Skinny B**** Book

This Christmas I received a book "Skinny Bitch".  I admit the title drew me in.  Well I have had an opportunity to read it and was really surprised at the content. 

It was a very militant rant about how we should all be Vegans because of what animal fat does to our bodies.  It went into very specific detail about how animals are treated and the government agencies who are supposed to monitor the slaughtering process do not.  Bottom line, very gross book. 

I am not a Vegan or a Vegetarian.  I do not eat red meat very often, but I do enjoy a glass of milk once in a while.  According to the book, milk has naturally occurring opiates in it that make you addicted to milk?  Crazy?

Has anyone else has read it?  If so, your opinions? 

It's a dumb-down rant.... I'm sure some of the points made are valid but they're cloaked in so much irritating adolescent hissy-fitting that they get lost.  

A much better book is 'French Women Don't Get Fat' by Mireille Giuliano.  The art of enjoying all foods without a shred of guilt and maintaining the body beautiful at the same time.  Try telling a frenchwoman that her camembert has a naturally occurring opiate  or that she shouldn't enjoy a little foie gras occasionally..... LOL! 

Hey Jane, thanks for the tip on the "French Women Don't Get Fat" book.  The Skinny B**** was a Christmas gift from a well meaning friend.  I'm certain she didn't actually read the book before she gave it to me.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought the book was a militant, adolescent hissy-fit.  Yuck.  I would never recommend the book or lifestyle to anyone.

Thanks!

Unfortunately the French are following in our (U.S.) footsteps:

"According to a recent article in the Times of London, the traditional French meal is eaten by only 20 percent of the population. Instead, they increasingly favor the abbreviated, on-the-go meals of Americans. The national rate of obesity is rising fast." from Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2113911/

I do agree with your assessment of "Skinny Bitch" - there were some valid points in the book, but most of it was a rant against eating any type of animal product. Personally, I couldn't go along with the part about not drinking coffee. From Salon: "This book is a PETA pamphlet in chick-lit clothing and an innovative fusion of animal rights activism with punitive dieting tactics that prey on women's insecurities about their bodies." http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/02/11/s kinny_bitch/

I guess I have too much time on my hands today! 

I've pretty much said the same thing in the many previous threads about this book:  I picked it up in a book store, and couldn't get past the first chapter.  Even if I agreed with the premise, in the end the vegan-evangelism-with-an-attitude thing was just annoying.

I kinda liked the book...however, I took most of what the authors said with a grain of salt.  It gave me a good laugh, and some (few) good tips.  Although I'm not vegan either, or have never intended to give up meat entirely, I think the book contains some good advice about food in general; but nothing we didn't already know>>>obviously organic, whole, raw, fruits and veggies are better for you than a can of pringles!

I think the book was writen from an extremists perspective, which actually works for some readers....I like to pull together different perspectives to form my own healthy eating habits and a happy medium.  That's why this book worked for me...or at least entertained me while I read it :)

Original Post by tciherr:

According to the book, milk has naturally occurring opiates in it that make you addicted to milk?  Crazy?

Seriously? do they think their readers are that dumb? Have you ever heard of anyone becoming 'addicted' to milk?

Taking nutritional advice from models makes about as much sense as getting a work out plan designed by a professional poker player.

I have a friend who read this book and "swears it changed her life".  Although she may be a vegetarian now, the only people's lives it really changed were her friends.  Now all she does is criticize everyone for what they are eating and tells stories about animals being mistreated etc. etc. and prevents everyone from enjoying their food.  As she sits there eating fried tofu, veggie fried rice and a fried spring roll.  Talk about an animal (human) body being mistreated.

Not to diminish anything, but the book is written as vegan propoganda.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.ph

https://www.petacatalog.org/prodinfo.asp?numb er=BK881

http://www.peta.org/feat-skinny_bitch.aspp?v= 24039755165

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/01/books/01ski n.html

I have never read the book, and have no urge to really pick it up either... And I'm vegetarian! Hah. I think if it was a book that just laid out some facts about the health benefits from eating a vegetarian/vegan diet without trying to shove it down the reader's throat a la PeTA, for instance, then I'm sure it would be a better read. Also, I have heard people who have said this book has "changed their lives" and really made them think about what they ate. That's great, and some people may be more open to such a "forceful" writing style.

Onto the casein to casomorphine thing, it is correct. That doesn't necessarily mean casein (a milk protein) makes one addicted to milk. It's just how our bodies process the casein...when casein is broken down in the body, it becomes a casomorphine, which is an opioide of sorts. And apparently cheese has the highest concentration (or something like that...) of casein... so it may have some chemical explanation as to why it can be so hard for some vegetarians to become vegan because they can't give up cheese! I wanted to try and find more relevant literature on it via google scholars, but most of the articles were published in the 70s-early 90s, and some may thus deem it old and irrelevant or something. However, I could probably find more recent literature through my school library's online journal articles site, but then no one will probably be able to access them but me.

Luckily, I never got the Skinny B!tch book... but I did get the recipe book last Christmas. I skimmed though it, they even have an attitude in that book as well. It just doesn't make pleasant reading when it sounds like they are yelling at you. I don't like the way their personalities come through in text... I hope they are more laid back in person. I wouldn't wanna be their friend!

