Back in skinny jeans

Skinny book review: Eat, Drink and Be Gorgeous

Did you know that there is actually a nutritional and anti-muffin top building benefit in eating peanut M&M's over plain M&M's? That's music to one who is working on getting back in the skinny jeans. Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous is written by Esther Blum who is a MS, RD, CDN, and CNS which in the world of nutrition is a load of degrees and certification, so Esther knows food and how it effects our bodies.

Overall, I think this book is a good read for those of you who like the "fit, fun, glam girl" style and/or who are like me and working on shedding extra pounds and are truly interested in how the foods you eat or not eating are affecting not only your body but your well being. For example, artificial sweeteners can cause of worsen depression because the a.i. is inhibiting the uptake of seratonin and dopamine to the brain. If you're a prone emotional eater like myself, when you're depressed for whatever reason, you will eat and eat more to try and sooth the depression thus making weight loss a constant struggle.

The pluses of the book:

• Esther Blum is a highly educated and trained professional in the area of nutrition. This is an A+ in my book unlike other diet books that are written by former models, modeling agents, or fashionistas. I'm going to pay more credence to someone who understands the body in a far more healthy, scientific, and well rounded way.

• Esther is realistic in that life is meant to be lived and enjoyed and that includes food. Nothing is forbidden. It's about choices, and sometimes it's okay to eat that Cookies & Cream ice cream when you've just broken up with your BF or BFF. We are not going to the live the rest of our lives free of dairy, wheat, candy, booze, or grandma's homemade brownies, and when we do partake we shouldn't rid ourselves with guilt that we've "messed up" our weight loss or maintenance efforts.

• How many books on nutrition include a chapter on sex? Um, not a whole lot. I probably learned more in this section than any other chapters of the book. One tidbit, she shares that if you eat more of this one food type it help alleviate va-jay-jay dryness. Truly fascinating!

• The tone of Esther's writing is much like Dr. Oz from Oprah fame and the "YOU on a ....." books. She's funny and adds in "street" terms like muffin top and even "Punani Power." Seeing that headline in the book made me laugh hysterically and is a woman right up my alley.

The "would have made the book better" parts:

Skinny review: "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin say forget about eating rotting dead carcass

The diet book "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin has been getting quite the attention lately so I took a look at it. Rory is a former agent with the uber Ford Models agency, and Kim is a former model who has an MS in Holistic Nutrition. From their picture, they both look like you would imagine, thin and gorgeous, and right away the bias starts to pop up because the title of the book lends itself almost to what you could expect from former modeling types. Sorry to be cliche but those were the first things that popped into my head. They don't say, but I wonder if Rory or Kim have ever been overweight or yo-yo dieted like many of us.

Upon reading the book, the ladies make it clear that they wanted to add some fun and snark to weight loss. Right there, I can agree with them and appreciate their efforts because most weight loss books and sites are pretty medicinal and are lacking in wit and humor. I'm trying to do a similar thing here at Back in Skinny Jeans except that my perspective is from someone who's had weight loss and gain issues their whole life.

The diet is basically a vegan menu. In order to become a skinny bitch, you have to become vegan. In a few chapters they get a bit Michael Moore and Kevin Trudeau-like by sharing how the government and corporations don't give a damn about our health and want to keep us fat an ignorant because it helps them make big profits. By eating meat, we are basically consuming, "The dead, rotting, decomposing, flesh of a dead animal diet." Nicely put, eh? (more after the jump)