As an eating disorder specialist I have read a lot of books about bodies! This is one of my newest favorites! It is rare for me to hear a voice that sounds like an old friend and a pleasant surprise all at once. Nicole is honest and authentic in every page. She addresses the issue of body diversity and acceptance in such a bold and new way! It is a must read for the church and all of humanity!

I was introduced to this book after reading the recently published Lovely earlier this year. Amanda and Nicole have a podcast which is pretty great. I'm intrigued by these books growing up hearing the phrase "this is the summer we get skinny" over and over again. I've struggled with my size for quite a few years ... maybe since puberty. I don't see myself as 'averaged sized' or even a 'likable size' most often. Most of society encourages this idea regarding my body shape which just fuels my inner critic.
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The book dove into a couple of really interesting paths that I had never considered. Nicole talks about "diet devotional" and how fatness is seen as evidence of sin in your life when the prosperity Gospel is being proclaimed.
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The truth, the real truth, of the matter is that there are a lot of things we don't always have control of. Also, it should not be a person's 'full-time job' or 'thing they should always being concerned about' to diet, lose weight, and change their body in order to be accepted in society.
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Nicole dives deep into what this practically looks like in our culture. She walks through the ways that the Church is hurting people of a 'non-average body size' and keeping them from the love the Lord has for them - because that's not based on our body size.
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This quote at the very end is fantastic:
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Your body may not be beautiful by someone else's standards (or yours). It may be sick or disabled or full of pain. But the truth is, your body is made in the image of God. It is worthy of love and care and dignity. It is reasonable to expect our communities - especially communities of faith - to be places that acknowledge that truth and welcome us into life-giving community.
The things in this book are usually 'whispered' or only talked about in therapy or shamed by society - we need to talk about them more openly! Let's changed the conversation!
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Excellent book that challenges us to think about how we all reflect God's image, no matter the shape and size of our bodies. I appreciate Morgan's thoughtful critique of Christian culture, and her willingness to share aspects of her own journey to acceptance. Some of her thoughts personally challenged me and my own complicated relationship with food and body image; she definitely alters the way I will think, act, and live in community.

“My body is a reflection of the image of God, and that includes my fatness.”

Such a needed book. Nicole is honest, wise, and thoughtful in her storytelling. Everyone can learn something from these words.

This book took a lot of courage to write as it tells of the author’s journey toward fat acceptance and the various thoughts and experiences along the way. It is honest and affirming, present some ways of thinking that are counter cultural, especially in the church. She addresses fat shaming and how we moralize eating and admonishes the reader to be more fat positive- she also removes the stigma of calling oneself “fat”, emphasizing that it is merely a descriptive word for one’s body. As someone who has been fat for much of my life and grown up in the church, I connected with much of her story and many of the thoughts she had throughout- I appreciated the way she put the experience of being fat in a world that doesn’t embrace it, into clear and succinct words. I think this is a good book for anyone to read as it shares her personal experience and story and will help you better understand a perspective that might be different from your own.

This book is way more nuanced, thoughtful, and loving than almost anything else available on the subject. I didn't agree with everything in it, but I deeply appreciate J. Nicole Morgan's personal stories and her insight into how the American church can break conformity with worldly views of physical beauty and stop sending messages that equate thinness to godliness.

Nicole Morgan has created a fantastic resource for the church. She writes openly and honestly about her experiences as a fat Christian, and how our approach to bodies can be so damaging. We see fatness only in terms of gluttony and sinning. We think self-hatred in search of a thinner body is admirable. We believe God can't really use us until we get our weight under control. Nicole discusses how all of these ideas impacted her personally, and also how she moved beyond them.

She challenges us to think more deeply with the mind of Christ and paints a gorgeous vision of a community that sees the image of God in EVERY body, where we celebrate and feast together, where we make good decisions out of love for our bodies exactly as they are. I was so encouraged and inspired by this book and recommend it to everyone.

J. Nicole Morgan's book is a gift. Not just to those who are (or consider themselves) overweight, plus-size, or fat, but to everyone. She gently, but fiercely, critiques and challenges the myriad ways that our culture (both inside and outside of the church) perpetuates anti-fat bias and points out how we as individuals may be further perpetuating it. Nicole shows us a better way of caring for all bodies, both our own and those of the people around us, irrespective of weight and size. This book is a must-read.

This is the first book I've ever read of this kind. Not only for it's content, but for opening to my eyes to the content of *my* brain. I always automatically equated fatness with gluttony and sickness. And this book... THIS BOOK brought to light that which is just so obvious now - it's much more complex (and much more simple) than the things I've believed all my life, that the aforementioned equation is not true by default and there's so much more my brain needs to do (and *not* do, and let go of) and I'm going to be rereading this book for a long time, I think.

Things I appreciate: this is not fluff. This is not just idle feel good fodder, make excuses, let's throw confetti and just be happy because happy feels good. This is biblical. This separates so many thoughts and norms that I never though to separate (but it's so obvious now). This is encouraging. It's surprisingly convicting, and community building, and relationship celebrating, and Kingdom viewing. This book was written by an intelligent woman who has spent a long time thinking, praying, researching, talking, asking, answering, and living what she's trying to get across. This book is for fat people. This book is for thin people. This book is for men and women and any race, color, and nationality. This book is for me. And it's for you. And the resources! All the resources in the back of this book. YES.

I'm so proud of my friend and forever grateful to God that the paths of our lives met so many years ago. I have been offered a freedom and at the same time some marching orders, and I'm grateful for all of it.

If you've ever thought, "I think ___ about fat because ___", then this book is for you. And will benefit you and all those you know, immensely.