Book Review - Change Me - Transform Your Body and Mind by Jasmin Waldmann

Our first impression of the book - Change Me was "Self Help" and we are very-very selective about the book in the self-help genre. When I started seeing reviews on my timeline, I went to Goodreads page and checked the blurb. From there I came to know that my first impression was somewhat wrong. The book is written as fiction with hidden layers of self-help. 

Book Blurb

Amit Malhotra, 35, is a high-flying investment banker who loves his gut and all things gourmet. Amit is living the proverbial good life, which includes a loving family, a successful career and a luxurious life – albeit with a paunch.

When a pretty twenty-something calls him ‘uncle’ by mistake, the young corporate honcho is forced to evaluate his lifestyle. As if that weren’t enough, Amit has to face the harsh realities of his fast-paced life when he loses a close friend and colleague to a fatal heart attack in the middle of a conference.

After this shock to his system, the gym-hating, food-binging couch potato realizes that he will have to change his ways before a heart attack claims him too. But will he be able to accomplish this steep climb?

Change Me captures in detail a common man’s inspiring journey towards holistic fitness with the help of a life coach. Join Amit as he discovers his true being – his mind, body and spirit – and marches towards a healthy, fulfilling future.

Jasmin Waldmann is a renowned life coach and fitness expert. She is the inventor of Pilardio®, a concept that combines Pilates and Cardio, and the developer of JaWa Diet

The story revolves around Amit who is successful in his personal and professional life, so are his friends at age of 35. But things became nightmarish when few of his closed one became a victim of lifestyle and succumbed to a heart ailment. On top of that, Amit's ego was hurt when a young girl called him uncle. When he did self-assessment he realized that while chasing materialistic goal he became addict to lifestyle-related issues. This realization fueled him to improve his health physically and mentally.

Jasmin has done a good job of converting a serious topic of wellbeing self-help into a fiction work. Very few self-help writers understand that there is a need of flow in the book which connects difficult islands of heavy topics/theorems with help of bridge called story. So I would give a clap for her efforts. The language was easy and the flow was straight.

Now coming to hidden part (i.e. self-help) I would like to complain, Jasmin, when you write a book especially self-help, it should have a certain amount of information that can be useful to the reader. I know your Pilardio method of exercise and JaWa diet plan are copyright / patented, if you don't give proper information and just used names & one-liner it will look like marketing brochures and that can affect the overall reading experience.

Apart from that a nice read. Ratings

1. Cover - 4/5
2. Content - 2.5/5
3. Concept - 3.5/5
4. Overall - 3/5

The book can be found at Amazon and Flipkart

Reviews from other readers can be found at GoodReads

We would like to thank WritersMelon for providing us the review copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.