Secrets of a Former Fat Girl: How to Lose Two, Four (or More!) Dress Sizes--And Find Yourself Along the Way [Paperback]

Lisa Delaney (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite her lack of medical credentials, "Former Fat Girl" Delaney (a freelance journalist currently writing for Health magazine) is convincing simply because she has not only lost weight but has kept it off. She has figured out how to go from size 16 to size 2 jeans and maintain a healthy, slim figure for decades. Instead of talking diets, Delaney focuses on motivation. It's essential to feel like you have control over your life; you have to believe you can change, she insists. After talking about the Jazzercise class that first gave her that "I can" feeling, Delaney offers some practical advice so readers can go beyond losing weight to realizing a better self-image. Keep your new eating/exercising regimen a secret, she advises, as family and friends may be surprisingly resistant to your changes. Be firm and exclude foods or situations you know you can't handle. Visualize the life you want for yourself. Even if her advice is not terribly new, Delaney mixes optimism and realism in such manageable proportions, she may give readers just the boost they need. (Apr.)
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Review

“Realistic, smart, and exquisitely funny tips for . . . keeping the weight off for good.”
—The Seattle Times

“Working in an industry that is obsessed with size, it is refreshing to read a witty, true story about weight loss and managing a healthy lifestyle.”
—Nigel Barker, America’s Next Top Model

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Plume (February 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452289246
• ISBN-13: 978-0452289246
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (71 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #76,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

168 of 173 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The REAL key to PERMANENT weight control!, April 26, 2007

By	Beth T. (Windsor, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of a Former Fat Girl: How to Lose Two, Four (or More!) Dress Sizes--And Find Yourself Along the Way (Hardcover)

The thing I liked best about this book was its fresh sense of reality and its ability to address PERMANENT weight control in a clear, simple, practical way. Having been on hundreds of diets over the past forty years, I know that Dieting, as we know it, ALWAYS leads to temporary success followed by regaining what was lost and then some--no exceptions!

The few times I have managed to keep weight off for any length of time I instinctively used part of Delaney's seven-point system but somehow missed a few of her other--and obviously very important--points having to do with self-image and self-sabotage, the supreme importance of INO, and how to handle all types of Food Pushers who, like the experts, just don't understand. And the insights she gives are from years of really dealing with the problems, unlike the Experts who research like crazy but rarely have lived with our realities.

Delaney lost major weight (50+ lbs.) and has kept it off for more than 20 years unlike most of the Experts who have lost perhaps a few pounds and think, because of the alphabet soup after their names, they know it all and want to sell it to us in another dieting-Bestseller-of-the-Month with a gymicky title.

As a former Library Director, I have a few fancy degrees too, but when it comes to my blubber, my newly diagnosed type-2 diabetes and my high blood pressure, I can tell you they don't mean squat. The way I see it, only someone who was a chronic dieter who has succeeded knows the true secrets. People who follow the Diet Doctors' advice fail over and over and over again as the current obesity epidemic is proving.

I believe in Delaney. Her approach reflects simple common sense, a practical grasp of reality and a sense of humor : ingredients--pardon the pun--for successful PERMANENT weight loss. This book should be required reading for anyone thinking of going on yet another diet and for any of our young people who need to get on the right track, in terms of healthy weight control, and stay there!

64 of 66 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Relatable account of a difficult (albeit POSSIBLE) journey, May 28, 2007

By	ajdahler (Moscow, Russia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of a Former Fat Girl: How to Lose Two, Four (or More!) Dress Sizes--And Find Yourself Along the Way (Hardcover)

Delaney's advice stems from her personal experience going from size 16 to size 2. I'm positive that her descriptions of the pain she experienced being a "fat girl" hit close to home for many readers, as they did me. The shame you feel sneaking food when no one is looking, hiding behind large clothes as to not draw attention to yourself, always being the "friend" and not the "girlfriend", of feeling weak when confronted with the strength of your appetite, etc.

What I found most helpful was not the way she broke the program into steps, but her language or persistence that pervades well into the afterward. There is NO diet in this book, no list of good foods or bad foods, no list of do's and don't--because, and this is something everyone who has tried to lose weight knows--diets do not work. Go on your choice, Atkins, South Beach, Zone, whatever, return to your old habits and the weight begins to pile back on. Delaney never fails to add that real weight loss is a process, a lifestyle change, she herself has moments of weakness or doubt, but something inside of her is fueling her to change her life for the better, to put herself first.

It's about looking in the mirror and liking the person you see. If you're comfortable in your own skin at a size 12, that's a beautiful thing, and nothing to be ashamed of. I felt when reading this book that she was making an important statement for all women, not just "fat girls" or "former fat girls" because when we're surrounded by images that constitute modern notions of beauty, we all feel imperfect.

The book makes a delicate stride at examining the psychology of why "fat girls" overeat and what we're compensating for, something that I'm sure you could only arrive at after a long stint with a couselor or therapist. In that sense it is a real value. For only the price of this book you can get the insight of a therapist, someone who is very experienced with the difficulty in the weight-loss journey. And it only proves that you cannot really lose weight until you sort out the issues that made you fat in the first place.

It loses a star for awkward product placement and patronizing redundancy. But all-in-all for a weight loss book, it's an inspiring and enjoyable read.

48 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FINALLY!, May 8, 2007

By	Ashley Manning (Modesto, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Secrets of a Former Fat Girl: How to Lose Two, Four (or More!) Dress Sizes--And Find Yourself Along the Way (Hardcover)

A weight loss book that deals with the emotional side of why we "fat girls" do what we do! It contains practical advice for changing the way we think about and react to food. I have read many weight loss books over the years, and they all tell you the same thing--eat less, move more. Lisa Delaney tells you why those things are so hard for some of us...and how to overcome the obstacles to permanent weight loss. Highly recommended!!!