My Footprint: Carrying the Weight of the World

By Jeff Garlin

Jeff Garlin shares his hysterical and eye-opening journey to reduce his waistline and his carbon footprint during the production of the seventh season of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm Jeff Garlin has... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1439150109
• ISBN13: 9781439150108
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: Gallery Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.4" x 0.9" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

A PERFECT READ!

OK, I don't know what I was expecting - I simply ordered the book because I like this guy on CURB...and I'm mildly interested in a book that speaks about weight loss or trying to lose weight, from someone who can...well, relate to the struggle. So, the book arrives, and I'm not making this up, I sit down on the chair in front of our front door and start reading, and I love it. Then my husband comes home and I read him parts of it. We laugh out loud. Then I can't stop reading it. It's funny, honest, frank (and a bit too crude for my taste...but still funny) and basically a memoir of a guy who wants to lose weight and is just struggling with it. Jeff Garlin can't quite understand some of the meditations he is supposed to read, for inspiration to keep away from bad food, and he keeps firing his assistants, and constantly struggles to stay away from sugar. And mac and chs and cookies. The writing draws you into his world, a world in which he is sneaking food and hiding the fact that he is eating it. I need to lose 50lbs, and perhaps with this book - I will simply laugh my way to skinny. No, that's not right - I'm actually working out with weights now - inspired by the book...which is not a preachy book - but a dang funny one. For anyone who knows anyone who struggles with weight - or just wants to read a honest, funny journal of someone who does! This book is great! Also, for you 'Curb your Enthusiasm' fans - lots of inside scoop!

Garlin is Great

I'm a long-time fan of Jeff Garlin, And like most fans, I know him best from his work on Curb Your Enthusiasm, which is one of the funniest shows ever. Garlin's "My Footprint" is hilarious, honest, and provides a nice glimpse into Garlin's struggle with his weight and how that conflicts at times with his diligence to go green. I was expecting "My Footprint" to chronicle Garlin's struggles as he loses weight, and to bask in his triumph at the end. What makes this book unique is that Garlin doesn't reach his goal, but that isn't the point anyway. The book is about his daily struggle and temptations and how although he may make a detour off his road to fitness, he never loses sight of his goal. I have a new respect for Jeff Garlin after reading this book. I thought it was a very enjoyable read and it made me feel like I know the guy personally. Love it.

Intriguing book for a variety of reasons

This is a really intriguing book for a variety of reasons. Foremost is the authors ongoing challenge to lose weight and keep it off. And I admit to being mad at times, reading of a well paid, successful celebrity who can afford good healthy, organic food who still chooses to make poor food choices while making poor choices. Mad because I am a widow who has to work hard to eat whole healthy, non junk food on a weekly budget of less than $30. Some readers may be put off by some of the language, which involves some profanity. But the author is a comic, and is on a popular television series which also is rough around the edges and one probably should assume, readers will know this and not be off put. Yes the author writes about a few recycling activities he does, which is actually less than what folks in my neighborhood do. Guess if you live in Hollywood and make more money, doing a little is seen as doing a lot. Did like reading of his visiting Ed Begley Jr whom I consider a hero, even though I have never met the man. He inspired me decades ago, and still does. And he is an excellent example of a thoughtful, mature man who walks his talk, when it comes to lifestyle changes. How he is treated and expects to be treated when because of his poor eating, lifestyle choices, he ends up at one hospital and then leaves and goes to a great hospital, simply reminded me of how a vast number of hard working Americans who either don't have healthcare coverage or access to a top hospital like Cedars Sinai, are treated every day and overall are thankful they even are seen, however long it takes when in the emergency room. Its also interesting reading of his visits to well paid therapists, for year after year, yet all that therapy seems to have been wasted since the author never gets very serious about making lifelong changes. Yes, the author is funny, but he also is extremely immature for an adult man who is middle aged. How many average American would give anything for the opportunity to have healthy food, personal trainers, healthcare, and all the wonderful things he has, and would make the changes needed, for the rest of their lives? Like the expensive stays at the the Pritikin Longevity Center + Spa whose site notes 'Pritikin's health resort is nestled in a private enclave, a gracious work of Italianate architecture, and is surrounded by 650 acres of tropical paradise at the famed Doral Golf Resort & pa in Miami. Swimming Pools. Five championship golf courses. Tennis courts. Dazzling fountains. Meditative labyrinths. Country Inns Magazine rated Pritikin as "the resort spa of choice in Florida.' Equally puzzling is the brief meditative quotes he places at the beginning of various diary entries, which are wise and wonderful, yet the author seems to not understand the idea behind a meditation saying. The purpose is to stay still, and think about the saying, in order that it takes root in your mind, so throughout the day when tempted, one wi

Heartfelt and so funny, too

I have to say I really enjoyed this book so much. I expected it to be a yuck-fest (as in laughs, not grossness) along the lines of most comedic memoirs these days, but in this case Jeff really has something to say. I am impressed at how honest he is about his weight struggles, and yet how funny he can still make that struggle seem. I snorted out loud when I read the passage about a naked Jeff breaking a massage table and passing a little gas on the way down, but felt for him at the same time. All in all, a fast read with lots of humor and heart.

Truly Inspiring.

Jeff Garlin has created a truly inspiring piece of work. He shines a light on environmental awareness, as well as self improvement. He demonstrates the process of reaching both goals quite effectively, with just the right amount of Garlin-esque humor along the way. The first chapter will have you chuckling aloud before things even get kicked off. My Footprint is a short read but thoroughly entertaining. Curb fans will laugh as they recall the scenes that My Footprint takes them through. However, it's not a Curb-centered book, therefore Non-Curb fans won't find themselves uninterested in the least. The addict in all of us, whatever the addiction, will identify with Garlin and begin to pull for his success. Garlin will manage to motivate the most unmotivated and amuse you in the process.