Skinny Bitch
by Kim Barnouin, Rory Freedman
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Book Reviews of Skinny Bitch
Book Review: Do yourself a favor...Don't Miss the Point!!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book, honestly, changed my life. It's incredible, and its absolutely NOT about hating your body or depriving yourself (there is a whole list of delicious snack foods like cookies and chips that taste delicious without the disease/obesity-causing sugar and without the cancer-causing "fake sugars" like splenda) !!!
Yes, i know, the title and illustrations may give this impression, and chapter 1 is a bit bitchy, BUT WAIT (it gets better and better as it goes on)!! the authors specifically say: "We conceived of the title, "Skinny Bitch," to get attention and sell books. We just wanted to spread out message far and wide and thought "Skinny Bitch" was a good way to to do it" (and it was, since this book is a #1 new york times best seller) -- however, i myself am an ivy league college student who has been struggling with weight and the morality of what i put into my body for a very long time, and this book was the final kick in the pants that made me realize what i needed to do. i am now a vegan, i feel 1000% better physically, mentally, and emotionally. i did not read this book as propaganda-- i read it as a reaffirmation of what i've always known.
Paul McCartney puts it best, "If anyone wants to save the planet, all they have to do is just stop eating meat... It's staggering when you think about it: Vegetarianism takes care of so many things in one shot: ecology, famine, cruelty." Barnouin and Freedman (the authors of this book) are savvy and brilliant: they have found a way to get a real message through to a public that sucks up stupid crap and fad diets (ie. Atkins, which is absurd) like chocolate ice cream (speaking of ice cream-- try Soy! its delicious and much healthier!).
Reading this book was like a religious experience for me; like everything finally falling into place. I realize its not going to be this way for everyone-- you have to want to care. Many people don't care at all about anything other than themselves, and that is sad, but the truth is that a vegetarian or vegan diet eliminates suffering on so many levels: the suffering of animals (you won't believe what goes on inside those heinous slaughterhouses--torture sums it up best), the suffering of our planet (cow farts = carbon, crazy as that sounds, and are a key contributor to global warming), the suffering of our people (if we used the amount of grain used to feed animals that we simply kill to eat to feed people who are starving, we would be able to end world hunger. and that is a fact.), AND the suffering of your body (meat is not good for you!! humans are not designed to consume meat! doctors say that far more people are getting too much protein than too little, and its extremely easy to fill your protein needs while keeping a vegan diet).
By marketing the book in a way that appeals to our nation's self-obsessed, celebrity-crazed (tragic) mentality, these women succeeded in spreading this very important message in a way that has never really been done before! you can spend hours nit-picking their methods and their outfits (seriously? you expect to be taken seriously after that kind of comment, which you felt was one of the foremost things you should mention?) but the fact is that these women are knowledgeable and altruistic, and if you read this book with an open mind you will not only realize that but you will also be given one of the most convincing, life-altering experiences of your life. you be able to improve your life and the world in vast ways by simultaneously getting healthy and easing the suffering of people, animals, and our planet.
Oh, and by the way, for those who said that this book was about hating your body, a direct quote from the authors: "You will definitely lose weight if you adopt the 'Skinny Bitch' lifestyle. However, our real hope is for you to become healthy. We don't want anyone to be obsessed with getting skinny. When you eat right and exercise, you feel strong and healthy and confident. You start loving your body--not because you lost weight--but because you feel great... Take excellent care of the body you were blessed with, and love, love, love it!" ('Skinny Bitch' 224)
Also for all you critics out there, there is a 15-page bibliography at the end of the book citing countless medically-trained sources, as well as a long list of further reading and websites you can take advantage of, AND a chapter about how you should view all health advice with a skeptical eye and supplement information (including that in this book) with research and, most of all, what your own body is telling you.
READ THIS BOOK, and get ready for your life to change.
Book Review: laughable (at them, not with them)
Summary: 1 Stars
I couldn't have said it any better than this review I read on line by a woman named URSULA HIRSCHKORN. Following is an excerpt:
The premise of the book is to tell it like it is, rather than sugar-coating the stark truth - that if only we ignorant grease munchers would educate ourselves about the food we put in our bodies, we would be so grossed out by it, it would be a pleasure to live off organic beans, pulses and tofu.
But what qualifies these two Californian air-heads to provide this education? Freedman proudly trumpets that she's a "self-taught know-it-all", while Barnouin has a degree in holistic nutrition, whatever the hell that is. Not exactly experts in the field of weight loss.
