Hey Bestie,
One month ago today, FAT BITCH: Killing the Willpower Myth went out into the world. Here is what we did together, and what comes next.
Thank you for reading it in the car line, in the bathtub, and on lunch breaks. When the audiobook lands, thank you in advance for hearing my actual voice say the things I spent years too scared to say out loud. Thank you for passing it to a sister, a best friend, a coworker who keeps getting lectured by her doctor. Thank you to everyone who left a review, and to our early NetGalley readers, who gave us the nerve to launch loud.
WE KILLED A MYTH
The Willpower Myth told us that if we really wanted it, we would just try harder. In June 2013, the American Medical Association's House of Delegates voted to recognize obesity as a disease. A disease. Not a moral failing. Not a lack of willpower. A medical condition that requires medical treatment. Thirteen years later, a lot of doctors still have not gotten the memo. For four weeks we have been saying out loud what the science already knows.
WE GOT PROMOTED
In week two, we took the job of Medical CEO. We wrote our three questions down. We asked for things in writing. Some of us fired a provider who shamed us and went looking for a better one in the directory. That is real warrior shit.
WE PICKED UP A PEN
The Anti-Diet Workbook turned permission into a plan, with the habit tracker, the Stall Audit, and Non-Scale Victory Bingo for every win the scale refuses to show.
WE GOT READY FOR THE TABLE
The Bean Dip Pivot is loaded, the pivot lines are saved, and the seating chart is set. Thanksgiving is eleven days away, and this year the aunts are going to get a lot of questions about their dip.
WHAT IS NEXT?
I am not going anywhere, and neither is this community. BitchesAndBesties.com keeps going long after launch month: the forum, the patient-vetted provider directory, the monthly live Q&As, and the free resources. If we have been lurking, this is the sign to post a first hello.
Here is the honest ask, because a book like this lives or dies by its readers. If we finished it and have not left a review, please do. Goodreads, StoryGraph, Amazon, or wherever we bought it. One honest sentence is enough. If we already reviewed, pass the copy to one woman who needs it, or ask the local library to order it. Many libraries have a "suggest a purchase" form on their website. It takes two minutes and puts the book within reach of someone who cannot buy it right now.
I want to hear from us, too. Reply to this email or post in the forum: what changed this month? Big or teeny-tiny. A provider conversation that went differently. A pivot that worked. A night the Food Noise was quieter. I am reading every single one.
There is a line I keep coming back to: our story is still being written, and for the first time in a long time, we are the ones holding the pen. That is still true. It is truer now.
If there is a spare minute this week, maybe one review or one passed-along copy. That is all it takes.
Find your besties at BitchesAndBesties.com.
Love,
Cat