My Fall book report

Skinny Bitch
By Leslie G.

True story: A bum once asked me for change while I was living in Boystown, Chicago’s gay district. I said, “No, thanks,” because I was trying to be polite. And as I passed, he mumbled, “Skinny bitch.”

I remember being both taken aback but also a bit confused. Was this an insult? Yes, I’m pretty sure. But, as my retro 50’s-style magnet reads with a wink, “You say I’m a bitch like it’s a bad thing.”

As for the “skinny” insult, he was likely insinuating I lacked the impressive breasts and bootyliciousness which was surgically bestowed upon many of the drag queens living in my neighborhood.

I was reminded of this episode when I sat down to offer you by thoughts on the monster hit book Skinny Bitch by former model Kim Barnouin and former model agent Rory Freedman (Running Press, 2005). The slim tone created a frenzy when Posh Spice was seen looking at it in some expensive store and the paparazzi took a pic, though it had been out for years before that. Soon, it seemed, everyone was carrying it around like some sort of Bible. I never bought it because I’d heard it was actually filled with hardcore anti-meat rhetoric, but during a recent blog about the benefits of cow’s milk versus soy milk here on Weighting Game, dear reader Charlotte challenged me to a book report. After putting it off for ages (sorry, Char!), I’ve finally committed to doing it. I called the publisher (I should mention it is published by the same house taht published Locker Room Diaries, Perseus, though in a different division), requested a review copy, and…

found that it was, in fact, filled with hardcore anti-meat rhetoric.

But first, let’s talk a bit about the writers’ style. Within the first 10 minutes of skimming, I was called (in no specific order):

Gross
Fat pig (if I drank alcohol)
A bloated fat pig
Lumpy ass (if I consumed soda)
A pussy (if I drink coffee)
Cankles (Ack! Flashback!)
Drama Queen (if I took cold medicine)
Lazy shit (if I didn’t exercise.)

OK, so I get it. They’re sassy and all “tell it like it is.” Many people respond to this kind of treatment. It's why exercise boot camps make money, why people pick physical trainers that scream and yell - hey, even I stick with my therapist because he's anti-softie and shoots the shit straight.

That said, I don’t see the point in trying to motivate people by degrading them. I’m not being prude - I have a bawdy sense of humor, too (anyone who has read my book or spent three minutes around me knows that.) But their manner of writing borders on abusive...and that's OK, free speech, etc….but it doesn’t mean I have to love it. Also, I would imagine it could scare off or depress readers who are trying to start up a health plan - the viewpoint is quite totalitarian. You either follow these rules, including no meat, cheese, milk, eggs, or sugar - or you’re a lazy slob.

I did have a hard time taking the book seriously. Yes, Barnouin holds a Masters of Science degree in Holistic Nutrition. But the book, (which, I’ll admit, goes to great lengths to meticulously cite research) picks and chooses whatever studies and findings suit their agenda. For example, they make the claim that “[calcium] supplements do not make a significant difference in preventing or treating osteoporosis” and cite a holistic doctor named Gabriel Cousens. This is simply not true. A quick search of the literature will show you calcium supplements are recommended for women of all ages to help stave off the bone-weakening disease. (One is from JAMA’s Arch Intern Med., in April of last year.) The authors are trying to encourage women to obtain calcium through plant sources which, I agree, is beneficial. But many women need supplements to reach the recommended 1,000 mg of calcium each day. (Adults over age 50 need 1,200 mg/day.)

Some concepts I did agree with: Cigarettes are not healthy for you. We could all stand to cut out soda from our diet (that said, I am drinking a Diet A&W Root Beer as I type). Trade white, refined carbs ("White Satan"!) for brown rice and whole grains. Increase your fruit intake. Stop relying on fake sugar so much.

But Skinny Bitch takes it all a few steps too far. Not only is fruit good for you, they say, but it should only be eaten alone, because it “rots and ferments” in our stomach otherwise. Sorry. No. If you eat an apple with some peanut butter on it, or an orange and some cereal, your stomach will not become a festering cesspool of rotting produce.

