"Skinny Bitch," I am not. Tall one, sure. Rich one, maybe someday. But, skinny one? Not a chance, though that might change with the new health book, "Skinny Bitch: A no-nonsense tough-love guide for savvy girls, who want to stop eating crap and start looking fabulous."

Co-authored by former Ford modeling agent Rory Freedman and former model Kim Barnouin, "SB" not only demands you "stop being a moron and start getting skinny," but insists "you cannot keep shoveling the same crap into your mouth everyday and expect to lose weight."

The title of the book is hardly misleading. The "SB" authors do not shirk from roughing up their readers a little bit, albeit in the name of conscientious eating. The authors refuse to accept the excuses and excesses of everyday life.

Alcohol? "It's easy to socialize after a few drinks, but being a fat pig will hinder you, sober or drunk." Soda? "Liquid Satan." Atkins? "You are either a total moron if you think the Atkins diet will make you thin. Or, you are a gluttonous pig who wants to believe you can eat cheeseburgers all day long and lose weight." Fair enough.

However, like all self-confident waifs, the writers' arrogant attitude is hiding something. In order to become a "SB," you must not only dump caffeine and sugar, but also meat and dairy.

In effect, "SB" promotes a Vegan lifestyle, which rejects meat and dairy as sources of unhealthy eating and cruelty to animals. In context of the authors' earlier shock tactics, such suggestions still surprise.

Unwilling to convert to Veganism? No problem. "SB" provides truly helpful tips for anyone interested in being a little bit healthier and more food savvy.

Take for instance, the "Bad or Potentially Bad Ingredients" section, in which the chemicals on the back of most processed food products, like Ambergis, Aminosuccinate Acid, and Lipase are explained in plain English, or even, the in-depth sections following their food edicts, which are substantiated by a number of credible sources.

In terms of nutrition, "SB" is far from a stupid one.

For example, in the chapter entitled "Sugar is the Devil," the authors discuss the evils of sugar, but also lay out their case against artificial sweeteners. "NutraSweet and Equal contain aspartame. When ingested, one of aspartame's ingredients, methyl alcohol, converts into formaldehyde (a.k.a embalming fluid), a deadly neurotoxin. In addition to aspartame, Equal contains (phenylalanine). . . High levels can increase the chance of seizures and lead to depression and schizophrenia."

Also, interesting to consider, is that "we are the only species on earth that drinks the milk of another species. We could be putting gorilla milk on our cereal or having zebra milk and cookies. . . After looking at thirty-four published studies in sixteen countries, researchers at Yale University found that the countries with the highest rate of osteoporosis – including the United States, Sweden, and Finland--were those in which people consumed the most meat, milk, and other animal foods."

The "SB" lifestyle isn't difficult to follow, but it is all about "health food" substitutes, like almond milk in your coffee and tofurkey instead of turkey.

While the authors may extol the glories of vegan junk-food and how it tastes just as good as regular junk-food, on this one point I must differ. If you're going to eat the junk, it may as well go in your trunk.

http://www.newsday.com/news/health/am-diet0709,0,3000593.story?coll=ny-leadhealthnews-headlines