Weightless by Kate Wicker

This is a joint giveaway with WaldenMommy and Family: Life Behind the Red Front Door and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only. Please find the section marked "Win it!" for the mandatory entry and optional bonus entries.

St. Anthony Messenger Press and Kate Wicker are offering our readers a giveaway of two copies of Kate's new book, Weightless: Making Peace with Your Body,, a value of $13 each, or $26 total. Two lucky readers will win!

Weightless is a Roman Catholic mother's hard-won perspective on eating and body image. Kate Wicker takes readers on a devotional journey toward loving their bodies as God intended.


From our reviewer, Laura of Walden Mommy:

Many, if not most, women are no stranger to body image problems. From rapidly changing bodies in puberty, to childbirth and nursing and then issues as we grow older, our bodies are always changing … and not in ways we might like! Coupled with the messages screamed from the media (“Thinner is better! You can and should be like the stars who lose all the baby weight in two weeks!"), it’s no wonder many women have a distorted view of their bodies.

Kate Wicker, author of Weightless: Making Peace with Your Body, agrees with me. As a child and teen, she often felt like she was fat and wasn't pretty enough. When she was older, this idea turned into an eating disorder. After therapy, hard work, and loving support from her family, she was clinically cured but still felt sick. It was then that she realized she was spiritually sick and only God could truly heal her and help her be at peace with her body.

Weightless isn’t just another self-help book or story of a woman’s eating disorder, although bits and pieces are scattered throughout the book. It's part devotional, part personal reflections, and all deep thinking. She brings her past experiences to the plate, while offering her readers spiritual food for thought. In it, she reflects on the media's portrayal of health and how that influences how women view themselves. She also asks us to look at ourselves and how our view of our bodies shapes our faith lives and our relationship with God and our human family.

Weightless is a short book, and each chapter targets a different area, such as aging or keeping a healthy balance. It is easy to read and could be read in one sitting. However, each chapter also “stands alone” and could be read one at a time.

Each chapter is also divided into different sections, such as "Soul Food" and "Meditations." The reflection sections are perfect to use alone or with a small group. In fact, the book itself is very versatile and could be used privately or in a small group discussion.

Wicker is a Roman Catholic, and this book uses Catholic teaching to help its readers form a healthy view of themselves. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Bible, and the lives of various saints are often quoted. Many times, the author urges her readers to pray, fast (when and if appropriate), and partake of Communion (the perfect Food) to help them through their struggles.

She reminds us that it is not what one looks like on the outside that matters, but what is inside. She uses Saint Damien of Molokai as an example. Saint Damien is often portrayed as looking “normal,” yet he died of Hansen’s Disease (leprosy), a disease that literally eats away at the skin. Saint Damien’s outside was not what society would consider beautiful, but his inside was lovely to behold. Saint Damien also saw Christ in everyone he worked with, including the very ill people in Kalaupapa. Wicker urges her readers to do the same.

Review

Many spiritual books about body image or weight loss are Protestant or focus on New Age religions. Those books fill a need for many people. However, there is a lack of good, quality books written by today’s Catholic writers for Catholics living in today’s world. Many books I have read for my Catholic book clubs were written over thirty years ago. While nice to read, they lacked an overall appeal to women living, parenting, and trying to raise faithful Catholics in the modern world.

This book helps to fill that void. I enjoyed reading this book freely, without having to censor what would not work for my faith. While Wicker does quote some “oldie but goodie” saints, such as St. Teresa of Avila, she also looks to the lives of newly canonized saints (such as St. Damien) for inspiration. It’s always a pleasure to read more about new “saints.”

I found that the overriding message of this book is love. Love yourself as God loves you. Love everyone, as Christ loves them. Look to God to help you love yourself, for it is only through His love that we can be at peace with ourselves. Remember that God loved you so much that He made you exactly as you are, perceived bodily imperfections and all. He does not view your outer shell as imperfect so why, then, should you?

BUY IT!

You can purchase your own copy of Weightless at Amazon. The retail price is $12.99, and it is currently on sale for $10.39 and eligible for Free Super-Saver Shipping. You can buy a personalized copy at KateWicker.com.

WIN IT!

For your own chance to win one of two copies of Weightless from St. Anthony's Press, enter in the comments below. Two winners will receive one copy of the book each. Contest is open to United States mailing addresses only.