Did it raise my awareness about the atrocities that can occur to some animals during slaughter? Absolutely. Horrible things happen to animals during the slaughtering process and that is reason enough alone for me to avoid foods from certain industries. But do I agree with their all-or-nothing view that we must not consume anything produced by an animal? That simply taking the first step of decreasing one's red meat intake and increasing lean poultry is not good enough? No. I think it IS a great step for people to, say, cut back on their red meat, or substitute a vegetarian meal once a week (or more!) Or eat egg white omelettes instead of eggs. I believe in baby steps.

Overall, the book managed to bug me but also made me laugh - how can you not snort when, while at a dinner party, someone picks up a book and starts reading, “In Chapter 11, we provide an ‘acceptable junk food’ list that’ll make your nipples hard.” (p18). Or “…habitual drinking equals fat-pig syndrome. Beer is for frat boys, not skinny bitches. It makes you fat, bloated, and farty.” (p12). I mean, it’s funny. I also happen to love that one chapter is called "Don't be a pussy." But I don’t accept their theory that FAT = UNHEALTHY and SKINNY = HEALTHY. We all know people who are very thin but lack any muscle tone, or curvier women who run marathons.

I guess I’m not a skinny bitch after all.

PS I'm sure I'll get skewered by fans of this NYT bestseller, as well as hear from people who agree with me. I absolutely welcome everyone's opinion and am eager to hear your thoughs.

PPS Two other reports of the book I recently stumbled across: fellow iVillage blogger This Fish who wisely said, "But bitchiness requires talent, not a low calorie intake." Also, check out your fellow reader Charlotte's new blog,
The Great Fitness Experiment. I chose to not read her book review yet so it wouldn't influence mine - I'm going to as soon as I post to see how we match up! I believe she's vegetarian...let's see!

Comments

I am SO OVER being made to feel less than valuable because I'm not skinny, or vegan, or a particular religion, or because I don't send my kids to private school, or anything that anyone else thinks I SHOULD be or SHOULD do. I'm DONE reading books by so-called "experts" who only know how to berate people who aren't as rigid and militant as they are. In fact, I'm pretty much taking all "expert" advice with a large grain of salt these days.

I read this book a little over a year ago. It's actually the thing that turned me vegan haha. They do get a little harsh and I def don't just eat fruit for breakfast. But I do like how they're not trying to baby you into getting healthy. They tell you straight out, "Yeah, it's hard. And yeah you'll hate it at first. But it's all up to you if you change your lifestyle or not. Don't blame anyone else." which I liked.

I also liked how at the end they did tell you that they weren't perfect and let you know that mistakes aren't horrible and don't make you a horrible person. If that chapter wasn't in there I def would've called it way too harsh but I think it helped balance out the whole drill sergeant approach they took to weight loss.

I'm the kinda person that needs to put myself down sometimes to get motivated (not necessarily calling myself a fat pig but calling myself a lazy bum if I think about skipping a workout while not sick or injured). The book is so extreme it's bound to have lovers and haters a like.

I agree with you on the whole baby steps thing but oddly enough the people I know who read it just used it as a starting point. They didn't go completely vegan and still aren't but rather they incorporated meatless mondays into their week and tried the no sugar no caffeine thing.

Personally I would love to become completely vegan but when I try I get light headed and weak which is not good when you are trying to swim for an hour straight! Plus my family would jump all over me if I gave up meat as they truly believe that humans were meant to eat animal based protein.

Kudos to those who can do it. BTW does anyone know of any high performance athletes or fitness buffs who are able to follow a vegan diet? If so, do you know how they get enough protein without ingesting too many carbs/natural sugars?

Rose, there are probably a lot more vegans/performance athletes than you would think! One that comes to mind is Scott Jurek - he is a vegan and a well-known ultramarathoner. Not being a vegan myself, I don't know the ins and outs of the diet - but I would assume that an elite athlete eats lots of protein in the form of something like nuts. And I'm sure they eat their fair share of good old whole-grain carbs. It'd be hard to run 100+ miles without that. ;)

Rose,
There are quite a few elite athletes that are also vegan. The super famous track & field star Carl Lewis for one. Bill Pearl (a two-time Mr. Universe and long-time professional body builder) is for sure vegetarian and may also be vegan as well (sources differ). Others include Mac Danzig, Ed Templeton and Scott Jurek (like Alex said). I think you have to be very careful to be a vegan athlete - to make sure you are getting all your nutrients - but there are lots of plant-based sources of protein & iron (soy products, legumes, nuts, fortified grains, quinoa etc). Harvard did a famous study in the 40's that showed that crew teams on a vegetarian diet actually gained more muscle mass than did their omnivorous counterparts. They do eat a lot of carbs though - I think they just make sure they are quality ones.

