Perfect book for the beach or a long weekend! Janey runs a successful Bridal Company with her best friend Beau. She thinks they are the very best of friends, as close as siblings, until one day he decides she is to fat and forces her out of the company until she loses weight. With the help of her best friend she embarks on a journey through the high intensity New York City fitness scene of the very rich. She stumbles into the latest, most exclusive fitness class but all is not as it seems. A celebration of true friendship and finding yourself in a world looking for perfection.

Fitness Junkie manages to be laugh out loud funny as well as emotional and touching - a delicious combo for the best of novels. Janey Sweet is a 40 something CEO at a couture wedding dress company that she co-owns with her best friend Beau. While life hasn't been going as smoothly for Janey personally, professionally she is rocking it. That is until her business partner/bestie sits her down during brunch and gives her an ultimatum - lose 30 lbs or find another job. Janey enlists gal pal CJ to help her lose the weight in what becomes a hilarious look at the continuously changing healthy and fitness industry. From nipple baring yoga to juice raves, Janey tries it all. After a little self reflection Janey wonders is she happier now that she's skinny or if her life needs a change of a different kind? Fitness Junkie exposes the extreme lengths that some might go to be skinny, and continuously reinforces the idea that being healthy is what matters most - not your waist size. The satirical voice of the novel combined with the message of acceptance make Fitness Junkie a must read for anyone who has stepped onto a gym floor or tested the latest diet trends and wondered "Is it worth it?".

What is it with books about uber-rich women that I find so fascinating?

Fitness Junkie is one of the more interesting ones I’ve come across. Janey is a 40-year-old divorcee , who is a CEO of B, a wedding dress design company she runs with her best friend, Beau.

He is the creative designer. She is the level-headed CEO.

One day at brunch, Beau tells Janey she’s embarrassing. She’s too fat and needs to take three months off to lose 30 pounds. After all, her fatness is not a good representation of the company.

Sarcasm intended.

This is the point that could lose the reader. Although Janey consults with lawyers in the book, this could not be legally feasible in real life.

Even if it was legal, would a powerful CEO really roll over, take an unwanted sabbatical, and be happy chasing exercise trends, even with knowledge of a coup in the works? Would a successful CEO have no other business aspirations or machinations?

Absolutely not. The book forces the reader to suspend disbelief for the fun of going on these absurd diet and exercise excursions.

Okay, then. Turn off the logical part of the brain and enjoy the ride.

When you do away with common sense and the disgustingly sexist construct, the story is actually interesting. Like an anthropologist studying the habits of another culture, one which most people will never inhabit.

During her leave, Janey figures out that<spoiler> (of course) her BFF business partner Beau is up to no good. But instead of snapping back, she continues to diet herself to the point of hospitalization. Why?></spoiler>

This sounds like a scathing review, but it really isn't. This book is a lot of fun. Most of the fun in the winking tongue-in-cheek absurdity. The book knows how ridiculous it is. It's in on the joke. And at the same time, Janey is likeable. She'd be a fun friend.

Plot holes aside, <i>Fitness Junkie</i> actually is escapist fun. Grab the binoculars and explore this other culture in its natural habitat.

I mean, it includes topless yoga. How can you pass that up?

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an advance copy of Fitness Junkie in exchange for an honest review.

Watch the video review of Fitness Junkie here: https://youtu.be/NJb7AnysHcY.

Absolutely HILARIOUS! Loved every minute. Janey is a delightful character who definitely showcases the struggles many women go through with fad fitness trends and diets. This is a perfect beach or vacation read. My other half made me put it down because I couldn't stop laughing as I was reading while we were driving.
Janey is told she in a nutshell she is "fat" by her business partner. She sets out on a journey to lose the 30 lbs. he tells her she must lose in order to have her job back. Some of the fitness trains she hops on (as in "free the nipple yoga") are laugh out loud funny! The people she meets along the way and the struggles she faces as she tries to lose the weight keep you wanting to read more. Definitely a favorite and future go to for re-reading!