This is perhaps how they came to their laughably simplistic theory, that the secret of weight loss is just to eat healthy food. Oh if it were that easy, we'd all be size eight and they'd never have been published, killing two birds - and I don't mean them - with one stone.
The book spouts an extensive list of no-nos that you must avoid in order to become a "skinny bitch", including all the tired old suspects: booze; sugar; sweeteners; fat; caffeine; dairy; and refined carbs.
In a nutshell, everything that makes our short, brutish lives that bit more bearable.
But what would they know about making life more bearable. Not for them the drudgery of a rain-soaked school run, only brightened by the prospect of eating the kids' leftovers.
They have all the time in the world to scour boutique organic stores for hard-to-find meat, dairy, egg, chemical and taste-free (OK that last one was me) healthy food, but most of us are lucky to find the time to dash to Sainsbury's.
These pampered LA princesses work hard to make us feel guilty for trying to make our lives a bit easier, making a trip to the supermarket sound more hazardous than a tour of duty in Iraq. They sanctimoniously lecture us on the cancercausing chemicals in wine, and the nasties lurking in diet sodas.
But where they really have an axe to grind is with meat eaters. This is when the real agenda of the book is revealed and it moves effortlessly from being potty-mouthed advice on how to adopt a fat-busting healthy diet, into a diatribe against eating meat.
It appears that scientists and archaeologists have been deluding themselves with the idea that all those charred animal bones that have been dug up around human dwellings since we lived in caves actually mean we are meant to eat meat.
Oh no, Ms MA in holistic nutrition knows better. According to her cod science, our blunt teeth and alkaline saliva point to our vegetarian origins.
The skinny bitches then launch into a scathing attack on meat eaters, calling anyone who thinks they can lose weight while eating meat a "moron", and dismissing the protein-laden Atkins Diet as "the dead, rotting, decomposing flesh diet".
Please girls, don't insult my intelligence. Just because you choose a certain lifestyle doesn't mean you've discovered the secret of simple weight loss.
There are so many reasons we get fat - depression, pregnancy, genetics - not just because we eat meat. I bet I could still pack on the pounds on a vegan diet if I really put my mind to it.
This isn't so much a diet book as a propaganda pamphlet for veganism, which is promoted with all the zeal of a convert.
Since the super-slim authors think they know all about the allure of junk food, they are kind enough to point us to a whole host of healthy alternatives. How could I stop my mouth watering at right-on recipe suggestions, such as taking a slice of tofu, soy butter, salt, pepper and ketchup, and hey presto you have yourself a perfect "fried egg" to stick between two slices of sprouted grain bread.
Who do they think they are kidding? I will take my life in my hands and stick to the real thing, laced as it may be with "antibiotics, pesticides, and steroids". Skinny Bitch is just the same-old diet rules repackaged in an obnoxious and bullying tone. It's not exactly rocket science to work out that if you want to lose weight, you have to junk the junk food.
But they're the morons if they believe that by giving up meat you will morph into a skinny bitch like them.
If the choice is between swopping a balanced diet of food stuffs I can get at my local supermarket, for a faddish, fanatical diet cult favoured by the queen skinny bitch, Victoria Beckham, I'd rather be a fat pig.
Book Review: Not a diet plan; a lifestyle with morals plan
Summary: 4 Stars
The double spacing, large font, and huge margins of this 191 page book made it an extremely quick read for me. I read it in three hours. A fast reader could have killed this book in one and a half hours or less. Anyways, this isn't about the ease of the reading, it's about the book, right?
If you think this book is a "diet plan" book or a "how to" eat right book, think again. If you wanted to purchase it based on that premise (even the cover says it is a "No-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and stat looking fabulous!") - save yourself the fourteen bucks, go to Barnes and Noble or Borders and read the first chapter. That's it. That's all you need to read.
If, on the other hand, you want to understand what it is you are ingesting when you munch on beef, drink milk, and eat eggs - then read on. This book will tell you just that, and not much more. It's more of an attack on those who eat this stuff and the farms, company's, and US government agencies that allow us to eat it than a "how to eat right" book.
