I really enjoyed this - Shauna's writing style is relaxed and funny and I really warmed to her. Now, if only I could use this to motivate me with my own weight loss!

Shauna Reid started writing a blog about her fear and sadness at being overweight. Her blog chronicles her trials and tribulations, successes, set-backs and travels. She went from hiding behind food to running in races and around the world. It was a journey of self-discovery as well as weight loss. She's funny, poignant, silly and all-together inspirational. I really enjoyed the book -- it was great to see someone take control with humor and grace. ( )

Very entertaining, moving, and engaging memoir of a woman who lost half her body weight. Inspiring to those of us who always want to grow and learn to love ourselves in a healthy way.

Shauna Reid is my hero! My superhero! I recently came to the end of a major weight-loss journey (90 lbs lost, woohoo!!) and ended up stumbling a lot along the way and even after I had reached my goal. I wasn't prepared for all of the emotional issues I would have to tackle when it came to dealing with my weight, losing the weight and learning to be happy with who I am, imperfections and all. It's still a struggle. But reading Shauna's own personal journey with her amazing wit and flat-out honesty has really encouraged me to keep moving forward and to take the time to get to love the body I have. I know I'm not alone, that I'm not the only person who has experienced what I've been through and what I still go through.

The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl started as a blog (which Shauna still runs today) and chronicles the years spent going from 351 lbs to 175 lbs. But it's also so much more than that. The weight loss is front and center but really, where her story becomes so inspiring, is when she begins to blossom into a confident woman ready to create her own adventures as opposed to waiting for life to happen. That's the kind of person I want to be. I used to think "Once I lose the weight, then I'll be able to...." Shauna started that way too, but then she realized what a waste of precious time that really was! So she took some risks. She moved from Australia to Scotland, attended cardio classes at her local gym, traveled Europe, met up with friends more often and stopped obsessing over what and how much she was eating. And along the way, she found her self several sizes smaller, happy with a life full of great family and friends, and also managed to stumble into the man of her dreams.

This is such a great book for any woman to read, whether you've struggled with weight or are just looking for inspiration to get out and live life. I loved this book and am now a subscriber to Shauna's blog :) Great read! ( )

The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl is a book that came from her blog. http://www.dietgirl.org/ if you scroll through the archives, you can get a glimpse of what she went through. (But! But! But! THANK YOU to the publisher who translated the metric system into pounds for the sake of Americans who have no concept of Kilograms!) Where she started at & where she is now. And you most certainly need to read the book. It is so very inspiring. So very REAL. If you are struggling with your New Years Resolution right now, you need to read this book. You will see. If Dietgirl can do it, so can you!!

http://charlotteswebofbooks.blogspot.... ( )

I was so excited when I heard about this book; I used to read Shauna's personal blog, and I loved her witty writing style. Not surprisingly, her book is just as fabulous. She describes her journey of weight loss in such a funny, relatable way that anyone who has ever struggled with dieting is sure to love this book. ( )

This is just a wonderful book. Whilst it is primarily about Shauna's weight loss journey, it is so much more than that, and it is, to boot, just wonderfully written. Vivid, funny and moving by turns. Read the opening chapter and tell me this girl can't write. I dare you. ( )

This book is spectacular! We'll all be so lucky when it's finally available in the United States and more than just a handful of Weight watchers know about it. Her blog is free online at www.dietgirl.org but the book is much more immediate and moving.

My first bout of tears came on page 41 when she describes her sister, who helped her get started and stayed glued to Shauna's side though the first three years of her efforts:

"I must admit Rhiannon is the brains behind the operation. She's the real superhero of this story; I'm more the bumbling sidekick. ...I couldn't ask for a better ally in the fight against flab. The girl doesn't even need to lose any weight if you ask me, but she says her jeans are a bit snug and she wants to be healthier. I could bawl from sheer gratefulness. I feel so overwhelmed by my mountain of lard, but Rhiannon's support makes me want to try."

Something about that paragraph made me realize how much easier losing weight would be if people were kind instead of cruel. And how much less traumatic it would be if we all had a friend like Rhiannon with us along the way.

I wish I could give this to people who haven't yet started losing weight; I wish I could make them realize that the terror they're feeling, the hopelessness, is not unique just to them, and that it's curable, just like the weight is loseable.

My favorite sentence from the book, the one that's going to stay with me while I try to lose my own weight: "My body is a mass of contradictions - muscle and curves, stretch marks and strength - but I'm starting to embrace it all."

Doesn't it sound like something Walt Whitman would say? I love that line. She doesn't spell it out for you, but she experienced a real change when she stopped dieting and focused on exercise instead. Her self esteem just shot upwards and she began to like her body instead of see it as a never ending challenge to fix. It's a good case for exercise, even when that seems like an even harder thing to do than diet. ( )

This is the true story of a woman who lost half her bodyweight (starting at 25 stones). It traces the reasons why she was so overweight, to what she did about it, to how she finally found happiness within herself. I feel I have a lot in common with her and I've noted several subjects I'd like to blog on. The tale is told with warmth and humour - I feel a deep admiration for the author. ( )