South Sioux City native's book unpacks the 'skinny' on weight loss industry

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South Sioux City native Andy Boyle has written "Big Problem: A Former Fat Guy's Look at Why We're Getting Fatter and What You Can Do To Fix It," a nonfiction book that digs deep into a weight-loss industry. An award-winning journalist, Boyle's work has appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, Axios, Esquire and the Boston Globe.

Mandy Dempsey

SIOUX CITY -- Andy Boyle had a big problem, and it was a problem he shared with an estimated 39.8 percent of Americans ages 20 and older.

Tipping the scale at 320 more than five years ago, the South Sioux City native was clinically obese and felt every pound.

Tired of getting winded after doing even the simplest task, Boyle stopped drinking, which allowed him to lose a lot of the excess weight. Then, he started running, lifting weights and watching what he ate. That's when he dropped to 215 pounds.

"However, I'm more comfortable at 245 pounds," he explained. "This is a weight that I can manage by myself." 

An award-winning author and journalist, Boyle has written for the Chicago Sun-Times, Axios, Esquire and the Boston Globe.

So, it is perhaps understandable that the now Chicago-based reporter took a journalistic approach when writing "Big Problems: A Former Fat Guy's Look at Why We're Getting Fatter and What You Can Do To Fix It" (TarcherPerigree).

Andy Boyle, a South Sioux City native, has lost nearly 80 pounds. That experience led him to write "Big Problem: A Former Fat Guy's Look at Why We're Getting Fatter and What We You Can Do To Fix It," a nonfiction book that examines why we eat the way we eat.

Mandy Dempsey

"I was fat and I wasn't alone," said Boyle, who has previously authored the book, "Adulthood for Beginners." "I wanted to explore the reasons why I got fat and why millions of others experienced the same thing."

In his book, Boyle spoke to health experts, physicians, runners, weightlifters and others in order to get the skinny on why we're turning into an XL nation.

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