Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting
Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting
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User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars naturally Thin: Unleash your skinnygirl and free yourself from a lifetime of dieting
I think this book is great, I read some of the nasty reviews and I was not sure if it was worth reading, glad I did. It is an honest in your face book. I watch the Housewives and she is truly speaking to you and I think she is being honest. She also doesn’t want you to starve, so everyone that is on her back really didn’t read the book, they decided they didn’t like her ( most likely from watching the show) those reviews aren’t real options, they are tainted!! I really like the book and it makes you laugh, worth reading, thanks Bethenny!!!
3 Stars This is a diet book, no matter how many times she tries to say it isn’t
A chubby girl’s review:
I was very skeptical when starting this book. What could a Hollywood, overly thin person teach me, a chubby middle class nobody living in the real world? I wanted to unleash my “skinngirl” so I gave it a read.
The first half of the book talks about Bethenny’s rules. There are 10 rules, one in each chapter. She says these are not diet rules, but they are guidelines on how to get to thinking like a skinnygirl. She talks about the freedom naturally thin women have from dieting, but then there are all these rules. Just like a diet! I put this thought aside and hoped that as I continued it wouldn’t continue to look like the diet I was starting to think it was. The second half if is a guide to how to use the rules so I will review the book in two pieces.
Review of 1st half of the book: Part One, The Rules
As I read these first 10 chapters my skepticism lessened. Bethenny layed out some pretty good rules and thoughts about eating, although none of them are new ideas. Here are the chapters and their rules
chapter 1: Your Diet is a Bank Account (good investments of healthy foods, balanced diet throughout the day)
chapter 2:You can have it all just not all at once (juicy burger or tasty fries, just not both right now)
chapter 3: Taste everything, eat nothing (taste it, don’t devour every bite)
chapter 4:Pay attention (conscious eating-quit multitasking, slow down, chew slowly)
chapter 5: downsize now! (go smaller in portions and plate sizes, this is where she shares her idea of portion sizes)
chapter 6: cancel your membership in the clean plate club (share it, save it or leave it)
chapter 7: check yourself before you wreck yourself (id and stop a binge before it starts)
chapter 8: Know thyself (know food triggers)
chapter 9: Get real (stay away from processed foods, organic, whole grains, etc)
chapter 10: good for you (exercise and being good to your body, take care of yourself)
Other ideas in the first half worth mentioning:
1. law of diminishing returns–stop eating when the next bite is not as good as the one before it
2. differential–knowing when the difference between two choices really makes a difference. Is the fat free dressing as good tasting as regular, if so eat it, if not don’t. Is the turkey burger just as tasty as the beef burger, if so eat it instead.
3. food noise–the negative tapes and the times when food calls us not for hunger but for emotion
4. food voice–your body’s true need
5. switching lanes–when you are eating something that you just cannot stop, try switching to another taste on your plate, go back and forth
This is all good information but not necessarily new ideas. You can tell she means well and really believes that if you follow all these rules you can release your inner skinnygirl. The problem I found was that I kept thinking if this is supposed to stop your dependence on dieting then why does it sound so much like one????
Part Two: The Naturally Thin Program
Putting the rules to use in your life…
Here is where she loses me and definitely makes me believe this is just another diet. Here is her basic plan:
1 or 2 carb meals
1 or 2 protein meals
2 fruits
unlimited veggies
2 fats
2 sweets
2 snacks
2 beverages
2 exceptions
Doesn’t that sound like a diet to you???
She proceeds to give chapters of advice and examples about how the rules and the basic plan will work. She gives recipes and tries really hard to be helpful. It just did not flow well for me. I got lost and frustrated (hmm, just like a diet). Then she shows 3 days of where she eats and OMG it is crazy! Three bites of this, 1/4 of that…
So, would I recommend this book? Yes, if the book was just part one. There is enough in that section to make it valuable. I use the rule all the time that says “you can have it all, just not all at once.” I actually sometimes use the law of diminishing returns and differential, so I cannot say that this book did not give me things to think about. For that I gave the book 3 stars. The rest of the book did not help me and it screams diet.
1 Stars Unleash the anorexic in you??
I just read this book out of curiosity however, this book talks about an unhealthy approach to weightloss such as almost starving yourself. If you’re suffering from any conditions like hypoglycemia, diabetes or some imbalance issue this is not the book for you muchless for anyone else. You would just be putting your metabolism out of wack. The one book that I came across that has had sound information scientific and proven which has worked for me is the ‘Core Balance Diet’ by Marcelle Pick.
1 Stars PLEASE!!!!
Did anyone else notice that in previous seasons Beth hhany was much heavier….what a gimmick..I only remember one show where she actually cooked….I think I am a chef and need to write my own book…give me a break….
1 Stars What a let down!
As a huge fan of Bethany’s (and the show)I expected so much more! I agree with other reviews that is comes across as a “how-to on eating disorders”. I was excited for this book, and was looking forward to more recipes. Maybe she should have left out the “take 3 bites” bit and just written a cookbook of healthy recipes. No wonder it is selling for so cheap on Amazon. It will be in my next garage sale!
Filed under: Weight Loss Book Reviews
