I'm Still Hungry

The best-selling author of Gut Feelings Carnie Wilson was 300 pounds, unemployed, depressed, and sitting in a doctor’s office being told that she probably wouldn’t live much longer. At night, she had terrible dreams of her mother getting a phone call from the police saying, "We’re very sorry, but someone found your daughter in bed, and she’s gone." Knowing she had to do something to save her own herself, Carnie opted to have gastric bypass surgery. She woke up the next day in the hospital determined that she wouldn’t just work on having a new body, but also a new life. That’s the story we’ve already heard. In I’m Still Hungry, Wilson picks up where she left off in her 2001 book Gut Feelings. She takes readers step by step on her weight loss journey, which wasn’t just a road to reaching 125 pounds. It was a mental trip where she had to conquer all of her fears and insecurities, including issues with her father, Beach Boy Brian Wilson—which made her gain the weight in the first place. This book offers a unique way of showing the progression of weight loss, with one section serving as a diary of sorts. It details Carnie’s weight at specific times so that readers can use this part of the book to find their own weight and see how Carnie’s life lessons got her head in the right place so the pounds could keep falling off. Wilson also offers a humorous look at her own weight loss, asking: What’s better—sex or chocolate? (Answer: "Sex followed by chocolate.") She also discusses re-establishing her career as an actress and singer in Hollywood. It wasn’t easy when the National Enquirer was practically staking out her house to catch her on "a fat day," or when fans e-mailed her to chastise her for flashing "some arm flab" on Entertainment Tonight. And, of course, the book includes Carnie’s minute-by-minute description of posing for the June 2003 issue of Playboy magazine, with the inevitable questions: Can I eat breakfast before posing nude? Why do I have my period this week of all weeks? and Do I look fat? Carnie also gives readers a glimpse of what spurred on the much awaited 2004 regrouping of the Wilson Phillips band and how she is in perfect harmony again with her partners, sister, Wendy Wilson; and bandmate, Chynna Phillips. Finally, the last part of the book reveals the specific weight-loss plan that Carnie still uses to keep slim—and anyone can follow this plan to lose weight whether they’ve had weight-loss surgery or not. Carnie even includes a few of her favorite desserts. Wilson is still hungry for knowledge, love, acceptance, and yes, a chocolate chip cookie or two.