Reinventing Yourself with the Duchess of York : Inspiring Stories & Strategies for Changing Your Weight & Your Life

by Sarah Ferguson, Weight Watchers (Editor)

Are you ready to change your life? Join Sarah, The Duchess of York on an inspiring journey to help you rediscover -- and achieve -- your true goals.Today, The Duchess of York is a confident, single working mother of two girls. But, as most of the world knows, that wasn't always the case. Once targeted by the international press, The Duchess has learned one of life's great how to uncover what you want out of life and get it. She reveals how the ups and downs of her life — including her divorce, her financial problems, and the deaths of those close to her — have made her a stronger, wiser person and a better mother.In the first chapter, "Transforming My Life," The Duchess explores how, when and why she decided to take charge and reinvent her life. In the chapters that follow, readers will discover how they, too, can change their own lives. The book provides a series of self-assessment quizzes and questionnaires, as well as concrete steps you can take to initiate change. Throughout, The Duchess offers her insights, including how each chapter topic relates to her life and what she has learned from others.Reinventing Yourself with The Duchess of York supplies a blueprint for action for anyone seeking to change her life. In an easy-to-follow format, the book provides concrete information and advice on how to use an eight-step plan to achieve your goals — whether it's losing weight, getting fit, or simply improving your health. Reinventing Yourself also explains how to apply the plan to other areas of life, including changing careers, starting over after divorce, and more.To help inspire you toward your goals, Reinventing Yourself also includes heartwarming and motivating profiles of women who have redefined their Weight Watchers Leaders, real women who have lost weight and transformed their lives in countless ways. In interviews with The Duchess and profiles throughout, these women explore how to make the best of your circumstances, live a happier, healthier life, and change your destiny.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Sarah, Duchess of York, is a British writer, charity patron, public speaker, film producer and television personality. She is the former wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York. Sarah has two daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie of York.

Reviews

[Kristie J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would like to give this book 2 1/2 stars. I enjoyed the parts that were written by The Duchess, but the rest of the book was very dry and sounded like it was pieced together from Weight Watchers materials. I answered the myriad of questions in the first chapter, but there are so many more questions and assignments, that it was impossible to do them all. The only way I could get through the book was to half-read/half-skim the dry parts. I think this book would work better in a week-by-week format, where you do one chapter a week. That said, there is some very good information here about preparing yourself mentally and motivating yourself to lose weight, if you can stay awake long enough to read it.

[Cindy (BKind2Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this is dated (published in early 2001), the book's advice is centered on the mental game of weight loss and life change. As such, there is much that stands the test of time. Sarah (Duchess of York) is no longer the Weight Watcher spokeswoman - she has handed over that job to Jennifer Hudson. But her chapter intro's are mildly interesting, although I must admit that for the most part I really cannot get into the whole royal business - now or then. Ho-hum.

Some of the advice/quotes to remember:

Keeping a vision of your ideal self in mind can enhance your performance in various areas of your life.

Your life is the sum of all the choices and decisions you've made so far.

Be willing to allow a sense of self-consciousness to melt away…If possible, try to forget about how you look and how you're doing; simply focus intently on what you're doing…Best of all, this will help you learn to enjoy life in the moment and maintain an overall sense of purpose for your life, one that will propel you forward to a richer, more satisfying existence.

You have to look around and see the good stuff. It's there - you just have to focus on what you do have.

Make a contract with yourself...It's a good idea to formalize your plans in writing...It helps you commit to them because you've put them in writing.

It's important to start somewhere.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some very inspiring and supportive stories from a variety of sources, in this book. Chapter Intro's from Sarah, Studies etc., from Doctors & Researchers in the field, as well as real life experiences of "Weight Watchers" themselves. I refer to this book often for inspiration and motivation.