Give it up!

I have to say I was pretty proud of myself when I was reading Skinny Bitch last night. Most of you have probably already heard about this book. Apparently I was one of the last on the planet!  Chapters states that Skinny Bitch is "tart-tongued, no-holds-barred wakeup call to all women who want to be thin".

It's also funny as hell..... and to be honest,  I love that they say "shit" and "fuck" throughout the book. It's so refreshing! It's so real....and for a girl who has a tad bit of a potty mouth it's well.....relatable.

At the start of the book the bitches (Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin) talk about quitting (among other things) smoking, coffee and pop (a.k.a soda for my American readers!).

With regards to smokes...

"They are so 1989 and totally uncool. Not only do they screw up your whole body chemistry, but they also kill your taste buds. It's no wonder you eat shit and garbage!"

With regards to coffee.....

"Coffee is for pussies.... It may seem like the end of the world to give up our daily dose, especially if you rely on starbucks as a good place to meet men. But it's not heroin, girls, and you'll learn to live without it."

With regards to Pop.....

"Brace yourselves, girls: Soda is liquid Satan...It is the devil. It is garbage. ....say goodbye to soda and hello to a sweet ass."

Now after reading all this I laughed of course and then thought...sweet! I've never smoked and I've given up the other two!!!! Woooohoooo, who rocks the house? Me. Me. Me!!!!! But, then I got to the artificial sweetener stuff and the alcohol stuff and then realized......I don't rock the house.....I'm only making the house wobble.

Here I was using splenda because I thought it was well...the lesser of the evils. I know the controversy around sweeteners, but lets face it, I didn't care. Sugar is bad so anything other than that was good! Did you know Splenda has arsenic in it though? Damn.... and here I thought I was doing okay. Agave nectar here I come!!!!! Aparently the verdict is still out on Stevia in Canada. See, the Bitches aren't always right. Mind you this book was published five years ago, and lets face it, in research a lot can change in five years.

The skinny bitch authors go on to talk about dairy and of course eating raw carcass (their words, not mine).

One chapter did disturb me a lot. Chapter 6 - You are what you eat.

This chapter should have a warning on it or at least a 4/5 Kleenex rating . I've only made it through a few pages, and I've needed to take a break. This chapter explores what animals go through when being killed.

I remember about 15 years ago my father told me how a cow was killed. At that time I cried.....and then I ate a cheeseburger. I remember watching a video where they showed how a rabbit was skinned. That video scarred me for life, but still I ate meat that night. I empathized with the chick on the show survivor (when I use to watch it), who cried when the chicken she named became her dinner, but still I couldn't give up meat. I was even the girl who cried in her biology class in highschool when we had to disect a fetal pig, but then had bacon for breakfast.

Somehow back in March I finally did give up meat and I'm so thankful that I did. Finally I don't feel like a hypocrite. Finally my actions now match my values. Finally I can pass a truck stocked with pigs and not feel guilty. Of course I still feel sad, but there is no more guilt. Finally, pretending the meat I picked up at the grocery store came from just some company rather than an animal is reality. My meat (or shall I say meatless meat), now does come from just a company! Yay!

I'm pleased with the changes I have made. I know they are not for everyone and please don't for a second think I look down on you for eating meat or coffee or pop because I don't (hello, I ate/drank all that back in February!). I'm just very proud that I finally decided to make the change myself as I had been contemplating it for far too long. I've always loved animals, but now I just enjoy them  a little more off my plate!