And I do see what you mean about Skinny Bitch. Calling people “fat pigs” can certainly be hurtful. The way I read it, I took the way they use “fat pig” to mean how people feel about themselves, and how they treat themselves – like, if you eat crap and don’t exercise, you’re a “fat pig,” (in the Skinny Bitch world) whether you’re technically fat or thin or whatever. But you’re right – it could definitely be read differently; there’s no basis for my interpretation being better or more right than yours.

So all in all, this is my experience, and what I believe: 1) Skinny Bitch was a GREAT thing for MY life and MY health, 2) I have made significant changes, for the better, in the way I eat since reading SB and going vegetarian/vegan, 3) Because of those changes, I am slowly but surely taking off the weight I gained from medication, 4) Because the weight was from the medication, I believe that the medication changed the way my body works, and a vegan/fewer processed foods style of eating is helping my body reset to how it worked before, 5) Fat has more to do with how you treat yourself than what size pants you wear, 6) A healthy diet is a good thing. A “diet” sucks big time, is punishing and pointless, and no one should EVER do it.

I think, at best, the book has a pretty contradictory message about fat people. I’m not sure you can call people fat pigs or talk about how fat will kill your social life and then tell people to love themselves and go after health rather than looking a certain way. Either the ‘fat pig’ talk is just to get attention (which is still pretty shitty as it’s a common thing that fat people get called in real life) or the love yourself message is hollow.

As for this:
“Your comment is awfully pessimistic, and sounds like what people say when they’re trying to “warn” you that your good luck isn’t going to last, and they just don’t want you to get your hopes up. ”

This is a fat acceptance blog. And while I’m not out to knock people down or squash their hopes, I don’t think that diets work. If you’re interested in reading a bit more about that perspective here are a few links:

http://babble.sneakykitty.com/index.php/2007/12/27/repeat-after-me

http://kateharding.net/2007/04/12/diets-dont-work-but/

My cynicism about dieting comes from personal experience and a lot of research on the efficacy of a multitude of dieting approaches.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t see value in changing the way you (general you) eat or increasing exercise. Part of the reason I started this blog is that I’m a fat vegan who is also a bit of a health nut and I wanted to be able to show people that the rewards of ethical, nutritional food choices go far far beyond changes they might produce in your body.

I too lost a bit of weight after I made a lot of changes in my diet and exercise habits. It didn’t make me thin and it eventually stopped even as those good habits continued. Not being a psychic, I have no idea of how it’ll go for you.

But the point of this blog is to be a voice in the vegan community for body acceptance and health at any size as well as be an advocate for animal rights in the size acceptance community.

HOWEVER, the book promotes going vegan AND eating no refined sugar or bad fats. And THAT is good weight loss advice.

I feel healthier – I’m not losing fast, but I am losing steadily, and I feel good about that. Your comment is awfully pessimistic, and sounds like what people say when they’re trying to “warn” you that your good luck isn’t going to last, and they just don’t want you to get your hopes up. Whether that’s the way you mean it or not (I suspect it’s not), it’s really just never helpful to tell people that the way they’re eating? The fact that they’ve gone vegan AND started eating way more whole, unprocessed foods? Well, don’t bother – IF you lose weight you’ll just gain it back, like everyone else. Some of us would like to believe we can make permanent changes in ourselves, and at the same time do something good and ethical.

Whether it’s veganism or not, the book’s advice on eating whole, unprocessed foods has drastically cut my cravings, which was the reason I was never able to lose weight before (they were really pretty much uncontrollable).

Also, I guess the book can be dehumanizing to fat people or not, depending on which parts you focus on. I didn’t read it as being rude about fat people at all (and I AM one, so I think I have some pretty strong grounds here) – here are the quotes I remembered after reading (I had to look them up to get them exactly, but this is what I took from it):

“…for the love of God, don’t associate your worth with your appearance…our insides are much more important than our outsides.” (p. 191)

“We conceived of the title, “Skinny Bitch,” to get attention and sell books…But we are not bitches, and we have no desire to promote bitchiness. There is nothing uglier than a pretty woman who’s nasty.” (p. 186)

“Make healthy choices and take excellent care of yourself without getting neurotic and obsessive.” (p. 184)

