Customer Reviews
Inspirational - By: R. Lloyd, 08 Mar 2008 
I bought this book whenin recovery from a long illness & feeling very fat & unfit & a bit fragile. I loved it! Martina's advice on how to become fit, emotionally, mentally & physically, is so gentle that I never felt hectored, & her own honesty about the battles she's had comes across. So many of the techniques are so simple, & she encourages you to make just one small change at a time, which really helps. I started off with her exercises & felt immediate benefitsin core strength - have now moved on to exercise DVDs.
The section on food is excellent too - no calorie counting or denying yourself, just really sensible advice on eating healthily. One of the main things I got from it was the importance of eating small amounts frequently - I tried having a mid-afternoon snack & found I no longer arrived home from work exhausted, for instance.
My only quibble would be that,in trying everything, Martina occasionally comes out with stuff I'd consider a bit questionable - for instance, that we are unhealthier than ever before (heart disease, cancer etc) due to our modern diets. Of course, the real reason is that we now live long enough to die of these illnesses - when life expectancy was 30 years few people lived long enough to die of cardiovascular disease! But aside from these very minor quibbles, I recommend this book unreservedly.
Inspiring yet practical - By: Leonora351, 19 Sep 2007 One should not judge a book by its cover, but I think the picture of Martina Navratilova on the cover of this one speaks for itself. She looks poised, fit & comfortable with herself & the world. The advice she gives here is based on the struggles she experienced to become a great athlete & the many anecdotes she uses to illustrate her points are both helpful & entertaining.
The section I found most useful was exercise chapter which is illustrated with exemplary clarity. The suggested exercise plans are divided into routines for beginners, intermediates & the advanced so that there is something within everyone's reach.
Allin all, this is a clear & well written guide to improving your health & fitness. The encouraging tone of the book is combined with a practical step-by-step approach which is very appealing even to those who might not consider themselvesin any way athletic.
Great advice and plans -- from an athlete who has struggled with her weight & redefined fitness - By: Dendera, 12 Jan 2007 Plain & simply, this book is very, very good & worth it's 5 stars. No need to repeat all the kudos from previous reviews here & on the US amazon site -- but a few points for people who might think this is just a book for amateur/die-hard athletes, or else yet another condescending book for the unfit written by a star athlete who really has never struggled with common human weight problems. Not so.
Backin the 1970s, though she was a rising tennis star, Navratilova was famed for being a teenage athlete with a weight problem. When she went into her early 20s & her game began to suffer, she was takenin hand by a coach that helped her with her emotional eating, her psychological mindset, & along with her helped to establish an entirely new level of fitness for women athletes, professional or amateur.
Quite simply, this book hits at the heart of our motivations & de-motivations to do what is good for our bodies, as well as setting out a very realistic programme with a lot of info on setting & meeting goals, as well as what to do physically. This woman really has been there, really has struggled with the daily mere mortal problems that her readers face & still went on to become one of the world's best athletes despite her struggles.
This book is by a woman who is inspirational & knowledgable about what she speaks.
'Shape Your Self' works - By: Northwood, 16 Oct 2006 This book keeps everything very simplistic & personal, a good start considering the subject matter it addresses can be sensitive to some people.
At first pick up you may feel daunted because you admit you are out of shape or feel you do not do enough, but soon enough you are reassured, & are dragged through to positive thinking of where you can go, physically & emotionally.
This book begins with a focus on emotional 'fitness' & Martina goes through various methods, such as writing a journal, making sure you have the right company & so on,in effect building you up to believe that you can make positive changes. The process moves to how we eat & view food, & there is very little jargon. Martina's experiences with certain foods add again that personal touch. And finally, the physical section, which again is simple, well illustrated & planned.
As a relatively fit 21 year old male, I bought this book mainly to help me emotionally, & to help guide my eating habits for years to come. It works,in a few weeks I am starting to feel brighter & more confident as an individual, & I have more energy than I can ever remember. With knowledge of Martina's legacy, I must admit I half bought this book out of 'fandom', but it is so much deeper than. The techniques & what not can make a massive difference, & I can't wait to continue with it.
