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What's your take on the popular
book of the moment- Skinny Bitch?
................................................................................
 Eugene Thong:
Skinny Bitch. Man, what a compelling title for a diet book that’s
basically nothing more than a vegan diet repackaged with generous
helpings of grrrl power for good measure.
Damn, I should’ve used
that strategy too. Since (like the authors of Skinny Bitch) I’m
genetically inclined towards leanness myself, I should write a
provocative fitness book called The F--- Fat People Diet based on an
ancient Chinese methodology for maintaining optimal levels of leanness
through inscrutable eating and mathematical prowess.
But I digress.
Let’s examine the
Skinny Bitch Diet without all the “I’m a former Ford Model” crap:
Since it’s essentially
a vegan approach to eating, you’re forbidden to eat meat, dairy, sugar,
refined flour, or artificial sweeteners. Aside from their
recommendations to eschew meat, I’ve no problem with their suggestions.
Sugar and refined flour (along with fructose) are arguably responsible
for the current explosion in obesity and Type 2 Diabetes in America and
coincidentally are the first two things Mike and I strike off of the
list when working with new clients.
Dairy can cause digestive problems
in many people (myself included). Most people eat dairy to make sure
they get enough calcium, which is a dubious benefit, since the total
amount of calcium you actually absorb from dairy is small
compared to the more assimilable calcium found in vegetables and nuts.
Also, many dairy products cause spikes in insulin levels comparable to
white bread (!), which will have disastrous effects on your health and
your waistline.
The jury is still out
on
artificial sweetners; although certain ones like aspartame and
saccharin have been linked to cancers and other clinical ills, most
artificial sweeteners appear to be safe if consumed in moderation. That
means if you replace the 17 sugars you put in your coffee with 17
packets of Splenda, you’re not only crazy, you’re not fooling anybody
(including your body’s metabolic response).
Diet foods high in
artificial sweeteners do stimulate appetite and have been
clinically shown to cause overeating, so they are right to steer you
clear of those.
So those
recommendations, plus the emphasis on the consumption of organic
vegetables and fruit, water, green tea, and red wine are what I like
about their approach.
Here’s where they get
a bit wacky:
This is a vegan
approach, so they advocate avoiding meat. Now it’s important to note
that both authors eschew meat for personal reasons, which I have
absolutely no problem with.
But it is not more healthy for you, nor is
it better for fat loss to avoid meat. In fact, the facts are that it’s
quite the opposite – without eating protein from animal sources, you can
not obtain sufficient amounts of B12, without which, you will die
(B12 supplementation is a must for anyone on a vegetarian or
vegan diet).
Additionally, far from slowing your metabolism (as the
authors claim), the protein in meat accelerates your metabolism,
causing you to burn far more calories at rest due to the breakdown of
protein into its constituent amino acids (it’s called the Thermic Effect
of Feeding and Mike and I write about it in more detail in
Black Book of
Secrets).
They don’t poo-poo
protein, however.
The authors do advocate replacing animal proteins
with those found in beans, nuts, and soy products (in case you don’t
know how we feel about soy, in a nutshell: Don’t eat it. Its
benefits are overhyped and its dangers are underreported. Of course, if
you don’t eat animal products, you’ve really got no choice and we offer
you our condolences).
Also, the authors
don’t have a real appreciation for the finer points of biochemistry.
Co-author Rory Freedman writes:
“We live to eat,
and there's no reason you should have to live without cookies. We just
read the ingredients and look for better substitutes for sugar, like
evaporated cane juice, brown rice syrup, molasses, raw sugar, beet
sugar, maple syrup, things like that.”
Guess she doesn’t
realize that all those “natural” sugars all get turned into the same
thing once they hit your bloodstream – glucose. And that glucose does
the same thing whether it’s from a drop of honey or a morsel of whole
grain carrot cake – spike insulin levels and promote fat storage.
Skinny Bitch makes
some good points and scores well with its message of getting healthy in
order to facilitate fat loss. However, the book is not science-based
and carries the bias of being written by two women who have never been
fat in their lives, nor will they likely ever be, and it’s not because
of their diet (thank your parents!)
My recommendation to
you: Stick to science and evaluate the outcomes based on your own
implementation. Use proven principles and keep what works for you. And
steer clear of any skinny bitches that tell you otherwise.
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About the Author:
Eugene Thong, CSCS, was born a weak, skinny,
bespectacled child. Now, thanks to a steady diet of martial arts,
scientific inquiry, and heavy compound movements, he's no longer weak.
His scientific bent, Zen-like demeanor, and efficient but intense
methods have made him one of New York's most sought-after personal
trainers.
 When
not helping clients cultivate their own inner 6-packs, Eugene can be found
arm barring opponents at Renzo Gracie's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy or
sailing through the air on his snowboard. Read Eugene's semi-weekly musings
on exercise, fitness, and fat loss
at his blog
Eugene is Mike's co-author of The Black Book of Secrets- The Bible of
Effective Weight Loss.
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