Janey Sweet is the CEO of a wedding dress company, whose long time friend/partner tells her she needs to take a hiatus from the company until she loses some weight. She's shocked, as she is the CEO, not a model for the company but decides to show him she can do it. She enlists the help of her friend, CJ, and cousin, Ivey, as she takes on some of the newest, hottest, fad exercise trends NYC has to offer. Along the way, she meets "Juice Boy" aka Jacob and Hugh, a distinguished gentleman, as she dips her toe back into the dating world.

It all goes a little crazy when she goes on a fitness retreat for The Workout, the most exclusive exercise trend of them all. All kinds of antics and trouble ensues, as the founder of The Workout isn't quite what she seems.

Janey and her friends are super likable and relatable and some of the trendy women are fun to despise. This was a fun and funny read and I'd definitely recommend it as a great summer beach read.

I'd give this book a solid 3.5 stars. Thanks so much to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book.

This book was so much fun that immediately after I finished it, I went to get her first book Knockoffs. I loved this book!

Janey is in the wedding dress business with her bestfriend, Beau. He’s always called her his muse from the times they were kids. One day, she appeared in a gossip column eating a “bruffin”. This put Beau, who was very weight consious (she didn’t think he ate any food anymore) over the edge. He told her that she needed to take 3 months off work to concentrate on losing weight because her being overweight was bad for business.

Janey is absolutely shocked because she didn’t really feel like she was overweight, she never really thought about it at all. Her best friend CJ helps to get her signed up to some exercise classes and her cousin, Ivy, gives her VIP status at her spin club.

Going through a divorce and with time on her hands, Janey meets two men that she dates at the same time. She also meets a shaman at the juice bar and goes on an exercise retreat that the shaman recommends but the retreat doesn’t have much to do with exercise at all.

This is a great book. I couldn’t put it down. I laughed out loud. Highly recommend! 🙂

Janie Sweet is the CEO of B.--the couture wedding dress branding that is developed for women of ... a certain size and status. She holds that position, not because she loves wedding dresses or really fashion at all, she hold it because her best friend Beau, the designer behind B. needs her. Beau needs Janie's intelligence and her family money and Janie need Beau because even though he is a gay man she loves him an craves his acceptance.

All of this begins to change when Beau calls Janie out on her weight and the image that it presents to the world about their brand. Being the majority shareholder, by 1%, he forces Janie into a hiatus until she loses 30 pounds. And Janie sets off to do so.

In the beginning her attempts are because of her desire to be abck in Beau's good favor but slowly things begin to change for her. She begins to see what real friends could be like. Mix that in with the hilarity of fitness fads an crazes... well, you find yourself with a great book.

Janie finds herself and learns to love herself--it takes a while but she does. And it isn't all about her body image in the end.

Featured in our summer reading guide
http://www.grundycountyherald.com/the-ultimate-summer-reading-guide/

I didn't start. Too many F bombs and swearing for me.

Too trite and clever. Weird pacing. Characters aren't reliable enough or likable enough to worry about.

From the writers of The Knockoff, Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza comes a new snarky comedy novel Fitness Junkie. A story we all know so well, a woman wants to lose weight, so she delves into the world of fitness. Where she finds extreme fads, hilarious over-doers, and eventually herself.

Janey Sweet is the CEO of a wedding dress design company, which she runs with her best friend Beau. The ultimate taboo happens when Janey is photographed eating at an event, and Beau basically shuns her out of the company by telling her she needs to lose weight in order to work with him. This sends Janey on a quest. She's newly divorced, forty, overworked and desperately needs to get back into the swing of life. Luckily she lives in New York, so there is an abundance of different work outs and diet drinks to try.