I am a vegetarian already, and this book pushes for veganism. I became a vegetarian for the reasons laid out in Chapter 6 "You Are What You Eat," or mainly due to the cruelty to animals raised for eating. I once watched a video that depicted this scene exactly. I think it's worse to read it than it was to see it, and trust me, seeing it was disturbing enough:
"But because it is easier to handle chickens that aren't fighting for their lives, their heads are sometimes dragged through a water bath that has been electrically charged. This paralyzes the birds, but does not render them unconscious. They are snatched up, shackled upside down, and their throats are slashed by machine at the rate of thousands per hour. Next, they are dunked in scalding water to loosen their feathers. Again, they are supposed to be dead at this point, but if the machine misses its mark, or the chickens haven't bled to death, they are "boiled" alive. Then they are placed into a series of machines that literally beat their feathers off of them, still alive and having just been scalded. All the while, they are being handled like rubber toys: grabbed by their necks, feet, or wings and thrown around."
(Skinny Bitch, p.68)
So, if you want to be scared into eating right and for good reasons, then buy this book. It is definitely a great starter point for anyone interested in becoming vegetarian or vegan for animal rights reasons, or even if you want to become the "my body is my temple" type. This book is then for you. But do not mistake it for another diet book. This is a lifestyle book that comes with it's own set of morals to live by. For these reasons, I liked this book. It did it's job in that department. I think it was marketed all wrong but it was worth it in the end.
Other than cutting all animal products from your diet, the book touts getting rid of unnatural sugars, simple carbohydrates, soda, and caffeine.
One issue I have with this book is the writing style. It is tough love, as advertised, but it's also just unnecessary. In the last chapter they try and convince you not to be a "bitch," like it is a bad thing. While I understand where they are going with that - many women admire other "skinnier" women and think to ourselves, "What a skinny bitch," in the most negative way, but the authors of this book write in the bitchiest way possible throughout the book and then suddenly say "but don't be a bitch, we aren't really bitches." Yeah, right. And then there is the whole "thin is in" thing where the skinnier you are the prettier you become in society, and that's not necessarily healthy. The marketing of this book and the title are only progressing this horrifying notion. Still, deep down, that's not what the book is really about and I got that, because I read the entire book. As I said before, it was marketed all wrong, and has the wrong title - but hey, that's what sells books, I guess.
Buy this book if you are willing to take a stance against cruelty to animals; buy this book if you want to treat your body right without chemical interference; buy this book if you are all for more industrial regulation on processed foods and farms, so rocket fuel doesn't get in our milk; but don't buy this book expecting a diet plan. Just read chapter one for that.
Book Review: a gentler approach may be better for some.
Summary: 2 Stars
I am a vegetarian and have been one for about 15 years. That being said, the authors did not need to sway me to adopt a lifestyle that is largely or entirely devoid of animal products. I primarily purchased this book to see what all the fuss was about. What were these women saying that could inspire or turn off potential vegetarians or vegans and/or people seeking to eat better (i.e. more unprocessed foods, fruits and veggies and less meat)?
The approach taken by the authors would probably be articulated by quite a few as "tough love". I personally do not enjoy being yelled at or being called fat but I think there are enough reviews for any potential buyer to know what they are getting into when they purchase this book. Some people certainly respond quite well to this method of instruction. That being acknowledged, I don't know if that is the optimal way to instruct.
If a person has been eating meat and heavily processed foods his/her entire life, s/he has been sufficiently separated from the food preparation process and is probably going to need a little more than screaming something to the effect of "quit eating rotting flesh you fat slob" to embrace a new lifestyle. That person who wants to take the next step to health is going to need a plan so they can learn how to make a great meal from vegetables and whole grains and fruits. Sure, they should also realize how the meat gets to their plate but that knowledge and realization is just a part of the whole process to self-betterment.
The deprivation that a person may feel by fully embracing what the authors present could be great. It is acknowledged that anyone trying a vegetarian diet (or any diet) for the first time is probably going to feel deprived but I think the deprivation could be greater with people using this diet book. For example, the authors suggest to eat just a piece of fruit for breakfast (or two pieces) and then nothing more until lunch hour when the dieter should be ravenous. The dieter is not to eat until ravenous? When I am ravenous, I should not be around people because I am one mean lady. I would speculate that a non-vegetarian trying to eat better could associate vegetarianism with deprivation and hunger. I don't want people to make that association. I will acknowledge that most people should eat less food but any instruction that would lead to a person feeling continuously deprived and ravenous does not seem like it would lead to more people wanting to try vegetarian or vegan diets. If a person feels overly hungry and becomes uncomfortable, I don't see how this is going to advance the animal rights movement either. That person will look at what they are eating now (an apple) and what they ate before (steak and eggs) and think they need to eat meat to remain fulfilled.