“We don’t want anyone to be obsessed with getting skinny. When you eat right and exercise, you feel strong and healthy and confident. You start loving your body – not because you lose weight – but because you feel great.” (p. 224)

“So what if there is only one standard of beauty perpetuated by Hollywood that you don’t fit into? Don’t buy into that bullshit. Take excellent care of the body you were blessed with, and love, love, love it!” (p. 224)

Like, I said in my first comment, I don’t disagree with your point completely – I just don’t agree with it either. I do think what Skinny Bitch advocates – no dairy (cheese! Oh, how I miss the cheese!), no refined sugar, and whole, unprocessed foods – WILL cut cravings and help you lose weight. I also think what it advocates – veganism – is just a good thing. Whether or not they do it the best way possible? Debatable – very.

But I do think it’s important to point out, to those who don’t like the book because veganism – on it’s own – is not a valid weight loss option, that that IS NOT ALL the book advocates when it comes to weight loss. It doesn’t say that if you eat vegan junk food all the time you’ll still lose weight. If people read the book and come out with that message, they did NOT read it thoroughly. As for throwing fat people under the bus…I didn’t get that at all, but I can see how someone could. And I certainly don’t think fat people should be thrown under anything, unless it’s maybe a waterfall of money or chocolate or something pleasant.

The end. (sorry for taking up so much room…)

I’ve had a few other people tell me something similar. That they were initially interested in the book b/c they wanted to lose weight and then became convinced by the ethical arguments.

And really, I’m always happy to have more vegans, but I still don’t think the overall impact of the book will be positive for veganism and I don’t think it’s ok to throw fat people under the bus in order to make veganism more attractive.

You have lost some weight going vegan. But if you go to just about any vegan forum or gathering out there and ask people what happened to their weight when they went vegan, you’ll find lots of people who gained weight or people who lost at first and then, after learning more about vegan cooking, gained it all back. Yes, you’ll find a few who lost weight and kept it off, but ime, the weight-loss isn’t significant…maybe 10% of their initial body weight.

So, again, what happens when people follow all the “Skinny Bitch” rules and don’t lose weight or only lose a little or even gain some? How many people who were drawn to veganism at least in part by the promise of weight loss will stay vegan if it doesn’t work out?

Honestly, I’m less concerned about how well the weight-loss hook works to get people to go vegan than I am with the awful, dehumanizing way that the book talks about fat people.

The last chapter, which people often cite to prove that the authors really only want people to be healthy starts like this:

“Don’t be a fat pig anymore.”

And then there are gems like:

“Healthy=Skinny. Unhealthy=fat.”

and

“Being a fat pig will hinder you, sober or drunk.”

People are desperate to be thin. And people hate themselves for the “sin” of being fat. Playing into that desperation and into that hatred is just completely heinous to me.

True, I was looking for a way to lose weight – but the environmental issues PLUS the health aspects of veganism are what keep me eating this way. And after 3 months, I actually HAVE lost 16 pounds – and for the first time found a style of eating that I am happy to stick to for the rest of my life. I try to eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods – more fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains than soy ice cream and french fries – but as long as it’s vegan, it’s allowed. However, when I’m craving nachos, is it the Skinny Bitch advice on weight loss that keeps me from eating them? Nope – it’s the knowledge that I’m doing something good for the the world.

So maybe the idea of vegism as weight loss isn’t as bad for the cause as you think – the idea that I could lose weight was the tipping point for me, but the issues are what KEEP me on it. And once I started I found it mostly easy and totally delicious.

Also, I do think any diet advocating whole, unprocessed foods would have produced the weight loss I’ve had – it’s not like I really attribute that to going veg. It’s just that somehow giving up meat and dairy has helped my cravings, so now I don’t feel the NEED to eat a ton of fries, or a pint of ice cream, or a package of cookies. Sure – sometimes. But I’m not constantly craving crap like I used to. Another thing – I don’t know if this has anything to do with my weight loss, but I suspect it does: my weight gain was due to medication and, even after 3 years off it, the weight just wasn’t coming off. I feel like a veg way of eating has really helped my body clean itself out from the effects of that medication, so it can start over and work better.

So that’s my two cents worth.

http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?RecipeID=386

The only thing I change is that I use chai tea bags instead of mixing up the spices myself.

They are heavenly!