January will soon be upon us and, as usual, millions of us will make another New Year's resolution to lose weight and get back in shape. I've decided to do it myself - my breastfeeding days are now behind me so I have no excuse not to go on a diet and shift those post-pregnancy kilos (from all three pregnancies !). It therefore seemed a good time to pluck a book off my "to be reviewed" bookshelf entitled The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl.
This inspirational tome is a diet book with a difference. You won't find any low calorie recipes or diet advice. You won't even find any motivational mantras. What you will find is the brutally honest, endearing and at times hilarious tale of Shauna Reid, an amazing lady who decided to bare her soul (and wobbly bits !) on an anonymous blog as she set off on her personal challenge to lose half her body weight.
Shauna is one of those straight-talking Australians who always have me in hysterics and she shares her story with us, warts and all, including her thrust-induced farts at her exercise class and her hilarious struggle to squeeze into her wedding dress ! Yes, wedding dress, because despite using the "too fat" excuse for the first part of her life, Shauna eventually decides to bite the bullet and sets off to Europe, finding excitement, happiness and romance on the way.
It's a heart-warming and inspirational tale, which is so much more motivating than any of the self-help diet or exercise books written by stick-thin experts. Shauna is (and always has been, whatever her size) a lovely lady and her honest, sensible advice and lessons learned are really inspirational. The first half of the book is a journey of self-discovery and introspection, looking at the resons why she ended up putting on weight. The second part is an actual journey to the other side of the world, where Shauna learns that the numbers on the scale don't actually matter as much as being healthy and happy. Now that's what I call a diet book !
If you want to find out more about Shauna, before buying the book or after reading it, you can catch up with her on her blog, http://www.dietgirl.org/dietgirl/.
Ratings-wise, where I'm at right now (about to embark on my own weight-loss challenge), I give it a 5/5 but this book will mainly appeal to those who have battled with the bulge (or other inner demons) at some point in their lives. It's as much chicklit as it is an inspirational diet book.
star rating : 5/5
RRP : £9.99
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Corgi (18 May 2010)
ISBN-10: 0552162728
ISBN-13: 978-0552162722
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Oh to be so daring as to bare all to the word at large..... maybe this will be my year to get in to shape! Maybe Dietgirl is the girl to help me!
ReplyDeleteGood luck, sounds familiar !! Let us know how you get on ! :-)
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