Has anyone read 'Skinny B*tch'?

simplyeater

Just because something is scary, gross, or unnerving doesn't mean it is wrong. That's why the term 'comfort zone" was coined.

And no book can dictate your lifestyle to you. You are responsible for taking the information presented and using it in the way you see fit. In this case if you feel the need to be vegan then be vegan, if you decide to institute "Meatless Mondays" then do that. It's not an all-or-nothing proposition. Just because you can't do something 100% doesn't mean you shouldn't do it at all. I can't run a 6 minute mile, but damn if I still don't get out there and do the best I can. Something is better than nothing.

Athijade

Unrealistic, unscientific, biased, bull.

Jynus

Unrealistic, unscientific, biased, bull.

Coming from a rancher family, this was about my thoughts on it as well.

Read the amazon reviews of the book, a lot of very smart people with big degrees put in their info as to why the book is utterly full of crap. And a lot of women with zero nutritional education talking about why it was so truthful and eye opening for them. Take your pick as to who you trust more I guess...

tanyaslosingit

This is a review I posted about Skinny B!tch a couple of years ago:

Skinny B!tch
A no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!
by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin

I do not recall how or when I first heard about Skinny B!tch, but I decided I wanted to check it out last year. I ordered a copy from Amazon's Marketplace and within ten days I was settled down on my couch, ready to take notes. I was more than a little dismayed. The "screeliciousness" tone of the book was so off-putting that I was asking myself whether or not I wouldn't rather be happy being fat than a "skinny *****." I only made it to Chapter 3 ("Sugar is Evil") when I decided I had had enough. Big DNF.


The Complete B!tch
Skinny B!tch: A no-nonsense, tough-love guide for savvy girls who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous!
&
Skinny B!tch in the Kitch: Kick-*kitten* Recipes for Hungry Girls who want to Stop Cooking Crap (and Start Looking Hot!)
by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin
narrated by Renee Raudman

Okay, so now flash-forward to this year and a couple of weight-loss campaigns later. When The Book Lady (from thebookladysblog.com) tweeted about the Game On! Diet, I was interested. As I mentioned in the preview of The Game On! Diet, I was reminded of Skinny ***** as there were some similar common sense tenets in both approaches. I wanted to compare the two books, but was disinclined to purchase another copy of Skinny *****. So Yay! for Laura Colebank, co-founder of Tantor Audio! She delivered and MP3-CD of The Complete *****!

Now the contents of Skinny *****, whether audio or print are the same, but Renee Raudman's delivery made all the difference. Instead of feeling like I was reading the rantings of unhappy, albeit skinny, *****es, the scree factor was toned way down and I felt like I was listening to a girlfriend tell me what she had just found out about the crap most of us call "food." That said, if you are put off by vulgar, crass and downright rude words and phrases, this is probably not the book for you. There are a lot of "@sses," "f*cks," "cr@ps" etc. peppering the book and, since I have a 7-year-old running around the house, I listened to this on headphones.

Skinny *****, like the Game On! Diet, is an approach book rather than a traditional diet book. Traditional diet books tend to be fully articulated eating regimes whereas approach books are about overall health and lifestyle choices that help you become leaner and fitter. In Skinny *****, the approach is that much of what people in the US eat is not only not good for you; but is really, really bad for you. The arguments supporting this supposition are informed primarily through internet sources and other popularly noted books and; oftentimes the supporting arguments seem slanted and the logic strained. For instance, in their stance against eating meat, Ms Freedman and Ms Barnouin argue against the idea that proteins helped inhuman evolution by countering that we, as modern humans don't have sharp teeth like a lion. Um, huh?

What Skinny ***** and The Game On! Diet have in common are the emphases placed on the ideas that :
smoking, alcohol, soda and caffeine are bad for you;
you should make healthier choices in what you eat (organic over conventional, genetically modified or processed);
refined sugar, high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners are bad for you;
fruits and vegetables are good for you and;
the mind-body connection is not to be underestimated.

Where Skinny ***** differs in premise is that it stresses a vegan diet and; that you cannot trust the USDA, FDA or EPA to not screw up your food supplies. Skinny ***** briefly mentions exercise (vs The Game On! Diet which counts it as an important component) and also passing comments about beauty products.

There is an interactive CD-ROM to The Complete B!tch called Skinny B!tch in the Kitch. This contains a 17-minute audio section (also narrated by Renee Raudman) that simply summarizes Skinny B!tch and; a pdf of recipes. Accessing Skinny B!tch in the Kitch involves the installation of a Microsoft program called Cross Over, which is included on the CD-ROM. I was hoping to find recipes that would supplement the Game On! Diet plan, but Skinny B!tch is a bit too hard-core vegan for my tastes. That said, I have decided to make a switch up from drinking cow's milk to soy milk. I'm convinced it's healthier for me.

WhyLime113

Too many scare tactics and conspiracy theories, not enough helpful tips and science.
As soon as anything starts telling me about conspiracy theories, I decide to burn the book (not literally). I don't care if the other stuff might be false because nutritionists or the government make money off of it (such as the whole deal with milk being bad, but we see posters promoting it because the government wants money). I want to know if it's false because respectable science says so. And I want to know if the alternatives are better because respectable science says so.
Conspiracy theorists have no place helping me live better because most of what they say is bull. Now that I have been studying agriculture for a bit, I look back at the book, and I can say with confidence that it has very little of anything in a scientific basis. Just a lot of fear mongering.

SillySkittles

I also read it and did up a review for it somewhere on my blog. There were some good points, but overall, it was just....*wrinkles nose* Maybe it works to motivate some people, but bullying doesn't work for me. I don't like to be bullied or scared into doing things and I felt that they were only interested in getting their "way" across. They didn't make allowances for people who can't follow their diet or certain way of living.

And while I enjoy humorous, witty writing, I think you can also get that across without sounding demeaning and just...uncouth...I guess?

Everyone's different, you might enjoy it or take something away from it...just wasn't for me.