Skinny Is Overrated: The Real Woman's Guide to Health and Happiness at Any Size

by Danielle Milano MD

Skinny Is Overrated is a guide to health and happiness for women of any size who are tired of dieting. Writing in a conversational and often humorous style, and backed by scientific research, Dr. Danielle Milano teaches us to make healthier food choices. She emphasizes the importance of exercise, assuring the reader that it isn't necessary to be a size two! With helpful, easy recipes and common sense advice, Dr. Milano's guidelines for simple lifestyle changes will help you lose weight, gain energy, and become a healthier, more confident you-as you were meant to be.

Genres: Health

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[LOL_BOOKS]

I AM LISTENING TO THE AUDIOBOOK FOR HEALTH AT EVERY SIZE, WHICH A FRIEND RECOMMENDED A LONG TIME AGO AND I'VE ALWAYS BEEN KIND OF SKEPTICAL ABOUT. THE AUTHOR JUST SAID THAT STUDIES SUGGEST THAT IF YOUR MOTHER DIETED WHILE SHE WAS PREGNANT WITH YOU, YOU ARE MORE LIKELY TO STRUGGLE WITH YOUR WEIGHT AS AN ADULT, SINCE THE FOOD DEPRIVATION THEN COULD BE WIRED INTO YOUR GENETIC MEMORY IN THE WOMB. AND NOT, YOU KNOW, THE FACT THAT IF YOUR MOM WAS DIETING SHE HAS STRUGGLED WITH HER WEIGHT AND YOU MIGHT BE GENETICALLY PREDISPOSED TO STRUGGLE WITH YOUR OWN OR LEARN CRAZY DIET STUFF FROM HER, NO, YOUR WEIGHT PROBLEMS ARE METABOLIC DAMAGE IN THE WOMB. WHAT A BUNCH OF CRAZY HORSESHIT. I HAD EXPECTED THIS BOOK TO BE MORE OF A 'HEY, SO DON'T GO ON A 'DIET' BUT HERE, STICK TO EATING THESE WHOLE FOODS AND START EXERCISING AND GETTING MORE SLEEP' BUT IT IS FULL-ON CRAZY.

LINDA BACON IS A STRAIGHT UP SNAKE OIL SALESMAN. ALSO YOU SHOULD NEVER TAKE HEALTH ADVICE FROM ANYONE WHO LOOKS LIKE A MICROWAVED LOU REED.

YOU CAN DO A LOT TO MAKE YOUR CHOICES AND HEALTH BETTER, AND YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T AIM FOR WEIGHT LOSS BUT FOR BETTER HEALTH. BUT SHE ALSO TELLS YOU THAT IF YOU HAVE WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY YOU WILL PROBABLY DIE.

SHE IS VERY CREEPY LOOKING. IDK WHAT IT IS. THE LACK OF EYEBROWS?

HEALTH AT EVERY SIZE IS A SOUND IDEA, IN THEORY. IN PRACTICE, IT'S A BUNCH OF INSECURE FATTIES DESPERATELY TRYING TO CONVINCE THEMSELVES THAT BEING FAT ISN'T JUST MORALLY NEUTRAL BUT ACTUALLY COMMENDABLE.

Y, IF YOU PICKED OUT THE THINGS LIKE 'DON'T EAT PROCESSED FOOD' AND 'AIM FOR A GOOD VARIETY OF NUTRITIOUS FOOD' AND 'EXERCISE' AND 'AIM FOR HEALTHY, NOT THIN' THEN IT'D BE A GREAT BOOK. BUT IT HAS A BUNCH ABOUT HOW YOUR WEIGHT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOUR HEALTH.

BECAUSE YOU CAN'T JUST WRITE ABOUT HOW IT'S FUCKED UP TO MAKE HEALTH AND WEIGHT A PERSONAL MORAL ISSUE, YOU MUST MISINTERPRET SCIENCE AND MAKE SHIT UP TO CONVINCE YOURSELF THAT THERE ARE "OBJECTIVE" REASONS WHY YOU'RE NOT A BAD PERSON FOR BEING FAT. IT'S SAD.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘True health comes from eating nutritious foods, exercising and never going hungry.’


Dr Danielle Milano graduated from the New York University School of Medicine in 1987. She is board certified in internal medicine, and is a clinical instructor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan. Since 1999, she has worked at the Boriken Health Centre in East Harlem, treating people suffering from obesity and diabetes. During this period, Dr Milano has seen the same issues and questions repeatedly, and this book is her response to those women who want to be healthy.

Dr Milano’s focus is on health, not on weight: ‘But weight is not the only factor that determines health; fitness is far more important.’ This book provides information about healthy lifestyle choices, including some wonderful (Mediterranean-based) recipes and advice on how to equip a kitchen for healthy food preparation. This is important, and often overlooked: knowing how to prepare nutritious food is not innate knowledge and many of us make it to adulthood without learning the basics.

There is a lot of information in this book, and the aspect I like most is that it educates and encourages, rather than exhorts, people to make healthy choices thereby increasing fitness levels and improving health. There is a wonderful chapter on motivation which also touches on setting realistic goals, as well as some suggestions on activities to increase fitness.

‘One step at a time, start down the road to a healthier life.’

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Kathleen Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are numerous books out there on the market telling us women how to diet, exercise, eat properly and keep stress out of our lives. Skinny is Overrated, on the other hand is not a 'diet' manual. The author explains about the right foods to eat and dispells some ideas that we have all been taught that may not necessarily be correct. Like eating tuna packed in water. We should actually eat tuna packed in the oils because it is a good source of Omega 3's. We should also eliminate all fast foods, sugars, certain fats and instead we should be eating fish at least three times a week and eat lots of fruits and veggies. The key to any good 'diet' is learning portion control, getting off the couch and exercise. The author explains about fats, the good, bad and trans fats and tells us about saturated, polyunsaturated and monosaturated oils and fats. We need to set goals for ourselves and we should eat three meals a day along with 2 snacks. Oatmeal, cinnamon, beans, barley and brown rice are all good foods for us to eat.
Some of the tips that are in this book are:
Eat veggies especially the leafy green kinds.
Stop drinking soda's, even diet ones, juice, iced teas or any sweetened drinks.
Do not skip meals and do not go hungry.
Eat less starches.
Dr. Milano also explains in the book how to shop and how to set up your kitchen and pantry, and finally the last part of the book has recipes.
I found this book to be educational and I may just try some of the tips and recipes. I did learn a few things and found the book to be useful

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot of good information here. Milano tells us what food choices are good and what are bad, but what's good here is that she tells us why in detail. Her writing style is very easy to read, and I found it to be a very quick read for a health type book, which usually seem slow, and I can only read a little bit at a time.

The downside to this one was that there was some inconsistency, which I've found quite common in books about nutrition and fitness. She would say one thing, and then a few pages or a chapter later, say the complete opposite. The other thing is that I found her food recommendations to be a little unrealistic, at least for me. To eat the way she suggests would be pretty expensive, time consuming, and would make my kids hate me--three things that would almost guarantee failure for me.

Still, there are some good ideas here that I will incorporate into our diets. She advocates getting exercise every day, no matter what level you're at. If you're new to it, start small and work your way up. Just do something. It's all good advice. I would recommend this if you're looking for an easy, quick read, but with the caveat to take the information that works for you, and leave the rest.

[R]

Some good bits so far, but I'm a little put off by how patronizing the voice of the author is.