Skinny Bitch

So, sometime last fall, I picked up this book at Barnes and Noble (I can never leave that store without buying something). I had heard the title before, but really couldn't remember where and didn't totally understand if it was a diet book or self-help or what. I powered through it in about a week. It was very interesting and funny. So, Skinny Bitch is a diet book written by these two friends who, by looking at the picture on the back cover, are definitely skinny. I can't tell from the picture if they are bitches, but really, aren't we all, at least on occasion? What I definitely didn't realize when I bought it, was that this is a vegan diet book. The two women are pretty straightforward and very sarcastic and funny. Those of you who are Brewers fans may recognize this as the book that Prince Fielder read (it was his wife's) and caused him to decide to become a vegetarian. (It also apparently gained a lot of recognition after Posh Spice was seen purchasing a copy of it- however, what that woman is doing with a diet book, I don't know. I know the kind of looks I get when I tell people that I'm trying to lose weight- what kind of looks does Posh get when she says that?) Ok, back to topic. They are unbelievably descriptive about what goes on in animal processing plants. I guess it was this section that resulted in our vegetarian Brewer. Seeing as other people that read that section could never eat meat again, I'm not quite sure what that says about me as I continue to enjoy my burgers and chicken. Anyway, I just couldn't make myself become vegan or vegetarian. I just enjoy my dairy product and meat too much. I am a true Wisconsin girl! However, there was one section that I took to heart. The one about cutting out caffeine. To quote the Skinny Bitches, 

"Don't talk to me until I've had my morning coffee. Uhm... pathetic! Coffee is for pussies. Think about how widely accepted it has become that people need coffee to wake up. You should not need anything to wake up. If you can't wake up without it, it's because you are either addicted to caffeine, sleep deprived, or a generally unhealthy slob. "

Ok, that's the funny part. But they do bring up many good points about how caffeine causes headaches and ulcers, raises stress hormones and has been linked to depression and diabetes. So, based on all of this, I decided to give up caffeine. Back in college, I didn't drink much caffeine. I had never been a big coffee drinker, so it was mostly soda. But, when I was finishing grad school, I got completely addicted to coffee. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the caffeine (which kept me awake), but I still didn't like the taste, so I dumped in a ton of creamer and sugar adding scads of calories. Sometime in the fall, I think it was around the beginning of November, I went cold turkey on the caffeine. No coffee, no regular soda. The first week was rough. I had a few migraines and really couldn't seem to get up in the morning. But, after that, things got much better. I sleep better and am not dependent on something to keep me going. Now I'm going on six months off of caffeine. I have had two regular cokes (when I donated blood) and I drink caffeinated green tea on occasion, but that doesn't have anywhere near as much as a regular coffee. So, I guess the point of all of this is that I would recommend Skinny Bitch to anyone who wants to laugh at themselves or become better educated about what you put in your body. And I highly recommend the cutting out of coffee.