I Named My Bellyfat Charlene - Paperback

by Louanne McFarlane (Author)

What if your most troublesome body part could talk?

When the narrator, a successful programmer, is dared to wear a bikini, it throws her into a tailspin. The demand to bare it all sparks more than wardrobe anxiety. It awakens a whole new personality.

Charlene, the belly fat that's been tagging along for years, shows up as a sassy sidekick in the journey toward self-acceptance. She's been there through every late-night ice cream binge and every awkward HR meeting, and Charlene is finally ready for her starring role.

This diary-style novel chronicles the hilarious and heartfelt struggle-one stretch mark at a time. Between a boyfriend who expresses love through food, and a best friend who might be fighting her own insecurities, our heroine must decide if she's ready to stop hiding in black. She's trying to navigate the business-casual minefields where her "girls" violate the dress code simply by existing. As we follow her troubleshooting mission, from disastrous diets to toxic gym assessments with hunky-but-shallow trainers, she realizes that "fixing" herself isn't a matter of spreadsheets or calorie counts.

From passive-aggressive gym mirrors to the sacred ritual of unbuttoning jeans after dinner, I Named My Bellyfat Charlene is a love letter to every woman who's ever felt like her body was the punchline. It's not, it's the whole story.