Self-help books offer advice on everything from how to make more money to how to make more friends, filling bookstore shelves and the search results of online retailers. These books seek to motivate people to make long-term positive changes in lifestyle and perspective; some have raised questions about what constitutes “healthy eating.”
One of today’s popular diet books, written by former model Kim Barnouin, who has a master’s degree of science in Holistic Nutrition, and former modeling agent Rory Freedman, has taken bestseller lists by storm as a “self-help” book. “Skinny Bitch,” published in December 2005, exploded in popularity once former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham was spotted buying the book. The book presents diet advice along with quips about sugar such as, “If you eat crap ... you are crap.” According to an interview with the Sun Sentinel, Freedman said the tone of the book is just a response to today’s society.
“At the time, we kept seeing reports on obesity and illness, and we just kept thinking, why are we having more sickness than ever when there’s so much information out there [about how to eat right],” she said. “Our culture is obsessed with vanity and health plays second fiddle. We decided to appeal to the mentality and the mindset of today’s culture.”
The advice in “Skinny Bitch” advises women to eat fruit at breakfast and vegan-approved foods for lunch and dinner, but the book fails to touch the risks involved with cutting all of the iron and protein out of a presumably “healthy” diet.
Susan Dunlap, certified health counselor at Rebecca’s Natural Food Store, noted that “there are some people that the vegan lifestyle will never work for.” She suggested that health-conscious eaters look to the “traditional diets” of long-lived cultures that have kept people healthy for hundreds of years.
“In no culture or place has there ever been a vegan diet,” she said, “It’s not a traditional diet, and it can’t be sustained without modern conventions like vitamin tablets.”
Freedman, however, saw this book as a way to change the face of dieting.
“When we set out to write this book, it was with nothing but the purest of intentions to change the world,” she told the Sun Sentinel.
Student Health nutritionist Melanie Brede noted that people need to keep in mind when considering various self-help books that some authors and companies who put out self-help books and products are looking to make a profit, not necessarily to change lives.
“With diet books in general, the issue is that you don’t know if the information is credible and valid,” Brede said, noting that 95 percent of dieters eventually gain back the weight.
She said whether it is a book or a product such as Botox, “if you make people feel insecure, then present a product that acts as a solution, you will sell more products.”
She advises that people look for something inspiring and empowering in a self-help book and noted that according to behavioral research, the most successful diets provide some kind of support network for a dieter.
“For long-term dietary changes that are going to be beneficial, yelling at them isn’t going to work,” she said.
Some self-help books come with workbooks that help people track and maintain their progress while others give step-by-step instructions on how to improve their lives.
Various types of books may be useful for different people. In The New York Times’ “Skinny Bitch” review, David Steinberger, the chief executive of Perseus Books Group — the company that published “Skinny Bitch” — explained that, though a large number of readers had “embraced [‘Skinny Bitch,’], like any diet book, it’s not going to be for everyone.”
For those looking for resources promoting a healthy lifestyle, Brede cited several useful sources of information that promote healthy lifestyles without encouraging diet-crazed regimens.
“There is a great Web site called Sparkpeople, which is exercise- and nutrition-oriented,” he said. “There is also a book called “Nancy Clark’s Guide to Sports Nutrition,” which is a self-help guide for people who want to learn more about a runner’s lifestyle. It offers credible, practical, and useful advice — all in a positive tone.”
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