(4) The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl by Shauna Reid

Calling all dieters!!!! I have the book that you MUST read! The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl by Shauna Reid is the book that many of us could have written!
This is not the story of the perfect girl who had 40lbs to lose. And did it in a matter of weeks. This is the story of a woman who needed to lose 186 lbs. ONE HUNDRED & EIGHTY SIX POUNDS! That is more than some of you weigh right now & you were just bitching to your girlfriend about needed to lose weight, right?? Uh-huh -- I thought so.
There were so many times as I read this book when I thought, I very well could have written this book. Her observations & experiences mirror my weight loss journey in so many ways.
This is what she has to say in regards to her first attempt at walking down the block.

"I didn't even get to the end of the block before I had to stop. As I clutched
my knees & wheezed, I caught my reflection in a car window. My face was a
violent shade of Call the Ambulance Red."

Oh yes. I remember the day when I first got on my new to me treadmill. I thought I was going to die. And while I weighed 278lbs vs her 351lbs. It was still a horrible, horrible experience. Feeling like you were going to die, but knowing if you didn't keep going, you WERE likely to die. And while I am nowhere near 278 at this time, I know I am nowhere near a "healthy" weight for me.
Shauna has her epiphany when she is standing looking at her knickers on the line. Her decision to change her life was made when she was 23. She was bound & determined to be down to Size 12 by the time she turned 25. With the love & support of her trusty sidekick, her younger sister, Rhiannon, Dietgirl attended Weight Watchers every week & started becoming a regular at the gym. And you follow Dietgirl on her "Lard-Busting" mission across two continents, many jobs, and a couple of diet plans.
She lands in Scotland & what do you know, she has met a man. And I found myself nodding in agreement with this line when her boyfriend offers her a tshirt to wear in bed.

"Yes, I'm s0 ridiculous, that I would rather go topless and freeze then risk the
humiliation of not fitting into his t-shirt."

OH, yes! Been there, done that. But, God Bless Him for thinking his size L t-shirt would fit over the hips that my mother gave me.
Unlike Superman or Batman, Dietgirl is real. She has real feelings, real cravings, real successes and real failures. She has worked harder than many of us can imagine to achieve her weight loss goals.
I have been on this weight loss journey for eight years now. I am an expert on calories & fat & protein & water intake & all of the other stuff that makes you a healthy person. But, like Shauna, I have the inner war. Good Charlotte vs Bad Charlotte. Which one will win today? And what I took away from Shauna's story is that it is OKAY to screw up & fall off of the wagon, so to speak. There were several times in her story where she did just that. But you know what, she started over when she needed to & that is the important thing. You just start where you are.
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!!