The language used in this book can be caustic and harsh. There is little motivation to continue on the diet prescribed by the authors. I believe any diet book is incomplete without easy recipes. Yes, I know the authors have the Skinny Bitch in the Kitch book, but this book needed some recipes as well. While the authors provide suggested meals for a week of eating, there are no recipes provided that might just provide a person with a poor diet to be inspired to live better. When I make a tasty, meat-free dish that goes beyond lentils and rice for friends, I regularly hear comments like "wow, you can make something this great without meat." There is no single recipe that a person can present to his/her family that would make people swoon (and perhaps be a little envious) of the dieter's decision to do something a bit healthier.
In order for a person to live better, there needs to be some inspiration and a path to follow. I don't think the authors do a good job presenting a way to achieve better health. There is a lot of yelling but no path, no let's start here on day one and work up to day 365. There are no recipes. There is no encouragement. If you want a book with a plan or one that presents a gentler approach to eating clean, I would recommend Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr.
Book Review: Hold on there all you nay-sayers!
Summary: 5 Stars
Ok, I want to start this with a few declarations as I have read all of the negative comments about this book.
First- I have had a problem with anorexia just like many who slam this book. They say the contents simply tell people how to be anorexic since it's about control thinking "food" is gross. Hold on- yes, you will need to possess some self-control in order to eat healthy- DUH! But nowhere in this book do the authors call FOOD gross- they call the chemical concoctions we have come to think of as food gross. Really people- to compare the control and restrictive attributes of anorexic behavior with a vegan diet is ridiculous!
Second- the science and studies quoted are very often put down as being "flawed". Ya know, I can find a study to say just about anything I want it to. Does that = bad science? Maybe, but it works on both sides of the table here. Everyone who wants to yell that the studies quoted in this book are flawed because they can show you a study that says opposite is in the same boat.
Now I would venture to say that anyone who put this book down based on the above reasons OR things like "obesity is a disease" and "I don't need to be belittled and sworn at" are the same people who will pick up a diet book like Atkins, Belly Fat Cure, South Beach or any other book that has the MAGIC FORMULA to let them eat and eat and lose weight. They simply do not want to be told STRAIGHT UP how it is and why they are the size they are. These are the people who fuel the billion-dollar diet industry and then complain because "nothing works". They are the people who watch "The Biggest Loser" and say "well if I was THERE I could do it but...[insert 53 excuses here]" People, the title of the book and the "synopsis" or "look inside" tell you the tone of the book- if you still chose to buy it and read it then you are simply making up excuses because you didn't like what you read (cut too close to home, perhaps???)
Also- for those of you that want to call this "political" and say that you don't want to hear the descriptions of what happens in slaughter houses- grow up! You're willing to put it in your body but not know how it got to your plate? Are you saying that when you see hidden camera footage of a waiter peeing into the coffee pot, you're perfectly fine being served that coffee as long as you don't KNOW that he peed in it? Are you not outraged watching someone drop something on the floor and then see it go out to the customer? Ok, I ask you- what is the difference? The ugly truth about how factory farms are managed and how animals are slaughtered have nothing to do with a political agenda or sensationalism. They are the hard, cold truth about what goes into your meal and how it gets there.
I became a vegetarian as an experiment. It began because I noticed that if we cut out meat, our budget would work much better (I have a family of 6 to feed- including 2 growing teen boys!) Well, my husband was having none of that so I just did it on my own. I committed to a month. WOW! I can't believe what a difference it made! At the end of the month I discovered I had never felt better so I just kept it up. Gradually I am working on eliminating all dairy from my diet as well. Now, the rest of my family still eat meat, but they only eat humanely raised and slaughtered organic animal products. How do I know, you may ask- well I'll tell you- because I buy local and can actually visit the farms and SEE with my own eyes what goes on there. I have cut back on everyone's animal product consumption in the home and no one has complained a bit. There are so many wonderful things that can be cooked economically and healthfully that it's a wonder anyone WOULDN'T eat this way! I feed us all this (non-GMO, organic, humane, local) on what most people spend on groceries in a week.
To conclude my review, I'd like to say that this book is EXACTLY the kind of thing people need. No dancing around, politically correct, nicey nicey crap- just straight talk about something everyone is talking about. It's up to the reader to act.