There’s a Skinny Person Inside Me…

For the record, there are a few words we don’t—generally—like: diet, fat and skinny. You might be able to throw “bitch” in there, too. As writers, we think a lot about words, and as the creators of a fitness site that focuses on feeling good, we like to choose words that lift us up, not put us down, restrict us or base our self worth on being a certain size or a certain attitude. (Hence our use of words like eating plan, few pounds to lose, healthy and sassy.) With that said, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a sense of humor. So when a copy of There’s a Skinny Person Inside Me…But I Shut the Bitch Up With a Cookie landed on our doorstep, we twitched and then gave it a fair shot.

It’s a quick read for sure at only 84 pages with illustrations and large type, and it leads you through a week in the life of a yo-yo dieter as she obsesses about food and her weight. A rhyming tale, it’s both a touch childish (for some reason it reminds me of the Amelia Bedelia books I loved as a kid) and humorous, as its subject matter is pretty ridiculous—at least I hope. Here’s a taste:

“If French women don’t get fat,
should I move to France?
Maybe then I’ll fit
into my size 8 pants.”

“Should I fast? Visit Jenny?
Oh, what should I do?
What’s in? What’s out?
What’s Oprah up to?”

From reading the author’s bio, I know her heart is in the right place, but I worry that the subject matter is more akin to many women’s experiences losing weight and, in a way, glamorizes or makes light of our yo-yo dieting culture. So, I’m on the fence. I want to be able to take a weight-loss joke and laugh at the absurdity of the dieting world, but again, I’m twitching.

Want to read the book and see what you think of it? U.S. readers, leave a comment and we’ll randomly pick one of you to win the book in about a week. Winners will be notified by email; official rules are here. Good luck, and we can’t wait to get a second opinion on this one… —Jenn