E-Book Review: Tugboat: My Voyage Out of Obesity

Full disclosure: I received a copy of this e-book with the expectation that a review would be done and posted to a fitness blog. It has taken me quite some time to finish reading the book for a couple of reasons: 1) We've been moving to a new house, and that has taken quite a bit of my time away from the screen, 2) on top of moving, home schooling is back. in. session. - which means any time I spend on my screen seems to equal open season for the kids to slack off (!), and 3) I am discovering that I really do prefer bound books, the paper-and-ink sort of books, that I can hold in my hands to the digital variety, so I read more slowly on the digital sort.

The Reason: Tugboat: My Voyage Out of Obesity, is an e-book that I discovered through a home schooling group that I am part of. She was looking for people to review the book and spread the word, I am always on the look out for media regarding the struggle people have with being obese, and how they kicked the extra weight to the curb in a safe manner.

The Hype: (Direct from the author's blog)

She knows firsthand the frustration and hopelessness of trying to lose excessive weight and regain her health. She has experienced the pain and despair of chronic sickness and the fear of what's to come. She's been there.

And now in her very first eBook, she candidly shares her voyage out of the murky depths of sickness and obesity back into the sparkling waters of health and vitality. Armed with a motive to help others, her enthusiasm is contagious, as she inspires and motivates friends and family in their own journey.

She invites you to jump on board, as she shares how a skinny teen wound up an overweight adult, how small steps led to a major overhaul in a short amount of time, and ways she is maintaining her new lifestyle. Also included is Cheryl's personal daily journal through her 60 day juice fast, live juice recipes, insightful tips and lots of encouragement.

You are sure to be blessed by her amazing story!

My Impression: Overall, I liked the book. It has some recipes in the back, it is openly and honestly told - even at the spots where she talks about eating the wrong foods, "cheating" on the juice fast, etc. It is a homey book and written in a very personal style as opposed to something that is researched and clinical.

What I liked: I liked some of the homey-ness. I liked that she was honest about taking tastes here or there at the end, and how it affected her. A couple of things seem to be popping up as I read about weight loss lately. The first is juicing, and juice fasts (and the phenomenon surrounding Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead), the second is T-Tapp (which I have reviewed previously), the Long family follows both of these. They do T-Tapp workouts together and even the father of the family got into the juice fast toward the end.

• The Long family has seven children, and did not seem to have a huge income, so they gave good tips for where to shop to buy the large quantities of fresh vegetables needed for a proper juice fast
• The book included some good "starter" recipes toward the end
• The book is honest about some of the different things that one might struggle with when trying to undertake a longer juice fast (60 days)
• She discussed how the fast affected her family life in terms of other events going on - pregnancy, etc.
• She got into how the fast affected her in terms of other health issues (positively)

What I didn't: The start was a little slow as she described where the title (a childhood nickname) came from, and other such details and how she got to the point of being so overweight. It's not a deal-breaker, but know that it gets easier to read once she starts delving into the aspects of the juice fast.

Overall Impression: The book is a good book and worth the time it took me to read it (about two days, perhaps.) One of the best things about it were the recipes and the ideas on where to go to get good, but inexpensive produce, and how to deal with being away from the house for a day or two (and away from one's juicer).