Gorge: My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds

The inspiring memoir of a plus-size woman who summited Kilimanjaro while overcoming fat prejudice and her own demons -- ＂I was moved and inspired by every page of this beautiful book＂ (Cheryl Strayed)

Kara Richardson Whitely was determined to reach the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. But she struggled with each step -- with the grueling conditions on the steep mountainside, with the 300-pound weight of her own body, and with her food addiction, which came from a lifetime of reckoning with feelings of failure and shame. Deep in her personal gorge, Kara realized the only way out was up.

Gorge: My Journey Up Kilimanjaro at 300 Pounds is the raw story of Kara’s ascent from the depths of self-doubt to the top of the world. Her inspiring trek speaks to every woman who has struggled with her self-image or felt that food was controlling her life. Honest and unforgettable, Kara’s journey is one of intense passion, endurance, and self-acceptance.

Kara Richardson Whitely has hiked Mount Kilimanjaro three times while weighing as much as 300 pounds. Why three times? Because sometimes that’s what it takes to get over something.
Kara is also the author of The Weight of being, a motivational public speaker, and a journalist. She has written for Self, Everyday with Rachael Ray, and Runner’s World magazines, and she was recently featured on Oprah’s Lifeclass. She was one of Outside magazine’s 127 Defining Moments finalists, and has been written about in Redbook and American Hiker magazine. She lives in Summit, New Jersey, with her husband, Chris, and two daughters.