Product Description

This is an eight-week plan to boost fitness and confidence from one of Britain's top sporting mums. Sally Gunnell is working hard encouraging the rest of us to get fit, active and focused. The book contains a fitness plan that works for real lives. It includes: Sally's story - the highs and the lows; five different real-life followers of Sally's 8-week plan; motivational top tips for sticking to your guns; exercise programme for everyone; eating the best foods for energy; looking after your looks - including face massage; relax to energize - with a yoga sequence.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1447810 in Books
• Published on: 2002-05-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Be Your Best is a home fitness plan from super-athlete Sally Gunnell (OBE) that aims to work for real lives. Gunnell's intentions are undoubtedly good as she aims to help Mr and Mrs Ordinary get on the track to fitness and health. The chapter on Motivation sets the tone for the sections on exercise, eating and relaxing. The focus is by no means on diet-only (only one of the "real-life" participants actually loses weight) this is about making gradual changes to every aspect of your lifestyle.

Sadly there's not enough of the inspirational about this book and even the realistic visuals end up being simply unflattering. Translating this retired athlete's phenomenal and undeniable motivation into the basis of a start-up health plan results in an insubstantial approach. Part of the problem here stems from forcing an American self-help theme onto a British day-time TV format and allocating a journalist to write what in the end amounts to an extended magazine article.

Instead of for example telling us that "yoga is very calming" which we all know, it would have been far more interesting to learn how the only woman in history to have held all four gold medals concurrently interprets, and uses, a totally different physical discipline. While the reader is urged Be Your Best, Gunnell has not been given the opportunity to provide anywhere near her best. --Lorna V

About the Author
Champion 400m hurdler Sally Gunnell's sporting achievements are unparalleled - she's the only woman in history to hold four major records concurrently (Olympic, World, European & Commonwealth). As an athlete and now a busy working Mum, Sally has also always had to face challenges and overcome hurdles, such as keeping her weight stable. Who better to talk to other women about getting in shape and feeling positive.

Customer Reviews

About overall fitness - not a diet book
Be Your Best is a good looking book, easy to read and written with an ecouraging tone. However, this is not a diet book. Only one participant lost a significant amount of weight after 8 weeks.

It is a book worth having in your library however, with lots of resources on how to get and stay active, sports activities that anyone can try, and practical ideas on improving your diet and quality of life in general. So when you give up on the latest fad diet, turn back to Sally for a little encouragement and down-to-earth advice.