When Life Gives You Lemons: Eat Them by DreamersDaze
Review by Agrutle
Rating: M
Genre: Drama/Romance
Characters: Bella/Edward
Summary: When a family member's health scare makes her question her own lifestyle, Bella begins a journey to find common ground between outer beauty, inner beauty, health and peace. Will she able to find love, in others and within herself? All Human
I love to read stories that are different. That don’t have everything wrapped up in a little bow. This is that kind of story. Bella is not tiny and perfect, she is overweight and is an emotional eater. I personally love the fact that she is imperfect. When we meet Bella, she is in the middle of a trip to the store to buy the comfort items of Oreos and mint chocolate-chip ice cream.
"Excuse me ma'am, but could you please stop? Mowing me down with your cart won't change the fact that there's someone in front of me."
"Screw you, you fat bitch!"
I think I just got cursed out by a senior citizen.
My jaw hit the ground and I jolted back, stunned. "Jeeze lady, do you kiss your grandkids with that mouth?”
And then she gave me the finger. For a moment I fantasized about ripping out her dentures and shoving them 'where the sun don't shine'. But to be honest, Grandma needs-her-mouth-cleaned-out-with-soap looked like she could, and would, kick my ass. So I bit my tongue, as the assault via shopping cart continued, staring into my basket at the half gallon of mint chocolate chip ice cream and bag of double stuffed Oreos that I was dying to dig into. As I finally reached the cashier, putting space between me and Grandma's cart of doom, the gum cracking teenager arched her eyebrow as she looked at me…and then at my purchases.
Yep…I'm fat. Google search images of 'girls that eat their feelings' and my picture would surely come up. Yes, I am buying cookies and ice cream. Could you ring those up while you're judging me?
Bella lives with her mom and Phil in Arizona and Rose is her very best friend. Having endured teasing and torture when she was younger, because she was overweight, Bella often wonders why Rose is friends with her. Then you meet Rose and see that she just loves Bella the way she is. Renee is worried about her daughter’s health and is constantly trying to get Bella to go on a new fad diet she has heard about.
"So," my mother began, and I looked up to find her staring at me intently across the table. Oh no…stares full of intent are never good. "I ran into Mrs. Olney, from down the street, today."
"Yeah?" I prompted, trying to keep the suspicion out of my voice.
Renee's hands began to flutter about the edges of the table; picking at the napkin, touching her fork as if she were about to grab it, and then appearing to change their mind. She always did this when she knew she was treading into sensitive territory. "Well she was telling me about how she's starting this new diet. Apparently there's this berry called Acai, which speeds up your metabolism and…"
I glared across the table as I interrupted. "Mom… fad diets are bullshit! There is no A+B=C equation to losing weight, no easy fix. Some people are just meant to be bigger. I'm fine with myself just the way I am. Why can't you be?"
The nervous hand fluttering sped up. "Look, I'm not trying to pressure you sweetie, but it's just… I worry about your health. You're getting older, and there are all these things associated with being overweight. I mean… your father has a history of heart disease on his side of the family…"
Bella understands the concern that her family has, but she just isn’t ready to change who she is. She tells herself that she is fine, and believes it. After returning from a vacation she takes with Rose she receives a phone call telling her that her father has had a heart attack, and it shakes her to her core. She is numb, and just knows that she needs to see him. After she gets there and realizes that Charlie is going to need help she decides to stay in Forks and help him. She and Rose get Charlie’s house in order and she decides that she has to change too, so that she can be a better help to Charlie.
When I looked up again, I realized I was standing in the health section of the store, in front of a row of shelves marked 'Diet and Nutrition'.
Way to be subtle subconscious. Fine, you win.
Except it wasn't that easy. The range and titles of the books left me extremely overwhelmed. Some sounded ridiculously Zen, boasting titles like "A Course in Weight Loss: 21 Spiritual Lessons for Surrendering Your Weight Forever". What? Then there were the 'sounds too good to be true' titles, such as "The Belly Fat Cure: Discover the New Carb Swap System and Lose 4 to 9 lbs. Every Week" Really? If it were possible to follow the directions of a book, and lose 4 to 9 lbs every week, I would think there would be no overweight people in this country at all. And finally there were 'get real' books that approached weight loss from a 'let's change your mind and your lifestyle'. These had brutally honest titles full of promise, such as "This Is Why You're Fat (and How to Get Thin Forever): Eat More, Cheat More, Lose More-and Keep the Weight Off"
Where the heck did one even start? Half of these books had conflicting views from the one next to them. This one said less carbs, more protein. This one said less fat, more carbs. Some titles suggested eating a specific food group, or even a specific food. I saw titles like "The Grapefruit Diet" or the "Spicy Food Detox".
It all left me with an overwhelming feeling of 'What the hell?'
You really can feel how confused she is feeling about herself and her situation. She doesn’t want to be fat but she feels like there’s no other way. I am totally loving this, it has captured my attention. I want to know what she does to change herself and I love that she’s doing it to be healthier to help her dad. The author makes you feel the feelings that Bella is having. You should read for yourself to see how everything plays out, I for one can’t wait!!
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