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| Skinny Bitch | 
 enlarge | Authors: Kim Barnouin, Rory Freedman
Publisher: Running Press
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
Buy Used: $2.79
You Save: $11.16 (80%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  786 reviews
Sales Rank: 159
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.2 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 0762424931
Dewey Decimal Number: 613.25
EAN: 9780762424931
ASIN: 0762424931
Publication Date: December 26, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: This is an unread book with poor DJ. Guaranteed good reading copy. Fast shipping from trusted wholesaler. Has remainder mark.
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Product Description
Not your typical boring diet book, this is a tart-tongued, no-holds-barred wakeup call to all women who want to be thin. With such blunt advice as, "Soda is liquid Satan" and "You are a total moron if you think the Atkins Diet will make you thin," it's a rallying cry for all savvy women to start eating healthy and looking radiant. Unlike standard diet books, it actually makes the reader laugh out loud with its truthful, smart-mouthed revelations. Behind all the attitude, however, there's solid guidance. Skinny Bitch espouses a healthful lifestyle that promotes whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, and encourages women to get excited about feeling "clean and pure and energized."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 781 more reviews...
 Not a diet book, not based on science October 22, 2007
599 out of 865 found this review helpful
I don't consider this a legitimate diet or health book. This is a book of mainly opinions. First off, the very title and the cover artwork are sending women a bad message. Why have a gaunt, scrawny cartoon character throughout the book with sunken cheeks and eye sockets when you are writing a so called 'health' book. If you are encouraging health, why would you not want artwork of a chic, slim but healthy looking woman? This cartoon girl looks like she belongs in an episode of the Musters. And what's up with the B-word? As if we don't have enough self rightous, know it all, foul mouthed, self appointed divas setting a bad example for young women today. They could have picked a word more flattering to women.
Second, I saw a sad lack of current, proven scientific research backing all these claims. There were also a lot of needless political opinions in this book. These women who wrote this are MODELS, they are not personal trainers or nutritionists. They might have had some professionals helping them and they might have had some schooling but the fact remains, they don't know enough about nutrition to be writing a book about it. From the pictures of them, it looks like they aren't even very good models considering their unprofessional, unflattering and frumpy choice of attire. A lime green tye-dye t-shirt? A pink tube top with pockets? Ew! What you put IN your body is just as important as what you put ON it! It looks like someone snapped a picture of two college girls at the beach. These two don't look or sound like respected health professionals. If you want to be taken seriously dress like a woman, don't dress like a teenager.
Third, 'skinny' is not always healthy and vegan is not always healthy. This book is trying to give a "one size fits all" diet to people of all different shapes, sizes and body types. Skinny is not a healthy option for some people. In fact, the healthiest and longest lived people tend to have a BMI of 20-24 where as the average model is under 18 and obese people are 25-30. There are also three different body types, Ectomorph (naturally thin like Kate Moss), Mesomorph (naturally muscular like Venus and Serena) or Endomorph (naturally large and thick like Rosie O'donnell) YOU CAN'T CHANGE YOUR BODY TYPE! You can diet and work out and be healthy but even starving won't change your body type. There was no mention of genetics in this book. Just like we cannot turn a Pit Bull into a Grayhound, we cannot turn Rosie O'Donnell into Kate Moss and if we tried, we would end up with a very scrawny, unhealthy and weird looking Rosie.
Fourth, our digestive tract looks nothing like a cow, sheep, horse or giraffe. It's not realistic to compare us to them. A cow has multiple stomachs. A horse converts carbohydrates into amino acids. Humans are different. We do not make our own protein and must get it through food. Our hair is made of protein, skin of protein, nails of protein, organs...guess what? PROTEIN! If we don't get that protein from somewhere (veggie, meat or otherwise) then our body is tearing down it's own muscles and other tissues to feed and repair itself. In other words, without enough protein we might be skinny but eventually we will look droopy, old and probably have health problems. The arguments in this book about protein are weak at best.
Fifth, I make a good living teaching people how to lose weight the healthy way. It frustrates me to NO END when non-professionals write books like this because then I have to spend HOURS explaining proven facts to women regarding food, all because they read misinformation in some book and believe it blindly. Sure there are healthy vegans. There are many fat and unhealthy ones too. There are also healthy (and skinny) meat eaters and coffee drinkers and some unhealthy fat ones too. Reality is, there is no one diet that works for everyone and vegan certainly doesn't work for a lot of people. There are some good points made in this book but they are unfortunately obscured by a lot of one-sided opinions and theories. I also didn't find the delivery of the information funny or amusing.
I also thought their extreme "all or nothing" attitude toward junk food was annoying. Some of us like to be able to live and eat somewhat normally. People lose weight all the time while still keeping small portions of their favorite foods and they are perfectly healthy. It's not realistic for everyone to live on organic vegetables for the rest of their lives. People with real jobs, lives, kids and families would find it hard to make this 'diet' work. The cost and all the restrictions would make it extremely difficult for most. We don't have to do this to lose weight and look good. Overall, I don't think this book is useful for weight loss. I would rather read "French Women don't get Fat" if I am going to read a non-factual wannabe diet book. FWDGF is a much more balanced realistic approach to controlling your food intake but much like this book is mostly opinion and very little fact. That being said, yes French women DO get fat and NO being vegan and eating organic veggies all day won't neccisarly make you skinny or healthy. I would not read this book again nor would I buy it.
