10 April 2010

Off the Bookshelf: Skinny Bitch

My latest read:



Skinny Bitch looks like another weight-loss book with a fresh angle, it could have been subtitled:  How to get skinny from some smart-mouthed girlfriends.  This book is loaded with information about the importance of healthy food.  Skinny Bitch provides information on a variety of issues involving the ingredients in our diets: from the rampant antibiotic use in the meat industry and the problems with artificial sweeteners to the different types of fasts; to information on vitamins and nutrients and their importance to our bodies.  This book also offers great substitutes such as raw sugar, turbinado sugar, or even agave nectar or syrup as a sugar substitute.  The information is presented in a way that definitely isn't boring, especially with the frequent use of the words: ass, crap, bitch, and even poop.


Skinny Bitch details some of the horrible things that are included in our foods and which we ingest into our bodies.  And slowly, chapter by chapter this book persuades you to eliminate so many things in our diet which is essentially crap for our bodies:  simple carbs, sugar (the devil), and even meat.  You are encouraged to seek out sources of vitamins and enzymes through healthy, wholesome foods:  fruits and vegetables, whole grains, soy and legumes.  And while this book is touted as a How to Get Skinny book, it really is a book on persuading the general consumer to become a vegan.  


I was initially impressed with the many citations of facts, until I checked the sources consulted section and found them to come from highly biased sources such as Peta, milksucks.com and fishinghurts.com.  I also found some of the arguments to be highly skewed.  For example, "meat" is the decomposing, decaying, rotting flesh of a dead animal . . . You want to put a dead animal corpse-that has been rotting away for months - in your mouth?  In your body?  

This statement makes anyone eating meat sound disgusting, until I realized that really anything anybody eats is rotting and decaying to various degrees.  This book advocates a vegan diet that includes "meat substitutes", tofu and soy.  Its interesting that the authors can advocate eating organically and yet eat fake food in the form of meat substitutes.  That they can rely on soy beans as a main part of their vegan diet when (according to Food Inc), 90% of the soy crop planted in the United States is a genetically modified variety of soy bean.

Despite the authors use of highly bias sources and flawed reasoning I found this book to be persuasive.  Very persuasive.  During the time it took me to read this book I quit drinking coffee for 2 days.  Yes, 2 very long days.  (And if anyone knows me well enough, not drinking coffee is pure craziness).

It makes sense that eating natural, wholesome foods will be a healthier choice.  I like the the emphasis on the importance of the ingredient (which should be healthy, wholesome, and pure) rather than counting calories and fat grams.  Plus, any and all vegans and vegetarians I know seem skinny and healthy to me.  These two bitches know a lot of stuff about food and food ingredients and while I can't give up meat, or coffee, (and especially not cheese), I am more aware of what I am putting into my body and am consciously choosing to eat food that is healthy and wholesome.

~b~

No comments:

Post a Comment