Inside Adele’s life-changing self-help book that led to stunning transformation

Ever since posting that first shocking picture of her new slimmed-down look, Adele’s fans have had just one question – how did she do it?

For not only has the superstar singer shed the pounds, she’s positively glowing, and is clearly enjoying her new lease of life in LA.

It’s a far cry from her former in her West Sussex pile, where Adele – who is mum to Angelo, seven – was plagued by health problems and issues with her voice. So, what’s the secret behind her change?

Now, Adele has revealed what really sparked her seven-stone weight loss and recent life overhaul – a self-help book.

In a gushing Instagram post, the normally shy singer urged her 38 million followers to buy US author Glennon Doyle’s Untamed: Stop Pleasing, Start Living.

The book shares Glennon’s empowering life lessons on how to find happiness, after she enduring everything from a marriage break-up, parenting problems and endless insecurities. London-born Adele, 32, who is worth around £150million, claims the book will “shake your brain and make your soul scream”.

She said: “I am so ready for myself after reading this book! It’s as if I just flew into my body for the very first time. Whew! Anyone who has any kind of capacity to truly let go and give into yourself with any kind of desire to hold on for dear life - Do it.

“Read it. Live it. Practice it. We are a lot! But we are meant to be a lot!” The recent divorcee added: “A good life is a hard life! Read this book and have a highlighter on hand to make notes because you’ll want to refer back to it, trust me.

“I never knew that I am solely responsible for my own joy, happiness and freedom. Who knew our own liberation liberates those around us? Cause I didn’t! I thought we were meant to be stressed and disheveled, confused and selfless like a Disney character. ProBloodyFound!”

It’s quite the endorsement.

So, following Adele’s call to action, we’ve highlighted the book’s best advice, which may have sparked her recent top-to-toe transformation.

“A family’s wholeness or broken-ness has little to do with its structure. A broken family is a family in which any member must break herself into pieces to fit in.”

It’s heartbreakingly hard for any parents who decide to split. But in April last year, Adele filed for divorce from Simon Konecki, her husband of three years and partner of eight, citing irreconcilable differences.

The pair now live near each other in Los Angeles, California, and are said to have an amicable relationship and joint custody of their eight-year-old son Angelo. Author Glennon Doyle is refreshingly open about her decision to leave her husband Craig Melton. And she gives assurances that a break-up does not need to destroy a family’s happiness.

“Hard work is important. So are play and non-productivity. My worth is tied not to my productivity but to my existence. I am worthy of rest.”

Millions of fans - and we assume her record company - have been hammering hard on Adele’s doors for a new album almost since the release of her last, 25, in 2015. Born in Tottenham, Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was brought up by her mum Penny after her dad left when she was two. She worked hard on her singing to win a place at the Brit School for Performing Arts, before landing a record deal in 2006, which kickstarted her unrivalled success. Her hard work continued almost non-stop for years as she sold 120 million records worldwide, won 15 Grammys and nine BRITs, and took home an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her James Bond theme Skyfall.

But after making millions for herself and her team, Adele has learned not to let the pressure get to her and to enjoy as much downtime as she likes.

Underneath her Instagram post, one fan asked: “Adele where’s the album?”. She replied: “I honestly have no idea”.

“I have come to believe that we ‘crazies’ are the best people.”

Sedate get-togethers with sensible types aren’t really Adele's cup of tea.

Recently she’s been pictured letting her hair down and laughing her head off with friends. Last year, she was pictured on a boozy New York bar crawl with Jennifer Lawrence – ending in drag queens doing their make-up.

Then she enjoyed a New Years’ holiday with Harry Styles and James Corden in Anguilla and the Virgin Islands, in which she was pictured racing into the sea, still holding a drink. One of her best mates is comedian Alan Carr. We reckon he’d be happy to be in the “crazies” category.

“Mothers have martyred themselves in their children’s names since the beginning of time. We have lived as if she who disappears the most, loves the most. What a terrible burden for children to bear - to know that they are the reason their mother stopped living.”

Adele has made no secret of the difficulties of motherhood. In a 2016 interview she said: “All my friends and I felt pressurised into having kids, because that’s what adults do. I love my son more than anything, but on a daily basis, if I have a minute or two, I wish I could do whatever the f**k I wanted, whenever I want. Every single day I feel like that.”

Adele had her own words for people who say all mums should breastfeed: “All these people who put pressure on us, you can go f**k yourselves.”

Glennon Doyle might not use the same fruity language but she agrees mums can give too much of themselves away and advises mothers to be models, not martyrs.

“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that there was something wrong with me.”

Adele has surrounded herself with positivity from friends who shower her Instagram with adoring comments. She said: “I have insecurities of course, but I don’t hang out with anyone who points them out to me.”

“The opposite of sensitive is not brave. It’s not brave to refuse to pay attention, to refuse to notice, to refuse to feel and know and imagine. The opposite of sensitive is insensitive, and that’s no badge of honour.”

Adele’s fame and fortune has come from her incredible talent of being able to base beautiful songs on her real heartbreak. To critics who said her music was too soppy and uncool, we think Adele will show them one of her favourite one-fingered salutes.

“We do not need more selfless women. What we need now are women who are full of themselves. A woman who is full of herself knows and trusts herself to say and do what must be done. She lets the rest burn. When a woman finally learns that pleasing the world is impossible, she becomes free to learn how to please herself.”

In the showbiz sea of stick-thin pop stars, fans embraced Adele’s beautiful curves, fully related when she said she “f***ing hates” the gym and loved her hilarious pictures of exaggerated pain during pre-tour workouts. Did she feel she had to stay that way to keep her fans on board? Nope.

A strict 1000-calorie-a-day diet and tough exercise regime saw her lose seven stone and unveil a completely new body on her 32nd birthday in May. Adele is believed to have have followed the Sirtfood diet, which sees slimmers eat foods known as sirtuin activators - such as kale, green tea and tumeric - which control the way the body processes fat and sugar and regulates appetite. Friends have claimed she only lost weight for her health and not to conform with other celebs.

When celebrities watch themselves on TV they rarely admit it. Not Adele. When she watched a recent re-run of her 2016 headlining Glastonbury set, she posted a picture of herself in her pyjamas using a miniature fan as a microphone and the caption “5 ciders in”. And we loved her for it.

Refreshing honesty and bucket-loads of positivity are just two reasons why author Glennon Doyle has won ardent fans, including Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and, of course, Adele.

The 44-year-old mother of three details her life’s most painful problems. And that list is long: bulimia, alcoholism, spells in a mental hospital, her husband’s infidelity, divorce, anxiety and depression before finding love with a woman.

Born in Virginia, Glennon struggled with eating disorders through her teens. She became a teacher before quitting her job to write a blog, Momastery, which shared the realities of parenthood and her modern Christian values.

Before long, publishers signed her up for her first book Carry On, Warrior. But just as she was about to start a tour to promote it, her husband Craig Melton confessed he’d been cheating on her throughout their marriage. Her second book, Love Warrior, detailed Craig’s porn addiction and her abortion, while her third, Untamed, tells of falling in love and marrying retired football star and Olympic gold medallist Abby Wambach. It’s told with reflection, grace and humour and is a call to action for others to be brave enough to pursue true fulfilment.

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