Joan Price Says, Yes You Can Get in Shape: Make Exercise a Treat, Not a Treatment [Paperback]

Joan Price (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Joan Price, an aerobics instructor and fitness journalist in Sebastopol, California, isn't the type of person you'd expect to find writing an exercise manual. She describes herself as a short, unathletic woman in her 50s who walks with a limp. But from this obscure origin comes a book that just may be the best compendium of user-friendly information that a beginner will ever find.

The key to the book's appeal is Price's identification with the needs and trepidations of people who, literally, have never exercised before. A former high school English teacher, Price didn't learn to ride a bike until she was 29, and started taking aerobic-dance classes at 33. Two years later, in 1979, came the event that changed her life: an out-of-control driver hit her head-on one day when she was driving to school. Had it not been for the fact she was in shape, she feels she would've died. As it stood, her doctors weren't sure she would even be able to walk normally, or without pain. She had other ideas: she wanted to teach aerobics.

So when Price touches on topics like how to choose a gym, begin an exercise class, lose weight safely, measure progress, or stick with a program, she speaks from the experience of one who got well into adulthood before learning these things.

Product Details

• Paperback: 210 pages
• Publisher: Pacifica Pr (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0935553169
• ISBN-13: 978-0935553161
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,924,584 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am an author, speaker, advocate for ageless sexuality, fitness professional, and contemporary line dance instructor.

For twenty-two years, I taught high school English in Italy, New York, and California. Then, in 1979, after a near-fatal automobile accident, I realized that I owed my life to my exercise habit and had a mission to share with others the joy of movement. I left teaching, became an exercise professional, and wrote five books about fitness and health, including The Anytime, Anywhere Exercise Book: 300+ Quick and Easy Exercises You Can Do Whenever You Want! and hundreds of print and online articles.

After one marriage, several serious relationships, and more flings than I wish to count over decades of single life, I found the love of my life, artist Robert Rice, when I was 57 and he was 64. We were each other's Great Love, and we were together for seven years until cancer took Robert from me.

The power, intimacy, and spiciness of our relationship led me to write Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk about Sex after Sixty at age sixty-one to acknowledge the challenges and celebrate the delights of older-life sexuality. I followed that book up five years later with Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud about Senior Sex after hundreds of readers sent me questions and comments about their own senior sex lives. Naked at Our Age will be available June 2011.

I live in Sebastopol, California where I write, teach contemporary line dancing, and work with personal fitness clients to help them make exercise a habit and a delight. I travel widely, presenting upbeat talks and workshops on fitness and ageless sexuality. I invite you to visit my website at http://www.joanprice.com and to participate in my zesty blog about sex and aging at http://www.NakedAtOurAge.com/.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fitness for Life!, August 23, 1998

By 

Chris O. ([e-mail]) (Santa Rosa, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Joan Price Says, Yes You Can Get in Shape: Make Exercise a Treat, Not a Treatment (Paperback)

When Joan Price says, "Yes, You Can!" get in shape, she not only keeps her promise, but gives you a handbook that provides everything you need to know to start and stick with an exercise program for life.

I was introduced to Joan at a time when I was physically and emotionally exhausted. Alcoholism was rapidly destroying my body and soul. Joan designed an exercise program that allowed me to gradually replace an unhealthy lifestyle with healthy eating and exercise choices. She truly makes fitness a "treat, not a treatment."

Her book provides me with the daily guidance and motivation to maintain new, healthy habits without the expense or intimidation of a health club. For anyone dedicated to physical and emotional recovery, this book is the one to have.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very readable book about getting and staying in shape, August 23, 1998

By 

Elise Smith (Freestone, California USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Joan Price Says, Yes You Can Get in Shape: Make Exercise a Treat, Not a Treatment (Paperback)

This book is written for everyone who has ever made up excuses why they can't excercise. It is very easy to follow, it encourages rather than discourages. I was lucky enough to meet Joan, and she is an inspiration to me because she, using her own method of exercise, has overcome the results of two very serious auto accidents. She is living proof of the success of her teachings.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A personal trainer and custom fitness consultant in a book!, August 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Joan Price Says, Yes You Can Get in Shape: Make Exercise a Treat, Not a Treatment (Paperback)

Joan Price provides insight and advice on all aspects of travelling the path from less-than-fit to healthy fit. She warns of paths that seem good but lead astray from the goal and waste time. Her coverage of nutrition and exercise is complete yet concise and her knowledge surfs the leading edge of science and research.

However the most compelling reason to read Joan's book is the motivation she provides. You will learn of the tragic events in her life and how she used the methods described in her book to recover beyond all her doctor's expectations.

Bottom line: Less than $20 and a few hours reading will return a lifetime of benefits starting almost immediately.

Yes, I use all her methods and, yes, they work!