First, there's Free the Nipple yoga, then theres something called The Workout (which is essentially a work out with out being a workout) then there's the twenty something dollar juice drinks that supposedly she can't live with out. That's when she meets a cutie with dimples named Jacob, who introduces her to the dating scene again. She has a blast with him, even though they dumpster dived (dove?) on their first date.
Spending her time trying to find the perfect way to lose weight helps Janey realize that maybe she didn't need to drop the pounds after all. When she realizes that maybe she's better off with out her "best friend" Beau, her life can truly begin.

This novel was witty, sarcastic, and hilarious, you can really see how the authors are poking fun at all the new workout and weight loss fads, especially eating clay (what the what?) I did enjoy reading it, but I do have to say that I think their first novel was better. Janey was a funny girl, but she just didn't connect with me like I was really hoping. Every character in the book was a caricature and that kinda turned me off. I was hoping for some real people, but the book missed the boat on that one. Needless to say, if you are in the mood for a light read that will make you laugh, this is definitely a book you want to pick up, but if you are looking for something with deeper character development, you might want to go elsewhere. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars. I received this book from Netgalley.

Fitness Junkie was a delightful book. It felt like I was reading a letter from my best friend. I loved sharing in the protagonist's journey. She went from despair, to discovery, to self love as she traversed the health and fitness community of NYC. The dichotomy of dating after divorce was enlightening, as was the feeling of lose over a failed friendship. My only complaint was the ending. It felt rushed. The story was like a balloon. It filled with marvelous detail after detail until it deflated with its brief conclusion. However, overall, it was a lovely read.

Fitness Junkie
Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza
Available: July 11, 2017

Isn’t it funny when you read back to back books that are unintentionally similar? I had just finished “I’ll Eat When I’m Dead” thinking it would be like “The Knockoff” (written by these same authors) and it has a similar subplot to “Fitness Junkies”. Weird. I didn’t know speed was making a comeback.
So – this is pure Fitness Fluff! The plot is pretty fluffy – wouldn’t it be nice to have enough money to be able not to work the daily grind for three months and still be able to blow $15,000 on a mini vacation. The mash-up of fitness classes is very inventive – I’m sure we’ll be seeing some sort of versions of them all soon sweeping the nation. In fact, I hear there’s a new trend in NYC where workouts are based on prison life. As for me, I’ll stick with walking.
What I Loved: I’m glad that Jayne finally opened her eyes to see exactly who Beau was and how she was able to extract her revenge. And that she embraced her body size and type while doing it made it all sweeter.
What I Didn’t Love: I would have liked more of the relationship with Beau or even her ex-hubs, Matthew, to gain insight as to how Jayne acted in her personal relationships. Maybe a little more detail on how she extracted her plans with her mole inside B would have been appreciated. The ending kinds of wraps itself up in a neat little package all on its own.
What I Learned: I’m checking the ingredient labels much closer now.
Overall Grade: B

excellent read

A good chic book- while a little over the top it does address the issue of how we see our bodies and the extremes you could go to to please someone else. Love the main characters as they evolve and a great ending!!

I received this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was just what I needed. I snorted, laughed out loud, and had a great time reading this story. Janey is told by her business partner she needs to take some time off and lose weight after she is photographed eating a bruffin. She goes on a weight loss book camp and chaos ensues. This is a great bunch of characters, and just a fun escape from life. Janey is also very relatable. Sit back, turn off the world and enjoy the laughter.

Janey Sweet's bitchy business partner and childhood friend, Beau, has given Janey an ultimatum - lose 30 lbs (that she doesn't need to lose) or risk her position as CEO of their wedding design business. Through an old contract and a majority stake in the company, Beau is able to enact this clause...and hilarity ensues.

Having worked in a fashion-adjacent position in NYC for several years, I loved Sykes' and Piazza's other novel, The Knockoff. It bordered on satire but not - the scenarios were was ridiculous, true. So reads much of Fitness Junkie, a look into the various fitness classes in New York and the women who frequent them. Any New Yorker can identify the thinly (no pun intended) veiled references - SoarBarre is obviously Soul Cycle and SweatGood (I'm cracking up) is clearly ClassPass, a service which allowed our heroine to try all sorts of fitness trends to lose weight.

