My fourth book, Nice Girls Finish Fat: Put Yourself First and Change Your Eating Forever, was published in 2009 by Simon & Schuster, on June 2^nd, to be exact. What a funny coincidence (yes, life is full of meaningless happenstance) that on June 2, 2024, I was thinking about my use of the word “fat” in the title and how I wouldn’t have used it today—which shows how much the world (and I) have changed in 13 years. I like that the world has changed and how we can stretch and grow for the better. 

Some years after Nice Girls was published, I began to get flack about using the word “fat” in the title. The first instance occurred when I was giving a book talk for a women’s group and some audience members were offended by the title because they thought it sounded like I was making “fat” a bad thing. I considered their take on it but couldn’t figure out how I might have made the same point with another word.

A few years later, some advocates for the Heath at Every Size (HAES) movement, which I wholeheartedly support in promoting the concept of being both higher weight and healthy, took issue with the title. This time, their point reached me and I got it: the use of the word “fat” seemed pejorative which made me very uncomfortable. 

Since then, I’ve continued to hear two sets of opinions on the subject. Some people have said they identify with and like the title. They weren’t offended by my use of the word  fat because that’s how they thought of themselves. Rather, they focused on how their niceness had contributed to overeating and becoming the size they were.

Other people were still affronted and all I could do was feel squeamish and apologize, saying I wouldn’t have used that word in our current world, wish I’d made a better choice, but that there was no going back and unpublishing the book. I told them I used the word at the time because I didn’t know any better, but since then have become more enlightened. It seems to me, that’s the best humans can do: admit our transgressions and try to live according to better values.

So, for those of you who were or are offended by my usage of “fat” in the title of my book, I apologize. It seemed to express the book’s subject matter at the time and my publisher was happy with it. Now I regret it. I’m blogging about this for two reasons: to offer an apology and also to model how we can value changing after doing something we think is wrong. Too many of us have difficulty making mistakes and then moving on. Fact is, we’re going to make them (as I did so publicly), so isn’t it best that we own and learn from them?

Best,

Karen