Want to be a skinny bitch? Diet book tells how

Not just vegetarians, they are vegans, a subset that not only eschews eating meat but won’t touch any fish or dairy products either, meaning no eggs or cheese. They complain that the animals used in the food industry are not treated humanely and such food is not safely prepared.

Vegan diet takes planning
One critic, registered dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner, doesn’t object that the book promotes a vegan lifestyle but that it doesn’t include information on things such as serving sizes, calories, protein, fat and vitamins that are needed to ensure that people are eating right.

“A vegan lifestyle can be healthy, but it takes more planning than most other types of diets to ensure no deficiencies, especially of protein, iron, zinc, calcium, Vitamin-D, B12 and omega-three fatty acids,” said Blatner, who is also a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

But she added that there is a place in the world of diet books for “Skinny Bitch.”

“If you’re looking for an introduction to a couple of women who are following a vegan lifestyle, some humor throughout and maybe a couple meal ideas, this is a good read,” she said. “But if you’re really trying to do vegan lifestyles in a healthy way, there are other sources from the American Dietetic Association that you could feel more confident about.”

Barnouin, a former model who did most of the book’s research, said she did correspondence courses with Clayton College of Natural Health, a non-accredited natural health school, which gave her a degree in holistic nutrition.

Freedman, a former modeling agent who once represented Barnouin, did most of the writing, coming up with such jazzy lines as “Soda is liquid Satan” and “Beer is for frat boys, not skinny bitches.”

Guys like it, too
That latter line, as well as the book’s title, could give the impression “Skinny Bitch” was written for women. But that’s not the case, say the authors, who have received their share of fan letters from men. One endorsement in particular that filled Freedman with pride came from a radio station interviewer who told her that “Skinny Bitch” reads “like it was written by a dude.”

It was just that attitude that led her to acquire the book after other publishing houses passed on it, said Kasius, the Running Press editor.

“Most women have some kind of girlfriend that really tells it like it is or lays it on the line for them, and it’s written in that voice,” she said.

It’s proved so popular that Barnouin and Freedman have signed a contract for two more books.

Their cookbook, “Skinny Bitch in the Kitch,” is due out in December and they are currently working on “Skinny Bitch Mamma,” a how-to-eat guide for pregnant women.

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