 Informative and fun September 19, 2007
342 out of 365 found this review helpful
These two ladies have really done a great job. Their assessment of the ways we treat our bodies with cigarettes, caffeine, sugars, meats, dairy etc. is just the most unconventional scrutiny we can ever undergo. Very sharp and funny at the same time. This is a book about healthy lifestyle not about any fad diet. It is written by sharp, intelligent women who are not afraid of challenging their readers. They demand respect for the nature and for our own bodies. It is an eye opening book making us realize what we really consume and why we became such an obese nation. I recommend this book for its funny and at the same time practical approach to healthy living. I took one star off for the language that some might find `inappropriate' to say the least. Another really great book about healthy lifestyle, longevity, and keeping your body in great shape is "Can We Live 150". If you liked Skinny... you will love Can We Live... .
soapbox for the privileged May 25, 2006
175 out of 277 found this review helpful
Apart from the absolutely reductive view that everyone who is fat is somehow personally responsible for their weight problem, this book is essentially going to divide people into two camps: those who are already vegans, and will nod along as they read, and those who are not vegans and must prepare for the time-honored rant about the conditions in slaughterhouses. I wonder, when these ladies so freely admit that governments and industries are responsible for feeding us garbage, how they can turn around and blame fat people for their weight problems? Nevermind the fact that in America, obesity is mostly a class and race issue, where poor blacks and hispanics don't have the luxury of munching on organic apples and quinoa casserole.
What passes for sassy here is really just smug superiority and a lot of condescending language towards people who eat what they like -- or people who don't have the education and resources to eat better. As if fat people needed to have any more venom directed towards them. These writers ban so many foods from their diets that what they ultimately promote is disordered eating. If you're the type who can expect to eat away from home and still be served seaweed stir-fry and organic wine, then fine. But if you really can't devote a boatload of time to cooking, label-reading, or hunting down vegan meals while you're eating out, then you don't need this book to help you lose weight. You can only get skinny and stay skinny if you're doing something that you can sustain for life.
Incidentally, for anyone who is interested in slaughterhouses, food manufacturing, and government policy more generally, Fast Food Nation is a fantastic book, and the author goes a lot easier on those of us who were raised thinking that a Happy Meal was a real treat.
really depressing book...try to avoid it if you love good food March 2, 2006
155 out of 247 found this review helpful
This book was recommended to me by a friend who knows I'm interested in healthy eating. I'm not overweight and never have been, but I have a curiosity about eating regimes, so I thought I'd give it a try. Well, I'm sorry I did. First of all, these writers assume that everyone reading the book is a fat slob who only eats bad food and can't stop eating - and they admonish the reader as if she is. Even if the reader is overweight and is looking for a better way to eat, their obnoxious ranting is a drag. Worst of all, they tout their vegan lifestyle by saying truly repulsive things about meat, fish, dairy and more. They even describe eating garlic and onions (the basis for so many fine foods worldwide) in the most disgusting way. I can't seem to get this image out of my mind and I'm sorry I ever read this book. I'm not against what they're advocating, but the way they say it will not win many converts.
Okay...so say you're with them and you're excited about eating only fruit, vegetables and grains. So you go to the list of what you can eat at every meal - according to them. Surprise!!! If you imagined feasting on delicious homemade meals of organic fresh foods, they give you a long laundry list of packaged brands sold in health food stores. What's wrong with making your own food? So I should go to the health food store and load up on packaged muffins, cookies, fake meats and more. Sorry. I'll stick with what I'm doing. If you're a lover of good food, this book is no fun. Avoid at all costs.
Full of Contradictory Statements & Vulgarity August 31, 2007
132 out of 191 found this review helpful
My first big problem with this book is the number of contradictory statements, or those that twist actual facts to fit their arguments. Two that really stand out:
1. We should be vegetarians because we don't have as much acid in our systems as carnivore animals, like tigers (ignores the fact that we are actually OMNIvores, not carnivores)
2. Our bodies aren't well-suited to process meat, and we should also be getting our vitamins from food sources, not supplements that have questionable ingredients & aren't absorbed well (later they mention that some vitamins necessary to humans are only available in animal protein, so you'll have to take this as a supplement -- doesn't that refute statements #1 and #2?
In addition, the gratuitous cursing, which I'm sure was added to hype sales, was a huge turn-off. Though I might otherwise pass this book along to several people with a word of caution about the above points, I can't because it is so vulgar. (Saying "b!tch" is one thing; the f-word in every other paragraph is something else entirely).
Most of the arguments were compelling enough on their own. I think it is unfortunate the authors felt they had to resort to vulgarity & ridiculous, unfounded arguments to make their points. I would strongly consider being a vegetarian just for the sake of protesting factory farming ... but when you go overboard and make non-factual or nonsensical arguments such as the two I listed above, it causes me to believe that perhaps you have made truth-stretching a habit. And therefore the whole book is a collection of unreliable statements.
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