Unleash your skinny self! Get ‘Naturally Thin’

She stole the show on Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of New York City,” but Bethenny Frankel’s passion has always been enjoying healthful, natural foods, whether through cooking for Hollywood stars or sharing delicious recipes. In her new book, “Naturally Thin,” Frankel shows how anyone can banish “heavy habits,” embrace “thin thoughts” and enjoy satisfying meals, snacks and drinks without the guilt. Here’s an excerpt.

Chapter one: Your Diet Is a Bank Account

It’s your right to be thin
If you’ve read the introduction to this book, or if you’ve seen me on television or watched any of my videos about healthful cooking, you probably already know that, having become a naturally thin person I have a mission: to democratize health. I cook for celebrities and advise my friends about healthy eating, but why should celebrities and my friends get all the benefits? Celebrities often have jobs that require them to look great, but this doesn’t mean you can’t be privy to their secrets. They don’t all belong to some secret “thin club” that you don’t belong to. You belong to this club, too. You just haven’t filled out your membership card yet.

I think everybody deserves to be healthy and get into the best shape of her life. That’s why I’ve collected all the simple facts that have taken me twenty years to learn, and crystallized them into ten simple rules. Now I’m going to hand them to you.

You can be naturally thin. I don’t care what your body type, blood type, or personality type is. I don’t care how much your mom weighs, or what food you just can’t live without. Look, even celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Britney Spears have a hard time keeping weight off, despite all their diet coaches and personal trainers, but they haven’t yet figured out what it means to be naturally thin.

I spent twenty years suffering through diet hell before I finally figured out that being naturally thin has nothing to do with having a fast metabolism or certain genetics or anything else you can’t control. I’m in my mid-thirties now, and I’m thinner than I was in my twenties. People ask me if I crash-diet, or they say, “Oh, you’re just naturally thin.” It’s true, I am naturally thin — now. But it wasn’t always that way.

Millions of women get caught up in the insane cycle of dieting, failing, and dieting again. Well, it’s time to cut it out. No more diets. Do you understand me? Stop dieting now.

That probably sounds like an impossibly wonderful idea to some of you. A few months ago, one of my girlfriends said to me, “You know what? I’m done. I am so sick of dieting and exercising. I can’t do it anymore.” I remember being in that same place, and if you picked up this book, you probably know that same feeling.

So do it. Step up right now and take possession of your right to be thin. You are an adult. It’s time to stop letting somebody else tell you what to eat, how to eat, or why to eat. Forget it. Kick out the tyrannical chauffeur in your life, whose name is “diet,” and slide into that driver’s seat. You’re in charge. The suffering stops now.

Rule 1: Your diet is a bank account
Let’s get right to the first rule. I consider this a sort of master rule, the mother of all the other rules. It’s the first thing I tell people when they ask me how I stay naturally thin. Every rule is important — even crucial — but this rule encompasses all the others. It’s something I keep in mind every day, every time I eat anything. It has become a part of my life to think about and implement this rule, and it makes the whole thing so simple and sensible, you won’t believe that you’ve never practiced it. Here it is:

Naturally thin thought: So you love chocolate or cheese? Or you hate to exercise? No problem. Lots of naturally thin people share those same preferences. You can still be you, no matter who you are, and be naturally thin. If you don’t eat what you want to eat, if you restrict yourself, you will feel deprived, and it will all fall apart eventually. You won’t keep it up. Eat what you want to eat. Just recognize what you are eating, and if you know it’s an “expensive” investment, enjoy every bite — but have only a couple of bites. Or just recognize and balance it later. Then you won’t blow your budget and you can stay balanced. If you hate to exercise, you eat a little less. If you love to exercise, you can eat a little more. Balance.

This is the first thing I want you to think about every day, and start to integrate into your life. Until it becomes second nature, you need to keep reminding yourself: Your diet is a bank account.

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Just as you balance your spending and savings, you must balance your food choices. Don’t eat too much of any one thing, don’t eat the same thing twice, balance starches with proteins, vegetables and fruits with sweets, and always balance a splurge with a save. This balancing is approximate — but it works, and it works without counting, measuring, or obsessing.

Most of the time — on most days and for most meals and snacks — make smart investments in healthful foods that fill you up. Then, when you really want to splurge, go ahead. You aren’t dieting, remember. You are living. However, a splurge comes with a price. You have to balance that splurge by cutting back a little afterward, until your accounts are in order again. It’s that simple.

Do you really want to throw away your calories on something you don’t like? That’s like spending money on something you’ll never use or something that doesn’t fit. It’s a waste. Make smart investments that will be good for your body and will make you feel better. That makes a worthwhile splurge perfectly reasonable. When it’s not so worthwhile, save up those calories for later. That’s sound bank account management.

Sure, just like financial independence, dietary balance can sometimes be challenging. If you’ve been overeating and not balancing your food choices for a few years now, you probably have some excess weight. This weight is like debt. But you can pay off debt and get rid of extra weight in just the same way — a little at a time. Chip away at that weight by daily balancing, but don’t obsess by budgeting every penny and counting every calorie. You can achieve your ideal body weight — financial independence. Eat a lot here; eat less there. Eat less here; eat more later.

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