Members with This Book
Most Helpful Reviews
see all reviews
Liked It “LOVED it. Totally practical common sense and allows you to be NORMAL and not controlled by dieting, and not feeling deprived, guilty and suffocated all the time!” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “This book was really annoying from the beginning because I felt like the author, Bethenny Frenkel, was condescending and patronizing. The book was too personal at times, with its author describing her nights out on the town, and too impersonal at other times (in terms of explanations.) Frenkel...” see full review » see other reviews » |
Newest Reviews
see all reviews-
“LOVED it. Totally practical common sense and allows you to be NORMAL and not controlled by dieting, and not feeling deprived, guilty and suffocated all the time!”
jillcarilli wrote this review Friday, May 6, 2011. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“This book was really annoying from the beginning because I felt like the author, Bethenny Frenkel, was condescending and patronizing. The book was too personal at times, with its author describing her nights out on the town, and too impersonal at other times (in terms of explanations.) Frenkel also continuously contradicted herself. She started off saying that dieting was bad, but proceeded to give a breakdown of how many starches to eat in a day, how to scoop out a bagel, and sizes of bowls that should be used, which kind of ticked me off. On the other hand, some of her rules that she did adequately explain were good, and I'm starting to incorporate into my own life. I think what really bothers me is that througout the book, she keeps mentioning how skinny SHE is, how SHE eats, how SHE feels, not even in a helpful way, but in an egocentric way. ”
Alex M wrote this review Thursday, November 18, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I loved this book. I try to be a very healthy person and this book gives great advise and great recipes. Love, love, love this book. ”
Lyndsey D wrote this review Sunday, November 7, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A good read. Much of this is common sense but we who love to eat must be reminded frequently of the basics of eating healthfully. Conversational tone helps.”
Mary C wrote this review Monday, October 11, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“I've been watching Bethany's show on Bravo and wanted to see what her book was about. After reading it I learned pretty much what I already knew about eating healthy and portion control. This book isn't a "dieting" book it mainly emphasizes that you can eat what you want as long as you control your portions. She does give great advice not just on weight loss and some good facts about celebs and how they keep fit. It also includes a lot of healthy recipes. If you are a fan of her check out her book.”
Paula C wrote this review Thursday, August 19, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“More of a Bethanny fan than an "eating right" fan. ”
Denise R wrote this review Monday, July 12, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“the concepts are self explanitory, but i would like to buy it for some of her recipes! i am always looking for ways to slim down some of my favorites...”
lil' t wrote this review Wednesday, July 7, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I've tried 2 of the recipes (brown rice breakfast and zucchini/corn/tomato dish) and both were quite good and I will make them again. This is not a traditional cookbook, but more of a self-help type of book which I don't care for, but there are some good tips and some good recipes for living a more healthy lifestyle in this book. ”
Halfpint wrote this review Monday, June 28, 2010. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
1 of 1 members found this review helpful“Bethenny Frankel, a natural foods chef (and star of The Real Housewives of NYC), has written a "diet" book that isn't really a "diet"--it's a lifestyle change; a way to eat like a naturally thin person. Bethenny says we're all skinny girls inside; we just have to learn to eat like one.
Sheri A wrote this review Sunday, December 27, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The Naturally Thin Program is pretty revolutionary--at least when compared to the diet books *I've* read (and there have been many). There is no doubt in my mind that Bethenny's Naturally Thin plan is going to raise some eyebrows in the diet community (and by that, I primarily mean doctors, nutritionists and other authors of diet books). Bethenny is not about counting calories or fat grams, weighing and measuring food or any of the other usual kinds of obsessing. This is my kind of gal!
Seriously, though, Bethenny's weight loss philosophy comes closer to my own personal philosophy than any other diet book I've ever read. With many diet books, you are ENCOURAGED to obsess (though they won't call it that) over every calorie, fat gram or teaspoon of oil, etc. It can leave people feeling guilty and shameful, and it can suck every moment of fun out of mealtime. Bethenny's plan is all about NOT obsessing.
I will not profess to understand 100% yet how to implement every part of Bethenny's program, but I have already started using it while I was reading the book. I will not credit Bethenny's plan alone with the weight I have lost in the past 4 weeks (there have been other variables such as increased exercise as the weather has gotten warmer and my starting to wean off of hormone replacement therapy (HRT))...but I am certain that her program contributed to the loss.
I am over 50, hypothyroid and on HRT--and those things together with my penchant for sweets has made it difficult to keep off the weight I lost 6 years ago. So to suddenly start losing weight again--at a rate faster than I would usually lose except on a very strict diet--has been an absolute wonder. And I've had something sweet every day! The question is--can I keep eating like this for a lifetime? It's too soon to tell. If I was a huge veggie lover and not a picky eater, I'd say the chances would be pretty good...but since I don't like a lot of veggies and I AM a picky eater, only time will tell.
My major complaint about the book is that it could be better directed to, and more realistic for, "real people." For example, it is too focused on eating out. Especially in this economy, it seemed a little...well, inappropriate...to be talking about eating out every other page (granted, she is giving examples from her own life and she is rich and admits that she eats out a LOT).
There was, I felt, FAR too little time spent on talking about cooking at home, which is where most "regular people" are eating most meals (though she does give recipes at the end of every chapter). Her rule of sharing food and tasting little bites of other peoples' food works in a restaurant (as long as you are out with other people), but it does not work with a home-cooked meal...unless you plan to make a bunch of different dishes, all so you can taste a little of each, which again does not seem very realistic to the average working person dealing with hard economic times.
I don't believe that the Naturally Thin Program--AS WRITTEN--is a healthy way to lose or maintain weight. If a nutritionist looked at the food log of Bethenny's own eating (which is included in the book), he/she would likely agree. However, what I have done is to take Bethenny's rules and adapt them to what makes sense for me. I have been struggling with my weight for over 4 decades, so I have amassed enough information over the years that I can adapt some of Bethenny's great ideas to my own way of eating and end up with something that is nutritionally sound but also allows me to lose weight.
I struggled with the rating for this book. I started at 4 stars, but once I wrote those last few paragraphs, I realized that it bugged me more now, having finished the book, than it did while I was reading it. As a result, I went down to 3 stars. I do feel very positively about this plan, but I also think she didn't do a good enough job of making it realistic for regular everyday people. ”
“Nothing new except the Skinny Girl marguerita which I must say is Delish”
Michelle H wrote this review Tuesday, November 10, 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
