Book ~ "Fat Chance" (2014) Nick Spalding

From Goodreads ~ Meet Zoe and Greg Milton, a married couple who have let themselves go a bit.

Zoe was a stunner in her college days but the intervening decades have added five stone and removed most of her self-esteem. Greg's rugby-playing days are well and truly behind him, thanks to countless pints of beer and chicken curry.

When Elise, a radio DJ and Zoe's best friend, tells them about a new competition, it seems like the perfect opportunity to turn their lives around. "Fat Chance" will pit six hefty couples against one another to see who can collectively lose the most weight and walk away with a £50,000 prize.

So begins six months of abject misery, tears and frustration that just might turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to them in another laugh-out-loud look at the way we live.

Zoe and Greg are in their late thirties and like most of us, have gained weight over the years.  Zoe's friend, Elise, works at a radio station that is organizing a weight loss competition called "Fat Chance" and convinces Zoe (who convinces Greg) to be part of it.  Six couples will compete to see which has lost the most weight after six months, with the prize being £50,000.

The contestants are obligated to keep track of their journey is a diary and the book is Zoe and Greg's entries as they recount their efforts to diet and exercise. 

This is the first book I've read by this author and I enjoyed it.  I liked the writing style.  It was funny and sarcastic.  You have to read it with an open mind and sense of humour ... I don't think the author's intent was to offend anyone.  I thought there was surprisingly a lot of honesty and reality in it.  The format worked for me ... each chapter alternated between Zoe and Greg's diary entries with their names at the top and their weight loss to date.  The author lives in England so there are some English references I didn't get.  Plus the weights are in stones (I had to look it up online ... 1 stone = 14 pounds).  As a head's up, there is swearing.

I liked Zoe and Greg.  I thought they were cute as a couple who had been together for a long time.  It was fun to read how they first approach weight-loss ... Zoe tried the wacky diets guaranteed for quick weight loss while Greg got sucked in by buying crazy exercise equipment.  They eventually discovered what worked for them (healthily).

I look forward to reading others by this author.