Book Review: Skinny Bitch

Skinny Bitch is a nutritional aide written by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin and published by Running Press Book Publishers, Philadelphia PA, in 2005. Rory Freedman is a former agent for Ford Models and Kim Barnouin is a former model who holds a Masters in Holistic Nutrition.

The Positives:
As much as the books tone of voice is tongue in cheek, I agree with everything discussed, which is unusual in a nutritional aide. Much of the book is trying to convince the reader to "use your brain", expounding on what one's common sense should be dictating. It breaks down the components of a poor diet - sugars, chemicals, as well as vitamins and minerals, into language everyone can understand. It makes me think of a girls night out where your friends strip off the blind-folds on your diet.

The Negative:
As much as I like the messages delivered in this quirky guide, the language does get in the way. I shouldn't have been surprised once I read the title, but by page 12 they are using the F-word and calling the reader a "Stupid Sh**'". That means no matter how much I laughed and enjoyed the book, I'll never be able to recommend it to one of my clients - nor can I leave it lying around my house where the children can read it. Believe it or not they even use words worse than the F-bomb.

This small book (only about 190 pages) covers everything from taking medicines, the truth about carbs, how evil sugar is to your body (They refer to it as the Devil). Why you should limit dairy, protein and why the adage "You are what you eat" is true. It even lists sample diet plans.

So, if you are looking to cleanse your system, improve your Wellness Plan, and develop a nutritional plan you can stick with for eternity, without wanting to be dead first, this book does give great advice. As long as you can laugh off the language in the sarcastic manner in which it was meant, you'll be good. Aside from the language the only difficulty people will have maintaining the nutritional plans in the book is their healthy-ness. For the most part the diet plan is vegetarian, and all natural and homemade. While I think (as a nutritionist and personal trainer) that this is an excellent diet - it's not really realistic. There will always come a day where the kids made huge messes, and you're late getting home from work so the last thing you want to do is cook, you'll probably need to hit a fast food restaurant - or what about a girls night out at the bar? You won't be able to completely eliminate those little no-no's from your diet, and any nutritional plan that doesn't allow some leeway for, well, life, doesn't get a perfect 10 in my book. But this quirky take on a vegetarian diet certainly gets bonus points for originality.