A lovable cast of characters follows Janey on her journey, including two love interests. I would have liked a few more pages dedicated to the romantic relationships, but this book really is not about that. There is definitely a positive body image, girl power vibe as Janey discovers that who she is, at any size, is more than enough.

The plotline kept me engaged and I caught myself laughing on the subway several times; this is a fantastic light-hearted read and these ladies are quickly becoming one of my favorite writing duos.

Hilarious! Even though I don't live in NYC with all the newest fitness crazes and the pressure to be thin, nor do I have the money to shell out on crazy health programs like the characters in this book, I still felt like I knew about half of these characters in real life. Though this book is over the top and absurd, I don't think its as far of from reality as one would hope. A must read for anyone who has been to a gym or on a diet!

When Janey Sweet, CEO of a couture wedding dress company that only makes clothes up to a size 6, is photographed in the front row of a fashion show eating a bruffin–a mix of brioche and muffin–her life-long best friend and business partner, Beau, gives her an ultimatum: Lose thirty pounds or lose your job.

Janey is shocked. She knows she’s put on a few pounds since her divorce, but she’s not a model—she’s the business part of the company! When she tries to remonstrate, Beau, her best friend since they were eight years old, reminds her that he has 51% of the business, and there is an actual clause in her contract about her weight.

So she goes to her college friend CJ, who is obsessed about her weight, and the two hurl themselves into the world of New York’s high end fitness revolution.

What got me interested was the promise of hilarity, specifically a reference to nude yoga, but that scene is more cringe-worthy and thought-provoking than it is hilarious. That is not to say that the funny isn’t there, because it is. The authors do a nifty job of satirizing not only rich New York’s obsession with being thin, but the entrepreneurs who cater to them (and prey on them), sometimes at the cost of their own sanity.

A sub-thread is Ivy, Janey’s cousin who is not rich, unlike Janey, and who lost her career as a ballet dancer to an accident, so is now a fitness instructor. Ivy, a genuinely nice girl with a hopeful and happy outlook on life, discovers that the more she abuses the people who come to her hip, expensive workouts, the more they return.

There is a lot of colorful detail about the high fashion world of New York, and where it intersects with artisanal health-food obsessions as well as fitness, but even more important, this book is about humans relating to one another as well as to their own bodies.

The backbone of the story is betrayal by the one closest to you. Janey has a great deal of reevaluating to do, and not just about her physical self. This journey, as well as the escalating story of the search for the Perfect Thin kept me turning the pages.

The narrative is charming, funny, observant, and spiced with wish-fulfillment, making the book a terrific summer read.

2.5 stars - didn't hate it, but it didn't totally work for me either.

Thanks to NetGalley and Doubleday for this eARC.

Janey and Beau are lifelong friends and business partners in their wedding dress company, B. Beau is the designer, Janey the CEO. Their partnership works until Beau tells Janey that in the wake of her divorce and the death of her parents, she's disgracing the company by *gasp* eating in public and being too fat. This sets Janey on the path to crazy workout classes and crazier diets, and, eventually, to self-acceptance??

This one didn't quite work for me - the plot was bumpy and though I liked Janey and Ivy (her cousin), some of the characterization was uneven. We go pretty quickly from a Janey who does not care about her weight to someone who is eating 1000 calories a day, without really seeing this transformation. I get that this is supposed to be about the #wellness industry with their #fitspo, etc, but I still need to see believable actions from a character. Also, Beau was like cartoon levels of awful.

Overall, this was fine, but I don't think the satire worked as well as the authors intended and in the absence of that, the book felt a bit underbaked. A fine, quick read, but not very illuminating or memorable.