However, my sister is vegan. She won't even use Burt's Bees chapstick because the honey in it comes from bees. But she's not insane like these chicks - the rest of my family are all meat lover's, so when she comes over for dinner and if we're having spaghetti, my mom has the ground beef in a separate pot to add to the plate if you want it. She doesn't go off at all about it.. so long as she doesn't have to eat it. But I can imagine inviting over one of these b!tches to dinner... oh MANNN. Dinner table disaster!

I enjoyed some of the content and advice in the book, but the language and 'hissy-fit-ness' of the book make me groan many times and made the book very hard to get through.

Hehe!  I've read the reviews on it, read the propaganda surrounding it, and without having read one word of the book, I know that I never will.

It cinched it for me when I was at a gathering and one of the other women there started talking about the book.  As she looked at my plate in horror, (I was eating a burger and some cake), she asked me if I'd ever read it.  I said nope.  She pointed at my burger and ever-so-kindly suggested that I read it.  I told her that I like my meat and I'm not giving it up for a book written by vegan extremists.  That shut her up pretty quickly.

my question is so what if milk has naturally occurring opiates!  if it does it is very trivial... much less than say poppy seeds which do actually contain opium (i have never heard anyone saying their urine test was wrong because they drank a glass of milk before they were tested)

Veganism is pretty much just a way of living by morals or beliefs. I totally support it. I commend those who can live that way, as I would certainly love to just for peace of mind that an animal didn't have to die for me. I have drastically cut down on it, using tofu, seitan, and other meat substitutes.. but some favorite flavors just can't be reproduced. lol So I can't give it up entirely, nor give up cheese, or milk, or chocolate, or eggs, etc... LOL Being just vegetarian would be a heck of a lot easier!

But if anyone is going to argue that eating meat is bad for you for HEALTH reasons, I would have to disagree. Processed junk yes.. but the apes and cavemen were meat eaters. It's a "natural food" (depending). Back then one survived on plants, meat, and water.

i went vegan after reading this book! though now i'm maintaining the lifestyle mostly for environmental reasons, and health and ethical reasons as secondary (but this isn't true for everyone, of course!).

my advice: just take it with a grain of salt. it's meant to grab your attention, which i think it does! of course, as with anything, outside research is a must. but once you start looking into what animal products really are, you may be surprised/grossed out!

as for humans being natural omnivores, i don't really think that's the point. diet for a small planet is a good argument for why people overdo it on meat, which isn't, in the end, necessary.

i think the point is to be aware of what you're eating, and be responsible for it!

also, what is "vegan propaganda"?

people have a right to believe what they want!

i don't come over to your house and knock the burger out of your hand!

Bleh. I can't stand that book or the way in which it promotes (erm... forces) veganism. It sounds like it was written by some snot-nosed middle schooler, not a knowledgable trustworthy adult. I was once a vegan, but now I truly believe that all things are to be enjoyed in moderation - dairy, eggs, and meats included, within reason. That doesn't mean I support ALL animal industries however - I still think the way that veal and foie gras are produced is downright wrong.

But as far as health goes - going vegan will not really improve your health all that much as compared to eating a well-balanced, whole-food diet composed of all food groups.

I met the author (Rory, not Kim)...super sweet lady.  And if you know anyone who is vegan for moral reasons, you know that "vegan militant" is redundant.  Like evangelism and Christianity, if you aren't trying to convert people, you aren't doing your job.  She and her friend the "nutritionist" did write to book as a trick to convert people, and while many people recoiled in horror at someone trying to convert them, it did work for some people...so mission accomplished.

I personally find it hard to believe that anyone who reads it could not be affected (despite the annoying tone of the book), but some people just refuse to change.  Stick your head far enough in the sand and maybe you can justify the cruelty inherent in "a little foie gras occasionally."  I mean, hey, aren't the animals just here to please us?

I want to write book called Sexy Slim Women and have it all about high protein meaty diets. Just for fun. I mean, whatever you eat, as long as its not loaded with calories or super fatty it is good and you can lose weight if you keep it smart. So, a diet rich with meat could work as well as a vegan one for losing weight. Granted it IS true that animal fat isnt so great for our bodies (mostly our liver) and veggies are necessary, but we do need it (meat). And also I think it would be fun to put a book like that out there as a "reply" to Skinny Bitch.

BTW, I dont eat just meat lol. I like to balance my diet. But still...would be fun to write that book for **** and giggles. Send a copy to the author...also for **** and giggles.

Original Post by pumpkin314:

IStick your head far enough in the sand and maybe you can justify the cruelty inherent in "a little foie gras occasionally."  I mean, hey, aren't the animals just here to please us?

Domestic animals pretty much do only exist for our pleasure.... isn't that the definition of a domestic animal?  If the world suddenly became 100% vegan there would be no need whatsoever for farm animals and their numbers would dwindle to nothing unless we all decided that a Gloucester Old Spot or a Charolais bull would make a nice pet.   'Cruelty' is fairly subjective.  A vegetarian will say that killing any animal for food is cruel, full stop.  People who eat meat have understood the idea that tasty plateful = dead animal quite early on in life and decided that's acceptable.  Production methods could certainly be more humane and standards could certainly increase... foie gras being no exception.  Heads are definitely coming out of the sand on that one.