(Woo woo!! Thanks for the shout-out Leslie! I loved your "fall book report" by "Leslie G." ROFL!)

Thanks for the information guys! I'll have to see if I can find more information on that study though it doesn't surprise me. Tobey Maguire was able to gain all of that muscle on a vegetarian diet for the SpiderMan films.

I think for now I'm just going to try and focus on eating healthy stuff. A Vegetarian, let alone a Vegan diet is near impossible in the Deep South where butter is an honorary veggie!

Just reading this book report made me feel like i was being deprived of things and cranky. I think that people's weight gain often stems from the fact that they think way too much about food and healthy eating and weight loss. I used to obsess about what I ate and I used to read articles on how to stay thin, let me tell you that just made me want to eat more and I was 50 lbs overweight. The minute that I convince myself that I looked good and felt good anyways, heavy or not, I stopped obsessing and the weight came off slowly, painlesslly and effortlessly. ( i did join a gym but it wan not a task, I loved it) I learned to focus more on other aspects of my life instead of my eating habits. So what if I ate two hot dogs at the stadium yesterday with a beer?? Im sorry if you dont agree with me but I believe happyness is health. Bottom line: Nature did not mean for us to constantly be on a diet or counting calories or banning foods. And at least in my case it was the anxiety from doing that which made me a fat bitch

Mary, YOU ARE A GODDESS!!!!!!!!!!!

Good site! Good resources here, All the best!

I just found your site and I'm adding it to my favorites right away. I just had to comment and say that Diet A&W root beer rocks, best diet soda ever!!

I'm with Alyssa and Mary...I don't need a book to tell me that I'm somehow less of a person because I happen to like beer and I eat chicken occasionally. They make it sound like it's some kind of a criminal offense to eat meat. I'm sorry, but I'm in great shape and I work out regularly. I'm probably a lot healthier than most "skinny" people that never work out and diet obsessively and probably smoke to stay thin.

Oh yeah, Diet A&W Root Beer is probably the best diet soda ever. Just for the record :)

What's even scarier is that the Skinny Bitch authors are now working on a guide for pregnant women. I cover body image on my blog and have written a lot in recent months about how moms-to-be and new moms are feeling intense pressure to have perfect bodies, manage/lose the "baby weight" and obsess over their size more than their health. I fear that the next Skinny Bitch title is poised to cash in on all that anxiety.

i so want to become a vegetarian, not vegan but am scared that I simply eat loads of carbs, any tip? I cant eat beans & tofu for ever

No offence, but I think most of the commenters here are taking the book way too seriously. I drink alchohol and soda, but I wasn't offended when the authors called me a 'fat pig' or 'lumpy ass' - it's called humour. It actually says in the back of the book that the authors themselves indulge in beer and such, so really they could be called fat pigs!

And also, the book is not about being skinny! In numerous interviews the authors have said that it was all a marketing ploy, and they just want people to be healthy and happy, which usually equates to slimness.

As for going vegan, well most people will always say this is 'too extreme'. I am a vegan, but it did take a few years of being vegetarian to transition. However, it is not hard to ditch the meat and fish! Sorry, but nowadays there is a wealth of information out there to help people becoming veggie. They are loads of products at grocery stores, tons of options at resturaunts and millions of recipes. So there really is no excuse to go at least vegetarian!

I loved this book and it told the truth like it is. Everything that was written on it, is exactly how I feel. Skinny is good to a point if you're still being healthy. Fat is bad and it will always be bad, sing you're always at risk for diseases. Now just because of this I'm still not going to give up drinking or smoking, even though drinking is fattening especially beer. But to each their own.

I loved this book and it told the truth like it is. Everything that was written on it, is exactly how I feel. Skinny is good to a point if you're still being healthy. Fat is bad and it will always be bad, sing you're always at risk for diseases. Now just because of this I'm still not going to give up drinking or smoking, even though drinking is fattening especially beer. But to each their own.