DIETING WITH THE DUCHESS : Secrets and Sensible Advice for a Great Body

The Duchess of York is an odd candidate for the role of Everywoman, but in Dieting with the Duchess, she inhabits the part convincingly. She relates the trouble she's had controlling her weight, how living in the royal fishbowl exacerbated those problems (every fluctuation in her weight was noted by the voracious English media), and how she finally discovered a weight- management program she can live with through Weight Watchers (for which she's a spokesperson) and workouts with a personal trainer.

She enthusiastically relates all she's learned about diet and nutrition, which is (fair warning) the same basic stuff you'll find anywhere. And the book's exercise advice is all in the same vein. If there's anything here you don't know, then you really haven't cared enough to pay attention.

Fortunately, the book puts the basic information together in interesting ways. The recipes for dishes like pizza provencal, portobello mushroom panini, and gingered shrimp emphasize the idea that watching your caloric intake doesn't mean living without delicious food. And the exercise programs draw the distinction between exercising for general health and longevity and doing so for weight loss--a fine point that's often missed in mass-marketed fitness advice.

Mostly, though, this is a book about changing attitudes, about going from predominantly negative feelings about your body and your health to positive ones. Weight loss is a part of the equation for many women, but much more important is feeling a sense of control over one's body and one's health. Dieting with the Duchess may get you started on that path, if for no other reason than that it's comforting to know one of the most famous women on earth goes through all the same stuff you do. --Lou Schuler