by Kelly Jad'on

This paperback is a self-help book for those who want to lose weight, but are sick to death of dieting. In fact, Naturally Thin doesn't prescribe dieting, rather, Frankel advocates a healthier lifestyle which includes eating properly and exercising.

Frankel, once a Martha Stewart Apprentice runner-up and the star of Bravo's The Real Housewives of New York City, follows 10 basic rules:

1. Your diet is a bank account: make smart investments by balancing your food choices.
2. You can have it all, just not all at once: dieting isn't the answer, in fact it can hurt you.
3. Taste everything, eat nothing: spoil your appetite before the party.
4. Pay attention: don't eat mindlessly.
5. Downsize now: eat smaller meals.
6. Cancel your membership in the clean plate club: divide one meal into several meals.
7. Check yourself before you wreck yourself: don't binge! "I know from personal experience that never binging again is not only entirely possible, but absolutely life-changing." Try yoga.
8. Know thyself: be aware of your triggers.
9. Get real: eat real food>>organic, seasonal, local, and varied.
10. Good for you: exercise, sleep, love yourself. Don't obsess about being thin.

Throughout the book, Frankel has includes boxes of helpful hints:

• Naturally Thin Thoughts: example--naturally flush water out when you're bloated by eating melon, asparagus, cucumbers, celery, and apple cider vinegar.
• Bethenny Bytes: sample--the author shows by example how she cuts back at restaurants, while still enjoying all of the dishes.
• Heavy Habits: explanation of how and why one should move away from bad habits.
• Celebrity Secrets: Kathy Hilton, Dennis Leary, Charles Barclay

Naturally Thin focuses on healthier eating habits--"the bulk of your diet should consist of high-volume vegetables, with a little fruit, some whole grains, and some protein." Frankel's 3-week meal planner is her own. You'll see that some meals are actually too small for most eaters, but this works for her. She also promotes Synergy Kombucha and her own company--Bethenny Bakes.

Naturally Thin has over 30 recipes inside, including the SkinnyGirl Margarita/Sangria drinks. The sweet recipes call for sugar. According to Frankel, this is ok. The key is to be able to taste everything, eat balanced meals, and not deny yourself. She eats veggies whenever she can and recommends beginning a meal with soup, because it's a filler. In the winter the author begins breakfast with a grapefruit and in the summer season with watermelon.

Further hints--share your food, especially in a restaurant and listen to your body.

4 Stars

Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself From a Lifetime of Dieting (Fireside/ March 2009) by Bethenny Frankel with Eve Adamson

GT Dave--NATURE'S CHEMIST

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