Book Notes: 703: How I Lost More Than a Quarter Ton and Gained a Life

703: How I Lost More Than a Quarter Ton and Gained a Life by Nancy Makin

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is a memoir of a women who works her way up to, and then back down from 703 pounds. I was morbidly curious, frankly I'm disgusted by people that get to be over say 350, and cannot fathom it. However, it happens, it happens a lot, and there has to be some very good reasons for it. I know that sounds terrible for me to say, but I'm sure I am not alone in the sentiment and it is true. Even with my Sociology degree, respect and understanding for the morbidly obese was not discussed and certainly is not in public realm.
That said, Nancy Makin taught me some much needed humility. She shares her story as a way to give hope to others in her situation, and to show people like me that big people have feelings, families and a need for self-worth. I had never thought about the fact that household scales do not go beyond say 300 pounds so after a person reaches that point, they really have no idea what they weight. Nancy would look at a 10 foot walk as being almost too daunting, and stairs as being a week's worth of effort. Her grandchildren had to get up on the furniture when Nancy went to get up just in case she fell, she didn't want to risk them getting injured or killed! I'm not trying to be funny,these were serious limitations, that I can easily say most of the world know nothing about.
I won't spoil the plot with her ups and down through life, but what I will say is Nancy is a talented writer and witty to boot. She lost all of her weight on her own, without surgery or a strict plan. I laughed out loud, or at least snickered fairly often which I did not expect when I began the book. I also teared up when Nancy wrote of driving for the first time in 16 years, eating in a restaurant for the first time in 18 years, and wearing her first pair of Levi's in her 40s. Nancy is a worthy role model by candidly sharing her challenges while offering encouragement to others. Much of the book was her sharing her life story, not necessarily directly tied to her weight. I'm embarrassed to say I wanted to hear more about what she ate, I waited the whole book to hear the gory details only to have Nancy say (essentially), 'people that just want to hear what I ate all day, or when I last had sex are not interested in me as a person, they are interested in the sensationalism of my situation, and I'm not willing to give them that satisfaction.' It's true, and I will never view an obese person the same way again, thanks to this book. Everyone should read this book, for one reason or another. If I haven't convinced you, she was cool enough to be on Oprah!



View all my reviews