You Are What You Read

I recently finished reading the book Skinny Bitch. Maybe you've seen it among the New Releases at the bookstore? It's an often hilarious comment on eating habits in western culture. Unvarnished truths, sarcasm and graphic imagery are used by the two authors who would like the reader to understand and accept their theory on why our society faces a problem with obesity and what we can change in our diet to solve that problem.

The book isn't about "going on a diet", it's about "changing" your diet - which really means changing your lifestyle. Skinny Bitch contains one particular sentence which resonated with me: "Actually think about what you're eating." Say it to yourself, out loud - maybe it'll resonate with you, too.

Anyway, I'm not sure I can commit to all the changes recommended in Skinny Bitch, but it definitely got me thinking about the questions raised, like:

Why are humans the only species on earth to drink the milk of another species?
Sure, our babies are breast fed to provide essential nourishment during a critical stage of development early in life, but the babies are weaned once that stage is complete. So, why do humans continue to drink milk which is biologically intended to fatten us up? Furthermore, why do we drink the milk from another species which can weigh up to 2,000 pounds on average?

Also, when it comes to sugar and each gram of it in that can of pop in your hand, divide the number of grams by 4 and you'll get the number of teaspoons of sugar added to it. For example, the can of Pepsi I drank last weekend contained 41 grams of sugar - that's 10 teaspoons of sugar. 10 teaspoons! Do I put TEN teaspoons of sugar into my coffee each morning? Never. Does my body need it in anything else I drink? Not likely.

So these are the kinds of ideas explored in Skinny Bitch. The authors state the title of book is simply intended to get attention and sell books, and it's not actually their intention to encourage people to be "skinny". Rather, to educate on diet as a way of achieving the healthiest weight for any body type.

The reason I wanted to let you know about this is because I just read that Book Warehouse, a Vancouver chain of discount bookstores, has become a bit more cool than it was already. That's because you can now walk into any of their 7 locations in Vancouver and buy your book at U.S. prices or less!

Example? The cover price for Skinny Bitch in Canada is $17, but in the US it's $13.95. Sweet! Hopefully other retailers follow suit.

I'll send a Thank You card to Book Warehouse as soon as greeting cards no longer sell for two different prices either.