An inspiring account of one woman’s mission to lose six dress sizes and change her life for good

For Lisa Delaney, being a “fat girl” wasn’t just a matter of weight, it was a state of mind. At one hundred eighty-five pounds, she was despondent over diets that never worked and disappointed by her dull job and lack of a love life—until a late-night epiphany involving a half-gallon of ice cream convinced her that becoming a former fat girl, in body and spirit, was the key to creating a life she truly loved.

Today, seventy pounds lighter, Lisa is a successful writer at a national magazine. She is married to a man she loves. And she wears a size two.

Eye-opening, accessible, and filled with practical advice, this book reveals the seven secrets of Delaney’s success, and explores how shifting from “wannabe Former Fat Girl” to actual Former Fat Girl is as much about seeing yourself as a confident, desirable woman as it is about achieving an ideal weight.

After reading so many wonderful reviews for this book, I got my hands on a copy. The material is pretty basic - if you've ever read another behavioral sort of diet book before, you'll know what's coming. I also couldn't get into the writer's style of writing. Much of the book details her own personal stories from over the year - how her family would push food on her, her awkward struggles in dating, learning she had the strength to exercise. I just couldn't get into her personality and didn't feel a real connection with her experiences.

All in all, it was nothing new for me and I found myself skimming for the more interesting parts after a while. A while ago, I read The Skinny: How to Fit into Your Little Black Dress Forever, which I found very helpful. In fact, after reading it and The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person, I lost about 15 lbs and I was looking for a book to read as a refresher over the holiday season. But I would recommend those two over this one - The Beck Diet Solution goes into more detail than this book about how to develop "thin people" behaviors and thoughts, and The Skinny gives useful little strategies for navigating mealtimes (one of the authors is a full-time food critic who eats out constantly and maintains her weight).

That's my biggest complaint with Secrets of a Former Fat Girl that The Skinny addresses: What if you don't want to spend your life eating rabbit food and saying no to social functions? What if you don't want to be a size 2, but a size 6 or 8 who enjoys cooking and eating fancy foods? These are questions that The Skinny: How to Fit into Your Little Black Dress Forever addresses quite well.

This is an interesting read, but if you're using it to solve all your weight issues, it won't work. That should be obvious, though -- if someone had figured out the key to weight loss, would America still be frighteningly obese?! Still, she has some really good points and suggestions for how to handle certain weaknesses and situations that could really work for some people. Because everyone is different, though, they won't work for one and all.

I had never really considered myself "fat", even though I knew I was outside of the healthy weight range for my height. The reason I bought this book was I was tired of how my clothes were fitting, and I was hoping it was give me more than just a crash diet I could try for a few weeks and then go back to my old habits.
I almost cried while I was reading this book, because I never knew that there were other people in the world who had similar experiences to mine; things like sneaking food while other people are out of the room. The author shares very personal experiences, and I felt like she could have been sharing things from my own life. The changes that she made in her own life are such a huge inspiration, and knowing how much she was able to change herself gave me the kick-start I needed.
Honestly, I will never buy another diet book again. I have already started following her advice, and I've lost 9 pounds already, and I know that finally, this time, they're staying off for good.

To sum it up: this book changed my life. I never thought I'd say that about a book, but it's incredible, I recommend it to anyone who is uncomfortable in their own body.

This book was an ok read, but I didn't find a lot of the tips useful as I'm already working on my weight loss. I didn't like how she talked so badly about herself and it sort of made me feel bad too just reading it. There are some interesting bits in there, but for the most part I didn't find it all that inspirational. Might be good for some, but not everyone.

This book was the absolutely best book I have ever read to motivate a person who wants to lose weight. I have been yo-yo dieting for about 40 years now and so you can imagine how many books I have read and own on the subject of losing weight. Lisa Delaney hits the nail on the head over and over again about getting to the absolute inner core of why we punish ourselves continuously in order to get to the "perfect weight". I carry her book around with me so I can open it during trying times to remind myself of all the reasons why I don't want to binge. Needless to say, I have highlighted huge sections of this book, so if something doesn't work one minute something else is right there to support me. As I was reading it I kept saying to myself, "This is so amazing--she knows exactly what I need to hear!" I recommend buying this book, not just borrowing it. You only really need this book alone, because we all know we don't need a diet plan--we all know how to diet! We need to know how to deal with the times we aren't eating and really want to. If you need motivation, you need this book and it will help you for your whole life to keep on the happy and healthy path to a normal weight.