.

I have never had real issues with my weight, although it has steadily increased as I have aged. I have always been a healthy weight, although since I went through the menopause, I have to really control my diet to keep my BMI at around 24. It is a sad fact of life that as women age, we need fewer calories, and maintenance of weight becomes more and more difficult.

I have to admit, I wanted to learn how Jenny's weight had spiralled to such a devastating and unhealthy level, and why she found it so impossible to lose weight and maintain it. As she herself states, she is an educated, professional woman who understood the dangers of carrying that weight, and yet she was unable to control it. Was it a question of willpower, or something else?

After reading the book, I'm afraid to say that, basically, she absolves herself of all responsibility. She blamed her two grandmothers for over- feeding her and providing her with regular treats, her mother for fat shaming her, and leaving her with psychological problems, her depression when living alone in London and commuting home on weekends, and being born with faulty, fat making genes.

I did at times sympathise with her. She doesn't appear to have enjoyed a very happy, supported family life. She more or less left her children to be brought up by her husband, whilst she concentrated on her career, and enjoyed meals and times out with her friends in London. Her parents were ill and needed care, which she struggled with, along with working and trying to support her family, but most of us experience that in our 50s. Yes, we become tired, anxious and depressed but we don't all overeat to compensate.

As I say, I'm of her generation and totally relate to her early childhood and eating practices but, as I progressed through the book, I became more and more exasperated and angry at the excuses. Yes, you lose weight if you diet, but if you revert to over-eating the wrong types of food once you reach your desired goal, then you are going to put the weight back on. That's simple science. You have to change your mindset about food. Yes, it is hard, it requires immense willpower and control, and it means depriving yourself of things that you love and desire. Usually the understanding that you are seriously damaging your health helps you in this regard. Jenni obviously understood this, but that didn't stop her. I wanted to know why, but I don't think she adequately explained that.

I do realise that it's not as simple as perhaps I'm stating, there are lots of underlying, individual reasons why people become morbidly obese. I do think that Jenni was unhappy, and I really do have a great deal of sympathy with her. I was astonished that she had her surgery alone, except for some support from a friend. Husband was working up north, only one son in London, who kindly visited and took her home. Throughout the book, I felt she lacked real family love and support.

The discussion around the science of obesity was interesting, and Jenni obviously felt that these studies helped absolve her from total responsibility for her plight. However, her conclusion angered and disappointed me. She talks about ' naturally slim' people who don't really understand the issues. That angers me, I try to keep slim, but there's nothing 'natural' about it, it's really hard work and I wish I could just give in some times, but I'm aware of the consequences. I also thought that it was very mean spirited of her to deride Lord Lawson for managing to lose his weight through diet and exercise. She decried the practice of abusing people because of their weight and looks all through the book, then comments on how dreadful he looks since losing all that weight naturally.

Unfortunately, this book wasn't the book that I thought it would be. I think that people who buy it in the hope that it will help them with their obesity problems are also going to be disappointed, unless they have £11,000 sitting around that they can use for private surgery.
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