Book Review: Naturally Thin
 

I am reading Naturally Thin by Bethenny Frankel

Yes it's written by Bethenny that was on The Real Housewives of New York City. I am not much of a tv watcher at all. But while on a mini vacay with the husband during his work conference I caught a few episodes and one where Bethenny talked about her book.

I picked up the ipad and downloaded it right away. It's an easy read and very common sense and funny too. Some of it is common sense to me after over 2 years on my journey but I am learning alot still.

One part that was a light bulb moment to me was about eating out. She shared how she rarely orders an entree but usually an appetizer and side salad or side veggie. What perfect sense that makes to me. I have never considered doing that. I am very much into my side dishes rather than a large main portion of meat. She talked about ordering a healthy soup and side dish. I feel such guilt over ordering a $30 entree and leaving behind often half.

She explains in detail about your food voice vs food noise. It makes so much sense.

Bethenny is a whole foods chef not just a skinny reality tv star. She enjoys high quality well cooked food as do I. If your looking for a easy to read book I recommend it.

I haven't finished it yet but wanted to share.

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm almost done with the book I'm reading and looking for another, this will be put on the list.

Thanks for the review, Nikki! I'm looking forward to checking that one out now.

I copied this excerpt, I love it already!

The simple fact is that you don't function normally if you constantly have to measure, count, restrict, and obsess over food. You feel punished, deprived, even angry. I know I did. Eventually, life intervenes, and you no longer have time or patience for all that nonsense. Then you give up and tell yourself, "Well, I might as well just eat the whole double cheese pizza because dieting is just too hard."

Of course it's hard. It's not natural to eat like that, and it's not healthy, either -- not physically, not mentally. If you have to rely on a regimen, a menu, strict rules, or even a book to tell you what to do and what to eat, you aren't going to stick with it. You don't need something to control your life. You just need some tools that will help you regain control. After all, it's your body. You can change it if you want to change it.

Notice that I don't say you are going to need willpower. I say control because that's exactly what I mean. You are your own person. You are in control of what you do. You have the power. It's your body, your life, your mind, your food. You have control over what you choose to do and how you choose to act. The problem with diets is that they give you the idea that someone else is controlling you: a famous guy tells a famous girl what to eat; or a diet plan somebody wrote for you tells you how many cups of this and how many tablespoons of that you can eat.

Frankly, this lets you off the hook. If you are on a diet, the diet controls you, so when things go wrong, you can blame the diet. If you are on a diet, you don't have to take responsibility for your own life. The diet tells you what to do, and if it doesn't work, you hate the diet; the diet failed; you are the victim. Even as you feel guilty and blame yourself for your inner weakness, deep down, you don't feel that you've ever been the one at the steering wheel. The diet has been driving. You're just along for the ride. And that's no way to live your life.

Take back the wheel and start driving yourself through life again. Sure, taking back your life can be a challenge, but getting naturally thin is easier than you think. This book is about you and the ways you can learn to deal, face-to-face, with food again, rather than letting food deal with you.

I'm loving this book. It helping feel like a normal person when t comes to food. The only con is that she doesn't elaborate enough on the binge eating but i guess she thought it would be common sense that if there is emotional eating going on then therapy should be the next course of action for developing better coping skill.

I have had this book for a while (I even met Bethenny and had her sign it-- she is ridiculously thin, btw- of course). Recently I picked it up again, and damn, something clicked in me. It made incredible sense and showed me how to CALM DOWN about food. It's a mindset, not a diet. I started living it about two-three weeks ago, plus doing Zumba--I've lost I'm gonna say 8-10 pounds. Maybe lots of it water weight, but so what. Her approach is one I can live with.

I've always wanted to read this because I LOVE Bethenny. I have heard, however, that if you total what she eats during the day it turns out to be around 800 calories or something, and people were complaining that she was setting a bad example.

Do you get that sense from the book?

Oh... I WANT THIS!! I have never done well with diets, and this sounds very Intuitive Eating... aka "eating like a thin person". I'd love to see if this book has more tips on how to engage the "skinny brain". I've so far had 16lbs of success with this approach, and one thing I found shocking about the "eat when hungry / stop when no longer hungry" approach was that when I logged my food in MFP recently, I was eating anything from 700-1400 cals a day. THIS WAS NOT DELIBERATE. I completely cannot be bothered with all the counting, the "good food vs bad food" stuff, etc. Even a "rough day" totalled up at about 1600cals.

This book is absolutely getting put at the top of my wish list! When I get £s, I'm getting it, without a doubt! Thanks for letting me know it exists :D

Maybe HER calories total that, but the key is, as she keeps insisting, that's her- not us, the reader. What she's trying to do is help us cultivate a more intuitive, personal way of eating. I swear, once I got it, it totally worked. Beauty is, no calorie counting, no journaling, no measuring-- just a focus on delicious, QUALITY foods (a small cut of juicy, buttery steak is better than bland chicken; a few bites of decadent chocolate cake better than six rice cakes) that truly SATISFY you, so you don't feel deprived and naturally don't want to overeat. Also how to develop a sense of balance-- carbs, protein, sugar, fat -- but in a natural, instinctive way. And she makes it fun.

I've been using this approach - though not through her book. I think there are days that I eat very little and days that I eat quite a lot. But it doesn't matter, because MOST OF THE TIME I'm being really good at eating how I'm supposed to eat and moving my body.

For me, I will have to keep working at it because this isn't how I've eaten most of my life - but I believe it to be sustainable.

It also means that when I STOP losing weight and am still being 'good', I have to accept that that's the weight I need to be at at that time. I don't think that's gonna be 5 lbs from now, but maybe it's 40lbs from now (193) which will be outside the aesthetic I'm aiming for. I honestly believe that diets are a recipe for putting on more weight. I'm done dieting. But this isn't dieting - this is eating and living well and letting the weight fall where it may.

Yes, Almost Me, letting the weight fall where it may-- that's where I'm at these days. I mean, I'm over 50-- I like to think youthful, but over 50 all the same. My days of thinking I was "fat" at 135 (imagine that, but I did) are over. I like to think that wherever I land will look "naturally good."

I continue to thrive on this approach. It's quite amazing. It works for me in any situation. I have whatever I want, but try to make it quality, in small amounts. For instance, other day at a very high-end lunch, I indulged and totally went for the bread roll-- it was warm, soft, herby and worth it. I totally participated in the shared appetizers- ceviche, a cheese/fig plate. For entree, I chose spicy grilled shrimp salad, and actually gave some to my friend (usually I'm too greedy). Half a glass of white wine. For dessert I had a cappucino and took a bite or two of the bread pudding that went around-- it was enough. Didn't gain an ounce.

Can't explain, but once you 'get' this approach, it's so easy and satisfying. No calorie-counting required. I'm intuitively eating less stuff, but GOOD stuff. Quality over quantity.

This + Zumba = 15 pounds gone in last few months- conservatively.

I may check out this book as well. Like others here, I am also practicing IE, and her approach is definitely in that vein. Right now I'm reading the Tribole/Resch book but will definitely be looking into this one. Thank you for the recommendation, as I had not heard of it before.

I'm finishing up my third week on this way of eating and it is definitely working for me. It's a way of eating that I think one has to be ready to embrace, however, and some are not quite there yet.

I find myself trying to explain it to my friends and relatives that are still dieting, and I see the skepticism on their face. Which I completely understand, since I was the same way when first introduced to it. But now I "get it," although I'm still learning.