MANDATORY ENTRY: Visit KateWicker.com and tell us one thing you have learned about the author!

Leave a valid email address in at least one of your comments so we can contact you if you win. You can write them like this to foil spambots: mail {at} naturalparentsnetwork {dot} com.

This is a joint giveaway with WaldenMommy and Family: Life Behind the Red Front Door and Natural Parents Network. You may enter at one site only, and we'll be recording IP addresses to ensure that there are no duplicate entries. That said, please do visit and enjoy both sites!

BONUS ENTRIES: Complete one or more of the following to increase your chance of winning after completing the mandatory entry above (leave a separate comment for each so we can count them all):

• Tell us why you would like a copy of Weightless.
• Visit the publisher's website and tell us one other item that interests you.
• Subscribe to Natural Parents Network in a reader or by email (1 entry for each).
• Subscribe to WaldenMommy in a reader or by email (1 entry for each).
• Leave a relevant comment on a non-giveaway article at Natural Parents Network and tell us which post (comment on separate posts for up to 3 entries total).
• Leave a relevant comment on a non-giveaway article from WaldenMommy and tell us which post (comment on separate posts for up to 3 entries total).
• Like Natural Parents Network on Facebook.
• Like Kate Wicker and Weightless on Facebook.
• Post this giveaway on your Facebook page or wall and leave the link (1 entry). You can use this status update: Enter to win one of 2 copies of @Weightless - Kate Wicker from @Natural Parents Network. Contest ends 11.26 and is open to U.S. only.
  Be sure to attach the contest URL to your update! (This is not part of the status text!)
  http://naturalparentsnetwork.com/giveaway-weightless/
• Follow @NatParNet on Twitter and leave your Twitter name in the comment.
• Follow @KateWicker on Twitter and leave your Twitter name in the comment.
• Tweet about this giveaway (up to 5 times total, at least 24 hours apart). You can tweet this text: #Win a copy of Weightless: Peace w/Your Body by @KateWicker from WaldenMommy & @NatParNet! #giveaway http://bit.ly/tRcqEl {11.26, US}
• Enter another of the giveaways on Natural Parents Network (1 extra entry per giveaway — check back for more).
• Put the Natural Parents Network badge on your website or add http://NaturalParentsNetwork.com to your text blogroll for 2 extra entries each. The HTML code for the badge is on the right sidebar. Leave your site URL in the comment.

RULES

• Contest open to United States mailing addresses.
• Contestants may enter at either WaldenMommy or Natural Parents Network but not both. Entries will be combined for the drawing of a single winner.
• Leave each entry as a separate comment so we can count them all.
• For actions like following and subscribing, if you already follow or subscribe, just let us know in your comment.
• For tasks that garner you multiple entries, you can copy and paste the comment with a #1, #2, etc.
• You don't have to do any of the bonus entries, but you do have to complete the first mandatory one.
• We will pick the winner through Random.org after the contest closes and send an email notification. Leave a valid email address as you comment so we can contact you if you win. If we can't reach a winner or don't hear back within a couple days, we'll draw a new name. Entries will be added together from both sites. If there are 50 entries from the non-NPN site and 65 entries from NPN, we will count the non-NPN entries as numbers 1-50 and the NPN entries as numbers 51-115.
• After the giveaway closes, a representative from NPN will contact the winner. The winner will have 48 hours to respond by email; otherwise, NPN will select another winner.
• Any questions, let our giveaway editors know: ShannonR {at} NaturalParentsNetwork {dot} com and Amanda {at} NaturalParentsNetwork {dot} com

Contest closes November 26, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.

Disclosure: Our reviewer received a sample product for review purposes.
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Laura is most often found driving her herd of four small children around mid-western suburbia or tackling Mt. NeverEndingLaundry. Online, she blogs at WaldenMommy: Life Behind the Red Front Door about her life with The Herd, her Engineer Husband and their pesky dog; her faith; and dealing with post-partum PTSD following the premature birth of her third child. A natural birthing, breastfeeding, baby-wearing, semi-co-sleeping, healthy eating, green living hippie who likes shopping and shoes, she doesn't claim to be a perfect mother . . . but is the perfect mother for her children.