Obsessed

America's Food Addiction--and My Own

By: Mika Brzezinski

Narrated by: Mika Brzezinski

Mika Brzezinski is at war against obesity. She believes the fearsome subjects of food, diet, and body image are "radioactive" in America, and getting worse. On Morning Joe, she is often so adamant about improving America’s eating habits that some people have dubbed her "the food Nazi". What they don’t know is that Mika wages a personal fight against food every day, and in Obsessed, she describes her history of food obsession, distorted body image, and her struggle to be thin. She believes it is time we stop blaming and shaming ourselves and look at the real culprits - the food we eat and our addiction to it.

Remember the days when people whispered about cancer and called it "the Big C"? Mika Brzezinski believes we need to stop whispering about weight and use the F word: fat. We need to establish a dialogue on how our country became overweight and how we can turn the corner and step firmly onto the path of health. She starts with the example of her very close friend Diane, whose goal is to drop 70 pounds. As in her best-seller Knowing Your Value, each chapter offers insights from notable people in medicine, health, business, the arts, and politics, interviews with, among others, White House chef Sam Kass, the late Nora Ephron, Gayle King, and Governor Chris Christie about what they have discovered about food and diet and what works for them. Mika’s new audiobook will nurture a conversation with families and friends, in schools and kitchens, to help us all find the answers to a healthier America.

©2013 Mika Brzezinski (P)2013 Random House Audio

This book is a big deal

This book is incredible, and everyone living in the US today should read it. Mika is courageous in sharing her own struggles, and it's one I could relate to. I too am a food addict, and while my weight has fluctuated quite a bit over the years, (and I'm currently heavier than Mika,) it's not generally something you can tell by looking at me. Not only do I admire that kind of vulnerability, but it gives weight to her message (if you'll pardon the expression).
It's time to destigmatize weight. It's time to bring fat out of the closet. It's a national crisis on many different levels, but one that's hard to have an open conversation about. Mika has specific suggestions for how to do this, and what she believes is required to enact change.

Yeah, I get it already.

Pretty thin gruel, with major points repeated incessantly. I felt pretty sorry for her fat friend Diane. Yes Mika recognizes she has an eating disorder but I felt her diagnosis of an ultra orthodox approach to food blunts her insights about weight, diet and body image. It seems time that she still thinks it's ok to judge people by their body size, including herself

Moving

What did you love best about Obsessed?

This story was and is my story.. Names are all different but the story remains the same.

What about Mika Brzezinski’s performance did you like?

Mika diction was perfect!!!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Just moved!!!

Any additional comments?

Major recommendation to any how will hear

Nothing like was thinking it would be

What did you love best about Obsessed?

I love Mika, however this book is more about her Overweight Rich Friends, then anything to help us real people that can't afford all the things the Rich can. This had nothing to do with America's Food Addiction, but her and her Friends.

Has Obsessed turned you off from other books in this genre?

It was about the Rich, nothing like everyday American people.

What does Mika Brzezinski bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Honestly nothing.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It was a let down.

Famous Skinny Blond Tells Fatties How To Eat

If you could sum up Obsessed in three words, what would they be?

Mika Understands Us.

What does Mika Brzezinski bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

It is MIKA BRZEZINSKI of Morning Joe reading it for God's sake!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me cry because I saw myself in her! She bared it all and her eating obsession was and is mine. We want to eat and feel comfort in it and have to hurt ourselves to rid our bodies of the sin of eating that is fat.

Any additional comments?

This tall Skinny beautiful Blonde is me if I took a different route in life. She has the same shame , a food obsession and a deep distrust of our food industry that puts additives in our food that makes us sick and fat.

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!!!

What disappointed you about Obsessed?

Should come with a warning for all men," This is for women", It was like listening to a woman endlessly discussing gossip and name dropping. Sure, there were some tidbits of good information mingled within the context, but the rest is just the same chapter information revisited over and over again! I suggest that if you want to read a book that will change your life you listen to, "Salt, Sugar, Fat and How the Food Giants Have Hooked Us", by Michael Moss. This WILL change your eating habits and your life. The author has missed that point that until we as a nation, and a government all fight the "Food Giants" of Industrialized Prefab Foods, America will still forever be FAT! First time ever, but I will be sending this one back.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Something that has more substance.

What didn’t you like about Mika Brzezinski’s performance?

Again, Blah, Blah, Blah.....rambling!

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Did show the reader that our perception of public figures is quite decieving and fickle.

Any additional comments?

Listen to, "Salt, Sugar, Fat and How the Food Giants Have Hooked Us", by Michael Moss. This WILL change your eating habits and your life.

A Waste of Time for Anyone Who Knows Anything

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I found Mika's voice grating and the information superficial. Her condescending tone didn't help. I wondered why her co-author didn't read her sections herself? Try as she might, Mika just isn't sympathetic, something that would've helped this book a lot.

Would you ever listen to anything by Mika Brzezinski again?

no

Would you be willing to try another one of Mika Brzezinski’s performances?

no

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

There is basic info for anyone who is pretty ignorant about the subject of eating and eating disorders.

Any additional comments?

This book felt rushed and hurried and peppered with Mika's "celebrity" friends, acting as experts, at the expense of in-depth information from people other than Mika's therapist or Nora Ephron (may she rest in peace).

Disappointing

I am a fan of Morning Joe and was looking forward to this book. I have a strong interest in the obesity epidemic. This was a "fluff" book on the topic. I would recommend the book "Fat Chance" if you are interested in a science based look at obesity.

Focused on the problem

This book did a good job of talking about the problem of having an eating disorder. I didnt hear much, if anything, about how to recover from one.

Underwhelmed

More of the same. Might be good for impressionable youth or people new to the fit community.