Ruby's Diary: Reflections on All I've Lost and Gained

by Ruby Gettinger

Book Overview

When television viewing audiences first met Ruby Gettinger, a mild-mannered, sweet-natured, Southern-food addicted Sunday school teacher, her weight was hovering near 500 pounds. As the ad campaign... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061924601
• ISBN13: 9780061924606
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Choices We Face

Principles provided in this book can be applied to almost any addiction. I can identify with Ruby and the circumstances she encountered during her early day battles with weight loss and how they affected her both emotionally and physically. She is a great inspiration to me.

come along for the journey

You probably have heard of Ruby Gettinger, the star of the Style Network's reality show "Ruby". Or maybe you're a regular viewer and can't get enough of Ruby. So here's your chance to spend more time with her. Ruby has no great miracles to help you lose weight, no easy "eat this, eat that" solution for morbid obesity. She's not into blaming McDonalds or Sara Lee or any major food company. She holds herself responsible and that's what makes this book so refreshing. She's a down to earth woman, thoughtful and intelligent and it's a privilege to take her journey to better health with her. She doesn't even try the excuse a lot of formerly overweight people do. She doesn't claim she is extremely unhappy - I'll let her put it in her own words: "Being fat is a lot like wearing handcuffs. You're in shackles all the time. You're a prisoner and you don't even realize it, because you are happy to some degree." And she's right, that's how it is. If you love the show "Ruby", you'll love this book. And if you haven't met Ruby yet, this book is a great place to start. I recommend it highly.

Loved reading about Dr. Bradley and Ourlife Fresh!

I am a big Ruby fan so, of course, I was predisposed to love this book and I did! Ruby has been such a motivator for me with my own weight struggle and this book just offered further inspiration! The book ranges from her emotional issues to practical advice on how she has "conquered the beast." I loved reading about her relationship with Dr. Bradley and how much Ourlife Fresh, her meal plan, has been a factor in her success. A powerful combination of practical advice and all of the psychological stuff that goes into finding the will power to finally change your life so that you can lose weight (as opposed to losing weight to change your life)! Just what I need to learn as I am ready to make the commitment to lose weight and keep it off for good.

Ruby Rocks!

Like everyone else who struggles with their weight, I've often wondered about the underlying causes of my never-ending struggle. That is precisely what Ruby is examining about herself, but in a very public way. As viewers of her show know already, Ruby is working her way down from a morbidly obese 700-pound woman to her ultimate goal of 150-something pounds. In the process, she's documenting her life for the cameras, along with the help of a therapist, a nutritionist, a physician who specializes in obesity, and a pair of enthusiastic personal trainers. Okay, it sounds like a recipe for sure-fire weight loss... but none of those experts can lose the weight FOR Ruby. Like the rest of us, she struggles with every bite, with every workout, with every day. Only, because of her very large size, her problems are super-sized, too. Like, trying to take a plane trip from Georgia to California to see a friend and realizing that, even after suffering the indignity of needing two seats, she discovers she can't even use the bathroom on the plane due to her size (or, more accurately these days, due to the incredibly small size of plane bathrooms). And what about clothes? As many of us know, "one size fits all" doesn't really exist. But when you're 700, 500, even 300 pounds (as Ruby is approaching this season), you know better. Pants? There aren't designers out there bending over backwards to outfit people that size. Fortunately, Ruby's designer friend was able to help her out and, after going over a decade without wearing them, he designed her a pair of pants. That may sound trite to someone who's never struggled with their weight, or to someone who's only trying to lose 20 pounds or so. At first, that's how I reacted, too. But there's something about Ruby, about her utter honesty and humility, that draws readers into her diary to not only witness her struggles but to cheer her on. We come to realize, too, that Ruby's struggles aren't only hers. In a country where obesity is sky-rocketing, where diabetes and weight-related cancers are reaching epidemic proportions, it's important that we all understand one thing Ruby has NOT said in her diary: it could happen to any one of us. A lot of Ruby's diary will make you chuckle. Her "Rubyisms" (words she's mashed up together to make a new one) are hilarious, and they'll creep into your vocabulary. Her Southern Belle sweetness -- with its underlying strength and grit -- will charm you. If you're a fan of her television show, there's not a whole lot in this book that hasn't been depicted, but you'll read it from Ruby's perspective and, at times, you'll cry along with her. If you've never watched Ruby's show before, well, this is a great way to get to know the sassy, super-sized woman who's on her way to slim.